Urban logging. Anyone do it?

[prentice110]

I have an in with a wood flooring co that always want white Oak. Other than that Im always looking for that one American Elm log that wants to be the new deck for my trailer. I want something that wont split.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I have an in with a wood flooring co that always want white Oak. Other than that Im always looking for that one American Elm log that wants to be the new deck for my trailer. I want something that wont split.

We have one guy up here who does truck steak-beds out of silver maple. It looks nice and is rather light.

 

[Tree Machine]

I have done a lot of milling in the past, and could feed you guys 100's of pictures; Alaskan milling, Woodmizer, Lucas, freehand slabbing. My passion for recycling 100% of every molecule of every tree has prompted me to explore the many ways to reclaim urban lumber. Most of the time I cut stuff up into firewood, but a nice log is so hard to do that to. So I save it and probably cut it up into firewood sometime in the next few years.

This picture, I got the log, inoculated it with fungus spawn, (Ganoderma lucidum), to create spalting patterns and then milled it 18 months later.

I always have to take off normal work to do this stuff, so the opportunity cost has to be factored in and is usually ends up costing me a mint. However, somewhere deep inside its worth it. The watching of a woodmizer opening up a log, the smell, mmmm. But then there's the cleanup, the stacking, the stickering the storing, the space and then I'm so busy with treecare I don't have time to work with the wood I've created. I'm buried in it. It's sad in a way.

 

[NeTree]

I get a request for that kind of stuff once in a while but not a big market.

Same here.

 

[tree md]

I have done a lot of milling in the past, and could feed you guys 100's of pictures; Alaskan milling, Woodmizer, Lucas, freehand slabbing. My passion for recycling 100% of every molecule of every tree has prompted me to explore the many ways to reclaim urban lumber. Most of the time I cut stuff up into firewood, but a nice log is so hard to do that to. So I save it and probably cut it up into firewood sometime in the next few years.

This picture, I got the log, inoculated it with fungus spawn, (Ganoderma lucidum), to create spalting patterns and then milled it 18 months later.

I always have to take off normal work to do this stuff, so the opportunity cost has to be factored in and is usually ends up costing me a mint. However, somewhere deep inside its worth it. The watching of a woodmizer opening up a log, the smell, mmmm. But then there's the cleanup, the stacking, the stickering the storing, the space and then I'm so busy with treecare I don't have time to work with the wood I've created. I'm buried in it. It's sad in a way.

It's too bad you don't live closer. One of my good friends and business associates is a carpenter. I actually dump my brush on his 15 acres and burn it. ANyway, he builds custom cabinets, display cases and whatnot. They plowed an old Black Walnut down not far from his house clearing a fence line as an area to range cattle as well as for a firebreak and all the wood there just went to waste. And this goes for miles around the perimeter of the huge property (this is Oklahoma). I told my friend about the old Walnut and we had thought about trying to recover it. We haven't completely dismissed the notion. We are thinking about buying a mill and seeing what we can do.

Anyway, if you lived closer he would probably take everything you have off your hands. He has bid a couple of apartment complexes on completely replacing their cabinets. If he gets any of the bids he plans to build the cabinets in his shop on his property. I told him I would help him during the Wintertime when I was slow. Not for the small wage he would pay me but for the learning experience.

 

[Tree Machine]

I've tried selling the wood. Make an appointment, hope the guy shows up on time. Hang with him and help pull apart stacks so he can select out the best pieces for himself, calculating board-feet and equating it to the market price. Re-stack the lesser pieces. Help him load. He wants to write me a check which is only a portion of the cost of the day off work and the paying of the milling guy, not to mention the work time lost in doing this transaction. I end up with less money in hand than if I'd have just gone to work that morning. I sell at a loss, he gets some unobtainable stock for a bargain and I end up with a partial amount of my same wood, minus the choice pieces.

It sounds like I'm whining, but actually am just spelling out the economic realities as it applies to a full-time arborist.

