# Chestnut



## Richard (Oct 3, 2007)

I found someone selling Chestnut lumber on the craigslist and he says is American Chestnut. What is the price for American Chestnut going for now a days? I don't know even know what chestnut looks like.

TIA

Richard


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

Richard said:


> What is the price for American Chestnut going for now a days?
> 
> I don't know even know what chestnut looks like.


It looks like light colored walnut.

Is this "reclaimed" or new growth ?

As far as price...I really don't know it is not very common. And this is something I am going to have to deal with soon because I have a chestnut log on the way I am buying to mill. I would say if his price and lumber looks good to you...then that is the going price . What is he asking for it anyway ? I had kinda thought I would not let mine go for less than $6 bft...I may be high or low, but it is only one log and I am not going broke or going to get rich off of just one if I am wrong.


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## Richard (Oct 3, 2007)

Thanks for the reply Darren, according to him he found a large dead chestnut tree and it's not wormy. Some of the boards are over 10" wide and 10' long I didn't ask for thickness. He's asking $4.50/bf. 
If it looks like lighter shade of walnut why is it so special? I know most of the chestnuts have died off and it's very sad. I guess its like the white elephant syndrome.


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## Daren (Oct 14, 2006)

It is just special Richard because it is "rare" when it once was abundant, like you mentioned the blight wiped them out.


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## ACP (Jan 24, 2009)

I think chestnut is a very nice looking wood. There was a fungus that infected them in the early 1900's so it is very rare now. I pulled up my wood reference and it is said to be very strong but lighter than oak, open grained, golden brownish in color, and outstanding for finishing, machining and gluing. It is also very decay resistant and can be harvested off the ground for years after it falls, often times very wormy. Look up the American Chestnut Foundation at http://www.acf.org. There are many links under the resources section talking about this wood.


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## knotscott (Nov 8, 2007)

Reclaimed wormy chestnut gets a premium...maybe even $10BF. Not sure about new chestnut. 

I seem to recall reading that there are new blight resistant varieties of chestnut that will soon be available for harvest...anyone else hear that?


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## dirtclod (May 7, 2008)

I know they've been working on the problem for years. But I don't know the most current findings. There's still a few wild American Chestnut growing in their original native range - but they are very rare. They typically succumb and die soon after producing their first nut crop. Many of these will send up new suckers and begin the cycle again. I hear there's still a number of them out west that never got hit by the disease.

Lore has it that American Chestnut made up 3/4 of the trees here in Ky. They used to gather the nuts every fall and ship them by the train load (entire trains dedicated to chestnuts) to Louisville where they would be distributed throughout this country and others. They were considered very valuable...probably about like pecans are considered today. I allways wanted to try them. The Chinese varieties I've tried didn't seem all that notable. My uncle claims that the American Chestnut was much better. There was a large dead tree laying out in my neighbor's field. The boule must have been 7-8' across at it's narrowest point (wolf tree shape.) It was a monster and we always used it as a navigation landmark. When I was a teenager my neighbor told me it was a chestnut. At that time none of us realized it was still valuable and would have yielded a lot of valuable lumber.


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## Roger Newby (May 26, 2009)

As I recall reading, the pioneers would cut off slices of the big logs to use as wagon wheels for the ox carts. I saw some old stumps around Mammoth Cave, KY. that were 4-5 feet across and were refered to as medium Sure would have liked to seen one of them on the hoof.


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## roughhewn (Nov 30, 2009)

4.50/bf is an excellent price. AC is very rare, as everyone has been saying, and wood without worm holes is even more rare. 

They are growing blight resistant Chestnut. It is a cross between Chinese and American, mainly for shade and ornament...not sure what the wood will be like.


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## 12penny (Nov 21, 2008)

My guy gets $4.50 bf for 4/4 new growth and up to 7.95 for 4/4 old growth. If it were me I'd at least look at it. Nice stuff. Very warm color.


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