Help Needed - Lumber Question

[John Scane]

Hi All,

I have an oportunity to take the wood from this Maple tree. It's a big tree that my friend is going to have removed at his house. We are thinking that it might be worth it to save and mill the lumber. I have a few questions:

1. Is it worth it ?
2. What kind of Maple is it ?
3. How do I get it resawn into slabs I can then take to shop and dry ?
4. How much of it is usable ?
5. Where do I start?

I'll leave you with those questions for now and feel free to give me ALL your advice.

Thanks!!



Here's a detail of the leaf. Hoping that helps figure out what tree is.



It's a pretty big tree with 3 big branches above the crotch.





Crotch.

Well ? What do you think ?

[Gary Breckenridge]

Yes, in my opinion it can be worth it. Cut off a small branch the size of your arm, rip saw and then plane it to see what the wood will look like. The trunk wood may be a bit darker. One problem with trees by the road is that they often have nails or a section of fence in them. Taking down this tree looks like a professional job. Sawmills usually want 8 foot logs and they are heavy. (big truck) Portable bandsaws are a possibility but they have a minimun charge. Spend some time on the phone with the Yellow Pages to get an extimate from somebody that sounds interested.

When its all done you could have 400 bd feet of nice maple lumber.

[Keith Christopher]

1. Is it worth it ?

I think so I would.

2. What kind of Maple is it ?

Silver maple for sure. http://www.massmaple.org/treeID.html

3. How do I get it resawn into slabs I can then take to shop and dry ?
4. How much of it is usable ?
5. Where do I start?

I would call woodmizer for the name of someone in your area with a portable sawmill and discuss a price with him/her to get this thing lumbered up.

[Russell Svenningsen]

John,
Two years ago, some friends had a silver maple to get rid of. It was quite a bit larger than the one you're thinking of saving, but that's neither here nor there. After a tree company cut it down, (I had spoken with them and they left the bole intact, and several of the larger limbs as well), I rented a UHaul trailer($21.00 plus $5.oo insurance in case the 2000lb log crushed it... ), and used a come-along to drag them on it. I had contacted a a Woodmizer owner in my area after going to woodmizer.com and asking for referrals. This gentleman sawed up my log in about 2 hours, to my specifications, in his backyard. I got about 1000 bd. ft. of beautiful maple. The widest boards were 26 inches and sawn to 8/4. It cost me(with the trailer rental), $200.00. The labor was the only hard part. I disposed of the rest of the tree for my friend(burnt it in my woodburning fireplace........fabulous). It was a worthwhile venture, and I'd do it again in a "New York minute".

The sawyer did hit a little metal, but it did little damage, so he didn't even charge me for it(we found 2 musketballs, very cool, the tree was about 130 years old).

Go for it, I bet the wood is beautiful!

Best,
Russell

[Tom Andersen]

You can actually mill it yourself with an Alaskan (http://www.granberg.com/). It's a LOT of work but also lots of fun. For special wood for a hobby woodshop it may be worth the trouble. Check out http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/milling/. I am going to mill five oak logs in a few weeks for my own use.

[Chip Charnley]

Besides contacting Woodmizer, try the Sawing and Drying forum on the WoodWeb and your state/county extension services. The former has lots of west coast portable mill owners on it. As to the latter, can't speak for California but here in Michigan, the extension services have lists of millers and kiln operations.

I just built a new house in the middle of 8 acres of hardwood forest. Saved all the logs > 12" that were cleared for the house and have around 6K-8K bf of 4/4 maple, hickory, cherry, red oak and black walnut. Cost me about $1800 for the milling and supplies to set up the drying beds. Took us 1 day with 2 mills and a half day with 1 to get it all done bit it was well worth it. Especially the walnut as it was 3 10' 22"-26" veneer quality logs. Can't wait to turn that into some nice pieces.

[Ellen Benkin]

If some branches seem too small to "lumber" they might be good for turning. There are several woodturning clubs near you (I know there is one in Orange County) that you should contact. I'm sure someone would be delighted to get maple fresh from the cut tree. If you PM me I will give you the name and number of a friend who lives in Long Beach and who is a professional turner.

[Ted Christiansen]

I milled up some silver maple with a Logosol TimberJig and Husqvarna 385XP chainsaw. The problem I have had with the wood is that the end grain is unstable. I was template routing a piece and when it got to a an endgrain portion of the pattern the wood splintered badly. It is somewhat gummy. Anyone else had this problem with silver maple?

Ted

[Jim Becker]

Silver maple is a favorite of turners around here. Very fast growing tree...there were two of them in front of my Grandmother's mobile home years ago. I couldn't believe how fast they grew from nearly nothing to about 70+ feet!

[John Scane]

Thanks everyone....as usual you've helped me again.
I will start looking into some of the options and will let you know what happens. If there's anyone out there in So Cal that has a portable mill and wants to barter for some of the wood let me know. I will also contact some turning clubs when the time comes to let them have some.

[Jim Dannels]

There are two silver maples in my yard. When I bought this place I asked the prevoius owner when they were planted,1995 as 3 ft tall saplings.
They are now 30 ft tall and about 15" across. Thats how fast they grew.