# Mega walnut tree in backyard



## thewoodchuck (Aug 28, 2013)

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This is a walnut tree in the backyard of a house I just purchased. The board leaning against the tree is a 10'6" long 4x4. I measured the circumference at right around 13' around chest height. The tree has many branches but the trunk is still thick up to about 20-25'. Any opinions out there if this might be a lumber gold mine? I have my doubts since it is in a city setting but thought I'd check it out just in case I can pay the house off with it.


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## olyman (Aug 29, 2013)

thewoodchuck said:


> View attachment 312122
> 
> 
> This is a walnut tree in the backyard of a house I just purchased. The board leaning against the tree is a 10'6" long 4x4. I measured the circumference at right around 13' around chest height. The tree has many branches but the trunk is still thick up to about 20-25'. Any opinions out there if this might be a lumber gold mine? I have my doubts since it is in a city setting but thought I'd check it out just in case I can pay the house off with it.



in the backyard?? aint a single sawyer will touch it..wayyyy tooo many trees had nails,fence,and what not hammered into them years ago..if you saw it with a chainsaw mill yourself..............................


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## flashhole (Aug 29, 2013)

I'll give you $10 for it but you have to pay shipping to NY.


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## rarefish383 (Aug 29, 2013)

As value to your property, it's worth more standing. If you wanted to get rid of it because they are kinda dirty trees, dropping nuts and all, sadly to say, it's worth more as firewood. If you could find someone to mill it up, stack it to air dry for a couple years, then you might get a fair return on it. You have limbs big enough to get milled lumber out of. Good luck, Joe.


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## Big Beech (Aug 29, 2013)

rarefish383 said:


> As value to your property, it's worth more standing. If you wanted to get rid of it because they are kinda dirty trees, dropping nuts and all, sadly to say, it's worth more as firewood. If you could find someone to mill it up, stack it to air dry for a couple years, then you might get a fair return on it. You have limbs big enough to get milled lumber out of. Good luck, Joe.



Too many quick responses to say the tree is worth cord only.
Get a metal detector or find a man with one. 10 mins u will have a difinitive answer


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## showrguy (Aug 29, 2013)

Big Beech said:


> Too many quick responses to say the tree is worth cord only.
> Get a metal detector or find a man with one. 10 mins u will have a difinitive answer



our wood market on this side of the pond is/has been in the crapper..
actually every market here is/has been in the crapper..

the only market that's booming is food stamps and welfare !!!


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## Big Beech (Aug 29, 2013)

showrguy said:


> our wood market on this side of the pond is/has been in the crapper..
> actually every market here is/has been in the crapper..
> 
> the only market that's booming is food stamps and welfare !!!



if your constantly turning all trees in to firewood, not surprised. you keep burning all the good stuff :msp_biggrin:


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## Dave Boyt (Aug 29, 2013)

Looks like around 750 board feet in the main log. After cutting into nails, wire, bolts, an ax head, and cement, I'd throw that one on my Norwood mill in a heartbeat. The only thing that tree could possibly have in it that would surprise me is clear boards. I used a cobaltized (bi-metal) sawmill blade to mill this walnut that I knew had fence wire in it. Actually created some pretty grain, and the blade was still cutting fine after slicing through at least 50 strands of wire.

View attachment 312169


Where in Kansas are you? I'm 20 miles south of Joplin, MO, and often work in the Pittsburg, KS area. Do you want the lumber, or looking to sell?


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## DaltonPaull (Aug 29, 2013)

*In the North West it would be valuable*

Around here it would be valuable - but that could be an expensive removal so you'd be lucky to break even unless you did all the work yourself.

If someone were to mill slabs from that tree and kiln dry them they could would be worth $10-20 a board ft.

Metal or no metal, that tree is WAY too good for firewood but I'd vote for letting it stand if it's healthy.


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## Timberwerks (Aug 29, 2013)

As an example, I paid $360 for this Black Walnut slab last year, 3" thick at local mill. They have one a bit larger now that is $680.

