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Tie Species?

Started by woodhick, December 01, 2008, 09:53:41 PM

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woodhick

What types of wood are you all cutting into crossties?   I know oak is preferred but what all falls into the mixed hardwood catagories?  Do they take sycamore?
Woodmizer LT40 Super 42hp Kubota, and more heavy iron woodworking equipment than I have room for.

Ron Wenrich

They take anything that is fairly dense.  Specific species that they don't take include tulip poplar, cottonwood, and aspen.  A lot depends on your area and buyer.  Ours won't take hemlock or pine of any type.

The dense species are OK for cross ties.  That would include species such as hackberry, sycamore, elm, locust, walnut, cherry, hard and soft maple, catalpa, ash, hickory, birch, and gum.  I probably missed a few. 

For switch ties, they only want oak, hard maple, and hickory.

On sycamore, ours don't want any from quartered logs.  They also don't like split hearts.  I have sold some without hearts, but not from quartered logs.  You need a pretty big log without much grade on it to do that.  Generally, they prefer boxed heart. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

SwampDonkey

They also use beech at one of the mills here. I'm not sure about yellow birch, but it's almost as dense as hard maple and beech. 0.55, 0.56, 0.56 green, with hard maple in the middle. Beech has a lot of defect up here from disease.

I just looked at my price list and it seems they are not buying beech or ash right now at the mill. But I'm pretty sure beech has been used for ties. I see birch is listed here, no distinction so I assume not for ties because the price is almost double for it compared to soft maple.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

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Ron Wenrich

Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Banjo picker

Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

Banjo picker

You just got to check with the buyer, as I rember one won't take Blackjack oak, the other will.  Black jack down here is really pretty sorry stuff, kind of like SD's beech and our beech if the same way, hard to find one with any size that don't have a hole in it.   Tim
Never explain, your friends don't need it, and your enemies won't believe you any way.

ARKANSAWYER


  Here they will not take basswood or hackberry either.
ARKANSAWYER

woodhick

Thanks guys, talked to local buyer here today and they are taking about anything hardwood except basswood or buckeye, and of course any type of pine or fir.
Woodmizer LT40 Super 42hp Kubota, and more heavy iron woodworking equipment than I have room for.

tyb525

I'd hate to see how a buckeye tie would last...I don't know of anything that it is good for. Doesn't even burn good.
LT10G10, Stihl 038 Magnum, many woodworking tools. Currently a farm service applicator, trying to find time to saw!

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