Mill the wood or use it as firewood

Woodley

Hi Folks,

Could you please help a newbie out with some wood questions?

I am clearing a 1/4 acre wooded lot and am wondering what to do with the wood. I would like to build a storage shed and a chicken coop and use the rest for firewood for use and sale.

Do you think my 14" Poulan Woodshark with a small chain saw mill is up to the task of milling?

Would it be practical to mill some wood for sale to the public? My better half called some cabinet makers and they wanted kiln dried wood only.

What type of would should I use to build a storage shed and a chicken coop? There is Pine, Oak and probably a little Maple on the lot.

I am enjoying working with the wood and would love to be able to afford the tools to become a wood worker but work is slow and money is tight so I have to go the elcheapo route. The reason I am clearing the lot is to build a garden and give my chickens more room to forage.

Thank you for the helpful advice.
Have a blessed day.
Jim

treeshaveneeds

Milling the wood for yourself is ok, but it is a labour of love, and when you count the number of hours to mill, stack, dry, plane then use -- it is only worthwhile in the context of being able to say "I built that with wood from my land" - if that is important, cost to you in time doing (and not doing other things) is irrelevant; If the statement isn't important stick to firewood and selling timber as logs.
Keep the high value logs(prob Oak) - if possible bring in a bandsaw portable sawmill and slice them close to the thickness desired, then sticker them and wait to reach ambient humidity (dries at rate of 1 inch thickness per year) - with the sawmill, the boards come out true; a chainsaw mill can do the same job, but it generates a lot more sawdust (fewer boards) and often a rougher cut (needs more planing), and harder to sticker so boards dry flat.
You want the bar to stick out past the diameter of the log 2-3" to get rid of sawdust, run cooler and true. I doubt the 14" bar will do the trick. If you use a chainsaw mill, some inches are lost with the mill, so the biggest logs you would cut might be 8" diameter. Prob means you need a bigger saw, bigger bar, more money, more time........
Still going ahead? use the lowest value lumber for the shed and chicken coop -- lumber with knots, even some rot and twists -- would be ok for chickens, the shed might want better stuff, depends what the shed is for.
Higher value wood, find something you can be proud of building.
Cabinet makers want perfect wood -- and the el cheapo route cannot generate that kind of lumber.
Timber sales will be to people who buy logs. Talk to them before you fell the trees, they may prefer to fell them themselves.
Building a garden is a worthwhile venture, but the stumps will have to come out - either by hiring someone with a backhoe/bulldozer or stump grinder, or digging them out yourself. IF you are digging, leave a high stump 10- ft plus to help you pull the stump out of the ground after you cut the majority of the roots. Not a fun job.
Finally, do chickens need open land to forage?

Woodley

Thank you for the reply.

First, to answer your question about chickens needing open land to forage. No they do not. They can forage in woods. But they enjoy open lots filled with grass or other crops.

If I mill my own wood with a chain saw mill, do I have to wait for the wood to dry before I can build a storage shed and a chicken coop? I do not have a place to store the wood for 1 plus years.

I truly appreciate the good advice you have given me.

Regards,
Jim

glennak

No you could build a chook shed with green wood no probs bit of shrinkage and twisting wouldn't matter. The shed probably OK aswell. All houses here were built with green Eucalypt then allowed to dry and then "adjusted". I've dreid 6" x 2" pine in 6 weeks (to 12%) but that was summer with hot winds blowing.
Chainsaw milling is hard slow work.

Woodley

Thanks for the helpful advice glennak. I am leaning towards splitting the wood for firewood and selling the larger trees as timber.

Regards,
Jim

kel

Get in a portable mill (contractor) after you've felled and stacked the "larger" trees so that all he does is mill. That will be your cheapest option if you need timber for a shed etc. Plenty of room to negotiate ie. you "tail" (remove and stack the sawn wood), you give him your cut list and he keeps the rest to sell, which would lead to almost a straight swap.(obviously depends on how many logs you have) Also offer to accept the B grade timber as you can use, in a shed, timber that wouldn't sell. Finally, before you cut the first tree, get the/a contractor to see what you've got and how HE would do it to be most cost efficient for you. Actually about to wander down the back and start milling (Lucas 8/27) for my own humpie. 11x8.5 m on stumps. cheers Kel

Woodley

Thanks Kel,
I will look for a portable mill contractor here in North Carolina, US.
Woodley

treeshaveneeds

There are quite a few portable saw contractors - and Kel gives good advice about how to get your best money's worth. As Glennak said, chain saw milling is hard slow work - and if nothing else is available, or the portable bandsaw mill is too pricey - then the chain saw is the way to go. But you would have to buy a bigger saw, bigger bar, Spend perhaps $1000 + a mill, and the bandsaw mill saws straight, minimal kerf, maximum wood, and use right away. Depending on the kind of wood you are cutting, and how much they lean, will giver an idea to how much they will twist and split. Put the boards on the chicken coop real soon, and the shed (if an airy shed is ok) and they should dry flat. Good luck on your project. And when you see how easy a bandsaw mill works, multiple by about 10x for chain saw milling, + the need to plane later.
One of the more common bandsaw mills is Woodmizer - and they may advertize with the name of the saw.

Woodley

Thanks for the advice Treeshaveneeds,

I will post something on this site about a portable sawmill contractor.

glennak

If you don't mind paying travel I'll come over and do it cheap.

Woodley

It would be nice to have an Aussie over, however the flight cost would be prohibitive.

Woodley

Well, after talking to a lot of nice people in the milling and firewood industry I have decided to save all of the wood for firewood. Store it under a shelter made out of the wood that does not make good firewood like Pine and Silver Maple.
The reason the wood is not worth milling is because most of it is under 12" in diameter and too young to mill. There is not enough good stuff for someone to come out and mill.
Can anyone recommend a simple firewood shelter design?

Thanks
Jim

kel

Seen a few old coragated water tanks been used. Bottom foot has rust holes so owners roll them to one side and there they sit waiting for you to come along and offer to take them away. Cut the bottom off and a door (once onsite) and sit on some posts (that go up to the roof) tall enough so that you have an air gap. Line up 2 or 3 tanks and hire a tandem trailer for the day. Put something like viscreen (black plastic they put under cement slabs) to stop ants tracking dirt into the bottom layer.