# Urban Loggers, please come to Texas1



## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Hey guys, lots of BIG trees down all over the place here... I havce seen countless oaks of many varieties, as well as Pecan, Mesquite, Ash, and a few I am not sure what the heck they are...

How many BF of good lumber is going to end up as mulch, or in a landfill because there are too few sawmills around here!


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## drcollins804 (Jan 11, 2008)

As Ike flew through the area on Sunday morning. I now have another 10-15 trees on the ground in Kentucky.:no: We experienced 30 to 40 mph wind with gusts as high as 75mph. My wind guage topped out at 73.1 and I didn't get the worst of it. :blink:I think that there are trees for all the loggers that want trees. Having seen tornado damage up close and Ice and wind and 4inch rain in less than an hour I have no desire to ever be near a hurricane.:no::no:
David


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Sorry to hear about all the damage. Maybe some of the trees will find a use, but your right far too many will get wasted.


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

My brother went to Louisiana after Katrina and worked for FEMA for about 6 weeks. One of the jobs he did was in a waste disposal yard counting trucks as they came and went. He outlined the proceedure to me but I've forgotten most of the details. But one thing that stuck in my mind was the fact that many of the loads were nothing but trees. They placed them in a large pit and burned them all along with all the other debris. There was no attempt to recover or recycle. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to make something good out of something bad. But I can't imagine how hard it would have been to work the bureaucracy and the politics to make it happen. The mentality was to make everything disappear as quick as possible. Hence it was a waste disposal operation...not a material recovery operation.


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## TexasTimbers (Oct 17, 2006)

It isn't feasible for someone to drag their mill down and all the supplies they would need, camp out for weeks or months to process trees. The logistics of it even on a small scale, and being as absolutely cost-conscience as possible would be a negative undertaking financially. Even if you are retired, or can just uproot on a moment's notice without regard to business, family, financial and other commitments, just think about everything that would be involved in that especially if you had to transport the lumber very far after you cut it; even before fuel costs hit what they have that is still a money-losing propisition unless you are a large outfit which can reduce per unit costs by sheer volume and ready markets. Even if you just knocked the slabs off and made cants for later resaw, unless you can secure a local storage facility to house the cants out of the sun, what would you do with them? 

It sounds tempting unless you have any experience with mobile sawmilling. Then there is the Murphy factor. Murphy follows mobile sawmills and the further they get from home the more fun he has. 

What *is* possible for you to exploit is to contact Woodmizer and Cooks and Logmaster and Timberking and Baker etc. and tell them you are coordinating a tree salvage operation and you would like numbers of local mills. Also get on sawmill forums and use their "find a sawyer' functions. get as many numbers as you can. But before you do that you must first do this:

Get a trailer and start driving around collecting sawlogs before the trees are bucked. Drive around and identify only the most valuable sawlogs and leave a note (don't nail it to the downed tree use something else that is blade-friendly  ) with your phone number and on the note write something like:

Please leave the section between the paint marks in tact. I will remove this large tree for salvage and you will not have to haul it to the dump. Call to make arrangements 555 555 5555"

If you have a way to load them, a place to store them, then you can amass a hundred logs before you can turn around. Then line up a few sawyers from the names you got from the manufacturers etc. Only sawyers with hydraulic mills should be considered and only those who have a place to take the sawn lumber. Then of course your log storage field better have had alot of shade to protect the logs you stored and sealed with sealer and also an open place to pile the slabs to burn them. 

This is the best case scenario. Can you make money doing this? No way. Why do it? You wanted us to come down right? You do your part then call a sawyer. That is a war zone down there, a sawyer starting from scratch unless he just wants to come down and process a few trees for something to do is facing an expensive, dangerous, stressful undertaking just to save a few logs to say he did. 

But, if all that sounds easy then by all means give me a call when you get alot of high value sawlogs gathered together in one safe, secure ideal storage place, have plenty of diesel for me, 3 boxes of blades, 3 laborers to tail and move logs and burn slabs and don't forget i will need a loader of some kind to move stacks of lumber, plenty of end sealer, food, water, place for me and the wife to sleep (a tent is cool for us we are tent types), and we will come down and cut on the tenths. 9/10s for us 1/10th for you. 

Don't mess with any logs less than perfect or else it puts the already-losing proposition into the category of "Bankruptcy". 


PM me when you get about a hundred logs salvaged. :thumbsup:


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## jeffreythree (Jan 9, 2008)

Somebody is taking them whole, so at least they may see a use other than the landfill. My mother's neighbor lost a big oak right at the start of the storm in Houston. A big knuckle boom truck came by the day after the storm, instead of just throwing it in the chipper that was out getting the smaller stuff. The craziest thing was it must have been the first tree down in the area. 4 local cops, a sherrif, a fire truck, and 4 tree crews showed up for one tree. She said at one point 8 guys were going at it with chainsaws:smile:.


