Live Oak Harvest

[Middle Bay]

Hey guys, got a question. I'm here in Birmingham, Alabama now and know someone that wants to remove an ENORMOUS live oak. Yes, it is tragic- they want to remove for a homesite- I want to know if there is a way to harvest the timer, how, and who should I call. I wanted to ask you guys first before I started calling sawmills and lumber yards to get your opionins.
They're hoping someone will come 'remove it' for free, to keep the wood, but is that economical for one tree? It is about [correction 11 feet in diameter], supposedly 20 feet until the first branch, an ancient majestic oak, I'd hate to see it firewood. It's the real deal- old live oak, supposedly very coveted boat-wood, although I've never seen a piece of 'live oak' lumber.

So if anybody's got some thoughts please pass them along, any speculation on how much lumber one huge tree can yield. My brother and don't need the wood for any current project, but if we can end up with a bunch of live oak affordably, then we are real interested.

Thanks,
Justin

[ 10-27-2003, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Middle Bay ]

[Middle Bay]

Hey guys, got a question. I'm here in Birmingham, Alabama now and know someone that wants to remove an ENORMOUS live oak. Yes, it is tragic- they want to remove for a homesite- I want to know if there is a way to harvest the timer, how, and who should I call. I wanted to ask you guys first before I started calling sawmills and lumber yards to get your opionins.
They're hoping someone will come 'remove it' for free, to keep the wood, but is that economical for one tree? It is about [correction 11 feet in diameter], supposedly 20 feet until the first branch, an ancient majestic oak, I'd hate to see it firewood. It's the real deal- old live oak, supposedly very coveted boat-wood, although I've never seen a piece of 'live oak' lumber.

So if anybody's got some thoughts please pass them along, any speculation on how much lumber one huge tree can yield. My brother and don't need the wood for any current project, but if we can end up with a bunch of live oak affordably, then we are real interested.

Thanks,
Justin

[ 10-27-2003, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Middle Bay ]

[Middle Bay]

Hey guys, got a question. I'm here in Birmingham, Alabama now and know someone that wants to remove an ENORMOUS live oak. Yes, it is tragic- they want to remove for a homesite- I want to know if there is a way to harvest the timer, how, and who should I call. I wanted to ask you guys first before I started calling sawmills and lumber yards to get your opionins.
They're hoping someone will come 'remove it' for free, to keep the wood, but is that economical for one tree? It is about [correction 11 feet in diameter], supposedly 20 feet until the first branch, an ancient majestic oak, I'd hate to see it firewood. It's the real deal- old live oak, supposedly very coveted boat-wood, although I've never seen a piece of 'live oak' lumber.

So if anybody's got some thoughts please pass them along, any speculation on how much lumber one huge tree can yield. My brother and don't need the wood for any current project, but if we can end up with a bunch of live oak affordably, then we are real interested.

Thanks,
Justin

[ 10-27-2003, 05:28 PM: Message edited by: Middle Bay ]

[Ariel]

Call your local sawmill--can you chop down a live oak over 3 feet in diameter without a permit? You can't in Mobile....

[Ariel]

Call your local sawmill--can you chop down a live oak over 3 feet in diameter without a permit? You can't in Mobile....

[Ariel]

Call your local sawmill--can you chop down a live oak over 3 feet in diameter without a permit? You can't in Mobile....

[Oyvind Snibsoer]

Dunno anything about the yield from a huge tree like that, but I've chopped down quite a few trees for lumber, and the biggest trees are the most fun :D But a mastodont like that seems like a job for the pros. With an 11' dia. base you'll need a chainsaw with a 5 1/2' sword, and an engine to match that sword. Now that may be common in America, but they're really scarce around here. Still, if you can have all that wood for free, the cost of renting some professional help and machinery to have it felled is probably pretty small compared to the value of the wood. I'd speculate you could at least get a few good longships out of that one tree smile.gif

[Oyvind Snibsoer]

Dunno anything about the yield from a huge tree like that, but I've chopped down quite a few trees for lumber, and the biggest trees are the most fun :D But a mastodont like that seems like a job for the pros. With an 11' dia. base you'll need a chainsaw with a 5 1/2' sword, and an engine to match that sword. Now that may be common in America, but they're really scarce around here. Still, if you can have all that wood for free, the cost of renting some professional help and machinery to have it felled is probably pretty small compared to the value of the wood. I'd speculate you could at least get a few good longships out of that one tree smile.gif

