Cypress Logs & a City Girls Education

[lynne]

I need some expert advice and educating.  My boss owns a farm and a saw mill and wants me to get several loads of cypress logs in per month.  But not swamp junk. I apologize for my lack of education but I wouldn't know a good cypress log from a bad cypress log if it jumped out of the swamp and bit me... can anyone help educate me ?

[Texas Ranger]

Does your boss know anything about cypress?  Ask him to define the two types he is using.  You get junk logs out of any location, and cypress happens to be a, more or less, swamp tree.

That way it is stated it is an impossible situation.  IMHO

[beenthere]

Welcome lynne

Are you a city girl?

What's up?

[Ianab]

Maybe it's the terminology he's using that's confusing here?

Is he looking for "Good" sawlogs? Not something that looks like it's been dragged out of a swamp after falling 20 years ago. Whether it actually came from a swamp or not isn't the issue, as cypress usually comes from a swamp of some description.

A "good" log is straight, solid (no rotten centre), a decent size and has few limbs / knots. This means you can saw good quality boards from it  There will be various log grading rules that loggers and mills agree on so they can work out pricing on logs of various quality.

Expect to pay more for the better quality logs, as they will produce more and higher value sawn lumber.

Ian

[WDH]

The bigger the better.  The older the better.  The more heartwood the better.  The fewer knots the better.  The straighter the better.

[lynne]

Thank you very much one and all.  I spent the majority of my life in Chicago, wood is lovely, but it's usually a nice table to me, a beautiful chair... I realize it started as a tree and then a log but never really needed to know the process.  He specified red cypress. Building cow fencing around 400 acres. It's not like I can look up iin the yellow pages Red Cypress Logs and see a lot of listings...

[Cypressstump]

Lynne, where are you located? What part of the country?

400 acres fenced, that's going to be a costly Cypress fence.

If you are in an area that has active logging operations, sometimes Cypress can be purchased by the truck load at a discounted rated. If that possibility exists, you could then inquire about a sawyer with a portable mill to come to the location and mill your logs.

As far as 'junk',, he may have been refering to what is now being logged for cypress mulch, they will take anything 10inches in dia. and larger for mulching.

Stump

[WDH]

The old heart cypress was called "Tidewater Red".  That may be what he is referring to.  I don't believe that there is much of that around anymore unless it is found in old warehouse structures as beams, etc.

[ellmoe]

Danny, what she is looking for is "pond" cypress  as opposed to "bald". Red (or pond) cypress has a reputation of lasting longer outside than bald (or white) cypress among the cattlemen of Florida. This is probably because the  second growth red cypress usually has a large proportion of heart when it is just big enough to be harvested, while the second growth white cypress generally has little heart formed as it first enters the size class to be cut  (6" top, 12" dbh).

Mark

[WDH]

Most of the pond cypress around here are small and grow very very slowly. 

[ellmoe]

Danny, there was a small mill just across the Ga. line (off I-75) that had the best red cypress I have ever seen on a consistant basis. These logs were big, straight, and no rot. I am sure they were well selected as a mulch mill ( for the poorer logs) was close. Did I ever drool over those logs! I wondered then , and now, if the high clay content in the soil had something to do with their growth. The logs were 25% less in price than what I was paying so I was doubly jealous!
Mark