Urban and Community Wood

[Live Oak]

I am researching thoughts and attitudes about urban wood use. It would help greatly if you would weigh in on these two questions:

What do you currently do with the trees you take down?

What determines how you use the logs you collect? For example, condition, size, species, location…

Thank you in advance!

At Live Oak Tree Company we truck all wood to recycling that is ant infested. We recycle all softwood trees such as willow or poplar. We try to only process straight logs of oak, ash, American elm,& maple for firewood sales. Southeast MI does not have a large market for saw logs.

 

[Live Oak]

Forgive my ignorance on the topic, but when you say "recycle" what does that mean exactly? It's chipped for mulch? What would be a market for saw logs...?

Thank you!

In southeast MI we have several companies which recycle tree debris. Some grind the debris for sales to utility companies. Some grind the debris for landscape mulch sales. Saw logs are logs which are adequate for timber production. Commercial sawmills are scarce in southeast MI.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

Have you heard of the urban wood project? They have some sawmills as partners that might take your wood.

http://urbanwood.org/partners/

We chip all softwood, Sometimes we will save a few big softwood logs or Big cedar for some people I know with mills. The hardwood is cut for firewood. Except for soft hardwood like aspen which gets chipped. Sometimes really big willow goes to the recycling place. I just found a guy who takes big pine for chainsaw bears so that is nice too. Hope that helps..... Mike

 

[rbtree]

We have great resources here in the PNW now.

This company has gone huge. they were the first local company to start reclaiming urban woods.

www.urbanhardwoods.com

www.citytreesalvage.com broke off from them

But I give my woods to Eric, the little guy, who also makes great stuff..specialty being slab art furniture. He'll be exctatic to get some big old big leaf maple from me soon. The butt is 7 feet dbh, but we'll be leaving it up a few feet, as a memorial to the grand old tree. His site is www.gogreendesign.biz He and I use Pete, who has a small 10 ton boom truck, and a Lucas Mill, so there's no charge when he comes out to pick logs for us that are within reach of his dinky 40 foot boom.

Anything interesting and short goes to bowl turners. BTurner (on this forum) got some nice pin oak from me a few years ago. His bowl's are state of the art!

And I sell native timber to the mills- doug fir, cedar, hemlock, alder or straight maple.....though that market has collapsed with the economy.

The only stuff that I pay to get rid of is cottonwood/poplar....and large straight cottonwood can be sold for $140 mbf as peelers. Firewood I give away...have firewood guys come and get it, or use it myself. We never charge the customer to deal with wood unless its cottonwood/poplar, or really junky pine/willow.....