What to do with old oak

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BillyBoy

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Tenterden Kent
I've just had an old oak tree fall on my land and was wondering what the best thing to do with it is! I hear wood turners might like some of it for turning or should I just chop it all for firewood?

Its been dead for a few years so I guess the wood is quite dry. Anyway Ive attached a photo so you can see it and I'd appreciate any advice you guys might have.

Oak.jpg
 

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Turners and carvers might be interested as you surmise. The pieces are too short and small in diameter to be of any real interest to furniture makers or joiners: and I suspect much of what's pictured might be branches, and if that's the case it is going to be full of reaction wood and therefore unstable, making it even less interesting for the furniture maker or joiner.

Apart from turners and carvers, who can quite often find something interesting to win out of such wood, I think what you've got is probably best used as firewood. You're unlikely to get much of a price for what you have there, possibly about the same as you might pay for firewood, and I would expend little to no energy trying to find a buyer - but if you know a carver or turner or two nearby that might be interested, you could give them a call.

Incidentally, even dead trees remain remarkably wet whilst still standing, and it wouldn't surprise me to find out those logs are somewhere between 50% and 70% moisture content. Another clue to their likely current wetness are the lack of radial shakes visible, and these shakes develop quite rapidly in oak if left to dry in the round. Slainte.
 
Thanks for the feedback,

They are branches, the trunk was estimated at 15 tonnes and I have a guy coming in on Monday to chop it for firewood and I'm buying a moisture meter so I'll be able to check the moisture content. I was hoping to find a more interesting outlet for the limbs than just firewoood but if you dont think its worth the effort I'll chop that stuff up as well.

The only turner i know is in Derby so I'll save a few bits for him though ;)
 
If the wood is over about 30% MC, a regular moisture meter, such as the relatively inexpensive ones used by furniture makers and joiners, won't be able to read the MC. You'd need a meter that's capable of reading high MC figures as well as low figures, and those don't come especially cheap. Slainte.
 
Chopping up the trunk for firewood whilst trying to find a better use for some short bits of branch wood seems rather the wrong way around ? That pile looks like firewood to me.
 
Welcome to the forum Billyboy !

If you don't mind me saying so you're going about it back to front ! :)

The trunk is what may interest furniture makers or joiners or others, and the limb wood is generally more suited to firewood, although some can be of interest to turners/carvers.

If the trunk is a decent clean length without too many branches it may be worth getting a portable sawmill in and having it planked up, cut into beams etc.

Cheers, Paul
 
Unfortunately the tree was right on my border and upon falling took out power lines and blocked the road and the entrance to my property, edf had to chop some of it up in order to gain access to where they needed to replace the power poles and cables and the trunk needed to be chopped up into manageable pieces in order for the guy the highways agency sent down to move it and clear the road, so at the moment the entrance to the land is blocked by approx 15x 1 tonne sections of the trunk. Also as I dont live there i'm having to manage the decisions from distance so the decision to chop the trunk into firewood was a call I had to make without being on site.

Yes I'm crying at all that oak being chopped up but not sure i have any other options right now ;(
 
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