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## katkat7575 (Oct 23, 2008)

*Home built from downed trees post hurricane Rita*

Just wanted to add that not all of the trees down from hurricanes are sent to the burn piles. In 2005 I had just finished drawing plans for my home. My father has one of the first Woodmizer sawmills that was sold. When Hurricane Rita came through in 2005 we lost some 40+ trees on the 50 acres where we live. My father started sawing lumber. He sawed every day, and the lumber started adding up. Before long others were bringing him (mostly pine) logs to saw on halves for them. I should be in my new house by the end of the year. It is a 5 bedroom 3 bath, with 8 foot porches all the way around the house. Most of the lumber in my new house is Rita "debris" We have not purchased any lumber that was used on this house. I wish there was a way to save every tree that was blown down during these storms, but as we all know that is impossible. But, I like to think that not all was a waste.


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## Oscar (Jun 7, 2008)

Maybe, if we're real!! lucky fuel prices will come down to the point where it's actually practical for a small scale sawyer to afford the transport cost for SELECT LOGS of special hardwoods, Here's hoping! Also, maybe if the "Green Revolution" becomes the real deal, people will see the value in recycling vs. disposal of our prized natural resources. lt broke my heart when I saw the waste of so many gorgeous trees and personal property as a result of Katrina, Rita etc... . I've got family throughout the south and esp Lousiana. Their stories and pictures are heart wretching. I'm a transplanted southerner who truly misses being there, at least until Hell breaks loose!


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## dbhost (Jan 28, 2008)

Sorry to say that far too many trees have been carted off in chunks. I am certain that BBQ wood, firewood, and mulch are the most likely uses of this wood. There are however, some lunatics, I mean hobbyists that are stopping by manageable pieces, and picking them up in the backs of our trucks, and taking them to the bandsaw jigs and sawing found lumber into actual lumber. Not 8' long stuff mind you, but I have been experimenting and learning sawing found wood into lumber on the bandsaw. I think I am at the point with the jig that I can start actually doing some milling of some 4' x10" dia logs. Not huge by any means, but considering I am doing this with a band saw in my garage... I have plenty of Oak, Beech, Pecan and??? to mill up I should be busy for a while. 

On the plus side with the larger stuff, I saw something interesting this past weekend. A fellow was working along one of the pipleine easements on some 8 - 12' logs with an alaskan mill rig. I am pretty sure he is not doing that for the $$, but rather to get some use out of felled timber that would have otherwise gone to waste, or worse, become fuel for a wildfire.

I am wondering if there is any way to intentionally spalt pecan though... Any clues folks>


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## mdlbldrmatt135 (Dec 6, 2006)

http://www.woodworkingtalk.com/showthread.php?t=4855&highlight=spalting


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## arkyrick (Feb 13, 2008)

*got the sawmill now what*

I finally got the band saw mill I always wanted but boy was I nieve I first startred cutting a moving logs with an ATV worked pretty good but dragging logs on the ground really fills the logs with dirt and rocks (hard on a blade) so then I got a pressure washer and cleaned them before I cut them, then came loading the logs onto my trailer to get them to the saw, welded on a winch to pull them onto the trailer worked about 3 times till I jamed the cable,(getting them off the trailer), I chained them to a tree then drove off worked pretty good then I had to get them to the saw again:blink: Used the ATV then the washer (Whew!) Well the idea came up I need a tractor with a front loader yeah that's the ticket! Started looking for one gave myself a $5,000 limit yeah right found several on Craigs list and Star shopper answered the adds they advertised that they were near me but usually when I contacted them they were out of state. A few of them wanted me to send a deposit and open an account on ebay then they promised they would ship it from CA to AR and guareenteed that I would be satisfied:laughing: I'm more satisfied keeping my 5 Grand. Well I still haven't found a tractor and I spent the 5 Grand so maybe next year. My poor old ATV I can hear it groaning from my computer never the less I love making my own lumber and have already made cabinets for our kitchen with the cedar I have cut plus a chicken coop and have plans for many more projects. We have had several storms this year that have knocked down trees and people are just giving them away I just got to get a tractor.:yes:


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

arkyrick - check your local newspaper and farm equipment dealers for farm tractors. I also see tractors for sale by owner along the highways. Best if you can buy local.

I can't remember the name of it but there's a regular magazine that has a format similar to Auto Trader that advertises lots of farm tractors.

These new small tractors aren't built as heavy as the older small tractors. Might want to stay away from them. Consider buying an older ~70 hp tractor with loader. They are heavier built than their modern equivilents and have more weight to horsepower. But watch out for parts availability.


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## drcollins804 (Jan 11, 2008)

arkyrick
You might try www.Fastline.com or www.TractorHouse.com . Both of these list farm equipment new and used for sale.
David


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