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Thread: Getting a Black Walnut Tree - Help/Suggestions appreciated

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Marysville, WA
    Posts
    119

    Getting a Black Walnut Tree - Help/Suggestions appreciated

    So I came across somebody wanting to get rid of their standing black walnut tree for free. I instantly jumped on it and just got back a few hours ago from taking a look at it. It's about 6' to the crotch and here's the rest of the details on it:

    Diameter at Base - 20"
    Diameter at chest level - 18"
    Left Branch Diameter - 14"
    Right Branch Diameter - 13-1/2"

    It's approximately 50' tall. It seems pretty healthy and although it's somewhat smaller, the lady wants it gone, so I'm going to cut it down and get it milled. This will be the 1st time I've done this, so I'm really new to this whole process.

    I'm going to probably figure out a way to get it taken to a local sawyer to doing the milling. Can anybody provide some good direction/suggestions on how I should go about this?

    Should I slab the trunk to the crotch (~6 feet) or make it into shorter dimensional lumber? I also know that I can find a lot of good wood on this to use on my lathe, but like I said, I'm green and don't really know what I'm doing quite yet.

    Also, it looks like woodpeckers have ravaged the tree, is that going to make it less desirable (I'm thinking it will allow rot/bugs in to cause damage). The lady said it's about 30-35 years old.

    Appreciate all the help!






  2. #2
    Join Date
    Sep 2008
    Location
    Gassaway, WV
    Posts
    1,221
    Are you sure that is a black walnut???
    Fred

  3. #3
    If you're going to take it to have it milled leaving it longer would be better. Beware that yard trees often have hardware in them and that a sawyer will charge for blades ruined in the process, usually ~$25 for band saws. Also beware that it is impossible to get Black walnut (Juglans nigra) lumber from a tree that is not black walnut.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    South Coastal Massachusetts
    Posts
    6,824
    Any pictures of the leaves handy?

    http://www.nemahaweb.com/blackwalnuts/trees.htm

    The bark looks a little 'smooth' by comparison to the following photos...

    http://treebarkid.com/index.php/walnut

    How far from the house, property line, power lines is this tree?

    Where I live, trees like this are taken down with a bucket truck rather than simply felled.
    If you've never done this before, and you're near any structures
    they will draw it to them like a magnet.

    FWIW - the amount of material you're likely to reclaim versus your cost is low.

    If it was me, I would pay to have somebody drop it and take it to the sawmill.

    Something this big carries a deadly consequence to the unwary, unprepared or unlucky.

    At chest height - if it's 30 inches in diameter, this thing will weigh on the order of 5 tons.
    http://www.uaex.edu/publications/pdf/FSA-5021.pdf
    Last edited by Jim Matthews; 05-01-2015 at 7:26 AM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Oct 2011
    Location
    Seattle
    Posts
    549
    Hi David.
    Looks like fun!! I know a great sawyer up in Oso. Pm me and I will get his # for you.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,582
    Do a search on Google. You should be able to find someone with a portable sawmill who can get it done right where the tree is. Save you lots of work

  7. #7
    In terms of what to do with it, recognize that the crotch area will have some lovely but somewhat challenging grain. It would make a great top for a table or something like that. I would have it sawed into slabs and dream up a project for it. The limbs are large and should probably be converted to lumber but anything that was leaning on the tree will be less stable than wood from a straight trunk. Growth rings will be thicker on the side with higher stress. So you are likely to see higher warpage during drying and may not get a lot of usable lumber from the limbs - or they might be OK. They don't seem to be leaning a lot. The point about figure in crotches applies to the limbs too, of course. The smaller crotches further up might make nice turning pieces.

    I am no tree expert but I agree with the other comments. I would want to know why the owner thinks it is a walnut.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Kansas City
    Posts
    2,652
    If woodpeckers have been at it, that may mean its already buggy.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Midland MI
    Posts
    887
    if it's walnut you need to remember you are not going to get alot of the dark walnut wood from a 12in piece, you have 2-3 inches of white sapwood on the outside, I have lumbered some trees that size in the past and you don't get a whole lot out of them. but the wood is beautiful and cheap!

  10. #10
    If you plan to cut the tree down yourself, go to forestry forum, and look at the area where they explain how to cut down trees safely. Personally, I'd cut it down and saw it with my mill. I cut up several walnut trees last Feb, March.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Hatfield, AR
    Posts
    1,170
    Doesn't look like any black walnut I've ever seen.
    -Lud

  12. #12
    Agree, the bark does not look like walnut, but it is wood. I'd saw it just to find out what is inside.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    May 2008
    Location
    Mountain Home, AR
    Posts
    547
    Looks a lot like maple...

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Sep 2009
    Location
    Marysville, WA
    Posts
    119
    Hmm, I'm only going off of what the lady says for it being a black walnut. If most don't think it's actually one, what's the best way to actually find out what it is? There's a few limbs lower down on the tree that I can take a saw to and clean up the end grain to see what's in there.

    Here's a picture of the flowers that were on the ground, which looks like walnut flowers to me:

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Hatfield, AR
    Posts
    1,170
    A sprig of leaves would be most helpful. Many trees have similar catkin flowers.
    -Lud

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