lots of huge oaks lost in sandy

[Tom L]

I have had to turn down 4 jobs with 40" plus diameter oak logs in the past week. the big trees really took a hurting in the storm. I just can't see myself messing with material that big. I would hate to break the mill trying it.

if anyone in Jersey or eastern Pa has a swing mill. let me know and I could recommend you for some work.

[Leigh Family Farm]

How heavy of a log can your mill handle?

A lot of my coworkers from Newark just got power back today and Monmouth County they say is totally crushed.

[Mark Emig]

Hi Tom,
            I'm in the Hudson Valley-depending on the job, I travel a bit. PM me and I'll give you my contact info.
                                      Mark

[Too Big To Fail]

I may be near enough as well.  I have a band mill but I can get 43" between the bearings.

[Al_Smith]

This might be a dumb question but if they are that good why not rip them to a size you can handle with a chainsaw . It's not the first time a big log was whittled down to size .

[shelbycharger400]

sounds like he is tryin to make money, busting down big logs takes LOTS of time!  personally, id leave a calling card for later when things settle down.

[chainsaw_louie]

Yep,  there sure are a lot of hardwood trees down in NY and NJ.  I heard the fella from the power company saying that they removed 46,000 trees in NJ. Here are a few pictures of one of the county transfer sites for the tree guys.

I'm thinking of talking to one of the drivers and asking him to take a load to my milling site instead of dumping here !  That one log is a good 40" .  I had a look at those logs and didn't see any white oak, cherry or walnut... I guess they set those aside, a lot of what you see is red oak .

...and of course the chips


 

 

 


  

 

[customsawyer]

I see some signs of metal too. ;D

[T Welsh]

I am in the same boat right now! We are located outside of Philly area. And all the calls that have come in regarding sawing storm damaged logs is starting to back up.I have to weed through them and pick the most promising ones. I have a 40" + red oak on the mill right now and was whittling it down. Took me an hour and a half to get it down to a 28" x 28" cant. Got stuck in the log once at the end and hit a lag bolt the next cut. Called it quits for the day, I am out of blades and waiting for them back from resharp in Shade Gap. I am only taking the large one,s on custom sawing at time and materials basis. We are still busy with storm damage on the tree service end of the business so I have a back up of 5 to 8 custom saw jobs to do and most of them are red oaks. Tim

[Al_Smith]

I was going to make reference to tramp metal but I kind of knew you folks would figure that out .

[Leigh Family Farm]

Yep,  there sure are a lot of hardwood trees down in NY and NJ.  I heard the fella from the power company saying that they removed 46,000 trees in NJ. Here are a few pictures of one of the county transfer sites for the tree guys.

I'm thinking of talking to one of the drivers and asking him to take a load to my milling site instead of dumping here !  That one log is a good 40" .  I had a look at those logs and didn't see any white oak, cherry or walnut... I guess they set those aside, a lot of what you see is red oak .

...and of course the chips

Would it be possible to set up your portable mill in their parking lot? Might be a nice gesture to the county if they have ample building materials for rebuilding, kinda like a canned food drive but with lumber.  ;)

[Tom L]

How heavy of a log can your mill handle?

I have an lt40 super, 40" is over the rating, and I doubt the mill would load a log that big on it's own.

[Tom L]

This might be a dumb question but if they are that good why not rip them to a size you can handle with a chainsaw . It's not the first time a big log was whittled down to size .

I don't think the homeowners want to pay that kind of money.

[Magicman]

I will be sawing Hurricane Isaac Red Oak today and another call came in last night for some Pines.  Next week's Isaac sawjob is quite large with 30-40 logs.

There are about 8 more on the schedule and will be done as the customers buck and stage their logs.  They just call and tell me to "put them on the list".

[Tom L]

pm's sent to Too Big and Mark,

[Al_Smith]

Although it pales by comparrison when the ice storm hit here in I think '97 thousands of big trees where either ground up or just land filled .They had parking lots full of brush ,logs .

They brought in several huge tub grinders which worked well until one of them was fed a cast iron manhole cover  .