[Oyvind Snibsoer]

Dunno anything about the yield from a huge tree like that, but I've chopped down quite a few trees for lumber, and the biggest trees are the most fun :D But a mastodont like that seems like a job for the pros. With an 11' dia. base you'll need a chainsaw with a 5 1/2' sword, and an engine to match that sword. Now that may be common in America, but they're really scarce around here. Still, if you can have all that wood for free, the cost of renting some professional help and machinery to have it felled is probably pretty small compared to the value of the wood. I'd speculate you could at least get a few good longships out of that one tree smile.gif

[gary porter]

Justin, is there a chance you could post a picture of this tree.
I would certainly like to get a hold of a small portion of it if thats ever a possibility.
The wood of a live oak is quite tough and a bit hard to work but makes some nice furniture and is a traditional wood for a fairly good calking mallet. Your talking about a tree that would likely have some incredible grain structure and would also weigh an incredible amount. Whatever you do , don't let it get cut up for firewood.
How much length is in the butt log ( from the ground to the first limbs?
Gary.... :eek:

[gary porter]

Justin, is there a chance you could post a picture of this tree.
I would certainly like to get a hold of a small portion of it if thats ever a possibility.
The wood of a live oak is quite tough and a bit hard to work but makes some nice furniture and is a traditional wood for a fairly good calking mallet. Your talking about a tree that would likely have some incredible grain structure and would also weigh an incredible amount. Whatever you do , don't let it get cut up for firewood.
How much length is in the butt log ( from the ground to the first limbs?
Gary.... :eek:

[gary porter]

Justin, is there a chance you could post a picture of this tree.
I would certainly like to get a hold of a small portion of it if thats ever a possibility.
The wood of a live oak is quite tough and a bit hard to work but makes some nice furniture and is a traditional wood for a fairly good calking mallet. Your talking about a tree that would likely have some incredible grain structure and would also weigh an incredible amount. Whatever you do , don't let it get cut up for firewood.
How much length is in the butt log ( from the ground to the first limbs?
Gary.... :eek:

[Middle Bay]

Sorry guys, it's 11 feet diameter (not across). Still pretty big and supposedly 20 feet until the branches. I haven't laid eyes upon it, but it's out in a rural area, so I don't think permits would apply, but it will be cut.
If anyone has experince with this wood what should we be looking to do as far as drying goes, and what kind of cuts should we be after, as far as thickness for drying. I see myself using some 12/4 and 8/4 for some projects, but is that ideal for dyring? We will have room for storage, so any tips will be helpful.
A tree service has quoted the owner $3000 to remove it.

Thanks,
Justin

[Middle Bay]

Sorry guys, it's 11 feet diameter (not across). Still pretty big and supposedly 20 feet until the branches. I haven't laid eyes upon it, but it's out in a rural area, so I don't think permits would apply, but it will be cut.
If anyone has experince with this wood what should we be looking to do as far as drying goes, and what kind of cuts should we be after, as far as thickness for drying. I see myself using some 12/4 and 8/4 for some projects, but is that ideal for dyring? We will have room for storage, so any tips will be helpful.
A tree service has quoted the owner $3000 to remove it.

Thanks,
Justin

[Middle Bay]

Sorry guys, it's 11 feet diameter (not across). Still pretty big and supposedly 20 feet until the branches. I haven't laid eyes upon it, but it's out in a rural area, so I don't think permits would apply, but it will be cut.
If anyone has experince with this wood what should we be looking to do as far as drying goes, and what kind of cuts should we be after, as far as thickness for drying. I see myself using some 12/4 and 8/4 for some projects, but is that ideal for dyring? We will have room for storage, so any tips will be helpful.
A tree service has quoted the owner $3000 to remove it.

Thanks,
Justin

[gary porter]

Oops, sorry, just reread , got it 20'.
Gary

[gary porter]

Oops, sorry, just reread , got it 20'.
Gary

[gary porter]

Oops, sorry, just reread , got it 20'.
Gary

[gary porter]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Middle Bay:
[QB]Sorry guys, it's 11 feet diameter (not across).

