Big J

Just west of Edinburgh - if you know anybody that might be interested, their please let me know!

You've got to laugh at the hopelessly ill informed and optimistic seller!

Curious what you guys generally pay for decent timber for milling. Up until now, it has been in the region of £50 a tonne for not especially good stuff up to £200 a tonne for wide, straight yew. Generally it's about £100 a tonne on average. I ask with specific interest to well burred Oak. We were out thinning today close to the shore on the estate where I live. All insignificant beech and sycamore generally, but I noticed towards the shore a beautiful , heavily burred Oak. DBH of about 24 inches and approximately 50% burr on the surface. 20ft straight boule, tapering to about 18 inches at the top. Branch wood above would be extracted as firewood. Our estate has recently come under the management of Scottish Woodlands, and speaking the chap today, he said that there are a number of burred Oaks that he wants to parcel up. I'm not so keen on a full parcel as I don't want 150 cubic foot of oak in one go. So, I suppose the secondary question to the general pricing is, what would you offer for the tree in it's current standing state? We would fell it (taking the branch wood off first to avoid splitting when the main trunk came down), mill it there and then present the branch wood for extraction. In my mind £150 seems fair, as I'm taking the risk that it's duff. I ought to have taken a picture, but didn't have my camera on me. Jonathan

It's not bad at all I suppose! I think it will still go up though as the dehumidifier has an operating maximum of over 45 litres a day. Time will tell.

Thanks for the correction guys

It's an 088 in each hand - durr!! I feel that I might have post photographic proof that I do not climb with 088s.....

I have the baby Makita top handle (DCS 230T) and it is quite adequate for hardwood branches up to about 4-5 inches and will take up to 8 at a push. It's so light that it's almost effortless to use, and it drinks like a tee totaler (as in not at all). I've used the 200T also, and it is obviously a better and more powerful saw, but it is overkill for a lot of work and is twice the price (got the Makita for £225 new). Jonathan

Temperature is still stable at 35-37 degrees but now pumping out slightly in excess of 30 litres a day. I get the feeling that this might continue going up for a few weeks to come.

I would imagine that the second idle powerhead would eat quite a lot of the power as it would require some force to turn the piston over repeatedly? Just a thought.

Thankfully mess isn't an issue with it being in the middle of woodland. I'll see how sound the trees are once they're down and chat to the forester about taking a couple of the larger ones.

Thanks for the replies chaps! I've never really come across any birch straight or large enough to bother with, and I suppose this is a little on the small side too. They are however wonderfully drawn woodland trees with not so much as twig from the main boule until 40 odd foot. Seems a waste to burn them. I have been asked for it once or twice in the past though - perhaps I'll just take a few of the trees, mill them and stack them to air dry. Good to have them in stock should I ever get asked for it again. Jonathan

I was wondering if any of you had any experience milling Birch? I will be thinning some very mature Birch in the coming weeks (straight, branchless trunks up to about 40ft and roughly 14-16 inches diameter). Reading the Association of Scottish Hardwood Sawmillers site, it seems to be fairly highly regarded, but I've never heard it mentioned by any of my furniture making colleagues/friends. Also, will there be issue of sap discolouration due to summer felling? I can hold off on felling them until winter it needs be. Jonathan

Haha! 6ft 8 but only about 16 stone - used to be alot bigger when I was weightlifting - some of the strength still persists. But I agree - far too large for almost anything (I have two of them for milling though). Very drawn to the MS460 - looks a cracking saw and the weight not too prohibitive. Any other long term reviews? Whilst wandering the estate yesterday found a stand of mostly 16-20 inch beech and birch marked up - needing a saw with a bit of punch. I realise that there is no defined answer to this, but I always appreciate people's experiences

I should add I was only running a 20 inch bar on the 088 so I didn't look like a complete berk!

Bit of field testing small versus large saws of late.... I have a Stihl MS250 (only saw I could get on short notice for thinning) which has had to go back to the shop for minor repair, so the only other two saws I have are an 088 and a Makita dcs230t. Ridiculous (smallest and largest production chainsaws) but my only option for today. Funnily enough on the slightly larger stuff we were dealing with today (16-18inches at butt level) the 088 was lovely. I then snedded with the Makita and whilst a bit of a faff, it worked well. Anyway, using the 088 has convinced me that a larger saw is the better option of hardwood thinning. The MS250 (which has been OK to be honest - bit high on the vibes, but it's up to about 900-1000 trees now) is too slow once the chain dulls slightly (we're working 20 yards from the beach, so the sand makes sure the chain dulls quickly). I am very tempted by the Makita DCS7901-18. 6.2hp, 6.3kg and 18inch bar - does anyone have any significant experience with them? Jonathan

Is any of it worth milling (ie, 2ft + in diameter, oak, ash, elm etc) and if so would you sell a smaller lump for milling? Jonathan

A quick ash related question - the estate on which I live has many fine standing ashes, but they seem to be regularly afflicted with hollowing rot, sometimes extending 10-15ft up the main boule. Is there a specific reason for this or is it something that Ash is particularly prone to? Jonathan

Great thread - I have always have a soft spot for Hawthorn. Despite being a smaller tree, I find it has the presence or something far larger. As a child I remember one of my favourite trees for climbing was a (presumably non-thorny!) hawthorn. I hadn't realised that so much of the tree was edible either. Jonathan

Kiln has stabilised at 37 degrees centigrade. Only pumping out 25 litres a day - I had hoped it would be more, but hey ho, nothing I can do. Now all I have to do is wait!

Thankyou for your advice treequip - I'll try that.

Anyone?

I was exercising my right to self deprecate as I believe my first post in this section of the forum was stating my belief that Poplar wasn't a good firewood! Never fear - I have since been corrected!

I heard from someone that poplar isn't very good as a firewood....

I finished filling my kiln a few weeks ago and about a day before I finished milling, I lost the idle on my main 088. It would start and run under throttle, but once off the throttle the revs blipped slightly and then the saw died. Thankfully I have an older, back up 088 which I was able to finish the milling off with. I spoke to A and S Spences in Edinburgh and they suggested it might be a carburettor issue but to check the fuel filter first (which I did, to no avail). The saw is a little used 2000 model belonging to my uncle. He has had it from new and it has only seen to the occasional large fell before I starting using it for milling. It's seen about 10-12 days milling since then and has been well maintained by myself. It has never idled quite as well as my older 088, but it stopping working altogether is new. Any suggestions would be kindly appreciated. Jonathan

Just did the maths myself whilst drooling over the pictures on the first page! Rob - transport might well be a prohibitive issue