how to harvest my fruit wood?

[maewest]

I have some trees which sould make nice lumber, an old pecan, plum, pear, walnut, etc, but don't know how to go about it. Do I cut them, take them directly to a sawmill? Or store until dry? How long? Under what conditions? Thanks for any info.

 

[PChristy]

Mae, I believe that the quicker you can end seal them and get them to the mill the better your chances are getting good lumber out of your logs - we have a a few great saw millers here and I am sure they will tell you the best way about doing this

 

[CrealBilly]

I have some trees which sould make nice lumber, an old pecan, plum, pear, walnut, etc, but don't know how to go about it. Do I cut them, take them directly to a sawmill? Or store until dry? How long? Under what conditions? Thanks for any info.

Fell low on the stump delimb and buck to length, no limbs or any wood above the crotch should be cut for lumber it's full of stress. Your butt logs will make the best lumber, logs with big branches cut up for firewood. Endseal the logs with ancorseal, load on a trailer and take to a honest sawmiller. Smaller logs under 20" DIB (Diameter Inside Bark) on the small end should be flat sawn, logs over 20" DIB go ahead and pay the extra saw charge for quarter sawn. Logs under 12" DIB small end cut up for firewood or turning stock, you loose approx 4 inches (2 inches a side) flat sawing so out of a 12" DIB log your looking at around a 8 x 8 cant. Which will be pith ridden in the center, if you cut that into 1x8's your really looking at about 5 or 6 boards since two or three will be ridden with pith depending on the amount of crook and ain't no good for nothing but the fire place. Most sawyers charge extra for anything under 12" DIB. Get your logs to the sawmill ASAP for the highest yeild, sawing dry logs creates a lot of drying defect that will show up as checks when it dries.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask, we got some good sawyers on this site that I'm sure would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

 

[Kyle]

Fell low on the stump delimb and buck to length, no limbs or any wood above the crotch should be cut for lumber it's full of stress. Your butt logs will make the best lumber, logs with big branches cut up for firewood. Endseal the logs with ancorseal, load on a trailer and take to a honest sawmiller. Smaller logs under 20" DIB (Diameter Inside Bark) on the small end should be flat sawn, logs over 20" DIB go ahead and pay the extra saw charge for quarter sawn. Logs under 12" DIB small end cut up for firewood or turning stock, you loose approx 4 inches (2 inches a side) flat sawing so out of a 12" DIB log your looking at around a 8 x 8 cant. Which will be pith ridden in the center, if you cut that into 1x8's your really looking at about 5 or 6 boards since two or three will be ridden with pith depending on the amount of crook and ain't no good for nothing but the fire place. Most sawyers charge extra for anything under 12" DIB. Get your logs to the sawmill ASAP for the highest yeild, sawing dry logs creates a lot of drying defect that will show up as checks when it dries.

If you have any more questions feel free to ask, we got some good sawyers on this site that I'm sure would be more than happy to answer any questions you may have.

+1

Your best wood is harvested in the winter. Your best LUMBER will always be from high grade logs and the outer portion of the log.. Knots are usually prevalent around the pith.

I despise sawing logs that are crooked (dog leg), short(under 4 foot) small diameter except for fence posts and ties. Doesn't mean I won't saw them..just give em the evil eye while sawing..

 

[CrealBilly]

+1

Your best wood is harvested in the winter. Your best LUMBER will always be from high grade logs and the outer portion of the log.. Knots are usually prevalent around the pith.

I despise sawing logs that are crooked (dog leg), short(under 4 foot) small diameter except for fence posts and ties. Doesn't mean I won't saw them..just give em the evil eye while sawing..

Great point about winter harvest. I recall reading in some gov reg that sap is neither up or down and there is basicly the same amount of water in a tree all year round except for extreme conditions like drought or a wet season. I don't know if that's true or not but I can say logs are less likely to split when felled in the winter, not sure if this is due to water content in the tree or the heat drawing water out of the log to fast making it split (hence the importance of end sealer).

 

[scsmith42]

Great point about winter harvest. I recall reading in some gov reg that sap is neither up or down and there is basicly the same amount of water in a tree all year round except for extreme conditions like drought or a wet season. I don't know if that's true or not but I can say logs are less likely to split when felled in the winter, not sure if this is due to water content in the tree or the heat drawing water out of the log to fast making it split (hence the importance of end sealer).

Ditto Kyle and Jeff's comments.

Jeff, the enzymes that attack the wood and discolor it are less active in cold weather, and the drying rate is also reduced, hence the higher quality material.

MaeWest - can you tell us more about your trees? Are they live or dead? Standing or down? What diameter are they (measured 5' above the ground)? What would you like to do with them - have them sawn for material for your projects, have them sawn and sell the wood, or simply give them away to someone that will saw and use them? Do you need them felled or are you handy with a chainsaw?

Pecan, especially when spalted, can be spectacular. Walnut is always nice, and as I recall James Krenov made some pieces from pear wood, but I'm not sure about plumb.

Scott

 

[Tarhead]

Old bottles, sections of barbed wire, bullets, etc imbedded in yard/farm trees make interesting noises when the sawblade hits them. If these trees are suspect plan on buying your sawyer a few extra blades.

 

[Mark Stewart]

Red plum is beautiful wood makes great looking stuff. But for limbs and stuff above crotch do not make into fire wood call your freinds who have lathes and let them make the spinney stuff from them.
thanks
Mark