View attachment 312199


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## brookpederson (Aug 29, 2013)

For this thread i must insert a classic
[video=youtube_share;iTgQHWQoatg]http://youtu.be/iTgQHWQoatg[/video]


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## TPA (Aug 29, 2013)

If the tree were in the yard of a house I was going to live in, I think I would rather have the nuts than the wood.

If the tree were in someone elses yard, I'd take the wood.


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## flashhole (Aug 30, 2013)

Loved the Toon.


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## olyman (Aug 30, 2013)

Big Beech said:


> if your constantly turning all trees in to firewood, not surprised. you keep burning all the good stuff :msp_biggrin:



maybe its different over there,,but in america,,yard trees are notorious for being full of hardware...


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## rarefish383 (Aug 30, 2013)

It doesn't matter if there is junk in it or not, no one wants to come get one log. This is a milling site and would be the place to ask. If no small miller will come get it, it is basically worthless. If it was in my wood lot I'd love to have it, and I'm sure there is beautiful wood in it. Will I go get it, no. Will I pay for it, absolutely no. Maybe it's because we have so many of them, they are not rare. I took down 3 walnuts that were close to 36" across. My 36" bar just came through the other side when I notched it. They were straight as an arrow and 40 foot to the first limb. We cut them in 8'6" logs. My neighbor called every mill in the phone book and no one wanted them. They sat for 2 years and another neighbor finally cut them up for firewood. My cousin owns the family tree service, he has a knuckle boom, and gets pretty good money for logs he takes to the mill. But he has to take them in, they won't come to his yard to pick them up. If you can get the log to the mill you might get something for it. But, no one is going to pay you to come get it. Unless you find some hobbyist who wants it bad, it only has value to someone who wants it. Sorry, but that's the way it is, Joe.


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## TPA (Aug 30, 2013)

I have lived where I am all my life. I can easily identify many trees including nut trees. I have never seen a walnut tree. Someone around here might say they are plentiful, but since I have never seen one in over 40 years, I say they are incredibly rare.


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## buzz sawyer (Aug 30, 2013)

Can we get a photo of the whole tree? 

That hole near the top of the photo that hasn't compartmentalized yet - I wonder if that was storm damage or a poor trimming job. Could lead to rot down the main trunk but it looks pretty sturdy right now. 

There is one in my old neighborhood at least that large but last time I looked it has poison ivy growing all over it.


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## buzz sawyer (Aug 30, 2013)

Here's a better look at it. Also looks like some missing bark on the left side? That is a 2x4 leaning against it, right?


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## rarefish383 (Aug 31, 2013)

TPA said:


> I have lived where I am all my life. I can easily identify many trees including nut trees. I have never seen a walnut tree. Someone around here might say they are plentiful, but since I have never seen one in over 40 years, I say they are incredibly rare.


 
I've lived in MD for 57 years and I have never seen an armadillo, are they rare. We've had this discussion several times and it always ends the same way, just like the cartoon posted above. Jump over to the firewood forum and see how many people burn Black Walnut. I love Black Walnut, I'd love to have some of the logs that I've split for firewood when I was a kid, but just because I want it to be valuable, doesn't make it so. I just went on ebay and did a search for Black Walnut and White Oak. That should tell you real world what it's worth. Take a look for yourself. If anyone would like a piece I'd be happy to send you one for the price of the USPS flat rate box. You pick which size box you want and I'll send you a piece. I even have some cut offs that have been air dried in the basement for 20 years or better. You are welcome to those. I hope I haven't hurt any ones feelings, but some one has to be the bad guy, and tell the truth, Joe.


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## TPA (Aug 31, 2013)

Well...the fault in that argument is that artisans are not actively seeking armadillos for their work.

If you utilized turtle shells for a project but they are extremely difficult to work with (oak) and you wished you had armadillo shells to work with which are easier to work with and more beautiful, then you would be asking me about my plentiful supply of armadillos (walnut).

