whats the deal with black walnut

[Slick]

starting to burn some now...much lighter than I thought it was going to be, I remember it being pretty wet and heaving coming home. Seems to burn fine though...just not as heavy as the oak I'm mixing it with.

 

[Wood Doctor]

Walnut Theft

Walnut is fine firewood, just burns up quicker than Oak, Hickory, etc..

+1. It's about the same as sycamore or birch. Splits very easily, however.

The paper today reported that a tree company cut down and stole a 70-yr old walnut tree from a church. Usually these are cut into 10' lengths and sold to furniture MFGs for a hefty price. A conservative estimate was that the tree was good for $1,200. Amazing the professional theft these days.

 

[mga]

Mills will not touch a yard, fencerow or roadside walnut tree for fear of embedded steel. So you are right, it is a myth that the walnut tree in your yard is worth thousands as a veneer log. It is worth more as firewood unless you mill it yourself.

down the street, the golf course owns renatl property and took down a HUGE black walnut tree. naturally, i stopped and asked about the wood. seems they sold it to some guy who was going to have it milled into planks. i mentioned that most mills wont take a tree if it came from a yard, especially an old farm house (it was right next to the house).

they just shrugged and said it was the guy's problem now since he bought the logs. i wonder what the milling place is going to tell him?

how much per nail if they hit one?

i run into this all the time. people think because they have black walnut the tree is worth a million bucks. i tell them to call a mill and sell it then. lol.

as for burning it...does burn fast, but it has a nice aroma.

 

[o8f150]

+1. It's about the same as sycamore or birch. Splits very easily, however.

The paper today reported that a tree company cut down and stole a 70-yr old walnut tree from a church. Usually these are cut into 10' lengths and sold to furniture MFGs for a hefty price. A conservative estimate was that the tree was good for $1,200. Amazing the professional theft these days.

i think it splits easier then maple

 

[indiansprings]

o8f150 " i think it splits easier then maple"

+1 I also think it is one of the easiest splitting hardwoods there is.
It doesn't deserve the bad rap it gets, sure there is better choices, but when it is cold out and you need wood on the fire I damn sure wouldn't pass it up.
There are worse choices. Because of the rep it gets it one of the easiest woods to get permission to cut the tops. Looked at a 60 acre track of tops today that is going to be about 20 percent walnut and the rest oak and hickory.
Got it contracted for 10.00 a cord, it's close to the house and well worth paying a little.

 

[buzz sawyer]

Iron or steel in walnut will turn the wood around it a deep blue and IMO, make it unacceptable for lumber.

 

[Wood Doctor]

down the street, the golf course owns renatl property and took down a HUGE black walnut tree. naturally, i stopped and asked about the wood. seems they sold it to some guy who was going to have it milled into planks. i mentioned that most mills wont take a tree if it came from a yard, especially an old farm house (it was right next to the house).

they just shrugged and said it was the guy's problem now since he bought the logs. i wonder what the milling place is going to tell him?

how much per nail if they hit one?

i run into this all the time. people think because they have black walnut the tree is worth a million bucks. i tell them to call a mill and sell it then. lol.

as for burning it...does burn fast, but it has a nice aroma.

The mills around here use metal detectors for big logs and reject any log that contains metal. They cannot afford hitting anything with huge blades that run three grand or more to replace. I don't blame them. Residential yard trees are notorious for imbedded metal. The costly metal detectors pay for themselves in a year.

Last fall I cross cut a rejected log six times and hit nothing with my chain saw. Then I tried to split the rounds. Lo and behold, I removed five 18" lengths of 5/8" thick threaded rod and brackets spaced 16" apart that someone used to hold the tree together. How I missed them all with the chain saw is mind boggling.

 

[mga]

How I missed them all with the chain saw is mind boggling.

heh...pure luck, man.

 

[olyman]

i refuse to burn bw anymore--ive dried it for 2 yrs--and it still produces wayyyy more ash than any other wood. including cottonwood,and soft maple--

 

[hoosier daddy]

Im burning some right now and have no issue with it...maybe it isn't quite as good as oak or hickory and for sure it's not hedge but it's heating my home quite well. BIL told me that it was the worst wood there was and that I was a fool for working it up...he's wrong...Walnut seasoned is just as good as the next...my opinion...

Maybe I'm not as particular as I should be...I like to burn Cherry, silver maple and they seem to get a bad rap every once in a while.

Bottom line for me is...if it's free, accesssable...it gets bucked, split, time in the sun and wha-la...into the furnace...what ever the species...