Hi there everyone !
I live in Southeast Michigan where the incideous Emerald Ash Borer is just devistating our Ash tree population. We live in a beautiful older sub-division with big lots and a lot of trees and woods. This past summer our neighbor accross the street had THIRTY TWO trees (all but two of them were Ash) removed leaving an empty yard. Well our lot is just shy of 1.5 acres and about half of it is wooded and a good deal of the trees are Ash also. One of the Ash in my front yard is the "grandparent" to a lot of the other trees in the area. It is about 34" diameter and at least 100' high. The main trunk is almost perfectly straight and it's about 22' to the first "crotch" where it splits for the first time. I've also got two very big mature Black Cherry trees in the backyard that are about 22" and 24" in diameter and about 80' tall. Those too have very straight trunks and at least 20-22' to the first crotch. The Ash in the front is still alive but it won't be that way for too much longer. I'm sure the borer has already started it's work. The Cherries in the back are mature and starting to get some deadwood up in the upper portion of the trees. They are both directly over my sons play structure and play area. They're both starting to drop some dead branches and such so I'm concerned that someone could be hurt eventually. I hate to lose them but I'm considering "harvesting" them while there's still some value to the lumber. That Ash in the front will probably have to come down in the next year or so and I'm thinking that I may just have the three of them taken down at the same time. I've found an outfit about 30 miles from me that has a portable mill that will handle logs of this size. It's surprisingly not that expensive to have the lumber milled. He'll come right here and mill the logs right on site.
There is also a place not too far away that will do small loads of lumber in their kiln. I think this may be the best way to do it. If I were to do this, I'm sure I'd have PLENTY of lumber to keep me busy for a LONG time ! Money's pretty tight so I'm thinking that maybe I could find someone who may be interested in some of the lumber in exchange for some of the labor cost.
Anyway, have any of you ever had logs milled and dried for use ? If so, did it work out well and would you do it again ?
I'm just thinking that it would be nice to actually MAKE something out of this lumber instead of having it chipped up and shredded. There is a transport ban on Ash trees here in southeast Michigan but the lumber can be milled and used. The borer only resides in the cambrium layer just below the bark so there isn't an issue of spreading the pest.
I just thought I'd ask here to see what some of you think.
Thanks in advance for any input !
John