Has anyone had timber milled on-site?

[Sneezyone]

We just felled a big maple in our front yard. I had the company cut it into 9' logs so I can mill it for other purposes. I don't *actually* have firm plans tho, except I want to use it in our backyard revamp. What can be made with these logs? They are BIG. Each one is 9' x 16" (min.) in diameter. There are 3 of them.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Sneezyone

[Jean in Newcastle]

I am NOT an expert but my understanding is that logs have to be seasoned before being used for building. Otherwise they split. 

Edited February 3, 2022 by Jean in Newcastle
Typo

[Sneezyone]

10 minutes ago, Jean in Newcastle said:

I am NOT an expert but my understanding is that logs have to be seasoned before being used for building. Otherwise they split. 

I'm not planning to build with them until fall '22/spring '23 (to dry the pieces out) but I though it needed to be milled fairly quickly? I only know this much from watching homesteaders on HULU, FTR.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Sneezyone

[kbutton]

Beams for a pergola
Live edge pieces for benches, tables, bars
Cooler bench--Tommy Silva made a super fancy one on one of the This Old House shows in the last year or so  *ETA: https://www.thisoldhouse.com/woodworking/22373590/how-to-build-a-cooler-bench

Different species might have different uses or need special treatment to be weather-proof.

Edited February 3, 2022 by kbutton

[Sneezyone]

26 minutes ago, kbutton said:

Beams for a pergola
Live edge pieces for benches, tables, bars
Cooler bench--Tommy Silva made a super fancy one on one of the This Old House shows in the last year or so

Different species might have different uses or need special treatment to be weather-proof.

Thx, I'll look up these projects. I do have a hobby-ist, retiree, woodworking contact who does really good work. He might be able to make a really nice bar top.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Sneezyone

[kbutton]

Just now, Sneezyone said:

Thx, I'll look up these projects. I do have a hobbies, retiree, woodworking contact who does really good work.

Enjoy! Finding someone to do the work can be the hard part. 

I didn't think of this at first, but there are a lot of projects online where people combine wood with different kinds of artsy epoxy. I don't know if that's your style, but it makes for interesting pieces. https://www.pinterest.com/search/pins/?q=wood epoxy table&rs=typed&term_meta[]=wood|typed&term_meta[]=epoxy|typed&term_meta[]=table|typed 

Someone I knew in high school has a business felling trees and milling lumber. I think his woodworking is limited to personal use, but it's fun to see what people do with his or their treasures. 

[Carol in Cal.]

You can also use them as the basis for an embankment if your lot is flatter than you want.

I’ve considered that in our Silicon Valley back yard.  We really could use some topography, esthetically.

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, Carol in Cal. said:

You can also use them as the basis for an embankment if your lot is flatter than you want.

I’ve considered that in our Silicon Valley back yard.  We really could use some topography, esthetically.

Hmph...I hadn't thought of that but ,now that you mention it, I could see it. We have a wet area in the back, kind of a river between two islands of plantings/trees that I could use some of the bark pieces/slats to shore up. I just don't want it to go to waste.

Edited February 3, 2022 by Sneezyone

[Tap]

You might want to talk to the people who are going to mill it for you first. I have a sequoia that I was thinking about getting part of the trunk milled for projects. The person who called me, said that trees that are in landscaping are often not worth getting milled, because they get too many branches. I don't know if this is specific to evergreens, but the combination of fertilizer and water (from watering the lawn) makes for poor quality lumber that has a lot of knots in it. He said he would come do the work for me, but he didn't think I would be happy with the results. Sequoias are semi hard wood, so I was thinking about an out door table and benches. I decided against it.  The cost and the advice, made me decide it wasn't worth it. 

[Sneezyone]

24 minutes ago, Tap said:

You might want to talk to the people who are going to mill it for you first. I have a sequoia that I was thinking about getting part of the trunk milled for projects. The person who called me, said that trees that are in landscaping are often not worth getting milled, because they get too many branches. I don't know if this is specific to evergreens, but the combination of fertilizer and water (from watering the lawn) makes for poor quality lumber that has a lot of knots in it. He said he would come do the work for me, but he didn't think I would be happy with the results. Sequoias are semi hard wood, so I was thinking about an out door table and benches. I decided against it.  The cost and the advice, made me decide it wasn't worth it. 

