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My walnut thread

Started by nativewolf, December 02, 2017, 08:38:24 PM

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VirginiaFarm

Quote from: nativewolf on January 31, 2018, 11:59:15 AM
https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240419

Instead of growing pine maybe you guys should plant one of these, 20 acres, almost pure Walnut.


https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240418

One of the nice ones.
https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240417
Looking up the same trunk.  34" and 50' to first limbs. 

That one tree could be worth 3 acres of pine plantation. 

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240416
Just one more photo...about the average tree we'll cut off this grove.  Almost all are 16' to limbs, some 32, some more.

Haha I wish. Some beautiful wood. That one tree seems exceptional for the walnut I have seen around here. Most big trees here go up 8-14 feet and then fork in a myriad of directions. Our better trees are smaller (16"-24") and only straight for 20-30 feet.

Ianab

While it's true that the Walnut is worth WAY more, the time it takes to grow is also a lot longer.  A big tree like that might take ~100 years to grow?

Now if you have an existing forest, and can harvest a % of the trees every 10-20 years, and let the best ones grow to that size, you have a decent commercial basis.

But if you are establishing a forest on bare land the maths doesn't work as good. First off, the payback is longer than your lifetime. Maybe a retirement fund for your grandchildren, if you can keep the taxes etc paid for the next 100 years. Now if you plant pines you might have 3 or 4 paying crops. So if you (or your descendents) take that and reinvest it for the next 75 - 50 - 25 years, at the eventual hardwood harvest time the $$ have really built up.

So to the bean counter types, the short rotation / get a return in your lifetime system makes more sense.

And yes that's a pity, as it would be fantastic to be able to commercially grow trees like our Rimu and Kauri pine. It's beautiful wood, could be grown in a plantation system, and it's very valuable now as most of it has been logged. The few remaining trees on private land are heavily protected, and can only be cut by permit. And to do that you have to have a "sustainable management plan", for trees that take 200-400 years to mature. A local guy has ~1,000 acres of bush, and his harvest is about 4 or 5 trees a year. 

I'm also surprised by the low value of the pine. Good PRUNED logs are fetching almost $200 a ton locally, which even with the exchange rate is about US$150. Regular saw logs, more like $100-150 ton.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

nativewolf

Here in Virginia Walnut grow quickly and pine grows..ok.  Not like you lucky Kiwis or WDH.  The return on all the super intensive work is crushed when you loose the market for the pulp.  Then you are growing sawtimber and that's a very different game and longer rotations.  I can grow a small timber walnut in 40 years, the difference is waiting the extra 10 years to get prime pricing. 

Still 50 years at $20,000/acre vs 2 25 year rotations yielding $1200 net/rotation.  Not doing a complex PNV because ....

The key is that people don't value the young walnut stands appropritately.  That lady in MO who had the young plantation , 12-14" diameters, and needed to get rid of it, wanted money.  She had no market for a stand that would be worth quite a penny in 20 years.  If someone in GA would  take equal money and go to MO and buy her walnut I am pretty sure which would be the better investment after 20 years. 
Liking Walnut

nativewolf

Quote from: VirginiaFarm on January 31, 2018, 11:47:17 PM
Quote from: nativewolf on January 31, 2018, 11:59:15 AM
https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240419

Instead of growing pine maybe you guys should plant one of these, 20 acres, almost pure Walnut.


https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240418

One of the nice ones.
https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240417
Looking up the same trunk.  34" and 50' to first limbs. 

That one tree could be worth 3 acres of pine plantation. 

https://forestryforum.com/gallery/displayimage.php?pid=240416
Just one more photo...about the average tree we'll cut off this grove.  Almost all are 16' to limbs, some 32, some more.

Haha I wish. Some beautiful wood. That one tree seems exceptional for the walnut I have seen around here. Most big trees here go up 8-14 feet and then fork in a myriad of directions. Our better trees are smaller (16"-24") and only straight for 20-30 feet.

We'll be collecting walnuts there and hopefully get a good crop of regeneration, I want to plant some of that stock on my farm.  The whole stand, 20 acres looks amazing.  The key to walnut is to have competition, they need to race for sunlight.  Yellow Poplar, Sycamore, Oaks, all do a good job of keeping them honest and self pruning.  That is why walnut in river bottoms look so nice, they had to race for the sunlight. 
Liking Walnut

PA_Walnut

Native,
Since you can't get your pix to post, thought I'd sprinkle some walnut porn here from sawing yesterday!  :D ;D :D

Almost 5' across at big end. Will post more on Sawing thread.



The log was frozen so the color didn't even out yet. Each slab is appx 80bf!  :o
I own my own small piece of the world on an 8 acre plot on the side of a mountain with walnut, hickory, ash and spruce.
LT40HD Wide 35HP Diesel
Peterson Dedicated Wide Slabber
Kubota M62 Tractor/Backhoe
WoodMizer KD250 Kiln
Northland 800 Kiln

mike_belben

Dang thats pretty

Ive been looking really hard lately and came up with a fact.  Trees growin in the hollar are taller. 

