Something rare...

[KaptJaq]

A piece of property on the block sold. Owner was older and the grounds were not really maintained for the last 30 years. The new owners took down 20 trees around the house. Mainly oak but also a few maple. It was obvious that they had been regularly trunk limbed years ago. They had just grown for the last few decades.

The tree service came early and dropped the trees. Cut the trunks into the longest straight sections they could. They appeared to be putting a lot of effort into keeping the trunks intact. Normally these guys just hack everything up and throw the pieces into their truck.

A little while ago a truck from a mill in Pennsylvania showed up. He inspected all the trunks, rejected a few, and handed the crew chief some cash for the rest.

Usually he mills don't want urban yard wood. This mill drove over 150 miles each way to pick this wood up. I admit it was fairly clean, long(12'+), wide (30"+) trunks but I'm sure they could've gotten better closer to the mill.

If I didn't have so much wood from Sandy I would have been upset to lose such a score....

KaptJaq

 

[paul bunion]

I recently saw a PA truck with a nice load of oak on it in my town. I assumed a tree service company did exactly what you just saw. I figure they are paying much less per MBF as trucking is figured into it. And they probably run a metal detector over it at the mill.

 

[KaptJaq]

And they probably run a metal detector over it at the mill.

While I have found a lot of metal in suburban wood it is not the only problem. From what I've seen while splitting backyard trees, all the branches they trimmed off the trunk years ago leave buried rotten spots inside the trunk. Can't be good for the final product?

KaptJaq

 

[Backwoods Savage]

They must have been worth something. Few mills would monkey with them. Hope you get to clean up some of the firewood.

 

[bogydave]

Sounds like the tree service might have a deal with a mill.
When they know they have some good stuff, give a call, make a few extra bucks $$
& have less to haul away.

 

[Ralphie Boy]

With this market for wood........ Lets see, the tree service guy is paid GOOD money to take down the trees but then has to dispose of them, usually at some cost to the tree service, either in labor to transport, cut and split into firewood or in dump fees. So, why not take next to nothing, or whatever the mill man is offering for the logs, and make a few extra $ doing nothing but making a contact. Shoot, the tree guy is even saving labor by not having his crew buck the logs into rounds and load on his trucks just to clean up the job site. The mill guy gets cheep wood and can undercut the other mill man and actually sell some wood and every one is happy, except us firewood scroungers. It does take a big bite out of our scrounge efforts.

I know this to be true in the case of my father-in-law, who has had a tree service for 40 years in up-state NY, and has been doing this on and off for many years. He has his own small mill but when wood prices are way down he just sells cheep and saves labor and other costs. He always keeps the odd looking pieces, crotches and stumps for local wood artists and gunsmiths, those prices don't seem to bounce around so much and he says there is less labor involved.