homeowner seeking advice about large black walnut tree on property

[johnk]

Forestry Forum:

I am a homeowner with a large black walnut tree on my property, and I was hoping to ask for some advice. It's between 70-80 inches in circumference, and has a very tall and straight main trunk (hazarding a guess, I'd say the crown tops out at 50-60'). It's in a slightly tricky location, squeezed between an old fence that is about to be torn down and a chicken coop. It has some small damage--previous owner nailed a small board to it, and two of the lower limbs have been removed. I am sick of the garden being poisoned by juglone and want an asparagus patch, and we plan to replace the old fence this coming spring. I figure now is the time to get rid of it, if I'm going to get rid of it. I am attaching a not very good photo from last spring right after we bought the house--the smaller trees and grapevines have since been removed from the fenceline. It's the tall tree in the back left--I can provide other photos tomorrow if they would be helpful.

My questions for the forestry forum: is this tree saleable? I have heard black walnut is valuable and it's a very large tree. If so, how should I go about selling it? I am in Central New York--Binghamton--and not sure who would be interested in a tree like this and how I would find them. Should I expect to just get it removed for free or should I try to get some money in addition? Or should I just pay an arborist? Finally, it's in a tight backyard and it is a big tree--there *might* be space to fell it into the neighbor's yard, but I am not at all sure and kind of doubt it. You could probably get a bucket truck in the backyard--it would be annoying but doable. 

Sorry for the long and kind of naive question--I know homeowners always think their walnut trees are goldmines--but I thought this would be a good place to look for some basic advice. Thank you in advance for reading! 
John



 

[doc henderson]

Welcome to the forum.  this has been addressed a few time so you might search walnut tree value.  the consensus is that walnut is a beautiful and valuable wood.  that is after it is harvested, transported, sawn, stacked and dried. planed and edged.  transported again and then retailed.  so the tree in your yard is not worth enough to pay for the removal.  It is worth it to see if you can sell it, but as a yard tree, some will not touch it.  poss. metal and nails ect. with all the nearby buildings, it will be a challenge.  If someone offers to take it down for the tree, think twice and get references, they be less than professional.  I have paid as much as 160 bucks (total) for a three walnut logs in the past.  good luck, but lower your expectations.  you can search and read more views.  do not feel bad, as this is a common question (misconception) on the forum!

[johnk]

thank you so much! will read other forum posts.

[Old Greenhorn]

well said Doc. We hear this all the time and Doc is exactly correct. Yes, black walnut is truly worth money, but only after harvesting, hauling, milling, drying, planing, etc, which is a lot of work. The liability on the part of an arborist to take that tree down is the same whether it is a poplar or a walnut. He has to pay his crew, make his equipment payments and is likely using a hundred grand in equipment he moved in to do the job, not to mention the 5 or six figures he pays in liability insurance. So it costs an arborist around 700 to a grand just to show up with a crew without making a cut. This is where the confusion comes in for the homeowner. The arborist doesn't make money off the trees he cuts by reselling. In rare cases he may pick up a few extra bucks if he wants to take more time to cut into larger logs (bring in a log truck) and try to find a buyer, but that is not his normal plan nor part of his business. In reality, handling and disposing of trees is an expense for a lot of arborists. Here's a little secret: if you want to get the best price from an arborist to remove a tree, tell him you just want it on the ground and you will do the rest. Cut and clear the brush, buck the logs (and do whatever you like with them), all he has to do is get it down. For him or her, that means a 2 man crew instead of 3 or 4, no chipper, no boom truck. All he needs is a bucket and a ground guy in 95% of cases.

[Ed]

Check with your closest Amish folk. They have bought walnut trees in our town before.
They even removed them...

Ed

[Clark]

I'll second what Old Greenhorn said and add to it. Tell the arborist you want it on the ground and you'll take care of the rest. If the arborist needs to get heavy equipment in then you can also get someone with a portable mill in there to make some lumber.  You should be able to turn the whole trunk into lumber for less than $500. 

At that point you're about $1500 into it but you do have options. You can try to sell it on craigslist or something similar, use it yourself or use it to barter in the future. Of course, if you plan on hanging onto it you'll need to stack and sticker it properly and cover it. Not difficult to do but easier to get done when you plan for it.

Realistically you might break even but you might learn a thing or two along the way and you never know what opportunities await when you have walnut to barter.

Clark

[WV Sawmiller]

   I am thinking along the lines of Clark. You are going to incur the cost of having the tree taken down. You may be able to recover some, maybe all but don't bank on it, the costs by selling the wood if you can find the right buyer. I would suggest you contact any local woodworkers and see if they would be interested in the lumber or the logs. If they want the lumber see what sizes they want then locate a local portable sawyer to come cut the logs into lumber. It sounds like there is metal in it so warn him/mark the known bad spots and expect to pay blade damage fees if he still hits metal. You may be able to sell the green lumber to the woodworkers as is at a lower rate or you can sticker and air dry and/or take it to a kiln, if you can find one then command a higher price. Does this sound complicated? It can be so decide if it is worth the effort and expense for a possible future return.  Or the woodworkers or sawyer may buy the logs once they are on the ground but don't get mad when they make their offer. Good luck.

[retiredmechanic]

all great information posted above another point if you find the right Arborist  that will just use climbing gear instead of a bucket truck you might also be able to save a few dineros I had a overgrown red oak tree hanging over my roof that I wanted  cut way back, and just cleaned up and I found a father son company that did the Job for a $100.00 bill and just had them pile up the brush which I cut and burned and got almost a rick of wood out of it which runs $70.00 a rick so since I use firewood it saved me that money so the total cost was $30.00 

[Jeff]

Pipe dreams.

Find an insured tree service to take it down, don't count on anyone buying it, and be prepared to pay several hundred dollars for the removal. Its a yard tree. If you know there is at least one nail in it, there could be 50.

[sawguy21]

X2

[doc henderson]

@johnk how are you making out with your tree?