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Mahogany

Started by nativewolf, April 11, 2018, 05:19:05 PM

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mike_belben

Wow, that things in better shape than me and its cord was cut ten years before mine!
Praise The Lord

longtime lurker

yeah I dropped an axe into him to see. Spongy for the first three inches then it got real hard real fast. Been a tie log, and it was 2" short on length (I put a tape over it) so they left it behind.

I hooked the dozer on him and dragged him a ways and he's turned into a nice loading ramp face. The next guy in 2060 will most likely thank me for it.
The quickest way to make a million dollars with a sawmill is to start with two million.

nativewolf

Thanks Lurker.  You never know what you're going to learn on FF.
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mike_belben

So its like australian locust. 
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Ianab

Problem with short rotation eucalyptus is that the younger logs seem to have a LOT of tension. Very hard to get stable boards out of them. So you can grow something that "looks" like a saw log in 25 years, but it's only good for firewood. They need to grow for longer and lay down some more stable wood. If you are growing for bio mass,  then the wood properties don't matter, it just needs to burn.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

nativewolf

Quote from: Ianab on April 13, 2018, 05:31:30 PM
Problem with short rotation eucalyptus is that the younger logs seem to have a LOT of tension. Very hard to get stable boards out of them. So you can grow something that "looks" like a saw log in 25 years, but it's only good for firewood. They need to grow for longer and lay down some more stable wood. If you are growing for bio mass,  then the wood properties don't matter, it just needs to burn.
That is interesting.  How about that Radiata Pine you have, that is cut darn young.  Any tension issues on them?
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Ianab

Nowhere near as bad as Eucalyptus  :D

The Radiata has been bred over the years to minimise the juvenile wood, which is the first few years of growth in the log. That's the part that shrinks in length and makes some fast grown pine unstable. It's also present on older logs, but if the tree grew slower then the juvenile wood is only a couple of inches around the pith, and the rest of the log is good.

So the NZ radiata is a long way removed from the original wild stock, and surprisingly stable for wood with up to 1" growth rings.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

kanoak

Aloha, I run a treefarm in Kona on the big island growing many of the species mentioned in this thread and I may be familiar with the planting you are talking about. Swietenia macrophylla about 30 years old now, just past Pahoa toward Kalapana. I drive by and would guess most stems are 12-16" DBH max. Relatively fertile area with high volcanic risk. Stand has not been pruned or thinned and desperately needs attention. I expect culls will be relatively low grade and size, however they should have tight grain due to their slow growth. My experience is limited, however the young S. macrophylla, 18y, that I have cut disappointed me, color and grain, compared to Toona for example. Nothing like Eucalypts, except maybe the grain and color red; young wood is not totally stable, but logs dont explode on the saw. Tectona and S. mahagoni have been rock solid off the saw like nothing else.
Aloha,
Kanoa

mike_belben

Nice, a local.  What do you guys have for equipment there?
Praise The Lord

kanoak

Started with a lt10, but just passed that on to my friend with a Lucas who will use it for branches and resaw. Now I've got a rebuilt lt30hdd and a bit of support equip.; few 939s, couple Case ex's, a bus' Case rc80? forklift, and a little other rotting iron. Building a home for the mill.
Thanks for sharing pictures and narrative everyone; cool to see your projects and learn about how things work and have worked in your neck of the woods. Ill work on an intro thread to keep from hijacking this one. 
Aloha,
Kanoa

kanoak

I would like to also say that everything Mike says regarding obstacles is somewhat true. We do have good machinists and welders, but they are busy or leave for greener pastures; so you need to know them and what they enjoy. Mainland market is where it is at; may need to just do cants and sell carving and turning blanks. 
Aloha,
Kanoa

teakwood

Nice, now we have a Hawaiian Member, Welcome.

Show us some pics of your operation, we love them.