Would you cut and burn a very nice old osage orange out of a persons yard up there? People in Texas do.

Maybe I should send a log truck up there! :msp_biggrin:

I have seen local ads for people willing to pay money to remove certain trees and walnut is one of them. In my area, if you have large pine trees on your land, you are definitly the person in the cartoon (my highly valuable pine tree), and the other person is willing to pay and is haggling over the price (pine grows like weeds here but are worth money). You can't give oak away unless it's bucked and split.

Regional mindsets I suppose...:msp_unsure:


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## rarefish383 (Aug 31, 2013)

I just got off of a 13hr day and was a little cranky. That was my point, regional mindset. My family has been in the residential tree business for four generations. People always call and ask how much will you give them to take a tree down, nothing. The only value in the tree is after it has been cut and milled and dried. The process of doing that is the same no matter what the type of wood. So, if you call suppliers there is not that much difference in the price of the lumber. Is it a shame to split it up for firewood, sure. But, if the person with the tree had to pay to remove it, mill it, kiln dry it, store it, and sell a piece at a time over several years, they would have made more money if the just sold it for firewood. Just in the last year I've seen the timber market starting to improve a little, not much. There is still a glut in the market. People every where need some extra cash and are selling off stands of nice timber. They are not getting rich because every one is selling. The value of that tree, to me, is a nice big healthy tree in the yard. The OP asked if it was a "GOLD MINE". My point is, pay a tree company $1000 to take the tree down and leave the logs in 8'6" pieces. Put the logs on a CL add. Say you get $200 for the big one, is that the gold mine he was looking for. If he can cut the tree down himself and haul all the scrap to the dump, is the work he did worth the gold mine he got for it. No matter how much beautiful wood is under the bark, you're not gonna pay off the car or college loans with it. 

I guess what this whole rant of mine boils down to is, this post has been up for 3 days on a world wide forum, how many people are standing at the front door bidding on the tree? Joe.


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## TreePointer (Aug 31, 2013)

You might find a couple people to buy some blanks from that tree to make gun stocks and grips and maybe a few carving projects. Then you get to figure out what to do with the remaining 95% of the tree.


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## SDB777 (Aug 31, 2013)

You can cut it down and bring it to me, I'll only charge you Doyle scale to mill it.
Then you can take it some where to have it kiln dried. Or you can take a few years to air dry it in a spot in the garage.

Then, it might be worth a few bucks per boardfoot....just saying.





Scott (good luck with your goldmine) B


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## Dave Boyt (Sep 2, 2013)

Woodchuck, for a first post, you've stirred up a lot of opinions. You haven't posted anything else, so I hope all this controversy hasn't scared you away. It is, as they say, regional. I know a cabinet maker who will buy all the walnut I can cut, so the tree would have value to me, and I would risk a few blades for the wood. I do not, however have a market for armadillos, so their abundance or scarcity is a moot point. All of the opinions expressed are based on experience, and different sawyers have had different experiences, which is what makes this forum so valuable (and often entertaining). I hope you'll keep us updated on what you decide to do, and post again. But if you hang out here too much you might just decide you need a sawmill of your own!


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## rarefish383 (Sep 2, 2013)

Your right Dave, if we are going to argue about things we should start a new thread. Keep the answers for the OP polite and to the point. We can have different opinions and cat fight about them later. As an Arborist in MD, my vote is the tree's value is as it stands. If the OP was in your town, and you were trying to get him top dollar for a tree like that, what would you guesstamate on it. Back here it's a shame most of the Walnuts I see go to firewood. Sorry if I was rude, Joe. 

P,S. I have a very good friend from MO, I'll have to ask her if she knows your town.


