I have an unusual question

[dennyinsequim]

I live in Sequim Wa. and have had a couple of large oak trees blow over. I don't know the type of oak but wondered if there was any use for these other than firewood.
They are both old healthy trees that were growing on the edge of a steep bank and the wind and saturated ground finally got them.
I called Edensaw and as well as another custom sawyer without any positive results, and thought I would try a post here before we took the saws to them. denny

[ishmael]

Not unusual.

You can figure the species a variety of ways. A leaf and a key from the library is probably the easiest. A loupe to look at the endgrain and another key works too, if there are no leaves around.

As to sawing them up, see Dan Huisen's thread in the bilge about a sawmill. Trees near buildings tend to be kryptonite to many comercial sawyers because of the iron they contain, but there are ways to work it out.

Good luck.

[Paul Girouard]

Email Bob Smalser He's more than likely without power right now from the storm . Go to the "Real question , deck beam repair " You'll see one of Bob's post click on his name , go to Bob's profile and you'll be able to email or PM him . Like I said he might not get back to you right away as his power may still be out , you could also look his phone # up in the book , He's from Sebeck , he'll tell you if you logs are worth more than fire wood , Good luck , any damage when they fell over??

Paul

[Bruce Hooke]

To elucidate and expand a bit on what Ishmael said:

- Trees near houses almost always have nails and other things buried in them so it can be hard to find anyone willing to cut them up. Small bandsaw mills (or chainsaw mills) are a better bet than circular saw mills because the blades are cheaper and easier to resharpen.

- Except in the case of truly exceptional trees, it is also rarely worthwhile for someone to come and pick up two trees unless you are paying them to do so.

So, the end result is that if you've got a good use for the lumber it might be worth bringing in someone with a portable bandsaw mill to have them cut the trees up and then you can stack, sticker and air-dry the lumber. If you don't have a use for the lumber then I doubt it will make sense to try to have them milled into lumber unless these are really huge trees that would yield exceptional boards.

That said, Bob is certainly the resident expert on such things and since he is in you neighborhood it would be particularly worthwhile to talk to him.

[S.V. Airlie]

Bruce had a good thought here.. One or more of those oaks probably supported a few clotheslines in its day.. nails etc... Would raise heck with a saw...

[Pierre LaRochelle]

I would seriously consider not chopping this fallen oak into firewood rounds, but rather, save as much of the tree as possible for future salvaging....Firewood is such a poor use of that RESOURCE...someone building a boat or custom furniture or the like in or around Port Townsend will come calling for it. Edensaw is strictly a "Bottom-Line" company....there are others out there that can benefit from your tree's mis-fortune.

Send more Help Notices and it will come!

PL

[Paul Girouard]

Edensaw is strictly a "Bottom-Line" company....
PL

Pierre that's a pretty over generalized view of Edensaw, IMO.

They are a very good company and very environmentally conscience in their business actions , very forward thinking .

But a couple of trees in some ones back yard is a long way from what they do , they are not "local loggers" in other words , Smalser is , he's the one I'd call.

[Pierre LaRochelle]

Paul,
Your right about my over generalizing the role of "EdenSaw" in terms of appropriate reuse of local wood as a viable alternative to disposing or burning.....By "Bottom-Line" I was not so tactful, perhaps, in trying to state that a small one man operation will take advantage of this opportunity long before a Lumber Supply Company would, due in part to their relative differences in economic magnitudes of concern.

I bought my Okome Ply from Edensaw and appreciate having a boat lumber purveyor like Edensaw in my neck of the woods.

PL

[dennyinsequim]

Thanks for the reply's and I will contact Bob.
For this area which has very little oak these are good sized trees and they tipped over very softly onto an open hillside so there is no hurry to remove them. Denny

[Bruce Hooke]

Just out of curiosity, what sort of diameter are we talking about at what would have been about 4' off the ground? Also, how long and straight is the main trunk?

[Paul Girouard]

Could be Garry Oaks lots of those here in Oak Harbor, twisty , heavy narlly stuff, might be good for knees , or horn timber , grown stems ???? Garry's a white Oak.

Can you post a photo , preferrably one with leaves , so a before / summer photo? If it's a Garry Oak even a now photo should be good enought.

Hey I thought Sequim was like summer all the time :confused: What where your peak gusts ?? Smith Island , and NAS Whidbey reported peak gust at 64 MPH at 02:55 15 Dec :eek: I've heard of higher gust's but those where local rumors , can't find "facts" of higher than 64 MPH.

Did you lose power?

[dennyinsequim]

The trunk of the smaller one is about 7.5 ft around about 7 ft. up. I would say twisty, heavy and narlly would be a good description of these trees. (hopefully the photo's will come through) I haven't any idea what the gusts were, the wind blows often here on sand hill and we were lucky this time and didn't lose power. Thanks again all for the reply's I'll pm Bob.

