Hi Guys - haven't posted in a while, but been lurking.... Had three red oak taken down yesterday at my house. Two of them died from Oak wilt, the third was still alive and "healthy" but I had it dropped as well to try to save the REALLY big oak that is right on the corner of my driveway. I don't have much hope that the wilt won't spread to it, but trenching isn't an option due to utilities running thru the area. Not sure how much wood I'll get from these three, but possible 2 cords, maybe a little more. Not quite enough to fill up my racks but that is ok. Best thing is I get to fire up the 572!!!! WHEEEEE! Smaller live oak Stump from the 2nd oak that died this summer... And the 3rd oak. Died a couple of years ago. I'd be half temped to put that long stick on the sawmill, but I just don't have the time anymore to deal with it. I need a dedicated spot where I can set up my Norwood PM14 permanently so I don't have to keep it stored in the garage.
Sawmill first , firewood second. Sawmill will still get you firewood if you don't like the results of the milling. I now look at logs like that as mill logs and then firewood. Before I started milling everything was firewood , now I look at them totally different.
I'd try milling that log. Oak is doing well for lumber and if it's worth sealing up, do it. The rest of that wood will have its uses.
Is the oak wilt diagnosis suspected or confirmed? You should consider having the surviving tree injected with propizol if the other trees were a confirmed diagnosis. My buddy had a customer whose house he had been to earlier this summer to do some work. Noticed the oaks in the yard when he was doing other work on the property. Said he got a call a month or so later and the oak trees were in an obvious decline since he had been there! Sent some samples to be tested, and they came back positive for oak wilt. The customer is in a neighborhood with a lot of mature oaks and has informed all the neighbors, who are now calling to have their trees treated prophylactically! Sure could change the landscape in a hurry and well worth the investment. If it ends up infected, you may end up having the cost of removal to contend with. Good luck, and let us know the outcome
According to Norwood a portamill sets up in just minutes ..... They kinda gloss over the push and sharpening time.
I find that hard to swallow? I am willing to bet that it takes longer to get the mill out of the garage than what they are claiming. Every time I want to mill it takes some time to get everything ready to go. I wish it took minutes , if that was the case I would do more milling when I don't have a full day to spend.
Its not a confirmed diagnosis, but the tree went from full green and healthy to full dead in a matter of 3-4 weeks (in August). I'm working with a forester on our woodlot that said oak wilt will kill a tree in a matter of weeks and usually happens in August. So it a pretty good bet that what it was. The tree that has been dead for a couple of years did the same thing, healthy and then BAM! gone in a couple of weeks. I didn't know about propizol. I'm gonna give that a look-see and maybe try it in the spring on the big oak. Would be awesome to be able to save it. The trouble with the PM14 is that the bunks for the logs are set for about a 14" log. My chainsaw has a 32" bar on it. I need to make new bunks for the mill to take advantage of the longer bar. I did about a 20" log last fall and the results were less than stellar. I couldn't hold the log very well and the slabs came out wonky as the log was moving during cutting. The PM14 is a cool idea, just needs a little more capacity, or I need a BSM. I've got a metric ton of red pine on the wood lot that we are going to start thinning probably this winter. Thinking about making beams and a permanent shed out of them on the lot for the mill and a spot to store the wood for drying. That's the other issue I have, no space... Lets burn wood she said.... It'll be fun she said.... We'll SAVE MONEY she said....
Sure sounds like oak wilt! Good luck with whatever you decide Sounds like you have some big plans for the property with thinning the pine and milling. How many lines need to come down? Also curious how you like the LM14 chainsaw mill. Known plenty of people with the granberg style mill, but never one like the Norwood.
For the little bit that I've used it, I like it a lot. I bought the tracks versus using a ladder. I like it over the granberg since I can mill standing up versus kneeling. Once I get ready to mill pine, I'll probably buy another section of track so I can do 16' logs. I've got 15' worth of track, but you lose some length with the sled. Like I said earlier, I need longer bunks to handle the bigger stuff. With modifications, etc. it probably would be cheaper to just get a BSM, but I like tinkering. I just need more time to do it. As far as thinning goes, red pine is 4 acres, and then we have about 7 acres of hardwood, for a total of about 11.25 acres. Probably 250-300 red pine have to come down. I couldn't get a commercial guy to do it as the plot is to small even if we clear cut it, which we don't want to do. I'll have more than enough pine to make all the lumber I want. My forester said that if we cut, we might be able to get a mill to come get the logs if we can get them stacked by the road and get some money that way. May end up doing that, I just need a skid steer or tractor with a grapple so I can move them around and stack them.
