Making my trees into shop flooring?

[AllanD]

I am in the planning stages of building a new shop. The spot is in mature hardwoods, the largest are Red Oak but a few decent sized White Oak and a few smaller hickories. The trees have grown close enough to have long branchless trunks so seems a shame to let them go as firewood. The largest red oak is quite large as you can see in the photo by the fence posts nearby, others are one to two feet in diameter. I plan on having a hardwood floor in the shop (over a basement) so wondered if there are folks out there who I could pay to take these down, saw into boards, mill into T&G flooring and kiln dry it? Just seems a shame to let them go to waste and then buy flooring. Maybe unrealistic but thought I would ask if anyone knows someone who might do this.

 

[scsmith42]

Allen, my sawmill offers the services that you're asking about. What part of the state are you in?


Scott

 

[AllanD]

Thanks Scott. I live between Charlotte and Monroe. I've always admired your expertise, hope you can do it.

 

[scsmith42]

Alan, those are some decent looking trees for lumber. Unfortunately I am about 2 hours from you. Do you have a way to transport the logs?


Scott

 

[AllanD]

I have 20' flat bed trailer with the usual 7000 lb. GVWR but would need to find someone with equipment to load it. I have a grapple on my tractor but the tractor is too small to pick up some of the larger trunks. I've picked up trunks up to a foot or so diameter but some of these trees are more than 2' thick. Any suggestions are welcome.

 

[farmerbw]

You can ramp from the side of the trailer and pull or push the logs up on it with your tractor, no need to lift them. I'm sure Scott will have a wealth of info to share on this and maybe other methods.

B.

 

[scsmith42]

Do a YouTube search on parbuckling.


Scott

 

[CrealBilly]

I have 20' flat bed trailer with the usual 7000 lb. GVWR but would need to find someone with equipment to load it. I have a grapple on my tractor but the tractor is too small to pick up some of the larger trunks. I've picked up trunks up to a foot or so diameter but some of these trees are more than 2' thick. Any suggestions are welcome.

Easy smeasy... (Ain't the right Fred)?Just how did they build all those large buildings long ago with out modern machinery? Well parbuckling played a big role - I can bet you dollars to donuts it did. As did jinpoles

Have a look here --->http://www.ncwoodworker.net/forums/showthread.php?t=56821

 

[AllanD]

Thanks for all the help. The ramps and cable idea may work but I would need to block up the ramps higher since my trailers fenders extend up above the bed. I may have a tree guy I have used in the past bring his big skid steer over and load them for me. The other option which may make the most sense is to have a sawyer come cut the logs into boards and load them on the trailer. I could get more useful wood on the trailer that way and then take it to get dried and milled. I need to make some more phone calls I guess and find a sawyer.

 

[William Roscoe]

To transport and cut and dry and mill and bring back that in flooring, I think you would be way ahead, both in time and money, to buy some surplus flooring on CL. Just sayin'

 

[AllanD]

I considered that but don't know if it would save anything until I get quotes. But if costs are similar I may go ahead with it because I was planning on making the floor 1 & 1/4" or so thick. Then I would use thinner underlayment and have a really solid floor for my machines to roll around on.
Also, I'm not only in to the costs, it would mean something to me to have the floors made from the trees that sacrificed themselves for the building. Much like the few tools I inherited from my father and grandfather have special meaning to me.

 

[CrealBilly]

I considered that but don't know if it would save anything until I get quotes. But if costs are similar I may go ahead with it because I was planning on making the floor 1 & 1/4" or so thick. Then I would use thinner underlayment and have a really solid floor for my machines to roll around on.
Also, I'm not only in to the costs, it would mean something to me to have the floors made from the trees that sacrificed themselves for the building. Much like the few tools I inherited from my father and grandfather have special meaning to me.

If it were mine and I had the trees - I would do a full 2" thick oak T&G plank floor. Not much could fall through that now could it.

 

[AllanD]

You're right! Yeah, two inches sounds even better. Said in my Tim the Toolman voice.

 

[Hmerkle]

If it were mine and I had the trees - I would do a full 2" thick oak T&G plank floor. Not much could fall through that now could it.

...as he stands back and watches the building implode: "Hmmm... I guess that floor span was a little too wide!" :rotflm:

 

[jazzflute]

Heck, just scrape the bark off the logs, lay them side by side and fill the gaps with spackle. That would be even stronger and you'd save a lot on milling and transport.

Just sayin'.

K

 

[CrealBilly]

Heck, just scrape the bark off the logs, lay them side by side and fill the gaps with spackle. That would be even stronger and you'd save a lot on milling and transport.

Just sayin'.

K

Actually you have a very good point. Why not a log cabin shop? I don't know about the spackle though.

 

[JimD]

This seems like a fun plan except that I would hate to use all the wood for flooring. I'd want to make at least a piece or two of furniture out of it. Preferred would be crotches or the stump wood. Something with figure. The stump is asking a lot of the person turning it into lumber. But it can have beautiful grain. Crotches are also more work but worth it to me. I have a fore grip on my double barrel shotgun that started as a crotch piece laying in the firewood pile. I got bored one weekend and started with a chainsaw and progressed to other tools until a fore stock appeared. A crotch or stump slab would make a great top for a table, for instance, or great drawer fronts for a dresser.

 

[scsmith42]

Allan, consider quarter sawing the larger logs (>20" small end diameter). There are two problems with making 8/4 flooring. The first is reduced yield and the second is drying time. 8/4 oak is usually air dried for a couple of years before being finished off in a kiln. If you go into the kiln green it is a 4 month kiln schedule which gets quite expensive.


Scott

 

[Hmerkle]

This seems like a fun plan except that I would hate to use all the wood for flooring. I'd want to make at least a piece or two of furniture out of it. Preferred would be crotches or the stump wood. Something with figure. The stump is asking a lot of the person turning it into lumber. But it can have beautiful grain. Crotches are also more work but worth it to me. I have a fore grip on my double barrel shotgun that started as a crotch piece laying in the firewood pile. I got bored one weekend and started with a chainsaw and progressed to other tools until a fore stock appeared. A crotch or stump slab would make a great top for a table, for instance, or great drawer fronts for a dresser.

That is really cool Jim!
You should post a picture...