Free wood??

[Jason White]

I'm always scouring the "free" section on Craigslist for usable lumber, but most of the time it's just pallets or construction debris. I get lucky once in awhile, but rarely.

To the "scroungers" here, where do you find free lumber?

Jason

[Josiah Bartlett]

I wander around neighborhoods that have large, old trees with a pickup truck and a chainsaw after a winter storm. I get pretty much any species I want in exchange for hauling off the wood and sometimes cleaning up the mess. (I always ask first!)

I have an alaskan sawmill and my neighbor has a band sawmill so it makes it easy to mill into lumber. You just have to watch for nails in urban trees.

[Ryan Hellmer]

If you can find someone with a portable mill that will custom cut for you (most are $40 and hour and up) you can find just about any log you'd like. Once you've found a mill, stop at any site where you see folks cutting down trees, ask them what they are doing with the logs and then offer to haul them off for free. It won't be free lumber but it will be good and cheap lumber. Most of the time $40 an hour works out to be over 100 bd/ft or 40 cents a board foot max. Let it dry for a while and there you have it. Plus you're saving the world (or at least the environment) by saving trees that otherwise end up burned or in the landfill.

Ryan

[Jason White]

I'm happy to save the world!

As long as the wood is FREE!!!

If you can find someone with a portable mill that will custom cut for you (most are $40 and hour and up) you can find just about any log you'd like. Once you've found a mill, stop at any site where you see folks cutting down trees, ask them what they are doing with the logs and then offer to haul them off for free. It won't be free lumber but it will be good and cheap lumber. Most of the time $40 an hour works out to be over 100 bd/ft or 40 cents a board foot max. Let it dry for a while and there you have it. Plus you're saving the world (or at least the environment) by saving trees that otherwise end up burned or in the landfill.

Ryan

[Gary Hodgin]

You could sure get some in Nashville. We've had a major flood and a couple of serious t-storms over the past couple of months. I've noticed at least 2 big black walnuts, several oaks, and a bunch of other trees listed as free wood. I would have been especially interested in the walnut if I had a place to dry and store it. My storage capacity is limited.

[Jason White]

Bump!

Come on guys!! I know there are some cheapskates like me on this forum. What's your secret? Share with me! Pretty please??!!

You could sure get some in Nashville. We've had a major flood and a couple of serious t-storms over the past couple of months. I've noticed at least 2 big black walnuts, several oaks, and a bunch of other trees listed as free wood. I would have been especially interested in the walnut if I had a place to dry and store it. My storage capacity is limited.

[Jack Burgess]

Jason, have not found one here in Texas yet but just started woodworking again so I am looking for a "pattern shop" I had one close to me in Alabama and it was incredible - free soft white pine (great for what I was doing) and they let me have all I wanted - just sweep up a little for them. Not sure pattern shops are still in use. would be nice to find one again.

good luck

[Richard M. Wolfe]

Make a pest of yourself. Call people who do landscaping or trim trees and see if they have anything coming up. People who cut firewood may know of good trees. With them the easy firewood comes from smaller trees and they may take the limbs off a great timber tree but not want the large diameter trunk as it may be too unwieldy to cut and split. Do you know of any ongoing and especially upcoming construction projects where trees will be cleared, like buildings, roads or power lines? We have gotten some nice trees that way.

There is both a plus and minus to the construction. On the plus side, if you are there at the right time the crew doing the clearing may limb the tree for you and even load it. (We even had a guy with a big excavator dig up a huge pecan for us). It is to their advantage to do this to get rid of it. Thousands and thousands of tons of timber has ended up in landfills because the construction crews just want it gone....the faster and easier the better.

The minus. You have to stay on top of it. If you miss being there by fifteen minutes the tree you were counting on may be on the way to the landfill or strewn around in chunks. The construction crew may happily give you the tree but time is money and if you aren't there at just the right time -- sorry, Charlie.

And if you do get a tree through someone I would say an appropriate tip to whoever you think most deserves it is in order, whether it be the foreman, equipment operator, etc. It's 1) the right thing to do and 2) lays a good foundation for any future dealings.

[Warren Street]

I'm a complete newbie at this but I've been getting my wood from renovation projects in the neighborhood. Old craftsmen bungalows that are being renovated have some wonderful old pine studs in them. In some cases the studs/joists are true 2 x 4 or 2 x 6's. Caveat here is that you'll have to pull all the nails but it's worth it in my opinion. You will be left with some very interesting wood with a ton of character in it. I usually approach the crew and ask them to pile them up the old studs to one side. I got 2 truck loads last time for a 20.
Have fun.
Warren.