( it looks like I'm unable to send the pic's, may be a problem with using Mozilla for a browser ? I know about as much about computers as I do oak trees. denny)

[Stephen]

Not sure if those trees would be suitable or not, but I'm looking for some oak samson posts for Carlotta.
I need two that are 4"x6" x10 feet
and one 4"x8" x10 feet

We just got our power back on after 4 days up here. Lots of trees down around, but I haven't seen any oaks yet....

[Bruce Hooke]

Those are good size (at least from a diameter perspective) trees. It does seem a shame to make something that size into firewood.

[Paul Girouard]

The trunk of the smaller one is about 7.5 ft around about 7 ft. up. I would say twisty, heavy and narlly would be a good description of these trees. (hopefully the photo's will come through) I haven't any idea what the gusts were, the wind blows often here on sand hill and we were lucky this time and didn't lose power. Thanks again all for the reply's I'll pm Bob.

( it looks like I'm unable to send the pic's, may be a problem with using Mozilla for a browser ? I know about as much about computers as I do oak trees. denny)

You could email then to me @ paulgirouard@verizon.net , they have to be loaded into a photo deal like photobucket to post online.

From your verbal description the sound like Garry's but the size seems worth the effort , Bob will know and hook you up with a more local guy if he doesn't think it's worth his trip up to your place.

Sequim the sunshine capital of Washington :D

[dennyinsequim]

Thanks for the offer Paul, I'm using a recently purchased laptop and have something typed in wrong and can't send e-mail either.
I have posted five pictures in a photobucket album the user name is olypen and the password is 122424 if your able to access it that's the only way I can think of to do it.
I tried posting again using explorer and just can't seem to get it done.
My wife just walked in the door and she said they are Garry Oaks.

[P.I. Stazzer-Newt]

Two tree pics
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g193/olypen/oaktree003.jpg

and
http://i56.photobucket.com/albums/g193/olypen/oaktree004.jpg

[sawcutmill]

Denny- Hello- Please never give away your passwords , even for Photobucket. Copy the Link address at the top of the Photobucket page and paste it into the reply box,here, where i am typing now. It should appear as a blue underline when you post, always check preview to make sure you have gotten it. Once that is done, WE can "click" on it like the woodmizer link down below.
You should contact www.woodmizer.com , for a Sawyer's list in your area.Then contact one or more sawyers and get a quote/estimate.Especially since you are on a major hill, You may be required to move the logs to a level site.Many of us "sawyers" have numerous contacts/customers that are actively looking for certain wood species, we are a good source for buying, selling and general whatnot when it comes to wood, sawing, salvaging, implementing, and using this valuable resource. Many Woodmizer owners,like myself, will cut urban, house, and lot trees, and sometimes we do cut into metal.I charge a flate fee for blades,$30 each as needed.
Yesterday, in fact, was cutting 30"diameter Walnut 14 feet long, as well as White Oak logs 16'8"L x 36"dia large end,And ran into several peices of iron. The customer wanted me to continue, even after 4 blades!! ......As wood does not grow on Trees ! lol! Stephen

[Bob Smalser]

Denny,

Leave a message on my shop phone later today when the power's on... and I'll be happy to drive over to evaluate early this week. They look like Garry's from here but I'll need to pick through the detritus to find some intact leaves.

The only concern is moving the logs. A 30" X 8' garryanus log can weigh over 8000lbs. If I can't get them to suitable ground with the 9000lb winch on a double fetch, and have to truck in a skidder, the shares won't be worth it. That'll likely be the case for anybody, unless you have a next-door neighbor with a large enough excavator handy. An arborist's bucket truck won't do it, and even a 6000lb loader will have trouble.

Once the lower log is bucked from the stump, in oak there'll often be iron stains in the end grain at the spots where any hardware is located further up the bole.

[Bob Smalser]

For those asking about white oak, Denny decided to fill the holes and leave the trees for at least another season to see how they do. These are century-old signature trees planted along the lane into a historic hilltop cemetery, and I think they may well survive.

http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13625/ffpictures%20001.jpg

http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13625/ffpictures%20004.jpg

The root balls I expected to see sticking up in the air when I went to look at the site weren't there. The soft soil gave way beneath them and they remained buried.

http://www.forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13625/ffpictures%20002.jpg

But there's another possibility for lack of root balls. These trees are on the edge of an embankment next to a road that dates from the 1890’s, and probably widened in the 1950’s. In the process of widening the road, the lower three feet of these tree trunks were buried in loamy sand. While the trees look healthy and are full of buds, a sound cambium alone could allow that, and the explanation of why there are no root balls is that the trunks gradually rotted off at the base and broke in our recent hurricane winds. I took a saw with me when I went to look at them, but didn’t do any plunge cuts in case the trees survive. We'll know how healthy the cambium remains by summer.