Business opportunity?

[SasquatchMan]

I've noticed that a lot of the farms and ranches around in my area have a lot of dead standing and dead fallen trees, and of course just about a million "leaners".  I've been thinking that a guy could offer to cut down and buck such stuff, and either leave the firewood for the owners, or take it and sell it etc.  

Anyone had any experience doing this kind of thing?  Are there licenses/insurance requirements a guy should know about?

[Ron Wenrich]

Make sure your life insurance is paid up.  Cutting dead trees isn't necessarily easier than cutting live stuff.  You get all types of dead branches and the like falling down while your cutting.  We had one guy get killed by falling branches on moth killed oak.

You might be able to do a business of it, if you can find people willing to pay you to cut the dead stuff.  My guess is that if they wanted cut for firewood, they would have done it already.  But, there is the fire danger angle.

Dead stuff mills a lot harder than green.  This can be helped by wetting down your logs when you saw.

It is also harder to sell, unless you have a way of getting rid of any bugs (kiln drying).  Blue stain can be a problem as well as bug holes.  A lot depends on how long its been standing dead.  

Best thing to do is to run a few logs through your mill and see if that's what you want to saw.  It might be cheap, but it might not be worthwhile.

[SasquatchMan]

It would all go for firewood - the trees around here a way to small to mill (intelligently).  

I sot of suspect that you're right in saying that if people cared, they'd have done it themselves.... I guess we'll see.

Thanks for the response.

[Tim]

I agree with Ron... Pay up the life insurance. Chicots are one of the primary reasons that people get killed in the bush here. One of the fellows I am working with had a 33 foot dead top off a poplar come down on his shoulder. He didn't see it through a spruce that was marked to stay. I've seen the *DanG things explode when they are hit with the good stuff.

Conversely, there is a market for spalted hardwoods but, it is small and probably shouldn't be the main consentration of any venture. Stick to the good stuff...

[Stephen_Wiley]

Cutting dead leaning trees means you will have no control as to where they will lay. Upon contact with adjacent trees they will literally explode sending a shower of pieces for you to deal with.

Some trees will be intertwined and thus will require removal by sectioning. A difficult task with sound trees and by far extremely dangerous if the adjacent trees are also dead !!

Also a cautionary note: what killed the trees  ???

If the trees are numerous in a patch with the perimeter trees declining, it is possible you are in an area of root rotting organisms.  Transfer of this material may end up in spread of  the pathogen if not handled appropiately.

[Kirk_Allen]

Sasquatch Man,
I was given permission to take any dead tree I wanted on our grandparents farm after they died.  In a 140 acre wood lot I fell and skidded over 130 dead trees.  Some were not worth the effort but most were!  Red Oak, White Oak, Maple, Cherry, Walnut, Hickory, Ash and American Elm.  

I now have an old chicken barn bursting with FAS grade lumber beyond anything I thought I would get, not to mention the lower grade stuff that is just as valuable in some peoples eyes.

Every thing previously mentioned on safety concern is right on.  I had many trees that had week limbs that fell during the felling.  The key for me was to be patient and truly plan the process for each tree.  I was always looking up!

I think the only real concern for me or close call was an American elm that was 50+ inches at the base and over 75' tall before the first branch.  Every branch at the top exploded when it hit the ground.  It flung debris at least a 100 feet.  

Always make sure you have multiple escape routes when felling and make sure they are as long as 1 1/2 times the height of the tree.  

Looking back on it, I wish I would have focused on saving all the firewood instead of giving it away.  My goal was lumber to build a new home with and numerous woodworking projects.  

Looking back on it, I know that just from the slabs from the mill work I gave away 28 hay wagons of slab wood to the local farmer who heats his house with it.  

Now the flip side to that, I know where he will go to get his timber cut into lumber! 8)

We are currently working on a project in Arkansas that includes much of what you outline.  We are salvaging white oak that is wind blown.

The reason most people have not gotten the wood for fire wood is for a reason that I could not believe until I heard it directly from these land owners.  75% of them did not own a chainsaw. Out of the 25% that did, 10% wanted no part of splitting wood.  Thus, we cut the branches into manageable sizes, throw it into a pile and haul it away for the land owner and resell it as firewood.  The logs are included in the deal.  Thus, we have an unlimited supply of free wood for quite some time.  

Most of the trees that were blown over are 24-40" white oaks and are too big for most folks to mess with.

Thank God for Winches!