# Ponderosa Pine - is it worth it?



## DCuch86 (Mar 12, 2014)

My family has a lake house with a ton of ponderosa pines my father in law wants to cut down. From what he says, they're about 6-8" diameter. My question is, would it be worth it to try and mill them out with my 14" bandsaw? I've seen the jigs online for cutting the logs up but is the wood even worth it? My thought would be to cut the trunks into manageable lengths like maybe 2', 3'.

Thanks guys!


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## GeorgeC (Jul 30, 2008)

A large amount of work for very little product.

George


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

You would ruin you bandsaw trying to mill them on it even short lengths. If there is enough of them it might be worthwhile getting a Harbor Freight portable saw mill. A cheaper method would be to use a chainsaw saw mill but would be a lot of work.


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## DCuch86 (Mar 12, 2014)

Well the $2k for the HF mill is definitely out, the chainsaw method would probably be the most likely way. I think he wants to take out like 8 trees but I'm not sure how tall they are either, I need to go up to the house and check out before I do anything. My thought was just if the wood is worth it, maybe it would be a worthwhile investment to get the chainsaw mill and then mill them down on the jointer and thickness planer


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## Steve Neul (Sep 2, 2011)

The diameter of the logs is what is really going to hurt. Out of a 8" log I would guess you would get maybe two 2x6's and two 1x4's. The rest of it would go into firewood. With only eight trees I doubt if it would be worth getting a chainsaw mill. I think your best bet would be to find someone with a mill and have them saw the logs for you.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

You might turn them, but IMHO they are not worth milling.


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## MidGAOutdoor (Apr 7, 2011)

slightly off topic but pine is all I fool with. I HATE oak with a purple passion


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

MidGAOutdoor said:


> slightly off topic but pine is all I fool with. I HATE oak with a purple passion


I also don't like oak. Have you used a better hardwood like maple.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

There's nothing "better" about maple than oak. Wood choice is regional and personal preference.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

ryan50hrl said:


> There's nothing "better" about maple than oak. Wood choice is regional and personal preference.


Everything is better about maple. Hard maple is harder than oak. Maple is tighter grained than oak. IMHO maple is prettier, and more stable than oak.


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## ryan50hrl (Jun 30, 2012)

That tells me you've seen or based that opinion off of flat sawn oak, which id agree. But in my opinion rift sawn oak is better looking than maple any day. 

Really what it comes down to is furniture type. Your not going to make traditional mission styles out of maple...and oak isn't great for other things.


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## hwebb99 (Nov 27, 2012)

I have seen about every kind of oak there is. Curly maple looks better than any oak. I don't plan to build any mission style furniture.


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## cowboylogger (Mar 7, 2015)

if you got so thing to use the pine boards I say yes cut it down but if not do not cut it down case that just waste wood right there .


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## epicfail48 (Mar 27, 2014)

hwebb99 said:


> I have seen about every kind of oak there is. Curly maple looks better than any oak. I don't plan to build any mission style furniture.


I think that's a pretty personal opinion, not a statement of fact. Personally, I'd take quartersawn red oak over curly maple any day, because I think the open grain pattern and ray flecks are more eye catching and the color is a little more timeless. I don't really think you can make a blanket statement of "wood x is always better than wood y". Different woods work better for different things. If I'm making a cutting board I'll go for maple, but if I were doing a carving maple would be the last thing I'd want because its too hard.


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## cedarheaven69 (Feb 27, 2015)

First, from your description I would say these are Jeffery Pine which isn't even good for firewood as the pitch content is high & actually have turpentine (60%). If burned in a woodstove will create a creosote build-up. Rarely do PP grow in a group as you describe.


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