Gold Mine!

[Kirk_Allen]

Totals from the wood piles!
 
Cherry- 8200 BF
Red Oak - 6500 BF
Walnut - 1800 BF
Maple - 700 BF
Ash - 250 BF

Im done digging through wood piles for a while.

[pasbuild]

That will go a loooong way to getting you into your new mill.
Nice find I'm green with envey.

[dan-l-b]

Way to go Kirk,  Free logs, like dying and going to heaven :D 8)

[Gus]

Looks like things are progressing quite nicely. Those figures are nothing to sneeze at. Way to go. 8)
Gus

[Dave_Fullmer]

Kirk,  
I'd be interested in how you are going to dry and store the wood until you use or sell it.

Dave

[Kirk_Allen]

Dave,
I currently have the wood stored in an old chicken barn on our family farm. 200' x 75' .   I will be down there later this week for a our second gun season for deer and I will take some pictures and post them when I get back Monday.

I have it all stacked with 3/4" X 1" stickers and most of it was stacked in order that it was cut.  That was a real mental  ::)challenge considering I cut it, stacked it on a trailer then transport it and restack it.

I have some wood I cut last fall that is stacked in the same place and it measures 10-12% MC with a Wagner Moisture Meeter.  

All the windows are open and one end of the barn is open so it gets great circulation.  The roof is in tack so it is not effected by the rain.

[VA-Sawyer]

Kirk,
I'm green with envy as well. Sounds like in the future you will  just be "in the green" ;D Maybe with a bit of orange too!  :D

Excellent find. Even for a "lucky dog"

Rick

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Those figures look like $21,000 to $23,000 worth of green lumber to me.  Maybe up to $29,000, if kiln dried.

Lawd, hayuv muhsy! *  
What's your estimates, guys?   :P

Phil L.
       * Georgia-bonics

[N.Dodge]

I'm almost speachless.  That is a fantastic find.
I am currently paying for Red Oak-2.15
                                    Ash        2.20
                                    Maple     2.18
                                    Cherry    4.45
All 4/4  FAS, KD, random length ,random width, in 1000 BF or less quantites.

Also: as cabinet maker I like 10' lengths

[Kirk_Allen]

Dave,
Below is a bunch of photos of how I have the wood currently stored.  

I have about every dimension you can imagine of the walnut and cherry with lengths as short as 4 1/2 feet up to 16 feet.

I have about 10 walnuts that are 5/4 X 20 feet.  

Cherry & Hard Maple


Ash & Maple


Cherry - Walnut - Maple


All Cherry


Cherry


End view of Wood Stack


North side of wood storage


Red Oak & Ash


Walnut & Cherry

[Kirk_Allen]

Can it get any better?  8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

During this past weekend deer hunting I set up a ground blind next to a creek that runs through my dads property.  Sun comes up and can you guess what is laying across the creek right in front of me?

Two Hard Maples with bases around 26 inches and straight as an arrow for the first 20 feet!  The creek washed out the roots and they fell over during the last rain strom.

Hang on, it gets better!!!!!!! 8) 8) 8)

I had dinner with the farmer who rents the land and we did a deer drive on sunday with his son-in-law.  Guess what he does for a liveing?  

He has a tree cutting service & Landscape business and he said if I haul off the logs I can have all I want! 8) 8) 8)
I went to his burn pile and almost cried.  He had at least 75 white oaks about 6-8 feet long half burned and half as many cherry and hickory.  

I can only say that God has blessed me and my family this year beyond any and all expectations.

This being the case I have contacted our local high school and we are going to put together a program for the Agriculture/shop class on wood working.

We are going to take them through the felling of trees, milling, stacking & drying,  finish sizeing and the process of making a peice of furniture.  

Im looking forward to it for several reasons of which one is the fact that my grandmother taught at the school for over 40 years and the other is that its the least I can do considering this wood was free.  I know I had my own labor and blade expense and mill expense but this is a labor of love for me.  

Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season!

Kirk

[Fla._Deadheader]

Phil, there is a total of around 17000 ft and your figures are pretty accurate. KD would bring average over $2.00 which = $34,000.00 at the LEAST. I'd say the boy done good 8) 8).
     Kirk, nice gesture to take the kids out first hand. Here, we Don'T even HAVE a wood shop. Got a DanG swimming pool, though >:( >:( >:(

  Like to add something that MAY apply in youse guys areas : :
  The large Pines we get are 30-50 feet long. The taper is not very fast from end to end. I would guess a 40 foot log is about12 inches on the small end and maybe 26-30 inches at the butt end.

  Rule of thumb is, you lose OR gain 1 inch dia. at each 12 foot of length. If your timber has a similar taper, cutting 16 ft long boards will lose you a board or 3, that could be gained at 2--8 ft logs, according to how you lay the log on the mill.

  We are cutting fresh Pine at 16ft. Sometimes, a crooked one gets cut in two and sawed as 2--8 ft logs. The owner questioned me about cutting his logs in half. I sawed one 8 ft log and a crooked 16 ft log and he was very surprised. He has a limited use for 8 ft stuff (Dock board replacement), so he agreed that he would lose a LOT of boards if we sawed the crooked stuff long.
  I was referring to you guys and hardwood, Pine and beams are a whole nother thing.

[Kirk_Allen]

Phil,
I cut some 16-20 foot boards for a personal project.  (Crown Molding in our new home!)  I hate to have to splice boards for molding of any kind.

As far as the taper goes, I dont recall off hand but most of the hardwoods I cut had less taper than any pine I have ever seen.

I may have given up a little lumber but it was worth it.  I did have some Ash that I cut into 8/4 x 13" x 21'.  I only did it because it had no stress at all when I cut into it and I wanted to get done in a hurry that day!

Not sure if that helped me get done any quicker though.  The board was so darn heavy I had to walk it across the grass to put it on the trailer.  I dont think I will do that again. ???

I have cut most of the wood into 9', 11' or 13'.  I have used anchorseal on all of it but I wanted to give myself plenty extra so that when I take it all to the next step I have room for error.

From the looks of it, the anchorseal has done a better job than I thought so I wont have to cut as long next time.  I would think 6" over should cover me for end checking that would get cut off. (3" on each end)