Ok, I think your talking circumfrance instead of diameter which is kinda what I expected.
If you want to end up with 12/4 material you'll have to get it cut something a bit thicker.
I'd have to check on the shrinkage of Live Oak, perhaps Hoadley has some info on that but I'd say at least another inch. It will take a long time to dry that thick of material, several years but you could take some of it to a kiln , especially one that does the drying slowly. It should take on the order of a month even in a good kiln. You can just sticker it , stack it , in a sheltered space with good air flow and forget it until someday you decide just what you want to do with it. You could send some to me of course, I'd be glad to ship some north. I've shipped whole logs from Indiana on several occasions with good success. I use a bandsaw mill here that makes a good cut with not much loss in the kerf. Please keep us posted and If I were you I'd just go cut it myself and keep the $3000. You might spend some of it on a new chainsaw with a really big engine and bar. Good Luck.
Gary

[gary porter]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Middle Bay:
[QB]Sorry guys, it's 11 feet diameter (not across).

Ok, I think your talking circumfrance instead of diameter which is kinda what I expected.
If you want to end up with 12/4 material you'll have to get it cut something a bit thicker.
I'd have to check on the shrinkage of Live Oak, perhaps Hoadley has some info on that but I'd say at least another inch. It will take a long time to dry that thick of material, several years but you could take some of it to a kiln , especially one that does the drying slowly. It should take on the order of a month even in a good kiln. You can just sticker it , stack it , in a sheltered space with good air flow and forget it until someday you decide just what you want to do with it. You could send some to me of course, I'd be glad to ship some north. I've shipped whole logs from Indiana on several occasions with good success. I use a bandsaw mill here that makes a good cut with not much loss in the kerf. Please keep us posted and If I were you I'd just go cut it myself and keep the $3000. You might spend some of it on a new chainsaw with a really big engine and bar. Good Luck.
Gary

[gary porter]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Middle Bay:
[QB]Sorry guys, it's 11 feet diameter (not across).

Ok, I think your talking circumfrance instead of diameter which is kinda what I expected.
If you want to end up with 12/4 material you'll have to get it cut something a bit thicker.
I'd have to check on the shrinkage of Live Oak, perhaps Hoadley has some info on that but I'd say at least another inch. It will take a long time to dry that thick of material, several years but you could take some of it to a kiln , especially one that does the drying slowly. It should take on the order of a month even in a good kiln. You can just sticker it , stack it , in a sheltered space with good air flow and forget it until someday you decide just what you want to do with it. You could send some to me of course, I'd be glad to ship some north. I've shipped whole logs from Indiana on several occasions with good success. I use a bandsaw mill here that makes a good cut with not much loss in the kerf. Please keep us posted and If I were you I'd just go cut it myself and keep the $3000. You might spend some of it on a new chainsaw with a really big engine and bar. Good Luck.
Gary

[Bob Smalser]

Letsee...how far from Puget Sound to Alabama hauling the Lucas?

Anyway....I'd recommend a tree service guy to chunk down the crown rather that fall the whole tree...saves usable wood in the boughs and eliminates any possibility of that bole cracking.

This tree is valuable enuf that you need to call your local sawmill. I suspect the best course of action might be to pay to have it chunked and dropped for 3-500 bucks...then once you have a mill price to contract with a local self-loading log truck to haul it there....here it's 200 bucks a semi-truckload for 50 miles to the mill.

Problem is...that bole if 11' at the base weighs 113,000 pounds or so...and needs to be milled on site or quartered to ship....45k lbs or so is the load weight of most log trucks.

You've got almost 17,000 BF in the bole by Scribner scale, not counting the boughs. On an efficient mill like a Lucas or good bandmill, I would expect to recover 25,000 or more BF from that tree...less any defects in the bole.

I suspect Live Oak retails in the 8-dollar/BF range...and have no idea what it sells for in the log when it's available...but even at a buck a BF you'll be far ahead to pursue my recommendations.

So call the mill...if you can't find one call a local logger, who'll know. Once you run the numbers, if you decide to have it milled on site on shares with a sawyer, here's where to find them...most mill mfgrs gladly provide the names of local mill owners:

http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/index.htm

http://www.mobilemfg.com/

http://www.baileys-online.com/

http://www.woodmizer.com/welcome.html

Please don't give it away without calling me...maybe my old Pete will make that distance and back. :D

[ 10-27-2003, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Bob Smalser]

Letsee...how far from Puget Sound to Alabama hauling the Lucas?

