Thread: City of Melbourne’s Highest and Best Use (HABU) Timber Sale

Interesting to see the council now getting in on the game.
Being from Sydney I’ve had no firsthand experience of what I write but heard on the grapevine 30 or so years ago.
From my understanding Melbourne was planted with a lot of European species when it was growing.
It was a wealthier city than Sydney being funded by the gold rush.
Grand avenues etc.
This was well over 100 years ago.
A lot of these trees have reached maturity and were being removed by private arborists and slabbed and recycled into furniture etc.
Having looked at the photos of what the council has done I wonder how usable the timber will be.
H.

Why have they removed the natural edges off the slabs prior to sale ?
Why not let the buyers decide what they want to do with them.

The English Elm has 'moved' dramatically during seasoning
Particularly the dimensional pieces
If i was buying slabs i would be expecting a much better finish...less corrugation and a more consistent profile.
Mind you...the slabs are twisted anyway lol
Crikey
Log Dog

Originally Posted by Log Dog

The English Elm has 'moved' dramatically during seasoning
Particularly the dimensional pieces
If i was buying slabs i would be expecting a much better finish...less corrugation and a more consistent profile.
Mind you...the slabs are twisted anyway lol
Crikey
Log Dog

Yes, it’s pretty rustic looking , there is definitely still a market and use for that, but they have taken away the rustic appeal of the slabs by trimming the edges off .
The historical nature of the trees will add to the appeal of this timber, and the finished products that will be made , I just hope they haven’t taken away too much, by the way they have dealt with it.
I have not bought or sold timber for quite a while now, but the prices seem to be at the high end to me.

Edit- it’s not my intention to detract from the value of this timber. I sincerely hope it is put to good use.
And congratulations to them for not chipping it up