Square trees?

Very interesting! There's not really much "waste" from round logs, it all gets used for something. In my opinion, Creating a solution for one industry that will leave others buying more expensive product. Wouldn't Wood chips, saw dust, pallets, cdx plywood, kitchen cabinets, just to name a few, all be inherently more costly because of the elimination of some of this waste, or be further scaled down to be supplied at the same price?
 
CanadianStan said:
That's creepy

Did anyone else catch the part where they mentioned that they engineered the wood to be softer ??
Click to expand...

They say that they use the additives to make the wood softer in the shaping phase, then wean off it. But yes - integrity/properties of the wood may not be the same...
 
Wood Magazine had an article about growing square trees back in the late 80s; it was an idea that was abandoned though because it was too expensive to be practical.
 
How many trees are typically in a plantation for lumber? They’re going to put those training braces on all of them?

Does milled lumber really create that much more waste? They didn’t show the end result and end pieces. Their wood still required to cut out end pieces. And there is plenty of options to utilize that “waste” (wood chips, firewood, etc).

In all honesty I see more waste creation in this system than traditional. But I’m just a guy who likes to mess around with an Alaska mill.
 
Looking at tree etc. and softening figured had to start even with softer species.
Would think matters less as pure column vertical against gravity of the long axis, but more concern bearing across either shorter axis, allowing long axis to be leveraged by load instead of supporting axis against loading.
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Also, wonder if would rot faster, and have less BTU value as wood, unless other absorbed stuff to affect (more here as a measure of wood density).
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Round definitively will be most equilateral even loading in winds etc. as a growing tree. Cornered/anything less than perfect round will impact weaker, lesser length axises more in shifting winds etc.
So I don't think is Naturally selectable/sustainable genetic, and nothing can teach or imbue as such, so always this special handling overhead of softening soft wood species even more and further 'crippling' form etc. Nature tends not to grow stuff squared, especially not evenly in growth.. And softer core from early stages may be maintained, in reverse of tree heartwood model. But, I guess we done same or worser to other things in other ways!.....
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Some industries now pay base salaries off of what once was wasted byproducts. Man tends to blindly watch maximize on product math, Nature tends to sometimes maximize on byproduct math, knowing product is already win!
 
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I would think the most waste free option that benefits the lumber production industry would be to chip the waste wood, or leave it whole, and put it back into the plantation to decompose and provide nutrients for the soil.
 
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I'm thinking that it's not going to be easy to find investors, and this operation is going to fade into oblivion before they get around to growing square oranges and pineapples because they stack in the refrigerator better.

They should squeeze their heads into wooden boxes, and soften the bones up with chemicals. Square hats are so much easier to make than round ones.
 
Some time ago I read another square tree article. It sure read like an Onion article.

Until I was around a sawmill a few times I wasn't aware of how much taper there is in a trunk. Even in the First Log. Any gain from having the butt being square is lost on the other end of the 8'6" First Log. The slash isn't lumber, it's waste that might be firewood or ???
 
Got to give them a hand clap for trying something out of the box, but I agree there’s a lot of assurances investors are going to want. However it could be a good source of pergola posts...
 
They had something here where you'd pay more to dump wood at city than most anything else, they'd sell it to biz next door/bull doze thru gate, then that plant grind wood and tires to some kind of mix, to then sell back to the city as fuel for electricity to be sold to consumers..
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Big operation, always sounded a little dicey and gone now. One time they also ordered 900 some screens for building courthouse that no windows would open, then some council person got them for a song and made a killing(story goes somehow)... So no telling what on the wood/tires/electric deal !
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Citrus plants down here used to have all kinds of waste,not any more with citrus cleaners, deodorizers, degreasers etc., at some plants that pays the payroll even some utilities, most of ground for plants they already own. Leaving rest of what was once pretty much only income more towards pure profit!
 
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