Some advice wanted about getting wood from a felled tree.

[BigShot]

Hi folks,

For as long as I can remember there's been an absolutely beautiful copper beech in the front garden at my parents' house. Lovely thing. Unfortunately it is now becoming a bit of a problem.

For a few years it has been lifting the paving on the driveway, it has split the front wall (garden, not house), is lifting a bit of the pavement outside and the next door neighbour (a very good builder) has said he's concerned about it damaging the foundations of the houses. My Dad is inclined to agree and has made the decision to have it felled.

We're all gutted as it really is a beauty but I suppose it could be turned into a positive.

Can anyone offer advice on how to go about getting someone to mill and dry the wood? I don't have the space, hardware, knowledge or experience to do it myself but I'll be damned if I'm going to see this tree fed into a chipper if there's a way to avoid it.

Is it likely to be possible to get someone to mill and dry it?

Is there anyone in the Manchester area that's likely to be up to the task?

How much is it likely to cost?

How should I ask for it to be done (if there is more than one way)?

Is there anything else I should know?

I've only just thought about the possibility of saving the wood when it comes down so my apologies for rambling a bit here. I'm just posting up while still quite excited by the thought of being able to do something with the wood rather than just waving goodbye as the tree fella drives it away on the back of his truck.

Anyone?

 

[Chems]

It takes about a year per inch of thickness to dry out, you'll need a portable mill to come out to plank it up for you. You'll need tons of space to keep it all. You'll need to seal all the ends and stack it all up. And once dried its unlikely to be as stable as Kiln dried (although now I've said that it will be hotly debated!) and I know a few people have looked into to doing it or have done it, it will be expensive. For me I'd rather just nip down to the wood yard as an when I need timber.

 

[BigShot]

Chems, I'm rather short on space so I'm inclined to the "as and when" approach too.

Just with this tree being "special" in a way I'd like to do something with it.

Do you know if any timber yards would be likely to mill and kiln it for me rather than having to air dry it here? If I had the space to stack it myself it'd be done without hesitation, but I'm just not that lucky.

If I could have it milled and kilned I'd be able to plan projects for it and use it as soon as it was ready so avoiding the space problem.

I dunno though, hence the thread I suppose.

 

[Chems]

Quick google says these guys offer kiln drying. Once you've paid for that and moved it both ways you will be seriously out of pocket, and you have to remember its just a beech tree.

Aspden Timber Services Ltd
Tel: 0161 7944755

I think you'd be better off just having the Tree Surgeon cut you off a short section 4-5ft and maybe ask him if he'd plank it for you free hand and then make something small. That way you get to keep the tree but not the whole lot. Even if he just quater sawed it for you you could run the resulting parts down to planks yourself and dry them for a few years.

I'm sure the more knowledgable will be along to give their opinion in the morning but in the mean time there are some quite good threads on this subject if you do a forum search for mill/surgeon/portable/Alaskan.

HTH

 

[BigShot]

Cheers Chems.
Probably should have had a search for some local businesses myself. Thanks for the link.
I'll see what t'others have to say at a more godly hour too.

Oh and yea, it is "just" a beech tree, when you look at it coldly like that. Can't disagree with you there. I'm a sentimental pipper at heart though! Haha.

One thing's for sure, I'll be having a few rounds cut to use as chopping blocks. A few times recently I've been cursing not having one when rough shaping with an axe, and I have a feeling it'll be more so now we're getting wood burners put in.

I'll be using a fair bit, some for turning, some for chopping blocks and the like... it'd just be nice (in a sentimental way rather than a beautifully figured wood way) to be able to get some boards out of it too.

 

[Chems]

Well for turning your set as you can turn straight off the tree can't you?

We've kept logs for use as stools in the garden from willows. Quite nice till the bark falls off

 

[Paul Chapman]

Hi BigShot,

Just to give you an idea of what's involved, here's a thread about a Walnut tree that I had to have taken down. paulm and I decided to have a go at using some of the logs. It's very hard work and the amount of useable wood you get might not be much - and then there's the problem of storage while it dries out https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... sc&start=0

Here's the first result from all our efforts https://www.ukworkshop.co.uk/forums/view ... 900#401900

Only you can decide whether it's worth it, but don't under-estimate the work.

Hope this helps.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[BigShot]

Chems, there's no problem on the turning front. Whether I'll turn green, rough out green or what I dunno - probably all of the above.

I can actually think of quite a few uses for the tree, stools being one of them too.


Paul, thanks for the links. I'll read over them when I'm not quite so hammered with work.