  If theres a 20ft vertical bluff, and one grows ontop but the other just over the ledge down bottom and theyre close enough to touch crowns, the one on the bottom achieves same height as the one on top.

  Its kinda like being tricked by google maps.  The forest roof looks to just roll gently, but the forest floor can be violently steep peaks and ravines.  The trees kinda smooth the topography by varying their length in that race for canopy.  I guess thats another virtue for those willing to log in craggy steep ground.  Every tree you winch up carries an extra log or two. 


Economically, im starting to have a hard time denying the virtue of hay. 

Praise The Lord

nativewolf

Mike, yes Site Index...is a wonderful thing to understantd.  Neat how the forest conceals much of the topographic variation because the higher site index of the moist soils in ravines, lower spots, and the added benefit of soils eroding down slope depositing nutrients downslope. 

Liking Walnut

nativewolf

Quote from: PA_Walnut on February 01, 2018, 07:48:21 AM
Native,
Since you can't get your pix to post, thought I'd sprinkle some walnut porn here from sawing yesterday!  :D ;D :D

Almost 5' across at big end. Will post more on Sawing thread.



The log was frozen so the color didn't even out yet. Each slab is appx 80bf!  :o


Lovely crotch.  I have request for hundreds but man...equipment challenges abound.  Crane went down, skidder blew tire, etc  sawmill stuck in a mudhole we can't get logs to...sigh.
Liking Walnut

PA_Walnut

That sounds about right. It's always something. Last week loader hydraulic line failed (not due to anything in contact with it). Went for a replacement and no one had it. Hydraulics place couldn't match fitting. Finally got it replaced. Very first log went to pickup with grapple, hydraulic hose fitting came loose and sprayed me in the face with fluid.  >:( :-[

In spite of it, I have a decent amount of walnut 4/4 - 10/4 and slabs. If the going gets too rough, look me up!  ;D
I own my own small piece of the world on an 8 acre plot on the side of a mountain with walnut, hickory, ash and spruce.
LT40HD Wide 35HP Diesel
Peterson Dedicated Wide Slabber
Kubota M62 Tractor/Backhoe
WoodMizer KD250 Kiln
Northland 800 Kiln

mike_belben

Aint that the truth.  I brought my dozer home for maintenance and then got my forklift stuck with no dozer to pull it out.  Go through dozer steer controls and other stuff,  get it fired up to pull forklift out,  one push and reverse goes.  Week later ground freezes just enough to drive forklift out, get truck stuck.  Dozer is in just the right spot to pull truck forward, go to start, solenoid sparks and fails. 

This is just trying to get out of my dang yard!  LOL
Praise The Lord

cbay

Great thread.   I'm realizing i don't know enough yet to be hitting our walnuts for a while.    So far the only thing i've done with some we had laying around is make some beehives. 
If i can learn to maximize them then it would be much easier to take the proceeds and hopefully find some softwood for making the hives.

TKehl

Quote from: nativewolf on February 01, 2018, 08:07:42 AM
Neat how the forest conceals much of the topographic variation because the higher site index of the moist soils in ravines, lower spots, and the added benefit of soils eroding down slope depositing nutrients downslope.

Not to mention the wind protection in the hollers...

I feel for you guys with equipment.  Was selling feeder pigs last weekend and the truck and trailer was blocking the drive and wouldn't start.  Should have seen the look on my wife's face when I jumped the ditch in the minivan.   ;D  Made it to church on time though.   :D 

Sucks having to fix three things before starting on the thing you wanted to start fixing.   ::)
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

PA_Walnut

I have discovered that bourbon is a suitable remedy to most equipment failures. (well, generally failure of any sort including, people failures, business failures, disobedient pets and children failures, weather failures, motivational failures, on and on...)  ;D :D

This little friend rides in the back of my RTV! (as demonstrated by it's worn/tattered look)

I own my own small piece of the world on an 8 acre plot on the side of a mountain with walnut, hickory, ash and spruce.
LT40HD Wide 35HP Diesel
Peterson Dedicated Wide Slabber
Kubota M62 Tractor/Backhoe
WoodMizer KD250 Kiln
Northland 800 Kiln

mike_belben

I employed a fella named jim beam for a while until i ran out of money and he quit showin up for work. 
Praise The Lord

nativewolf

Quote from: cbay on February 01, 2018, 09:13:36 AM
Great thread.   I'm realizing i don't know enough yet to be hitting our walnuts for a while.    So far the only thing i've done with some we had laying around is make some beehives. 
If i can learn to maximize them then it would be much easier to take the proceeds and hopefully find some softwood for making the hives.

