# Todays load



## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

I have not had much to talk about lately, for some reason the logs are drying up :confused1:. I am still getting ones and twos, but no dumptruck loads like I was this summer. It has been raining here off and on for days so I knew my tree service buddies would not be working...so I made some calls.
One guy was at home with a couple from his crew splitting firewood in the rain. I asked what he had. "Just a bunch of junk, walnuts with forks in it, rotten white oak, forked elm I don't even want to split cause it will split so hard..."
Well it just so happens I like walnut "forks" (crotches) and got several. He loaded up 12 walnut admittedly most are pretty poor, small-crooked, but too good for firewood I think. Most of the logs had decent crotches and just some small crotches he had cut off and thrown to the side. I will see what I can do.
One nice elm with a crotch that _looks_ to be 4 feet long, I hope it is sound. I can tell from the bark the crotch seems to go all the way from the end to my foot in the picture.
And a very promising looking spalted white oak.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Darel That middle picture looks like it has some spawlding in it. It would look good cut on an angle.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

That is some interesting looking spalting. Flats, q-sawn, cookies...how to proceed?

Like you, the tree services have been slow lately. I'm not lamenting. We still have many custom sawing jobs lined up across the country, standing trees to harvest for our stockpile, and loads waiting for our own consumption. But two loads showed up this week. I haven't seen one - several large maples. I'm told it's pretty.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

dirtclod said:


> That is some interesting looking spalting. Flats, q-sawn, cookies...how to proceed?


You said it dirtclod, how to proceed, that will take a little head scratching. It rained hard till dark so I only got a quick look at it (raining when I took the picture). It is too small to 1/4 (16"), not sure about flat because I did not poke it to see if the outside was too punky (but the bark is intact ? so maybe not) If I thought cookies would hold up, yea they would be cool but they would probably bust at the seams. I am sure a turner would love a nice big chunk of this...but I would have to have it sold before I milled it that way, too hard for me to store/market. I will make my first cut and go from there. If the whole thing is sound, flat sawn flitches. If the outside is too punky I will square it to a cant and bookmatch all the boards the rest of the way out (most likely). Maybe square the cant and lop off a couple turning blanks for regulars before I mill shorter boards that will ship easy.

I will cut into it in a few days, and the elm...most of the walnut I am not too excited about.


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## red (Sep 30, 2008)

I want to see that spalted white oak when it's cut. It looks like it going to be pretty cool! Red


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

red said:


> I want to see that spalted white oak when it's cut.



Here ya' go. It was pretty soft on the outside, this was all I was able to salvage. (and a few scrap pieces not in the pictures)


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

I see Patrick Star (Spounge Bob Square Pants) in one of those bookmatches. But I'm no good at Rorschach tests...all I ever see is ink blots - drives the psychologists wild. :tt2: :furious: :laughing:


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

I just noticed...Patrick ate Bart Simpson!


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## Gerry KIERNAN (Apr 20, 2007)

Something beautiful is going to come out of that wood.

Gerry


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Man I hate oak. I don't understand why you even bother with it Daren. It's just boring. :sleep1: :laughing:

How'd those walnut crotches turn out?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

TexasTimbers said:


> Man I hate oak. It's just boring. :laughing:
> 
> How'd those walnut crotches turn out?


I am quoting TT, who was quoting me. We go way back and if I have told him I don't like oak it's boring once I have said it 100 times (this was not as boring )

Well, since you asked about the rest of my milling I will tell you a little story. This story is pretty much the way things have gone around here for the better part of a month :icon_cry:.

I was not even going to mill yesterday (Saturday) the yard was pretty soft from the rain, but I had already messed with another project that went sour so I decided to mill anyway (surely I could not mess that up). I jump in the skidsteer and get the forks under that oak and try to back up...I just spun in circles :huh:. My right joystick on the Case was not working. I start taking the cab apart to have a look under the seat and something had come loose, not a huge deal had it fixed in 15-20 minutes...but I dumped all my hydraulic fluid in the yard when the part popped and I was spinning circles making a mud hole and trying to figure what the heck was going on.

So I goes to the shed and grabbed what fluid I had, just enough to get her back up in the sight glass and continue on. I opened the back and start pouring fluid in...and antifreeze is pouring out the bottom :huh:. To boot brand spanking new antifreeze I had just put in Friday because we are expecting a cold snap. So I go ahead and fill the radiator real quick with water and haul butt with the log to the mill and park the machine in the shed.

After I got done milling that one log the skidsteer was cool enough to work on so I started taking it apart, pulled the radiator blah blah...water pump went belly up.

So to sum up yesterdays milling (and like I said this is a pretty fair summation of the last month) counting 1/2 days labor messing with the skidsteer, hydraulic fluid/antifreeze/new water pump...it only _*cost*_ me about $400 to mill those 1/2 dozen boards :w00t:

I have to order another water pump in the morning, should be back to milling Wednesday...wish me luck :blush:


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Daren said:


> So to sum up yesterdays milling (and like I said this is a pretty fair summation of the last month) counting 1/2 days labor messing with the skidsteer, hydraulic fluid/antifreeze/new water pump...it only _*cost*_ me about $400 to mill those 1/2 dozen boards :w00t:


We've all had those days. Take solice, at least you charge $60-70.00 a board and (not including labor and wear and tear) broke even. :yes: I, on the other hand, can only charge $6-12.00 a board so I take it on the chin. :turned:

Murphy's laws at work again. A windfall turns into an evil/stinky blow. Sorry to hear about the breakdowns.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

dirtclod said it right. We've all had those days. Sometimes you have those weeks or months too. :wacko:

Man you bring to mind what's coming up just around the corner . . . . mud, mud, and more mud. Drats. :thumbdown:


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## Nate1778 (Mar 10, 2008)

Daren I understand your slow down, but DirtClod, we just had a Cat 1 hurricane move through our area. I have scene so many trees down over the last few months, what gives? Seams you would have a stack of logs lined up to be milled.


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## Handyman (Jan 2, 2008)

Daren That wood looks like it would be soft. When a board has that much spalting in it, would it be stable enough to build furniture out of it?


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Handyman said:


> Daren That wood looks like it would be soft. When a board has that much spalting in it, would it be stable enough to build furniture out of it?


This white oak is harder that it may look. I think when it dries yes it will be solid enough to build with...the stuff on the outside that I threw away, no.


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## Shamus (Aug 22, 2008)

I guess everyone that makes their own living has times like that. I can vividly remember a few times, days, weeks, heck all of 1987 :thumbdown:.

Anyway, I've learned to walk away if I can and find something else to do for at least that day. I don't think it keeps things from eventually breaking but it will allow me to regroup and be prepared for what's next. Cause there is always a next!

Stay safe everyone, it's the time of year when little things turn in dangerous ones.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Nate - The winds were'nt quiet as strong here as they were in your neighborhood. We've gotten a few loads and would get more if we slipped the tree services some money. But we still have a lot of logs waiting to be milled.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

TexasTimbers said:


> How'd those walnut crotches turn out?


I just got started on them this morning...this one seems ok . I milled it all 6/4.


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## BHOFM (Oct 14, 2008)

That one shot looks like the Shroud of Turin?


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

Those look good. They may have wide sapwood but, in this case, the contrast looks good. Those look short. You've got good patience.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

Those are just like I like them. I prefer more sapwood in species that have a darker heartwood. Not too little and not too much. That amount is just right for my taste. :thumbsup:


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