What few hardwood mills locally wouldn't take them on a bet .One would have thought the next year that the firewood business would suffer but they sold just as much wood as they ever did .

Now stop and think logically here .What's the average suburbian New Jersian going to do with a bunch of planked oak? What make a garage? Don't think so .

First of all most localities have building codes that dictate the building practices and even if not ever try to drive a nail in oak ? You'd stand a better chance trying to walk on water .

I'd just about bet what little salvaged oak that gets sawn will be firewood within 5 years after the owners get tired of stumbling over it .

[Leigh Family Farm]

...Now stop and think logically here .What's the average suburbian New Jersian going to do with a bunch of planked oak? What make a garage? Don't think so .

First of all most localities have building codes that dictate the building practices and even if not ever try to drive a nail in oak ? You'd stand a better chance trying to walk on water...

Yes it is true that most of the residents in NJ would not need planed oak. I was talking more about making construction lumber (2x4s, 2x6s, 4x4s, etc.) to be used in the rebuilding of smaller towns. A lot of folks won't have the means to rebuild and the insurance won't cover the whole cost. There is already major price gouging going on and it will only get worse as the rebuilding process unfolds.

As for the building codes, I'm still reading the Uniform Construction Code of PA (I know its another state) so I'm no expert. According to the PA UCC, a building inspector can certify rough sawn lumber for residential homes less than three stories so maybe its the same for NJ. The local municipality could certify the lumber and then use it to rebuild.

Also, I would think that an insurance company would want to have the PR for providing lumber for the rebuilding of NJ. Lets say State Farm hires a portable sawyer to cut the logs, a flatbed trucker to move the wood to a temporary storage warehouse to dry, and then has a licensed grader come in and certify the lumber. The lumber would be available for anyone to use to rebuild their homes. It might cost that insurance company $200,000 in expenses but they would gain so much more in the long run (positive PR, more clients = more premiums, etc.).

Just my two pennies rubbed together...

[Al_Smith]

Well don't take me wrong because it's a noble thought .In reality though it will likely never happen .

Something like moderate sized stashs  of fine and select interior trim grade boards and cabinetry or veneer grade furniture stuff is one use .In addition perhaps long timber oak used in something  like Dave Shepard does with post and beam construction is very note worthy.

Quite honestly though for general construction framing by the time they gathered it up ,brought in a sawyer and culled the lumber they have more in it than  buying douglas fir from the far coast or east  coast Carolina  pine .

I kid you not because in my teens I've repaired many an old barn with native oak and it isn't all that much fun although it was cheap back then and will last almost forever--if you keep a good roof .

Try driving a nail into just a 1" oak board sometime without bending it and let me know how you make out .I already know the out come . ;)

[dboyt]

I milled quite a bit of lumber after the Joplin, MO tornado.  It was downright insane, the size and quality of logs that went to a tub grinder or landfill, but FEMA contracts with haulers made sure that the wood was buried or ground up.  I can see their point, since a lot of material had to be moved in a hurry.  I used my portable sawmill to cut some logs for homeowners who wanted furniture made from trees that had been in their yards for sentimental reasons, and donated some milled lumber to local schools for woodworking classes.  In retrospect, I probably helped more by coming in with a chain saw to help remove debris than any of the milling I did.  You can't compete with the big boys for construction lumber, but could mill flooring and trim, if you're set up for it.  If you come up with other ideas, please post them, because I've got a feeling that more natural disasters are on the horizon.

[Al_Smith]

The prospect of salvaging or in some way making relatively small amounts of lumber on site has only been achieved through the invention of the small portable bandsaw mill .I think they are  one of the neatest  things since beer in a pull top can .

--but it's a niche market .I don't know anybody who's ever got rich off of one .Some make a decent living but most it's a side line or retirement income or a hobby which is my intent once I get the thing built .

If I were to say sell rough sawn even with a crew there is no way I could compete as far as output with the two local mills one running a big circle the other a big bandsaw .That would be like compairing digging a pond with a shovel and wheelbarrow as oppossed to a twin engine Cat panscraper . .