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## Dave Boyt (Sep 2, 2013)

rarefish383 said:


> If the OP was in your town, and you were trying to get him top dollar for a tree like that, what would you guesstamate on it. Back here it's a shame most of the Walnuts I see go to firewood. Sorry if I was rude, Joe.
> 
> P,S. I have a very good friend from MO, I'll have to ask her if she knows your town.



Let's see... 13' circumference is about 4' diameter, 48" by 10' long, comes to about 650 board ft. On the stump in the forest, it might go for around $.50 per board ft, or $325 for the tree. There is a "cat face" (from an old branch) on the left side, evidence of rot, and the crotch looks like it will have bark inclusions, so we're talking grade lumber. Though the branches are big enough to mill, the wood is too unstable to be worth milling. From a yard, a commercial mill wouldn't touch it, but I would, since I have a fairly consistent market. It would be worth it to me to drive, say, 20 miles and pay the $325. Under no circumstances would I try to cut it if it were near a building or power lines, so the owner would have to assume the risk or hire a tree company to cut it down. Short answer, it is not a gold mine, but it isn't worthless, either. The tree is increasing in value, though. If it has a healthy crown, give it another hundred years or so, and ask me again.:msp_rolleyes:

Neosho is 20 miles south of Joplin in the southwest corner of Missouri. In these parts, we call armadillos "possum on the half-shell."


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## discounthunter (Sep 3, 2013)

i would say the nut crop will get you more value for now until,nature takes out the tree or you find a buyer.


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## johncinco (Sep 9, 2013)

I milled up a yard walnut this spring. I lost 2 bandsaw blades to metal and crap in the wood. They each cost me about $18 with the shipping. I sold 3 thick planks out of it for $250, $350, and $400. I sold a bunch of 6/4" planks for anywhere from $2.50 to $4 a bf. I sold a bunch of limbs cut up from $25 to $50. Yeah, I'd cut up a yard log again.


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## Dave Boyt (Sep 9, 2013)

johncinco said:


> I milled up a yard walnut this spring. I lost 2 bandsaw blades to metal and crap in the wood. They each cost me about $18 with the shipping. I sold 3 thick planks out of it for $250, $350, and $400. I sold a bunch of 6/4" planks for anywhere from $2.50 to $4 a bf. I sold a bunch of limbs cut up from $25 to $50. Yeah, I'd cut up a yard log again.



John, let's say you made $1,200 on the wood from that tree (nice haul by the way). The question at hand is, taking the risks, investing the time and equipment, taxes & insurance, and time spent finding buyers, how much would have you been willing to pay the owner of that walnut tree? Would it have been enough to even cover the cost of having a tree service put it on the ground? We on the forum are used to looking at things from the sawmill side, but the original poster is approaching the question as the owner of the tree.


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## axetree (Sep 15, 2013)

Sure that's not an ash tree?


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## buzz sawyer (Sep 15, 2013)

axetree said:


> Sure that's not an ash tree?



Had the same thought. I assumed the OP or neighbors confirmed the presence of walnuts.


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## isaaccarlson (Sep 18, 2013)

I was just going to ask if it was an ash tree. The bark and growth looks more like ash than walnut.


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## thewoodchuck (Sep 20, 2013)

Dave Boyt said:


> Looks like around 750 board feet in the main log. After cutting into nails, wire, bolts, an ax head, and cement, I'd throw that one on my Norwood mill in a heartbeat. The only thing that tree could possibly have in it that would surprise me is clear boards. I used a cobaltized (bi-metal) sawmill blade to mill this walnut that I knew had fence wire in it. Actually created some pretty grain, and the blade was still cutting fine after slicing through at least 50 strands of wire.
> 
> View attachment 312169
> 
> ...



I am located in Emporia, KS. I am looking to sell if the price is right.


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## thewoodchuck (Sep 20, 2013)

buzz sawyer said:


> Here's a better look at it. Also looks like some missing bark on the left side? That is a 2x4 leaning against it, right?



The bark is there my best guess is maybe lightning? The board is an actual 4x4.


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