Space is a definite issue. There's only one place I can imagine being able to store it, and that's in the open so would need some kind of covering to keep the rain off and I'm not sure I'd fancy it sitting there for a few years.
If there was a timber yard that could look after that it'll be fine but otherwise I might just have to give up on the idea.

That'd be a shame.

 

[Paul Chapman]

One thing that would be worth doing is checking how much heartwood there is when the tree is cut down. The amount of heartwood increases with the age of the tree as the sapwood is converted to heartwood. If you find that there's not a significant amount of heartwood, then it might not be worth the trouble of trying to convert it for use.

Cheers :wink:

Paul

 

[BigShot]

Right, just called Aspden Timber and had a chat with a nice and helpful guy.

Depending on board thickness I'm looking at something between £60 and £100 to have it kiln dried (costs the same regardless of whether I air dry it or get them to do that part too). Going by my measurments of the tree (main trunk is roughly 1'8" dia by 6'6" from root top crotch with some nice straight limbs reaching up from there, probably about 1' dia) he reckons I'd be likely to pay the low end of that scale.

They only do the drying though, so I'd have to get someone else to mill it. I'm pretty sure I could get my hands on a van to get it to the yard for the price of a few beers though.

The puzzle then becomes how on earth should I have it milled? I know it depends what I want to do with it, and I have no idea, but this is a bit of a puzzle.


Out of curiosity, how much should I expect to pay for beech if I bought it from a yard without all this messing about? I just wonder how it's going to stack up cost wise.
Never having bought wood in any more specific ways that going to B&Q and finding one that's not too knotty or badly warped, I'm not too sure even on where to start getting prices.

 

[BigShot]

Thanks for that tip, Paul.

I'm guessing the tree is at least 50 years old. I dunno how that stacks up in Beech terms, but I expect there's a fair bit of heartwood in there.

I'll keep an eye on it when it comes down though. Is the line between sap and heart pretty clear in Beech?

 

[Paul Chapman]

I'm guessing the tree is at least 50 years old. I dunno how that stacks up in Beech terms, but I expect there's a fair bit of heartwood in there.

I'll keep an eye on it when it comes down though. Is the line between sap and heart pretty clear in Beech?

I've no idea how clearly the heartwood is defined in Beech.

My Walnut trees were pretty old but I was surprised that there wasn't more heartwood. Also keep in mind that any branches will contain 'reaction wood' - that's where the branch grows at an angle and there are different stresses on the top and the bottom of the branch. This can cause problems with warping later on. The best wood is from the main part of the trunk.

Having been through the same process as you, I wouldn't get my hopes up too much :wink:

Cheers :wink:

Paul

PS don't underestimate the weight of a tree when you cut it down - it's full of water. Slinging it in the back of a van is not that easy..........

 

[BigShot]

I predict much swearing when it comes to moving it. Don't worry.

Had forgotten about reaction wood in the limbs, thanks for the reminder.

 

[BMac]

Hi Bigshot,

I've been through this.

I had a whole tree from my mother's house and I've been given wood from others that were family favourites and in each case a single turned piece satisfied the emotional withdrawal for the people concerned.

Essentially, you want a couple of mementos from the tree and a block to chop on. So, if you turn a piece for your parents, piece for yourself, and cut a block the tree has been 'saved'. Nobody wants 25 items to remember their favourite tree so you don't need to spend loads of money processing wood of questionable quality for unknown projects. Sections of tree I got from my mother's are still lying behind my workshop - 4 years later, and the rest has been burned.

Pretend this is someone else's tree and decide how you would advise them.

Best Wishes,
Brendan

 

[paininthe]

Hi all,

Just something to be aware of - Millers are often reluctant to mill garden wood as it cannot be guaranteed to be nail, hook, or bolt free. You may have to provide a deposit against their blade.

 

[BigShot]

Paininthe - hadn't thought of that. Thanks for the pointer.

BMac - thanks for the input.
There's some emotion, yea, but I would need rather a lot of wood by the time the tree came out of the kiln anyway so chances are it'd be put to use pretty sharpish.

Thinking about it, we're getting some wood burners put in soon anyway (having a survey of some sort later this week) so some of this is destined to end up heating the house anyway.

The one thing is, it's not really just getting wood for a project I might be doing. I've got a list of projects to crack on with all the way from making a workbench to furnishing a loft conversion from scratch. I'd quite like to make a top of some sort from it if the wood's up to the task, maybe the desk I'll be making. It'll be about the right size at least.
I thought about using it to make the workbench, but even if the wood was great I don't think it would be long enough.

Partly I'm hoping to see if the price of having it milled and kilned might be close to the price of buying from a yard. If so then I'll do it (wood quality permitting) even if it is a bit of effort.