Madrona????

[desert sawman]

So last time i put an entry in here i didn't get any responses.. So i'll try it again/ This time it's about Madrona.  What is it good for other than just firewood... It has a beautiful color & it is of decent size.  Is there a certain way to cut it to make it worth more $ than the other.  If anybody has any info on Madrona could ya please drop me a reply.. Thanks

[Okrafarmer]

Hi, DS, welcome to the forum. I've never seen Madrona, but I would like to. Can you share some pictures? Set up your photo album first and then you can show your pix.
I just did a little quick research and here is one website I found you may like to look at.
I don't know these people, or anything.
http://www.arbutusarts.com/

[pasbuild]

Well I don't know a darn thing about Madrona but I just couldn't let ya post another question without gettin a reply  ;D

[Left Coast Chris]

There are two different trees called "Madrona".  Does the tree you are refering to have farily thick pale brown bark or is it mostly smooth and shinny red with long thin scales that shed?   Also, where are you from or where are the trees located you are refering to?  

I can tell you some info regarding the shinny red barked Madrona (locals pronounce it madrone) growing here in the Pacific Northwest.   But the pale brown thicker barked Madrona growing in high elevations of Arizona and into Mexico, I know nothing about.

[Okrafarmer]

There are two different trees called "Madrona".  Does the tree you are refering to have farily thick pale brown bark or is it mostly smooth and shinny red with long thin scales that shed?   Also, where are you from or where are the trees located you are refering to?  

I can tell you some info regarding the shinny red barked Madrona (locals pronounce it madrone) growing here in the Pacific Northwest.   But the pale brown thicker barked Madrona growing in high elevations of Arizona and into Mexico, I know nothing about.

From what Petersons' Guide says, the two (or three) kinds are related. They do have some nice qualities from what I can see.

[Magicman]

That sounds like what Backwoods sawyer cuts out in Oregon.  He is always talking about sawing "madrone".

Maybe he will pick this up and give you an answer.

Anyway, I see that you have been around since June, and where are my manners?  Welcome to the Forestry Forum.
There's a lot of sand and rock and few trees between Reno and Vegas.

[Pilot1]

Chris lives near the best madrones I have ever seen, along the highway from Redding toward Eureka, California.  Haven't taken that drive in decades, but as I recall it's only tree competition is digger pine, both occupying somewhat dry sites.

I think it is a beautiful tree. 

Here is what Wiki says about it commercial potential:
The timber distorts during drying and is not much used, but an attractive veneer  can be made from it. Recently, it has become more popular in the Pacific Northwest as a flooring material, due to the durability of the wood, and the warm color after finishing. Mostly the wood is sought for its heating capabilities since it burns long and hot in fireplaces.

The forestry building at Humboldt State University had madrone veneer on the walls inside.  Again, it was beautiful and the story was that a major timber company made it just for the forestry building.  Some #)*(^$ torched the building in 1979, but it was rebuilt.

[SwampDonkey]

Pacific Madrone, Madroňo

Sliced veneer for panelling and rollers (6-8" diameter) for shifting heavy cargoes on ships. Dogwood substitute. Used to be used for charcoal.

Sp gravity: green 0.58, 12% 0.65
Weight: green 60 lb/ft³, 12% 45 lb/ft³

Vol shrinkage: green → oven dried 18%
                      tangent to rings (flat sawn) 12.4%
                      radial (quartered)across rings 5.6%

Ability to stay in place during moisture changes is very troublesome.
Pronounced warping when drying
Very difficult to glue

[Left Coast Chris]

There is a significant amount of Madrone (smooth skinned) to the west of Redding where I live.   Years ago we lived in Burnt Ranch along Hwy 299 between Redding and Eureka.   We burned Madrone for firewood.   It is alot like Manzinita except Manzinita is a bush.   The Madrone trees rarely grow straight and are mostly in rough terrain on shaded sides of hills and around creeks.   It is pretty straignt grained but it must be split green when cross grain tension is weakest.    If sawn it distorts and splits but is very beautiful with light pink or tanish pink heart wood and cream colored sap wood.  The sap wood and heart wood come together unevenly giving many pieces a mixture of both colors making it multi-colored for flooring.

There is one buisness in Oak Run just east of Redding that offers Madrone flooring.   I have never seen Madrone boards for sale that are of any length.  Likely a very large loss trying to get a straight board that has not split.  Most trees will have tension wood due to the leaning nature of the tree.

That is the extent of my experience with the Pacific Madrone tree.

[ErikC]

 We live west of Redding, and it is around here a lot. I don't see it cohabitating with digger pine(Grey Pine) much, it seems to like the ground with a little better drainage. Those pines live on adobe clay flats around here a lot of the time. I have always liked it for firewood, it is a pain to dry but beautiful as lumber, and it is a pretty tree too.
I have some I can see from inside that have red berries and shiny dark green leaves right now, and it is snowing

[Pilot1]

I confess I haven't been on 299 for probably 30 years so my associating madrone and digger pine is based on old memories.  I know they are both along 299.

Erik C, Hayfork is a pretty small place.  Do you know Fred Swanson?  His daughter used to work for us, went into the Air Force & we never heard from her again.  I didn't know him, but I worked with Jim Rice who used to work @ Hayfork & he knew Fred.  Just a small world thing that we hired his daughter 500 miles away.  That was 25 years ago. 

[ErikC]

 Hayfork is still a small place. Are you sure it was Fred? There are some Swanson's around here, but I don't know any named Fred.

[park ranger]

I had a real nice madrona log, as straight as I had seen and about 24".  Went ahead and cut it into 11/4" slabs and stikered it real nice and as the bonus I used metal bands and bound it up nice and flat.  I left it in a dry area under cover and in a year I cut the bands to find the most corkscrewed up mess I have ever seen.  It's great long burning fire wood.

[JHBC]

An older thread, I know..  The Madrone tree.  It's called Arbutus out this way.  I don't know how widespread its range is.  Common in Wash., and Oregon, I thought.  Anyway, I don't know of any use other than firewood, due to its very crooked growth..  Sometimes in 180 deg curves, and corkscrew like limbs.  It only grows here on the very southern tip of Vancouver Island, which is the warmest, and relatively the driest.  It is, along with Garry Oak, (White Oak), almost totally protected from cutting.  But when the exception is made, they are among the hardest woods to be found locally.  And the best, and most valuable as firewood.

[BaldBob]

The hardwood floors in a house I used to own were all Pacific Madrone. They were beautiful.

[Ironwood]

I have seen a sub species (perhaps?) in the deserts of Arizona. Half dead in dry soil, living part is purplish. COOL tree, wish we had it here I would use it for rustic furniture.

Ironwood