# The Larch



## slowp (Sep 30, 2014)

I headed back to the Okanogan area last week. The Larch.


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## northmanlogging (Sep 30, 2014)




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## wyk (Oct 1, 2014)

northmanlogging said:


>




That's the exact skit I was reminded of when I saw this thread.

BTW, if I am not cutting spruce or some sort of cedar here - it's the Larch.


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## Gologit (Oct 1, 2014)

What is larch used for?


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## slowp (Oct 1, 2014)

Comedy skits.

Nah, it can be sawed up for lumber and was. We left it as leave trees in the "take all the dead and dying lodgepole" sales. It's pretty fire resilient. It does make excellent firewood. It splits nicely. One must be able to tell whether it is actually a snag or not if cutting snags for firewood in the winter. We had a new district ranger who complained about how heavy the chunks were from the snags he cut down....oops.


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## wyk (Oct 2, 2014)

Gologit said:


> What is larch used for?



Tamarack is good wood, and it seasons very much like Doug Fir - it's almost completely dimensionally stable. European Larch is similar. In Europe it is mostly used for boats, doors, stairwells, poles, fencing, etc.


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## Humptulips (Oct 2, 2014)

Larch must mean different things to different people or the meaning has changed. My Dad told they called what is now Capitol Peak in the Capitol Forest Larch Mountain. I assume it was mostly Noble Fir.


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## oregon steel (Oct 2, 2014)

On the East side of the state, it is the same price as Doug Fir and goes in the same pile.


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## toolmaker (Oct 2, 2014)

Does Larch look like it is dead in winter time?
We have a lot of Larch around my area. (At least that is what the locals told me it is) The strip mine companies use it to re-plant strip mines after the equipment moves out. It goes completely brown in winter time and all the needles fall off.


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## Joe46 (Oct 2, 2014)

Yes. The needles turn golden in the fall, and then land on the ground.


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## wyk (Oct 2, 2014)

Humptulips said:


> Larch must mean different things to different people or the meaning has changed. My Dad told they called what is now Capitol Peak in the Capitol Forest Larch Mountain. I assume it was mostly Noble Fir.



This is why forester use the latin or 'scientific name'. Larch is Larix. Not a fir(abies), or in the fir family. In the US it is often referred to as Tamarack.


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## Gologit (Oct 2, 2014)

oregon steel said:


> On the East side of the state, it is the same price as Doug Fir and goes in the same pile.


 
You deck and ship them together? No sort?


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## Humptulips (Oct 2, 2014)

They do that with white fir and hemlock hence the term Hem-Fir at the lumber store.


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## wyk (Oct 3, 2014)

Humptulips said:


> They do that with white fir and hemlock hence the term Hem-Fir at the lumber store.



I often find myself correcting the locals, including some foresters, when they refer to the Hemlock here as Douglas Fir, or Fir. Hemlock is far more common and is often made into the Hem-Fir product you mentioned. It seems to be graded more for framing, panels. and decking.


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## wyk (Oct 3, 2014)

Gologit said:


> You deck and ship them together? No sort?



Yep, I can believe it. As with the previously mentioned Hem-Fir product, they also do Doug-Larch similarly.


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## 7oaks (Oct 4, 2014)

Just had my property in NW Montana logged this Sept. We left the Doug Fir, Larch and some Spruce. All the Piss Fir was cut and most of the lodgepole. Doug Fir and Larch went into one pile unless they were large enough to be peelers. Spruce and lodgepole went into another pile (stud logs). Piss Fir (subalpine fir/white fir) went into its own pile as stud logs or for dimensional lumber. The last two piles were pulp wood (pithy) and then firewood.

This photo shows one of the larch trees that were left as seed trees the day we left and headed back east. Note how it is turning yellow from the top down as it was colder in the upper story the preceeding few nights. All the needles will turn brown and drop in the coming weeks. The larch and aspen are what make fall in the Rockies more beautiful than the east's fall colors.


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## AKDoug (Oct 5, 2014)

Larch is lumped in with Douglas fir when it comes to lumber. http://www.wwpa.org/SPECIESPRODUCTS/DouglasFir/tabid/405/Default.aspx


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## slowp (Oct 5, 2014)

Larch and fire.

http://www.yakimaherald.com/home/2529519-8/snag-canyon-fire-shows-how-logging-can-help


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## Jeff Lary (Oct 9, 2014)

I have quite a bit of Hack, Hack-ma-tack, Tamarack, or Larch on my property. It is was mostly used for Mud sills for building that meaning the sill sits directly on the ground. Also another use was and is for "Ship Knees" , they dig up the stump and saw it on a mill. They use the Knees to form the bottom- front, bow/floor of ships. About 10 years ago a man close to me called and asked if he could come and potentially dig up some stumps for this purpose. He did this solely for a living and a good one at that. About 3 days later he was killed while doing this at his farm I am not sure of the details though.
I use it for sills for my barn and shed and a carrying timber for our addition . That one was 8x8 x 24' most of mine are about 20"+ on the stump and 70' tall give or take and it is some heavy stuff. I cut about 10 cords for pulp years ago and the 4' butt cuts took two of us to lift them 3 feet onto my woods trailer, I would guess those were 20" - 24" on the stump and weighed over 300# each.


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## 1270d (Oct 15, 2014)

About peak color now


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## bigbadbob (Oct 15, 2014)

Gologit said:


> What is larch used for?



We have a lot of larch telephone poles, they are very hard once dry, not fun to climb, easy to cut out. 
Out hunting ( near my cabin) in the logged off areas I have noticed a lot of larch planted, its not native to this area,, not sure whats up with that.
BBB


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## OlympicYJ (Oct 17, 2014)

Western larch (Larix occidentalis) is almost identical structurally to Douglas-fir (pseudotsuga menziesii) which is why they get treated the same. White wood such as grand, silver, noble, etch and hemlock are treated the same way for the same reason only less similar than larch and DF. I will personally say I would rather have western hemlock than any of the piss firs. It's still treated the same but it is a better material than the piss firs, IMHO.


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## slowp (Jul 1, 2016)




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## northmanlogging (Jul 1, 2016)

the larch


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## Gypo Logger (Jul 26, 2016)

Gologit said:


> What is larch used for?


Bob, you are dummer than a sack of hammers! lol.
Everybody knows that Larch can be used as propeller shafts. It doesn't rot either you dumb schit. Lol


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## Gypo Logger (Jul 26, 2016)

There is Eastern Larch and Western Larch, clearly Western Larch makes the best wood, because it has tighter growth rings and bigger wood when found in a pure stand if there is such a thing. I once saw a pure stand of white birch. It makes you shiver when you see a tree for the first time.


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## slowp (Sep 14, 2016)

The Larch.


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## northmanlogging (Sep 14, 2016)

dats a big larch


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## madhatte (Sep 14, 2016)

Bigguns for sure. Larches are cool.


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