Blue spruce...

[Ever Green]

Had a chance to go look at some Blue spruce today.  Tall and straight...20-35" DBH...about 10 trees...little dicey dropping a few but my questions is ...do they have any value?  I know I could have them sawed myself and build a cabin or barn...just didn't know if I could possibly get some coin out of them...What types of things is spruce good for...Timber framers etc.?

Thanks...
Vince......I'm located 35 miles South of Buffalo, NY

[Sprucegum]

All the framing lumber we use here is called SPF which means it can be Spruce ,Pine or Fir. It would make some nice beams for sure.
If they are yard trees they probably have alot of branches? Some people like that Knotty pine look in wall paneling or wainscotting.

Blue spruce is just like White spruce except.......  ;D

[maple flats]

in fact if memory serves me if it was clear spruce and straight grain that is what OSHA used to specify for scaffolding plank over a certain length, it was the strongest of the soft woods and could flex a long way without breaking.

[jokers]

..........it was the strongest of the soft woods and could flex a long way without breaking.

Strongest? Stronger than hemlock which according to a couple of things I`ve read equated hemlock to doug fir for strength, stronger and able to span greater distances than spf but that was also in regard to deflection of no more than 1/360 of the span. Just curious to know just how strong spruce is `cause I can get a bunch cheap.

I thought the scaffold plank spec was related to the fact that the spruce is somewhat decay resistant so a plank certified as scaffold grade today could be reasonably assumed to meet the same spec a year from now even with regular exposure to weather.

As an aside, the most recent planks that I bought were microlams and were labeled hem-fir. I don`t know about anyone else but I`d much rather work off aluminum picks where the dimensions allow, I never did like walking on planks as they bow in the middle while I was 20 or 30 feet above the ground.

[maple flats]

I will try to check that out. Right now i just remember about 20 some years ago I was renting scaffolding and the only plank was spruce and a notice on the rental form said something about OSHA requiring spruce plank if wooden plank was used.

[beenthere]

maple flats
Looked up OSHA requirements, and the following stated:
1910.28(a)(8)

All load-carrying timber members of scaffold framing shall be a minimum of 1,500 f. (Stress Grade) construction grade lumber. All dimensions are nominal sizes as provided in the American Lumber Standards, except that where rough sizes are noted, only rough and undressed lumber or the size specified will satisfy minimum requirements. (Note: Where nominal sizes of lumber are used in place of rough sizes, the nominal size lumber shall be such as to provide equivalent strength to that specified in tables D-7 through D-12 and D-16.

1910.28(a)(9)

All planking shall be Scaffold Grade as recognized by grading rules for the species of wood used. The maximum permissible spans for 2- X 9-inch or wider planks are shown in the following table:
..............
.

Nothing about requiring a certain species. And that doesn't sound like OSHA to do something like that eithier.

[Dave Shepard]

The laminated OSHA planks we were using this winter seemed to be doug fir. All I know is they better be about 6"x12" if a moose like me's gonna use them.


Dave

[Dodgy Loner]

The strength to weight ratio of spruce is among the highest of any wood, which is why it was used extensively in early airplanes (ie, the "Spruce Goose").  However, according to R. Bruce Hoadley in the book Idenifying Wood, southern yellow pine is "the densest and strongest of the commercially significant softwoods".

In some instances, OSHA does require certain species of wood for certain objects.  The ladder code, for example, allows noble fir (Abies procera) to be used for rails, but not other fir species.  This has caused some problems in legal cases due to the inherent difficulty of separating different species of fir based on wood anatomy.

[jokers]

Good points Dodgy!

[TexasTimbers]

Russ are you lost ? The chainsaw forum is the one 6 levels from the top. :D ;D

[Furby]

Cut Russ some slack, he gets out now and then and I give him credit for that over some of the other fellows. :D

[jokers]

Cut Russ some slack, he gets out now and then and I give him credit for that over some of the other fellows. :D

Thanks Furby!  ;D

Sometimes it takes a guy like Kevjay to keep me on the straight and narrow, he`s a good dude just the same, !

[SwampDonkey]

Spruce with tiny knots, no sweep > 1", no spiral, and 14" at 16'-6" and up are veneer grade. Not sure how the current market conditions have suppressed the prices, but they were worth as much as US$1000 per for the perfect stuff, back 6 or 7 years ago.

[maple flats]

Thanks beenthere. That must bew the current spec. Maybe what I read on the sticker from rented scaffold years ago was outdated or maybe it was made by the rental co who just happened to have the "required spruce" to rent too.

[sjh]

Vince
If you get the job and want to sell them send me a PM. I would be interested in buying them.
Scott