Anyway....I'd recommend a tree service guy to chunk down the crown rather that fall the whole tree...saves usable wood in the boughs and eliminates any possibility of that bole cracking.

This tree is valuable enuf that you need to call your local sawmill. I suspect the best course of action might be to pay to have it chunked and dropped for 3-500 bucks...then once you have a mill price to contract with a local self-loading log truck to haul it there....here it's 200 bucks a semi-truckload for 50 miles to the mill.

Problem is...that bole if 11' at the base weighs 113,000 pounds or so...and needs to be milled on site or quartered to ship....45k lbs or so is the load weight of most log trucks.

You've got almost 17,000 BF in the bole by Scribner scale, not counting the boughs. On an efficient mill like a Lucas or good bandmill, I would expect to recover 25,000 or more BF from that tree...less any defects in the bole.

I suspect Live Oak retails in the 8-dollar/BF range...and have no idea what it sells for in the log when it's available...but even at a buck a BF you'll be far ahead to pursue my recommendations.

So call the mill...if you can't find one call a local logger, who'll know. Once you run the numbers, if you decide to have it milled on site on shares with a sawyer, here's where to find them...most mill mfgrs gladly provide the names of local mill owners:

http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/index.htm

http://www.mobilemfg.com/

http://www.baileys-online.com/

http://www.woodmizer.com/welcome.html

Please don't give it away without calling me...maybe my old Pete will make that distance and back. :D

[ 10-27-2003, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Bob Smalser]

Letsee...how far from Puget Sound to Alabama hauling the Lucas?

Anyway....I'd recommend a tree service guy to chunk down the crown rather that fall the whole tree...saves usable wood in the boughs and eliminates any possibility of that bole cracking.

This tree is valuable enuf that you need to call your local sawmill. I suspect the best course of action might be to pay to have it chunked and dropped for 3-500 bucks...then once you have a mill price to contract with a local self-loading log truck to haul it there....here it's 200 bucks a semi-truckload for 50 miles to the mill.

Problem is...that bole if 11' at the base weighs 113,000 pounds or so...and needs to be milled on site or quartered to ship....45k lbs or so is the load weight of most log trucks.

You've got almost 17,000 BF in the bole by Scribner scale, not counting the boughs. On an efficient mill like a Lucas or good bandmill, I would expect to recover 25,000 or more BF from that tree...less any defects in the bole.

I suspect Live Oak retails in the 8-dollar/BF range...and have no idea what it sells for in the log when it's available...but even at a buck a BF you'll be far ahead to pursue my recommendations.

So call the mill...if you can't find one call a local logger, who'll know. Once you run the numbers, if you decide to have it milled on site on shares with a sawyer, here's where to find them...most mill mfgrs gladly provide the names of local mill owners:

http://www.sawmill-exchange.com/index.htm

http://www.mobilemfg.com/

http://www.baileys-online.com/

http://www.woodmizer.com/welcome.html

Please don't give it away without calling me...maybe my old Pete will make that distance and back. :D

[ 10-27-2003, 06:28 PM: Message edited by: Bob Smalser ]

[Thad]

The lumber in the log is great stuff, but the arching branches are most sought after for compass timbers. I recommend you speak to IYRS in Newport RI. They have a project that might call for it. Others would be Mystic Seaport Museum, or your local maritime museum. I would love to have it myself as would any other self respecting boat/ship builder but it is way to big for me just now.

[Thad]

The lumber in the log is great stuff, but the arching branches are most sought after for compass timbers. I recommend you speak to IYRS in Newport RI. They have a project that might call for it. Others would be Mystic Seaport Museum, or your local maritime museum. I would love to have it myself as would any other self respecting boat/ship builder but it is way to big for me just now.

[Thad]

The lumber in the log is great stuff, but the arching branches are most sought after for compass timbers. I recommend you speak to IYRS in Newport RI. They have a project that might call for it. Others would be Mystic Seaport Museum, or your local maritime museum. I would love to have it myself as would any other self respecting boat/ship builder but it is way to big for me just now.