Walnut timber

[treebloke]

I have a mature Walnut to take down and have the opportunity to dig out the root or grind it, would anyone be interested in the root or the timber.

[Big J]

For the benefit of those in the area, could you please post photos of the tree? This will give them a better idea of potential value prior to felling. Beyond that, once the tree is down, it's crucial to see a sawn end to judge the proportion sapwood to heartwood.

[agg221]

As per Big J. The other thing I would add is, if it's a decent size with no rot and looks worth doing, dismantle it to a stick, as long as you can get and leave six inches or so on each branch stub beyond the clean stick. If at that stage the band of visible sapwood is only an inch or two thick, it should be good. Take photos of the ends and dig it rather than fell it, then paint the ends to seal. That way, if anyone does buy it they'll get the cleanest, longest butt possible, with the best chance of minimising losses through cracking.

 

If the sapwood band is much wider, cut clean to the top of the stick and see how much heart there really is. If it's looking much over a foot, it's probably saleable, but don't expect much more than roadside cord price unless it's a long, clean, wide butt. I'd still photograph it and then get it moved and painted. I wouldn't bother digging the stump unless it's a good proportion of heartwood.

 

I know people differ in view on painting ends, but I've had very good results on a walnut stump I got hold of just after an idiot farmer had chopped it off at 4ft and dug it out. I ultimately want to make a chest of drawers from it, 4ft high and the boards are 4ft0.5in long. I got it the day it was cut, painted the ends immediately and then painted the bottom end cuts once roots etc were off. I have absolutely zero cracks in it, so in this case it was worth it. Ordinary gloss paint works fine.

 

I wouldn't get your hopes up, but it's worth a look.

 

Alec

[Big J]

I don't seal the ends of my timber generally, simply because it's another stage to a quite labour intensive process. I find that the checking in the ends of the boards are largely dependent on the underlying quality of the timber and the time that it was felled.

 

I cite the example of a batch of high quality oak milled at the start of April. Really a bit late to mill oak, but given the cooler climate here and the barn I have (cool, almost a touch damp but with good air flow and no direct sunlight) it's dried/is drying beautifully. I put some of the 1.5 and 1.25 inch stock into the kiln in October last year (MC of 23-28% prior to kilning) and it has dried with no end shake at all.

 

Contrary to that, I chain milled some generally good quality oak in July (timber had to be moved from site, no machine access) and it has shaken fairly badly at the ends.

 

I suspect that both processes would have occurred with the ends sealed, though I am happy to be proved wrong.

 

Either way, I agree with your advice regarding the walnut butt. Treebloke - perhaps send Slackbladder (Steve Slack) a message as he is in the market for a bit of walnut.

 

Jonathan

[Rob D]

I did a whole thread on this. You've got to give more info if you want to get people interested and some good pics. It could be worth selling or just firewood.

 

 

http://arbtalk.co.uk/forum/alaskan-mill/39337-if-youre-trying-sell-walnut-butt.html

 

 

 

 

[treebloke]

 

I know people differ in view on painting ends,

 

I wouldn't get your hopes up, but it's worth a look.

 

Alec

 

I had not heard about painting the ends.

 

My hopes are not high, I have a yard full of wood and try to keep the better bits to one side, it seems a shame to cut it for firewood.

 

I currently have approx 20/30 Holly sticks approx 30 cms dia x 3 mtr long, they are quite close to the processor but I cannot bring myself to put them through.

[slackbladder]

pm sent