 

[Tree Machine]

I hope I'm not discouraging anyone. Reclaiming urban lumber is noble and 'the right thing to do', I keep doing it, but with far less frequency than in the past decade. It was something I sort of dreamed of when growing up, a romantic vision of turning logs into fine wood and using that wood to create beautiful things. I consider myself lucky in being able to realize that dream, but with it comes the realities of paying helpers, hitting metal in the log, time off work, wear and tear on saws, transporting wood, storage, I've had stacks of wood stolen, volunteer helpers who want the very best pieces... and on and on.

I like big, giant table slabs. The problem is surfacing the chainsaw marks out of them, in the field where the mess is being made (transporting them to another site to make another mess another time wrecks the deal).
The walnut crotch slab below was wrecked when we determined it too wide to fit on the Woodmizer. The 'arms' had to be cut off so we could mill it.

if ANYONE knows a swift way to bring the (chain)sawn surfaces to a smooth surface, I'm all ears. You can't use a planer as the slabs are too wide and too thick and too heavy and maybe not perfectly flat. No floor sander suggestions or belt sander. Wet wood gums up sandpaper in short order.

 

[Tree Machine]

These days I'm more likely to whip out a stump bench in under a half hour, as seen in the picture and walk away.

I'll do this because I see the art in the standing piece and I'm inspired by natures beauty and want to preserve it in some form.

The problem is I see art in every tree I look at. Sometimes I buck up firewood and it just hurts knowing the wood is valuable.

 

[kevin bingham]

I save every log for milling. I probably am in the early phases of tree machines story. slowly but surely burying myself in it. A lot of my wood goes to makeing pallets, trailer decking and industrial transport material. My sawer has a few contracts which pay pretty well. That pays for the milling of my finer logs, the oak, walnut, the cherries, box elder, and intresting woods for me. Being able to sell green lumber is a huge advantage because storage is def the trickiest part about it.

I think there is potential but a lot of space is required and time and being effecient is hard. If you can get it down to moving the boards just once its great. but sometimes you want the wood at the bottom of the pile. frustrating. at the same time it is amazing to cut into a log and see what lies beneath. I am getting ready to take a bunch of ash boards to the mill and get it made into flooring for my sisters house.

I like your 1/2 hour log bench by the way, that is elegant and Im definitly going to use that one if you dont mind.

for planing the slabs have you tried a power hand planer? that might work.

 

[kevin bingham]

Your story of selling the wood is all to familiar. It seems everytime I feel like ive been ripped off of my best pieces and im left with a couple of bucks and a lost day. I sold a slab of boxelder to a lady for 30 bucks, she sanded it down stuck 4 legs on it and turned around and sold it for $300. then boasted to me about it! I think there is only money it if your able to tap into the value added side of the market as seen by this story. Instead of digging through my pile with this woman, I should have had my sander out and been sanding down my boxelder into amazing art pieces.

A lot of it it i look at like a savings acount. I'll collect boards and slabs and cool wood and then when climbing gets boring or too hard for my beatup body ill hit the wood pile and become an artist. I have enrolled in a wood sculpture class to maybe learn a little about the process.

 

[treesquirrel]

Sorry but no I do not. I have a logger that will come pick up stuff I can drop whole if I call him and it is good saw timber.

Over the years I have stopped fooling with anything that cannot turn me a decent buck or two. I got tired of charity work.

 

[Tree Machine]

I hear ya, squirrel. And Bingham.

This picture is charity work, doing good for the community a volunteer effort for the good of all. I placed wood benches, hung swings, built a see-saw and cased in that fort with logs. It took a number of days when it was all said and done. The kids in the area had a place to go and play. Everyone was onboard, the community loved it. We named it the "Peace Park."

Then, the kids were discovered hiding in that fort smoking cigarettes. Then someone felt like a kid could fall off the incline board, or get hurt on one of the swings. They played the 'liability' card and asked me to un-do the work I'd done, at my expense. I flat out told them to stick it up their.... um, let's say, just for the sake of conversation that I politely declined. They paid another tree service come in and dismantle the work.

No good deed goes unpunished so the saying goes.