You can post them here, i'm pretty sure the OP Nativewolf doesn't mind and it's topic related. 
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

mike_belben

Quote from: kanoak on April 20, 2018, 02:24:13 AM
I would like to also say that everything Mike says regarding obstacles is somewhat true. We do have good machinists and welders, but they are busy or leave for greener pastures; so you need to know them and what they enjoy. Mainland market is where it is at; may need to just do cants and sell carving and turning blanks.
I left in 2003.  the proliferation of small, freightable benchtop equipment since then has probably helped a bit.  Enco started making pretty good machines for a fraction of american made stuff around that time too if i remember right.  Then hobby CNC made plasma tables possible for a guy with a 1car garage.  A lot has changed now that i think of it!  
939 track loaders?  What do you cut and move logs with?  Cut to length on site or skidded whole to somewhere?  What kind of size?  Would love to see pics.  
I cant imagine trying to run and maintain an old harvester/processor out there while waiting a week on every little fitting and O ring in the mail. 
Praise The Lord

nativewolf

Quote from: teakwood on April 20, 2018, 07:27:14 AM
Nice, now we have a Hawaiian Member, Welcome.

Show us some pics of your operation, we love them.

You can post them here, i'm pretty sure the OP Nativewolf doesn't mind and it's topic related.
Great to have Hawaii joining in on the thread, thread can move in any direction.  All good to me.
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kanoak

Aloha, the 939s are 6x6 military trucks. I am mostly thinning planted stuff younger than 30 years, so everything is less than 2' dbh, and relatively close to access. Rebuilding and mounting a Prentice on one of the trucks, but for now excavator and dump truck do everything. 
 
Sawmill building its home


E. microcorys stickered with E. deglupta 

 
S. macrophylla in a mixed stand with brushbox and jackfruit. Pruned to 20'. 


 
and, just to stay on topic, ltr S. mahagoni, S. humilis, S. macrophylla.

Sorry about the sideways pics, is there a rotate function in the gallery? 
Aloha,
Kanoa

nativewolf

Great pictures.  In Thailand we saw a lot of jackfruit trees cut for lumber as well as for the fruit.  Is jackfruit popular as a food there?  One of my favorites but I could never get used to Durian.
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kanoak

Jackfruit is getting more popular as a food here, very appreciated among certain groups. Other relatives and selected clones have been introduced from S.E. Asia. I am still learning what to do with them, but I have had some good ones, and they are a huge fruit. The trees planted in the timber are selected for form; I have not eaten any of their fruit. I also have not yet cut any of the wood, although I imagine it is close to breadfruit. I have had two durian in my life, one was nasty garlic toe, the other was creme brûlée. The different people who introduced me were crazy about each. I would not eat the first again, but planted the seeds of the second.
Aloha,
Kanoa

kanoak

Also, you may want to talk to the state forester based in Hilo. J. B. Friday - jbfriday@hawaii.edu. He is one of the better contacts in hawaiian forestry and might be able to turn you on to some good information and people.
Aloha,
Kanoa

kanoak

Couple more pictures. BTW right on for the fabrication thread and the FF in general. You guys are awesome.

 

 

 

 

     
Aloha,
Kanoa

mike_belben

Youve got a lotta iron by hawaii standards!
Praise The Lord

nativewolf

Ahh, have more info now.  So 6.2" avg dbh and nearly 50' tall.  Real Mahogany- seed from Honduras.  Planted in stages, not all at the same time.  Nearly 90k trees.  Kanoak :  do you know Forest Solutions from Hawaii?
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teakwood

just 6.2" dbh? How old?
National Stihl Timbersports Champion Costa Rica 2018

kanoak

I do know of Forest Solutions, been a couple of years, but the guys I talked to were cool. They had (probably still have) some of the bigger private forestry and land management contracts. 
That mahogany planting needed a thinning at least 10 years ago. 6.2"? Stuff that size I poison and leave to decompose standing; way less damage to the surrounding + trees, and by the time you pay someone to chop it down you are in the red. Just dont go walking when the wind blows. I guess if it grew that slow it might have some red. Edge trees next to the highway look a little bigger, but that is to be expected. Did not know they had planted that many, but they are thick.
Actually, Mike, we are featherweights around here. There is booming construction/excavation/military and when stuff wears out or is dumped we can sometimes afford a new project. 
Aloha,
Kanoa

mike_belben

Nice.  

What are you mainly doing with all the diggers?  Residential clearings?

I used to shape surfboards near some kane fields in nanakuli (little south of makaha) and dont know if i ever even saw a tractor.  Didnt pay much attention in those days.
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nativewolf

Quote from: teakwood on April 23, 2018, 11:16:06 AM
just 6.2" dbh? How old?
This plantation is only 9-12 years old I think.  Average at .12 cubic meters per tree but boy, that is small wood.  The DBH variation is huge.  Probably due to planting over time.  412 trees per acre right now.  
I'll know more Friday.  

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