Est. 1998 — 27 years of woodworking knowledge
Trouble finding Wood!
Chris Hogan
>Maybe it's the time of year, or maybe it's just being a neophyte, but I seem to be having trouble finding freshly cut trees for turning. I stumbled across some cherry logs at a tree service recently, but other than that have not had much luck.
Does anyone have any suggestions for finding wood in the Fort Wayne, IN area, or should I just be patient & wait for spring & the tree services to get out & start cutting down trees?
Thanks,
Chris
Re: Trouble finding Wood!
Mike Schwing from Md.
>Chris, the tree services are out now. I'd suggest getting on the phone with them and asking them specific questions. For example "are you cutting any (insert type of tree) in the next week?"
I find they're usually very good at telling me what type of trees they're cutting one week out, but beyond that it gets fuzzy.
I also keep my chainsaw in my truck occasionally now for when I see them in action. Just this weekend I saw two arborists cutting down big trees in my area. Its still the dead of winter here, as well.
I wouldn't wait - once it gets warm you'll probably have other things you want to do as well. And, if I'm not mistaken, when the trees are dormant with the sap in the roots is the time when its best to harvest them, from our perspective.
Re: Trouble finding Wood!
John Lucas
>Chris
Look for new home construction. Clearing right of ways for power lines etc. If you have a chip mill service check and see where they take the logs. Talk to any tree removeal services. They often take their logs to the dump.
Sometimes I've had really good luck getting wood from highway construction and such and sometimes they won't let you. One guy picked up the log in the front end loader and let me cut it up. That was really nice since you didn't have to worry about pinching the chainsaw.
darned lawsuit fearing beaurocrats
Mike Schwing from Md.
>around here they won't let you into the dump, and there are TONS of trees depositd there on a regular basis. I've tried four or five local dumps in this area and they all give the same answer..."NO"
Re: darned lawsuit fearing beaurocrats
Peter Teubel
>Try going down there yourself and talk with the guys WORKING at the tree dumps. Show them some of your work. Give them a few pens or a bowl or two. I've run into this same situation and while the 'crats say no, the workers say yes. Its just a different form of "bribe", if I can be so bold as to use that term...
Works for me.
Re: darned lawsuit fearing beaurocrats
Brad Vietje
>Another possibility is to approach the tree folks as a club. They're probably worried about liability, so if you can get a professional, insured arborist, forester, or tree-person to physically make the cuts while the others load a truck or two, they might be swayed. Unfortunately, lawyers and people fearing lawsuits seem to rule the land, so the stump dump may never pan out.
As a long-term strategy, its probably good to get an arborist or two involved in our local clubs ... access to free wood might be worth whatever effort the recruitment requires !
Safe Spinning,
Brad Vietje
Thetford, VT