Hackberry - just became one of my OK species to cut

[Todd Burch]

I cut two hackberry logs over the last week or so. Both turned out nice. Good cutting, not much movement. I did some "internet research" and it seems hackberry is one of the more under utilized trees. It's a lookalike for ash and has some of the characteristics of elm, in regards to interlocking grain. Also seems to be one of the best bending woods too. Who would have thunk?

I cut a 7X7 beam from one smaller log and took several 1" boards from another.

There sure is a lot of it available around here too. Pretty much every fence line! I probably have several dozen here on my 6 acres.

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Note how the log, which was cut down for over a month before I cut it, had sprouted a new branch! That's some will to live!

[John K Jordan]

I cut two hackberry logs over the last week or so. Both turned out nice. Good cutting, not much movement. I did some "internet research" and it seems hackberry is one of the more under utilized trees. It's a lookalike for ash and has some of the characteristics of elm, in regards to interlocking grain.

You've got that right! I've always heard from the "old timers" that hackberry was worthless, no good for lumber or firewood. I got some one day and sawed some boards. Then I cut some up and turned it on the lathe.

The guy I got this tree from told me it was elm so I've been thinking that until the other John Jordan (the famous woodturner) told me it was hackberry. I still have some chunks I'm saving for the right project. This figure was at the center of a very large tree.







I don't cut trees on our farm but have a bunch of hackberry, some over 30" in diameter. I'll certainly saw them if they come down some day.

JKJ

[ROY WALLACE]

I have seen hackberrys with limbs down and wood exposed but I have never seen lumber taken from it. I was under the impression that it was pretty much solid white. Are the darker streaks spalting or is that the the natural coloring of the wood?

You've got that right! I've always heard from the "old timers" that hackberry was worthless, no good for lumber or firewood. I got some one day and sawed some boards. Then I cut some up and turned it on the lathe.

The guy I got this tree from told me it was elm so I've been thinking that until the other John Jordan (the famous woodturner) told me it was hackberry. I still have some chunks I'm saving for the right project. This figure was at the center of a very large tree.







I don't cut trees on our farm but have a bunch of hackberry, some over 30" in diameter. I'll certainly saw them if they come down some day.

JKJ

[Wes Ramsey]

I sawed a few hackberry logs this spring. There was no spalting then and the wood was very white, but I haven't been back to see what it looks like now. We cut it for construction lumber, but if it has any spalting I may have to make a new desk from it.

Any idea if it is stable once dry?

[Mark Greenbaum]

I, too, have turned a few bowls and urns from hackberry. It does spalt and mold rapidly if left green in a plastic bag with fresh turned shavings. So much so, that a fine bowl I made actually has green mold veins in it. The hackberry trees in middle TN get huge - 4'-6' diameter. And yes, they are susceptible to cracking in ice storms as well as falling over during heavy rains. I've witnessed both cases first hand. It is a pretty plain white wood until it spalts, then it gets crazy mapping. Really one of my personal favorites to turn,; right up there with Bradford Pear.

[Mark Bolton]

I have a ton of hackberry on my place and the splitting in ice storms must be when the temps are cold enough for the tree to be brittle/frozen because we had a wicked ice storm here a while back and it laid the hackberry over like McDonalds arches but then never once snapped. The crowns and the bases of fairly large trees (10" and better) were both touching the ground. Many of them are still nearly in that position as they never stood back up after the ice and are still alive.

Ive cut a bit of it on the mill and have to adjust my hook angle on the blades because its so soft and fibrous that the mill will actually catch and snap/shudder similar to a blade snap but its just grabbing wads of long fibers out of the tree.

Its like a weed tree around here and have been told in was planted by the DOH along the highways and spread by birds. Not sure about the validity of that.

[Malcolm McLeod]

I have always heard it referred to as a 'weed' tree. Fast growing (even faster if 'you' plant it next to your foundation or sidewalk), bad branching angles, heart rots out of the old ones, and brittle as glass in ice storms. And just to cap it off, it seems a perfect host for mistletoe. All-in-all it makes for a lousy tree. But, I too have seen positive references to the lumber.

It grows in all the fence lines because the birds eat the fruit and crap the seeds sitting on the fence wire! (Yeah, yeah, I know - - TMI)

[Todd Burch]

The 3 logs I got were all blown over or broken up high from a wind storm. They seem to barber-chair when they break pretty bad too. One of the logs I cut had splits down it a considerable length from when it broke - made the yield not so great.

Nice turnings John! (Nice photography too!)

[david privett]

well who would have thought , I have been using it for firewood when one breaks off( I thought it burned well also) but it is best to have a gas splitter to split this stuff, like said it is x grained.

[Cody Colston]

I have some air-dried Hackberry that I sawed and some that is pretty nicely spalted. I also have some logs that have been "cooking" for over a year and that are probably close to either ultimate spalting or burn pile material.
It's not one of my preferred woods but it is plentiful. It's not one of my favorite trees, either. A Hackberry is just looking for a reason to blow down.

[John K Jordan]

... A Hackberry is just looking for a reason to blow down.

Yikes, my experience has been different. Over the years I have had a lot of trees come down from a storm but never a hackberry.

If one comes down do the roots pull out of the ground or does the trunk break? If the roots come up your soil must be different than here.

Twice I have dug up a hackberry stumps and they took a huge amount of work. The first one I eventually got up with the backhoe after digging a 20' dia hole. The second one took days of work with the backhoe and bobcat before I got it to break loose. (Clearing for my shop a few years ago) If I hadn't been able to get underneath it might still be there!

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JKJ

[Todd Burch]

Around here, the trunks usually break. Otherwise, they rot out at the stump and fall over.

[Erik Loza]

Interesting. I always thought of it as a trash tree but ditto John Jordan's comments: Never seen one come down from a storm. In our neighborhood, it's always the elms that come down. My complaint with hackberry has always been its invasiveness but who would have thunk it could make nice lumber? Thanks for sharing.

Erik

[Cody Colston]

Around here, the trunks usually break. Otherwise, they rot out at the stump and fall over.

Same thing here. I've had two large ones fall in the past three years. The first one took out the neighbors barb wire fence. I was standing on the shop porch during a thunderstorm and actually watched it fall. It was rotted at ground level. The second one broke off.

[Ron Barnes]

I don't have pics but I have turned some beautiful bowls from spalted hackberry. I really like working it on the lathe.