Plan for sawing up walnut trees

I am formulating a plan and I hope those of you with experience can help me out.

As it happens, theres a 40 acre walnut orchard in my family. It's probably been 20 years since any of the trees have been productive and nobody has looked after them for longer than that. The trees were probably planted in the 50's so they are pushing 50 years old. Many of the trees have died, but many more live on in one fashion or another. They are all english walnut trees grafted to black walnut rootstock which I understand means there could be burl in there.

What are the chances of these trees bearing useful wood and/or burl?

I was thinking that if I could find a tree with a trunk less than 24" in diameter I should be able to mill it myself with a band saw that has a 12" resaw height. If the log is cut lengthwise into quarters can I quarter saw the log into boards? Would it make more sense to hire a portable mill to come out?

I have no real feel for how much a quarter of an eight foot by 24 inch log would weigh. I also don't know how I would get it cut into quarters in the first place. I don't think it would be worth it to buy a giant chainsaw to make this cut. Would a big bow saw work?

Also, how do you cut the log up to get the burl? I understand that the burl occurs at the graft so that would be a cross cut, correct?

Any advice is appreciated,

Matt

While what you propose to do could be done, IMHO you would be better off finding a portable mill to do the job. The biggest problem you are faced with is handling the logs. You will need some type of chainsaw mill to quarter the logs and unless you cut them short enough to handle manually or have access to power equipment, I'm not sure how effectively you can do what you propose. Even if you get them quartered, the weight of any significant length of log is likely going to be too heavy to handle on your regular bandsaw. With the amount of wood you seem to have, I think you would find a portable mill to be much more cost effective and probably yield higher quality lumber in the end. Good Luck.

Matt,

An another option... consider selling some or all of trees as is to a logger. Put in the bid contract that you want 2000 bf of rough sawn lumber as part of the deal. Contact your district forester for advice on conducting a timber sale. You should be able to make a pile of money and get a pile of walnut lumber too. One thing to also consider with this option though, since income will be generated by the sale, taxes will need to be paid is some form or another and since the trees are part of an orchard their may be other tax implications.

If you want to cut them up yourself, hire a bandsaw mill. I've used a chainsaw mill and I've had a bandsaw operator cut up trees for me. The bandsaw mill is the much faster and easier proposition. Last time I hired bandsaw mill to cut up a burr oak it was 28 cents a bf. You may also be able to work a deal with the bandsaw mill owner where you trade some logs instead of paying $$ for the mill usage.

As for useful lumber, that depends on the trees. Are the trunks straight and how far from the ground do big branches start? I think your chances of getting some great wood are very high as the trees are part of an orchard. The $$ you get from a timber sale good be substantial also; your district forester should be able to tell you if walnut is selling at a good price. If not just sit on the trees until walnut prices rise.

One last thing, dead walnut stays good much longer than many other woods. The dead trees may still be worth something. And don't forget black walnut is considered a good to excellent firewood; english walnut can't be much different. You may also be able to sell the tops, parts of the trees not sliced into lumber, to a firewood distributor or use the firewood yourself.

I don't know where you are loacated, but before you do anything I recommend you contact your district forester for advice.

-Mike

If these trees do contain burl , I would at least look into selling them as gunstocks. I read a article about a mature walnut tree selling for over $75k to be used for gunstocks on finer shotguns.

You have got some good advise so far..........

Just so you know what you are dealing with, a 24" dia x 8' long log of green Black Walnut will weigh about 1450 lbs, give or take. I don't have any weight info on English Walnut, but that should be close.

Ed

With 40 acres you may want to look into buying a used portable mill ( there are many types) and a small bob cat and make and sell a bunch of lumber and then sell the equipment. You would have to do some figuring to see if it would work out. Time and distance may be a problem also.

Thanks for all the comments so far.

There a some family complications that I didn't mention. Now that I see how it could happen there are also some issues that make it difficult.

The land actually belongs to my aunt. She is famous for not making decisions. If I propose a business deal where I process the trees and split the money with her it will never happen. I have a lot better chance of going soft for one or two trees for my own use.

Keeping in mind that I have to keep it small scale, how does that affect the plans?

PS

The orchard is in Brentwood, California (the one near San Francisco). It's about a two hour drive from where I live in Silicon Valley.

When I've seen lumber from California walnut orchards, the graft area hasn't been particularly burly. Instead, I've seen a transition from black walnut color to english-walnut color. The english walnut is lighter in color than the black walnut. Generally the english walnut trunk is narrower than the black walnut stock.

Here's a photo of the top of a roughsawn plank from such a tree. The plank is about 7' tall by 22" wide. The photo shows the top of the black walnut and the bottom of the english walnut. The logger discarded the english walnut, either because it was fanning out into branches or because he thought it had less value.

I've seen nice black walnut lumber from root stock in California orchards. I'm just not sure that the graft is particularly prone to burl.

Matt,

Given the constraints you describe, I think the bandsaw mill is the best option. Tell your aunt you'll only take a few of the dead trees. Taking the dead trees out of the stand could be considered a timber stand improvement activity. By removing the dead trees you improve the potential value of the remaining trees. I.e. removing the dead trees may increase the profit from a future timber sale.

Another thing to consider is getting the trees on the ground and ready for the bandsaw mill. Dropping a big tree is not a small thing. Unless you've had considerable experiance with a chanisaw I suggest you hire a tree triming outfit to drop and prep the logs. And don't forget the firewood in the tops.

Something else to consider... just buy the 40 acres from your aunt.

-Mike

You may first want to contact a wood contractor that provides GUNSTOCK walnut - Depending upon the kind of walnut you have-there is an active market for full figured english,claro, bastogne or black ( or grafted) - I would first have the trees DUG OUT for the root stock to supply the most select ( read high dollar) blanks - simply sawing the trees down could ruin alot of very valuable wood - it takes an experienced sawyer to plan the cuts necessary after " grubbing" out the tree- to maximize the available potential- quartersawn , highly figured blanks are in very short supply , along with fiddleback - " marblecake" and feathercrotch.
Call a pro first! Lumber can always be cut afterwards.
best regards,
JBP

Hey Matt~!! It's been so long since we were together. As your long lost first cousin I think it'd be a good thing to invite me on over for a little family fun and lumbering.


I'll bring a flat bed.

Hi Matt

I'm not sure of what your outcome will be but here's what I do. First off I'm am a lineman for the power company here and over the years I have come across many logs that people have been kind enough to give to me. I never have too many so I feel that this is similar to what your asking. I have a 20" bandsaw with 20" of resaw. I cannot normally (without machinery) handle a 20" log so I cut it down with a chainsaw in halves or quarters then push it through my bandsaw via a jig/table system. I have had many beautiful boards come out of the process but I also have felt that the work out weighted the end result. If it is something that you would like to accomplish on your own then I can say it can be done but I would start out with one tree or log and see how you like the results. I have to agree with the others that the Band mill set up is hard to beat. It is well worth the price if you can get several logs to work with.
Stack and sticker the boards and be patient in drying them. It is a great feeling to take a project from a tree to a finished piece of furniture.

Good luck
Tom