Thanks! I did talk to the tree guy who cut it down. He said that was definitely true of different pine trees. He used to mill lumber. This tree was very, very healthy and had at least 20' of straight timber without any branches b/c it had been regularly trimmed. It was 40' tall and we got three 9' logs out of it that are 17-25" in diameter. Tree guy said it wasn't cost effective for him to broker pine deals with sawmills b/c they like the trees to be only so big so he stopped but mobile operators work by the hour so it's still good for them. Of course, lumber prices have gone up a lot too so the calculus has changed for me, personally. There are a couple of local companies that have mobile saw mills that can cut wood to specs. I'm thinking 6x6s, 2x6s, and 2x4s with whatever's left. It's not cheap to do but it's definitely cheaper than buying lumber. I can leave it in my back yard with slats in-between for a few months then bring it into the garage to finish the drying. I've read that maple is worth quite a lot as dried material. Each 2" slab can be $100-150? It's just easier for the tree companies to shred them or take them to the landfill than to mill and dry them. I have the time to dry it.

Edited February 4, 2022 by Sneezyone

[Tap]

32 minutes ago, Sneezyone said:

Thanks! I did talk to the tree guy who cut it down. He said that was definitely true of different pine trees. He used to mill lumber. This tree was very, very healthy and had at least 20' of straight timber without any branches b/c it had been regularly trimmed. It was 40' tall and we got three 9' logs out of it that are 17-25" in diameter. Tree guy said it wasn't cost effective for him to broker pine deals with sawmills b/c they like the trees to be only so big so he stopped but mobile operators work by the hour so it's still good for them. Of course, lumber prices have gone up a lot too so the calculus has changed for me, personally. There are a couple of local companies that have mobile saw mills that can cut wood to specs. I'm thinking 6x6s, 2x6s, and 2x4s with whatever's left. It's not cheap to do but it's definitely cheaper than buying lumber. I can leave it in my back yard with slats in-between for a few months then bring it into the garage to finish the drying. I've read that maple is worth quite a lot as dried material. Each 2" slab can be $100-150? It's just easier for the tree companies to shred them or take them to the landfill than to mill and dry them. I have the time to dry it.

That is great to hear. I had kept our sequoia trimmed up about 8 feet and it the diameter is about 3 feet in that section. I was doing it more for sentimental reasons. I still might do it, but it will be expensive and I am not 100% sure they can get the sled out through the gate and over the sprinkler system without causing damage. This tree was a live Christmas tree for us the 2nd year we moved into this home. It is now as tall as a 3 story house and needs to come down. I planned to cut it down after just a few years, which is the only reason I planted it in the ground. My x got attached to the tree and refused to cut it down. So, now I have a giant sequoia growing in the middle a neighborhood. 😞 The cost to cut it down was about $3000 last year, and with labor prices going so high in our area, it is likely more now. Grrrrrr. 

[Sneezyone]

3 minutes ago, Tap said:

That is great to hear. I had kept our sequoia trimmed up about 8 feet and it the diameter is about 3 feet in that section. I was doing it more for sentimental reasons. I still might do it, but it will be expensive and I am not 100% sure they can get the sled out through the gate and over the sprinkler system without causing damage. This tree was a live Christmas tree for us the 2nd year we moved into this home. It is now as tall as a 3 story house and needs to come down. I planned to cut it down after just a few years, which is the only reason I planted it in the ground. My x got attached to the tree and refused to cut it down. So, now I have a giant sequoia growing in the middle a neighborhood. 😞 The cost to cut it down was about $3000 last year, and with labor prices going so high in our area, it is likely more now. Grrrrrr. 

OMG, yes. The cost to cut down trees is cray! We have a whole wedge of our property that's treed. Everyone else in the neighborhood cut theirs down to build a bigger house. We have a smaller house and more trees. That's great, it made the area affordable for us and gives us a place to blow the pine needles, but DH gets pinecone missiles attacking his truck on a regular basis. One of these days...sigh...

Edited February 4, 2022 by Sneezyone

[lewelma]

When I lived in a hippy commune in rural NZ, we cut down a bunch of trees and got them milled on site. The person that was hired was apparently incompetent and cut the logs to size before they weathered, which resulted in them being too small by a smidgen once they had weathered. But, then of course they were not sell-able except for as off-cuts because they were not standard size.  So do your due diligence. 

[Sneezyone]

33 minutes ago, lewelma said:

When I lived in a hippy commune in rural NZ, we cut down a bunch of trees and got them milled on site. The person that was hired was apparently incompetent and cut the logs to size before they weathered, which resulted in them being too small by a smidgen once they had weathered. But, then of course they were not sell-able except for as off-cuts because they were not standard size.  So do your due diligence. 

Will do, I did read that they need to be cut 1/4” larger when green to account for shrinkage. ☺️. I need to hear more about this commune!!

Edited February 4, 2022 by Sneezyone

[Carrie12345]

This might not fit your particular vision, but *I am dying to rent a portable sawmill! 

