Burn or sell cherry tree?

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Soundchasm

Soundchasm

Minister of Fire
Sep 27, 2011
1,305
Dayton, OH
www.soundchasm.com
Well, I'm not proud I had a healthy cherry tree taken down - I didn't know. It was the last of a group of three and the two beside it fell for reasons unknown in previous years. It dropped two large 6" branches for no reason last summer. Anyway, I got a good offer to take it down this afternoon and was shocked it wasn't hollowed out like its neighbors, and like the previous cherry tree that came down in a storm and hit my sunroom.

What's done is done, and I feel safer, but not thrilled about it. When the guys were cutting, they noticed how straight it was and left as much as possible in one piece.

There's 20' of very straight <24" DBH, plus 15' more after a slight bend. So 35' in total. I had calculated it into 14/15 burning budget because I like cherry so much, but maybe this innocent victim deserves to be made into furniture?

I've read enough of the "highly valuable black walnut" threads to know that owners imagine a lot of other things besides an accurate wholesale value. Any thoughts appreciated.
Thanks,
Greg
 

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I have never tried to sell wood, but I have been told that yard trees and trees from fence rows are usually not of much interest to sawmills. Yard trees often have nails, clothesline hooks, and other metal in them. Same goes for fenceline trees, which often have bits of fence in them. Metal can ruin expensive sawmill blades so sawmills don't want to mess with trees that are likely to have metal in them.

I think another factor in determining the value of wood is the local market for the wood. If you have a mill in your area that is buying cherry you'll get a better price than if there is no local market for cherry.
 
I think the odds of selling a single tree must be pretty small. At the moment, I don't even know if there are any sawmills nearby. I'll look into it a little more before I buck it!
 
Burn it. Unless there is a mill down the street from you and you can haul the log there yourself the cost of getting a single log trucked to a mill will be far more than its value. That is if it has value as a saw log. Length and diameter isn't everything, it needs to be totally knot and blemish free to fetch the best price. I assume since it is a yard tree it has some knots or other blemishes, although the picture looks pretty clean.
 
I can't help but feel a little rotten since the tree wasn't, but every time the wind blew and that bad boy would sway...

Looks like the nearest sawmill is 20 miles away, so that tears it, in addition to it being a single tree. I may call a place and get a number for grins, but it looks like I'll be staying with Plan A. I'll give it a more thorough inspection tomorrow, but it does look pretty clean. It'll get an in depth inspection when I split it.

I'll quit complaining and get the work done, but my conscience is causing me a problem. There's a HUGE development going on a mile from my house, and they've bulldozed acres of trees. I'll keep planting them, but I'm out-gunned in this war, and here I am causing friendly-fire casualties. Ugh.

It'll get an honored position on the hearth for sure.
 
Soundchasm said:
I can't help but feel a little rotten since the tree wasn't, but every time the wind blew and that bad boy would sway...

Looks like the nearest sawmill is 20 miles away, so that tears it, in addition to it being a single tree. I may call a place and get a number for grins, but it looks like I'll be staying with Plan A. I'll give it a more thorough inspection tomorrow, but it does look pretty clean. It'll get an in depth inspection when I split it.

I'll quit complaining and get the work done, but my conscience is causing me a problem. There's a HUGE development going on a mile from my house, and they've bulldozed acres of trees. I'll keep planting them, but I'm out-gunned in this war, and here I am causing friendly-fire casualties. Ugh.

It'll get an honored position on the hearth for sure.
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Are you able to score any of that wood being bull dozed?
 
Weatherguy, I can't get to that stuff. It's definitely owned by somebody. The big log hauling trucks (shiny with chrome) are going out full. Before i knew what was going on there in term of scope, I did see a lane that someone had cut through a small section. The stuff that was back there made my eyes pop out, and I did try to find an owner, but was unable to.
 

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If you are a woodworker or somewhat handy, another option would be to have the local sawmill cut the tree up for your use. You could build something with the wood yourself to assuage your guilt for taking the tree. Would need to kiln dry it. I had a local mill process the logs from the trees I took down to build my house. Still have that lumber waiting for me to get to it.
 
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Looks like you have a good log or two. I would recommend finding someone with a Wood-mizer to trailer right to your yard & saw it up. Sticker up the boards right next to your firewood stacks for the summer. You can keep the slaps and trim for firewood & kindling. Boards are a lot easier to sell than logs, and easier to handle too. Sawing it up takes the mystery (and risk) out of the log, and you can customize how it gets cut out. I don't know about OH, but there's plenty of custom/rough boards on craigslist 'round here.

This is what we did with the log pile in my icon (mostly cherry in the 18-24" range that blew over in a down-burst). Too bad they weren't my logs <>. I did "earn" the boards from the one oak log that my buddy didn't want.
 
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Soundchasm said:
I'll quit complaining and get the work done, but my conscience is causing me a problem. There's a HUGE development going on a mile from my house, and they've bulldozed acres of trees. I'll keep planting them, but I'm out-gunned in this war, and here I am causing friendly-fire casualties. Ugh.