 

[Tree Machine]

As long as I'm on a roll, let me share the biggest failure of all time. I was asked to build a 'platform' treehouse amongst, but physically unattached to other adjacent standing trees. I had a stash of cherry and elm logs and a pile of 16" wide, 2" thick tulip planks, so I thought "Gee what a great opportunity to recycle the logs and lumber into something unique."

The plan was to place vertically oriented logs on pressure-treated plates for the support, dado them out to accept the rustic band board and build upon this frame a platform and treehouse.

This was my greatest example of 'Murphy's Law' ever, going well beyond costing more and taking longer than expected. I just thought it would be cool, and it was. However, days and days (weeks) of tree work were lost and then mid-project, a serious storm hit, the project went on hold, my schedule got flooded and I still had this commitment to finish.

I finished, but when the final bill was proposed, the homeowners balked, there was much stress in the negotiation, I took a loss, and lost the tree client as well.

I vowed never again to build anything for anyone other than myself. I won't even hang a swing and I don't have a problem anymore saying no.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

I've hollowed a few out for planters too.

 

[treesquirrel]

I finished, but when the final bill was proposed, the homeowners balked, there was much stress in the negotiation, I took a loss, and lost the tree client as well.

I vowed never again to build anything for anyone other than myself. I won't even hang a swing and I don't have a problem anymore saying no.

Man that was an impressive bit of work! Sadly I have come to the conclusion that fewer and fewer folks truly appreciate anything done for them.

American society has become a bunch of panty wastes that think anything done for them is something they are entitled to even if it is at someone else expense. Its the ultimate in orgasmic utopia for a left winger.

 

[kevin bingham]

is that treehouse still standing? how did it handle rot issues. Beautiful though. to bad it ended bitterly.

 

[kevin bingham]

i dont think that should discourage you to do that kind of thing. Maybe its a lesson learned about communicating things. You did get the experienc which I could see as valuable. I get into the trap a lot because very few things can compete financially like tree climbing. I will never be able to pay myself treeclimbing wages sanding boards and making picture frames. I do think that it is something valuable to cultivate and there is undeniably lots of value in wood. Its how to tap into it wisely is the question. Treework is very easily diversified and I think it is good to do so both for mind and body. Networking is critical in all this.

 

[PurdueJoe]

I just had a guy I knew from school come down to mill up some of my finer Walnut, Oak and Ash. I'm using the ash for board fence at the front of where I'm building at to keep the vines in (one day a want little vineyard) and more importantly to keep the morons on quads out. The rest is going to be used for the interior of my house or whatever else I find a need for. While I'd like to sell some lumber I too don't want to the best pieces taken for a fraction of what they're worth and me left with the scraps. Price of lumber is like tree work,whether it be a $2,000 removal or $75 walnut board both are only worth that much if someone wants to pay that for it.

 

[RVALUE]

I politely declined. They paid another tree service come in and dismantle the work.

Not to get into a bad customer mode, (it would crash this server) but why do people want you to do it free, then pay someone else?

I have given several people significant gifts, only to have them hire my competition later, ???? so as to not address the gift? To get overcharged??


Go figure.

Oh, good post.

 

[tree md]

As long as I'm on a roll, let me share the biggest failure of all time. I was asked to build a 'platform' treehouse amongst, but physically unattached to other adjacent standing trees. I had a stash of cherry and elm logs and a pile of 16" wide, 2" thick tulip planks, so I thought "Gee what a great opportunity to recycle the logs and lumber into something unique."

The plan was to place vertically oriented logs on pressure-treated plates for the support, dado them out to accept the rustic band board and build upon this frame a platform and treehouse.

This was my greatest example of 'Murphy's Law' ever, going well beyond costing more and taking longer than expected. I just thought it would be cool, and it was. However, days and days (weeks) of tree work were lost and then mid-project, a serious storm hit, the project went on hold, my schedule got flooded and I still had this commitment to finish.

I finished, but when the final bill was proposed, the homeowners balked, there was much stress in the negotiation, I took a loss, and lost the tree client as well.

I vowed never again to build anything for anyone other than myself. I won't even hang a swing and I don't have a problem anymore saying no.

TM, you do some really cool work.