What should I do with my hard maple branches, small logs???

[Heath84]

Hi this is my first posting on this site, I have been reading several topics for a couple hours and realized this site is awesome! I have hauled and recieved ALOT of trimmings from a tree trimming company here where I live. They were hired to clean up about 500 trees at this cemetery, after the major ice storm we had here in the southwest (missouri). They roughly sorted through and stacked all the branches/small logs, they were told to do so by the owners and then told to get rid of it. So that is how I came across and hauled off for free. they range from anywhere in 4ft in length up to about 14 ft. they are not to big around maybe from 4 to the biggest being 12 inch across. I have hauled about 16 truck and trailer full of it (they loaded me with a skidsteer. which I unloaded by hand (boy that was fun) :help: It is hard maple. Should I cut it for firewood for next year. or learn how to build rustic furniture, or try finding someone who might want to buy it???????? Thank you for any advice. Heath

also if you maybe need some pictures I have a couple i can post but i dont know how on here yet.

 

[musch]

I donno about you, but maple is a nice hard hardwood, and up here, I recon that would be a lot of nice free heat next winter, and not too much splitting either!!

 

[Ianab]

Should I cut it for firewood for next year.

Yup, sounds like you have next years firewood sorted

Cut it up, split the bigger bits to speed drying, and stack it up in a nice breezy spot to dry, then enjoy the warmth If you have more than you need, split and stack it anyway, you can allways sell dry firewood when the weather gets cold.

Cheers

Ian

 

[windthrown]

Maple?

Unless there is a mill around you or someone that wants to buy it and cut it into lumber, I would suggest that you cut it into firewood and burn it. Maple is a nice hardwood for burning. Well, hard maple is anyway. There are some soft maples that are so-so for burning. I burn bigleaf maple here in our OWB and it burns really good. Consider it free firewood...

Another options would be to cut it up and sell it as firewood it by the cord. Doug fir is so cheap here now that a lot of my friends are no longer harvesting it for the mill and only cutting enough trees to meet the firewood demand of the cities. Maple firewood in the city would fetch a nice penny here in the west. Maybe $200 a cord in Portland, $300 a cord in San Francisco. Around here you would get about $150 a cord.

I wish I had that kind of wood to burn here. Man, that would make the next few winters here pretty easy.

 

[Heath84]

WOW, Fast replys I had no idea anyone would even read that til tomorrow!
We dont have a wood burning fireplace. I have considered just chopping it all up for fire wood, but I keep thinking alot would be such a waste because of the lengths of most of it. I will probably experiment with building some furniture maybe around my house, maybe christmas presents or something. If that doesnt work, I will be selling cords next year!

Also, does anyone know what the value for Red cedar is? We have 30 acres, and red cedar is everywhere on our land. I know it is rot and termite resistant. I thought about chopping it all down and building a cabin or two out of it.

Thanks

 

[windthrown]

Red Cedar ? Drool...

There are a lot of night owls on AR. Also global; lots of people in the frozen north and cold regions and not much else to do thuis time of year. Winter is ending though...

But wow! Free maple firewood, and you do not heat with wood??? Send it over to me! And 30 acres of red cedar? JHC... man o man. You have the luck.
Out here doug fir prices were sky high last year and they were cutting like crazy. Now the price for that is WAY down with the housing slump, and the mills are laying off around here. But... that is for doug fir.

The price for Alder is sky high, and the price for red cedar is not far behind. At least out here in the west it is. I do not know about the south. It is a regional thing. I would expect prices to be good there for red cedar though. We have about 10 acres of it here, but it was cut about 20 years ago and the regrowth is about 20 years out from harvest time. 30 acres of red cedar should fetch a really good price now. I would get several bids and sell it as a stand, and let them cut, buck and truck, and pay the taxes. Easier that way, and you can lose money by not doing everything just right. Next best thing is to hire a manager to do the whole process, unless you know how to cruise, cut, buck, grade and truck logs, as well as get bids for the logs from mills. A lot of people around here hire a sawyer that they know who is supposed to be good, but they get screwed in the process. Wrong length logs, bad price/bids from the mills, high trucking costs, lots of places to go wrong.

What else you got out there in the Ozark Mountains? Maybe I should look out there for some land/timber to buy.

 

[Ianab]

Coming to you from NZ.. 6 timezones into the future

If you want to get into rustic furniture the cedar you have is probably the best bet
With a bit of luck you could sell SOME of your trees, and your stash of firewood and get enough cash to buy a small manual sawmill. Then you can get into making rustic furniture out of your own timber. An ATV or small tractor and a homebuilt logging arch will let you harvest the trees on a small scale.

You might be able to sell a tree for $50, but saw it into boards and make deck furniture out of it, thats 10 x $50 chairs from that same tree. I dont know about making a living from it, but if you want a weekend hobby that can earn a few extra $$ it can work.

The maple logs you have will have little value as sawlogs, 12" is small to a sawyer. You have 2" of sapwood, and 4" around the heart thats low value. Doesn't leave much good timber in a small log. A 12" cedar log can be sawn into some usefull timber though. The knots and sapwood are 'character'

Ohh.. and get a small wood burning fire, if you have 30 acres of trees there is no need to pay for heating fuel

Cheers

Ian

 

[WRW]

Excellent post by Ianab. Just a couple of points to add.

Other than chainsaw mills, most sawyers won't take anything under 8' + lengths.

Cedar has a lot of uses other than just weather resistant wood (I'm guessing you are talking about Eastern Red Cedar?) Do a little research.

Get a book on woodlot management. High grading now could cost you in the future.

Good luck in your endeavors.

 

[Heath84]

Cedar has a lot of uses other than just weather resistant wood (I'm guessing you are talking about Eastern Red Cedar?) Do a little research.

Yes Eastern Red Cedar is the tree.

Thanks everybody for your information I appreciate it. Now I know where who to go to and ask questions about stuff!! I am only 22 years old and just learned actually how much I enjoy working with wood, I have been cleaning yards up from the ice storm, and have been keeping all the firewood myself.

Does anyone know a good way besides an axe/shovel to keep snakes out of the fire wood? We have alot of copperheads around here, it is fun chopping there heads off but Ive never had this much wood stacked in our front field! :greenchainsaw:

I am sure I will be back for help and info in the future. :newbie:

 

[Heath84]

What else you got out there in the Ozark Mountains? Maybe I should look out there for some land/timber to buy.

Oak is primarily what I have noticed the loggers truckin around, Eastern red cedar is everywhere. If you would like to buy wooded land that is what it will mostly consist of. It is beautiful country down here if you wanted to buy some land.

 

[JBinKC]

It depends upon the length, straightness, and diameter of the limbs and if someone in the region needs that species in inventory and quantity offered.

You may have some luck selling for cash if you can pick out the crotches with a decent grain in the wood and sell them on ebay but I think black walnut would be a better species to use for that.

I think using your score for firewood would probably be the best use for it.