It'll get an honored position on the hearth for sure.
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You must be talking about the Dille property, makes me absolutely SICK every time I drive past. BTW, we must be neighbors, I live next to Sugarcreek Metropark.

fv
 
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I live 100 miles north of you,,,the amish around here buy single trees. And they buy cottonwood!
 
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I wish I was handy. Watching me use a tool is generally available on pay-for-view or Ticketmaster. I envy and respect the folks that can do that.

Fireview, it is the Dille property. I'm at Little Sugarcreek and Feedwire. So howdy, neighbor! Yeah, I thought I had come a long way emotionally just being able to drive past all the dying Ash trees around here. And then that **** happens. The terrible irony is that surely they'll have to plant a few trees. I'll try to make a post about that development in The Inglenook when I get a little more time.

Called a sawmill for grins. She had a great sense of humor. Said cherry was $.25-.80 per board foot, and that apparently excludes transportation. She did give me the number of a guy who freelances(?) transportation, but I won't bother him. I've got a reasonable job to get started on back there.

Thank you, everyone.
 
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I'm really glad I didn't pursue trying to sell this log. Turns out that baby DID have Punk In The Trunk (Trademark!). And there was a big eye screw from a hammock or something I luckily missed with my saw. It was not visible until that section was split. So conventional wisdom proves correct once again. I'm bound and determined to find a put a Bur-Oak in that location.
 

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Soundchasm said:
I'm really glad I didn't pursue trying to sell this log. Turns out that baby DID have Punk In The Trunk (Trademark!). And there was a big eye screw from a hammock or something I luckily missed with my saw. It was not visible until that section was split. So conventional wisdom proves correct once again. I'm bound and determined to find a put a Bur-Oak in that location.
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What kind of maul ya swinging there?
 
Rebelduckman said:
What kind of maul ya swinging there?
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I can't quite see the brand, print looks like Red Devil. That style is pretty handy sometimes. It's a light head, about four pounds, so it's easy to swing. They are good for wood that splits pretty easily, but beware, that built-in wedge really sends the splits flying to the sides!
 
Woody Stover said:
I can't quite see the brand, print looks like Red Devil. That style is pretty handy sometimes. It's a light head, about four pounds, so it's easy to swing. They are good for wood that splits pretty easily, but beware, that built-in wedge really sends the splits flying to the sides!
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Pretty happy with the fiskers and 8lb maul but I'm up to giving others a try
 
It will be good firewood in a few years .
 
Rebelduckman said:
What kind of maul ya swinging there?
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Woody Stover said:
I can't quite see the brand, print looks like Red Devil. That style is pretty handy sometimes. It's a light head, about four pounds, so it's easy to swing. They are good for wood that splits pretty easily, but beware, that built-in wedge really sends the splits flying to the sides!
Click to expand...

It's a True Temper Total Control, according to the markings. Believe I got it from Lowes, but I can't endorse the thing. If the handle didn't crack in the first ten minutes, it did inside the first hour. And it wasn't a colossal swing and miss, either. I can't use a maul to split anymore because of soft tissue damage in my hands, and I've learned to process firewood Su/Mo/Tu, let the hands rest, and then play guitar Th/Fr/Sa. I use it to drive wedges to quarter rounds. Then everything goes to the 5-ton electric, and I work it like a borrowed mule.

The red one replaced one that was yellow that lasted a decade, roughly. Now I'm back to using a really old one with a wooden handle. I've also got a Fiskar's X26, but it's too short for me, and since it's so damn quick and I'm such a klutz, it generally doesn't join in any reindeer games.
 
A kid down the road cut a bunch of sherry off his grandmas land to build his custom cabinets... In the end it cost him more than what the cabinet guy would have charged.
 
ihookem said:
A kid down the road cut a bunch of sherry off his grandmas land to build his custom cabinets... In the end it cost him more than what the cabinet guy would have charged.
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Oh boy, anytime you add the words "intrinsic" or "sentimental" to "value", price goes in one direction.;lol
 
as an example of just what you have going on there was/is a tree service in my folks neighborhood right now working on some oak(I will be taking what they leave behind) and they take out the good stuff to mill into lumber. My dad had a BIG straight cherry he wanted down next to the house and they dropped it for 200$ and gave him 150$ back for the first 18-20' - so we cut up the rest and it went on the pile. This is a crew that is already there, has the equipment to get it out w minimal lawn damage. I cannot imagine they would pay that much to bring a crew out for such a log so I say burn it.
 
Soundchasm said:
I did try to find an owner, but was unable to.
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That sounds like a rich vein, and only a mile from the house...maybe you can determine who owns it at the county assessor's office?
guitar Th/Fr/Sa. I use it to drive wedges to quarter rounds.
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That must be one tough guitar! ;) As far as hand-splitting, I try to grip as lightly as possible, then almost let go of the handle at impact to lessen the shock transmitted to my hands and arms.
Soundchasm said:
that baby DID have Punk In The Trunk (Trademark!)
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So you play some Punk music as well? ;) Seriously, still looks like plenty of solid wood, even it that round. If you've never burned Cherry, you're in for a treat...smells great! :)
 
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