Glad you like the thread.  Can't believe someone in MO is making beehives with it...your bees are the bees knees of bees. 

Ok, so in MO you have the best buyers market around, literally could get 10 loggers to bid on a walnut job there.  Or, 10 log buyers to look at logs.  Very competitive. 
Liking Walnut

nativewolf

Some updates on pricing.  We hear...we hear...have not verified that the top walnut veneer logs could fetch $10/bdft to the right buyer. My issue is finding the right buyer, we keep doing better and better but with this large walnut job we have to put more effort into it.  Not many trees but from 7 to 10 is worth a bit of effort. 
Liking Walnut

nativewolf



Nice old tree, found 20 others close to it but this was the king of this old field.
Liking Walnut

nativewolf



So can post this now, this tree was spectacular,  30+" and straight up 2 logs

Liking Walnut

mike_belben

Man you really are good at finding those dang things!
Praise The Lord

Wudman

Are you seeing any issues with Thousand Canker Disease?  We have a quarantine in place in the Greater Richmond area and surrounding counties.  I know there is a quarantine area around Prince William County, Falls Church, Fairfax, & Manassas.  One more thing to wipe out our resources.  By the way.....nice walnut.  I have a couple of small ones in my pond that sunk.  I need to fish them out.

Wudman
"You may tear down statues and burn buildings but you can't kill the spirit of patriots and when they've had enough this madness will end."
Charlie Daniels
July 4, 2020 (2 days before his death)

Resonator

"Highly valuable Black Walnut tree!" :laugh:
Under bark there's boards and beams, somewhere in between.
Cuttin' while its green, through a steady sawdust stream.
I'm chasing the sawdust dream.

Proud owner of a Wood-Mizer 2017 LT28G19

nativewolf

Quote from: Wudman on February 02, 2018, 01:27:06 PM
Are you seeing any issues with Thousand Canker Disease?  We have a quarantine in place in the Greater Richmond area and surrounding counties.  I know there is a quarantine area around Prince William County, Falls Church, Fairfax, & Manassas.  One more thing to wipe out our resources.  By the way.....nice walnut.  I have a couple of small ones in my pond that sunk.  I need to fish them out.

Wudman

I haven't seen any TCD yet.  Sure I will.  Just going to monitor for now.  Yeah this one tract makes me feel like I am in S Indiana or N Missouri  or something.  Crazy nice.  Going to take 50% of the stems and see if the younger stems release.  According to my contacts in MO they should release and grow quickly.  We'll see.  Maybe come back and do it again in 10 years.  Surprised no one on here is a walnut logger from there.
Liking Walnut

nativewolf

Quote from: Resonator on February 02, 2018, 02:00:39 PM
"Highly valuable Black Walnut tree!" :laugh:

Sometimes...sometimes they are right.  In this case, the logger tried to tell her she had scrawny walnut; "not worth much".  Some people give us all a bad name.
Liking Walnut

VirginiaFarm

Quote from: nativewolf on February 02, 2018, 12:00:30 PM


Nice old tree, found 20 others close to it but this was the king of this old field.

Another beautiful specimen. So for the scrawny trees nearby and perhaps the one right next to this tree- are those being taken out because of their crooks and defects or left in the hopes of encouraging younger ones to grow straight?

SW Oh Logger

Quote from: nativewolf on February 02, 2018, 11:08:56 PM
Quote from: Wudman on February 02, 2018, 01:27:06 PM
Are you seeing any issues with Thousand Canker Disease?  We have a quarantine in place in the Greater Richmond area and surrounding counties.  I know there is a quarantine area around Prince William County, Falls Church, Fairfax, & Manassas.  One more thing to wipe out our resources.  By the way.....nice walnut.  I have a couple of small ones in my pond that sunk.  I need to fish them out.

Wudman

I haven't seen any TCD yet.  Sure I will.  Just going to monitor for now.  Yeah this one tract makes me feel like I am in S Indiana or N Missouri  or something.  Crazy nice.  Going to take 50% of the stems and see if the younger stems release.  According to my contacts in MO they should release and grow quickly.  We'll see.  Maybe come back and do it again in 10 years.  Surprised no one on here is a walnut logger from there.
I'm not from MO, but S/W Ohio where we cut preety good walnut at times--some really big old trees also that have been passed over yrs. ago. The farmland is rich here, a different type of soil than MO.  I've cut walnut for nearly 40 yrs. now, still cutting. We have fairly good competition for our logs--maybe your area isn't know for walnut primarily although those youv'e look great! Hows the peck, the sap, any pins on that big one--is that a "wing" there to your right or just a small seam? Hope it cuts good--don't give up on buyers, keep looking further away from your main area. By the way, are you in the greater Warrenton area? Our youngest son lives in Arlington, we are often up there visiting him. Maybe I could contact you  up there sometime?
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