We didn’t keep any trees from clearing for the new house because it was cheaper/more efficient to let that company do with the wood what they wanted, on their schedule, but we’re probably going to take some more trees down. We just haven’t decided which ones. And none of them are impressive in size. I just want that experience of giving it a go! (I, too, watch very many homesteading channels, lol.)

 

[Sneezyone]

2 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

This might not fit your particular vision, but *I am dying to rent a portable sawmill! 

We didn’t keep any trees from clearing for the new house because it was cheaper/more efficient to let that company do with the wood what they wanted, on their schedule, but we’re probably going to take some more trees down. We just haven’t decided which ones. And none of them are impressive in size. I just want that experience of giving it a go! (I, too, watch very many homesteading channels, lol.)

 

When the tree came down I was dancing a jig thinking about making something and now I’m looking at these massive logs thinking this is nuts.

[Sneezyone]

4 hours ago, Carrie12345 said:

This might not fit your particular vision, but *I am dying to rent a portable sawmill! 

We didn’t keep any trees from clearing for the new house because it was cheaper/more efficient to let that company do with the wood what they wanted, on their schedule, but we’re probably going to take some more trees down. We just haven’t decided which ones. And none of them are impressive in size. I just want that experience of giving it a go! (I, too, watch very many homesteading channels, lol.)

 

Holy carp and FYI! I called the mobile sawmilll guy, who is surprisingly affordable, and he's going to pick the logs up and bring them back to me for air drying before coming back to get them a month later to dry in his kiln. He also makes custom furniture and other things. Anyway, I checked out his Web site and live edge slabs of maple are hundreds of dollars each!? So then I went and calculated how many board feet there are in these logs. Turns out, I should end up with about 600 board feet of rough cut maple valued at $5-12/board foot depending on the cuts aaaaaand now I wish I'd kept more of the trunk. There was a 6' section that I let them haul away. My mind is blown. The tree is paying for itself. Turns out the live edge and epoxy table craze makes these slabs very, very attractive to woodworkers.

[lewelma]

15 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

 I need to hear more about this commune!!

Well, actually it was an Ecovillage. We lived in a one room hut with no insulation, heat, power, or water in the winter with a BABY. It was quite an adventure.  🙂

[Sneezyone]

1 hour ago, lewelma said:

Well, actually it was an Ecovillage. We lived in a one room hut with no insulation, heat, power, or water in the winter with a BABY. It was quite an adventure.  🙂

It definitely sounds like an adventure!

[Sneezyone]

The giant logs have been retrieved! My front and side yards are a mess due to all of the heavy equipment and rain but they were overdue for tilling, reseeding, and new sprinklers anyway. Bestie is psyched (B/C we're gifting her the raw materials for a live edge table as a retirement gift) and the sawmill guy is happy to get a big chunk of business and "pretty" logs during a relatively slow period (not so happy about the lack of access to this lumber tho) .

 

My final *wish* list for the lumber is:

- One 4" slab for a live edge and epoxy table. Four inches allows it to be butterflied. This is the retirement gift for my bestie.

- Seven or eight 1" boards for use in DH's retirement chest (including live edges).

- Sixteen 2"x 10/12" x 8' boards to build raised garden beds

- Six or eight 4"x4" posts to build raised garden beds and enclosures

 

AAAANNND, if there's enough remaining....

- 1.5" slices suitable to build a maple/epoxy desk and printer stand for our office space

 

After some sleuthing, I determined that untreated maple is unsuitable for a pergola but great for interior applications.

Edited February 9, 2022 by Sneezyone

[mathnerd]

3 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

After some sleuthing, I determined that untreated maple is unsuitable for a pergola but great for interior applications.

This is correct. So, try to use more of it indoors where there is daily usage: some ideas are cutting boards for your kitchen, step stools, wood shelving for kitchen/study etc, office stationary organizer, mail sorting center etc.

[kbutton]

4 hours ago, Sneezyone said:

After some sleuthing, I determined that untreated maple is unsuitable for a pergola but great for interior applications.

It will be beautiful for your interior projects! I love that you're treating your friend to a live edge piece as a gift. 🙂 

[Lucy the Valiant]

We haven't done it ourselves, but our DS often gets hired to help when a friend-of-a-friend brings his portable sawmill around. It's super interesting to watch!

[Sneezyone]

4 hours ago, mathnerd said:

This is correct. So, try to use more of it indoors where there is daily usage: some ideas are cutting boards for your kitchen, step stools, wood shelving for kitchen/study etc, office stationary organizer, mail sorting center etc.

Yep. I'm fine using it for the garden beds b/c I don't want treated lumber for those anyway. I will use a garden-safe stain/sealant for the boards but that's it. At 2", it should be plenty sturdy for my needs.