What to with this Oak?

[se7enthdevil]

get a mobile mill in mate, as long as you can sell the timber or use it yourself it should be well worth the money.

[agg221]

That looks like some nice quality stuff and probably enough in total to interest a sawmill. May be worth ringing round the local ones.

 

Alec

[agg221]

get a mobile mill in mate, as long as you can sell the timber or use it yourself it should be well worth the money.

 

3 to 4ft diameter is rather on the large side for most mobile mills. I had a 3ft x 20ft butt through one once but the owner refused to ever take the mill to site again after that!

 

There is a lot of timber in 12 trees that size which is why selling them as sawlogs may be the easier option than trying to stack it all and then move it on.

 

There is some regional variation in prices but I would have thought £6/Hoppus ft would be fair to everyone. If you are lucky and there is demand at the moment you may get offered a little more, or if you just want them gone £4/Hoppus ft should see them cleared easily. Big J will be more up to speed with current price trends than I am (he was considering a load from Devon earlier in the week, so you never know he might even want these - be a good test for the new mill!).

 

Alec

[Marc Lewis]

The sapwood has fairly well gone on those - not a bad thing (probably a good thing) but suggests they were standing dead for a while?

 

The ends shown in the photo look a good size and suitable for milling. The question is what would you do with it if you milled it? If you have a use for milled timber then it is well worth doing - makes good long-lasting gateposts if nothing else but you may have other uses for it. If so, it will save you a lot to get this milled rather than buy in timber. It will be longer lasting than treated softwood so if you have a think back about what timber you have bought over the past few years and get it milled in those sections, then stick it in an open fronted barn with stickers to dry it will be ready when you want it.

 

If you have no foreseeable use for it and no immediate outlet to sell it to you will end up putting money into it and then make yourself a headache to recover it. If you have a use for firewood then under these circumstances this is a better use for it.

 

If you don't want it, someone may pop up on this thread and offer to buy the butts from you - if you can do a good deal (e.g. you have no shortage of firewood from smaller stuff) then this would work out for everyone.

 

If you get people suggesting you should mill it but they don't want to buy it then this won't help you.

 

As for milling routes - the three options are get in a bandmill - a particularly good idea if you can get all the lengths back to hard standing and lift them with a teleporter. It is likely to be a day or two, depending on the size. Alternatively if you have some time and want to do it yourself you could buy an Alaskan, particularly if you want larger sections and have a suitable powerhead already. This is more wasteful and slower but doesn't need any full size trees moved. With a suitable set-up you can also use it to make full length beams which would cost a lot to buy. The job will pay for the kit and some if you have a use for the timber. Third option is to get someone in with an Alaskan. This will work best if you don't feel confident about what you are doing but want to then consider carrying on with your own kit. One of the Alaskan options is the best bet if you want longer lengths than a mobile bandsaw can handle, the main trunks are too wide to go through the throat of a bandsaw mill or you can't move the full length sections back.

 

There are several people on here who have portable mills of either type - if you put up a location you should get some feedback on who is nearby.

 

Alec

 

Excellent post

[WHaines]

3 to 4ft diameter is rather on the large side for most mobile mills. I had a 3ft x 20ft butt through one once but the owner refused to ever take the mill to site again after that!

 

 

 

There is a lot of timber in 12 trees that size which is why selling them as sawlogs may be the easier option than trying to stack it all and then move it on.

 

 

 

There is some regional variation in prices but I would have thought £6/Hoppus ft would be fair to everyone. If you are lucky and there is demand at the moment you may get offered a little more, or if you just want them gone £4/Hoppus ft should see them cleared easily. Big J will be more up to speed with current price trends than I am (he was considering a load from Devon earlier in the week, so you never know he might even want these - be a good test for the new mill!).

 

 

 

Alec

 

 

 

 

Definitely given me something to think about!

Thanks for taking the time to give me such a thorough answer.

 

 

I will try and ring a few local Sawmills to gauge any interest.

[ReubenHayes]

Morton Morrell agricultural college is the closest college nearby, I know they used to have a saw mill there but not sure if they still use it.

[Robbyrasta]

If you don't have a use for the milled wood- gets shot of it- either as firewood or whole.

 

Milling is great- but for the next five or so years you'll be tripping over a stack of planks, they will always be in the way, they will never be quite the size you want, and when you do find a use for them- they will be either warped, or soo hard you'll wish you had done the job when they were green.

 

P.s WTS stack of warpped- twisted, 10 yr old DRY Oak- enough to make a big kitchen table...........

[se7enthdevil]

well that's a glass half empty answer if ever i heard one, did you have a bad experience doing exactly this?

[Robbyrasta]

Not a bad experience, just 10yrs down the line I still have a stack of milled planks that have been moved from pillar to post.

[Johnpl315]

I would phone around and see what any local mills are willing to offer. The trees look good quality (I would be interested if local to me!). You don't have to accept any offers they make and it's a better option than fire wood.

If you want to get it milled yourself then be prepared to spend a bit of time advertising. I have always found square posts sell fairly easily. The problem I have, say you cut a 6" slab and cut some 6x6 posts, inevitably at the end you will be left with a section that won't make a 6x6 but seems to good for firewood. You may cut a 6x2 or something and that's the bits that never sell