green practices for small business

Compaired to tree work there isn't much money in milling. Not for the types of wood we have here anyway. I do have a larger ash log that I plan on making a desk out of. I wouldn't say "boring", more like feeling good about NOT taking the load of logs TOO big for splitting to the DUMP!

On a side note I haven't wrecked a chain on a tree job since I bought the mill, 'cause I own a metal detector too!

Like your comment about using the firewood pile to show examples of BBR.....milling gives you the oppourtunity to see how a tree builds laterals and KEEPS them attached. Compartamentalization also is up front and centre, AND it is amazing how small stones show up INSIDE the log close to the pith! One other observation is insects, the lil buggers are tough in a less-than-optimal situations. Always cool to see who is home when the weather warms up in the spring.
 
After cutting every log we ever took down into firewood for a few years, we built a "mill" at work, basically it's a welded steel frame with a carriage that rides on a couple rails. It's about 20' long, and will take logs up to 28". The carriage holds a chainsaw with a ripping chain mounted with the bar horizontally, and you can adjust the height of the cut with a hand crank. It has wheels and a tongue jack and can be towed like a trailer.
It's pretty fun and interesting, but milling, drying, aging, stacking, and producing lumber is an art and science all it's own. We have sawn some big slabs that were made into benches and used to build a small bridge.

The biggest drawback to our mill is that it has proven to burn up powerheads. We have killed an 066, an 044, and are now on a 441... I plan to look at gearing options to convert to some other sort of engine, like a briggs & stratton that will be permanently affixed.

I think with a little prudence, education, and experience, this would be a valuable assett to most operations.
 
Speelyei--


Out of curiousity, where are you located and what are you milling.

Seems regional species diversity can affect milling value enormously. People poach trees here for "Music wood blocks"; big leaf maple chunks in the stump and bottom of the tree. They use an extension off of their mufflers into a bucket of water to poach at night, even.

Bigleaf maple, Acer macrophyllum, produces highly figured grain that can make a tree, few and far between, valuable.

Some walnut can be very valuable. It takes getting into the specialty hardwood market and making the right connections.

I attended a milling demo (mobile dimensions, woodmizer, granberg chainsaw mills) this weekend. The Granberg rep hauls logs to WA from CA. He said for the right tree, he'll buy the log and pay for the crane.

All regional, species, and specimen specific.

This Granberg rep used to own a tree service, now just logs/ wood sales/ purchasing.

Western red cedar and alder (Alnus rubra) are holding their value here. I'm not sure that I believe it, but I was told for super high grade alder out of the butt log, they are paying $1500-1800 per 1000 board feet. Even half of this can be a whole lot better than firewood cutting, if the ability to get a truckload is possible.

Most wood is not worth the money to mill, especially if the treework schedule is booked solid.

Check out Urban Hardwoods in Seattle, urbanhardwood.com. They will sell a thick, wide madrone slab bench for thousands, with simple legs

http://urbanhardwoods.com/furniture/Product.aspx?product=683&subCat=13&location=0.

Madrone is very hard to cut and twists A LOT, so it is not easy to procure a piece, however that price makes it look like it could be very worthwhile
 
I am located on the Central Oregon coast, just South of Newport.

Currently I lead two lives, one life I am an instructor for the Job Corps, and that is where we built the mill, it was a joint venture between our Urban forestry program and the Welding vocation. We are unable to sell or barter with any goods or services we produce, so all the material we have milled has to be used in our vocational training projects. The upside is that I get to experience building the mill, putting it into use, etc etc without having to worry about the costs associated with a small business.
We are on a large facility, so we can pick and choose logs to bring home and set aside to be milled later, or if we get a large enough project, we can take the mill to the site. Unfortunately, we don't have a skid steer or a bobcat or anything, so we sometimes have to come up with creative rigging to load logs onto our trailer or truck.
Also, I have about 15 students every day, so it's easy for me to set up a milling crew, a wood splitting crew, a climbing crew, ground crew, and keep everybody busy. Then I just have to run around and make sure hands stay attached to bodies and people stay safe...
so far we have milled Monterey Cypress, Western red, Alnus rubra, Doug fir, Hemlock, Sitka spruce, and Pinus contorta.
The alder we dropped and milled the same day, and we lost most of it to splitting and checking. Obviously, we need some education.
For a small tree service that is only going to be milling occasionally, I would strongly suggest an Alaskan mill. It takes a little more time to set up for your initial cut, but it's far less expensive, absolutely portable, and works really well.
 
Your posts had alluded to PNW.

Do you know why the saws blew? What blew up?

Sounds like a really sweet job. I trained/ supervised for Nevada Conservation Corps (americorps) in a past life, before a life of tree climbing.
 
The saws would just stop running, and when we took them into the shop, thye informed the cost of repair was over the price of a new unit. Both saws were mid 90's vintage, but the cylinder walls were scored up to the point it couldn't be salvaged. I think running at near full throttle for extended periods while sideways just takes a toll, a serious design flaw.

The job is what it is, but it's kept my attention for six years, longer than any other. Only two kinds of days...
 
speelyei, I lived half time in newport and then in Seal rock for a while. Are things getting bad down there with the economy? Lincon county always seems to fare the worst in oregon.
 
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