Thread: Free timber

there is a bloke accross the road that has a green waste dump where the tree lopers dump ther crap. always more timber that i can use. he probley wouldnt like just anybody going in but if ya interested im sure i could arange somthing.

BYO chainsaw? Done. Will PM you in a few weeks when i have some free time.

When I started making my BIL mill I had vague offers of logs from friends and acquaintances but I was a little worried that I would have anywhere near enough logs to mill. By sheer luck the yard where my ally welding BIL works where we put the BIL mill together is the yard for an arborist (and his son) who are both interested in WW. So a meeting of minds means I now have heaps of logs to mill and share.

Even better when they cut down the trees they are very careful about not dropping the trees in the dirt if they can and they try to get the HIAB as close to the tree as possible and cut and lift it onto the truck without it touch the dirt.

Back at the yard the same thing applies where he logs get laid out on gluts really clean like. There's a neat forklift loader for lifting logs and slabs, another seatainer full of chain saws and milling stuff, a workshop for fixing stuff, ally welding BIL on hang to poke fun and take photos and a beer and a yarn at the end of the day. We have gone shares in a seatainer to use as a drying shed and recently bought a 16" planer jointer and are now looking at a large thicknesser - all good really!

Yes, indeed. A formal, or informal, trading network would be a nice touch. We have something like that in our local woodturning club. Some of the members get a heads-up about gummint clearing contracts, and a chainsaw party follows. Another member is a professional arborist with a tree service.

Large tree trunks from unknown sources may be risky for a sawmill - hazardous to the expensive circular saw, because of possible embedments such as horseshoes, nails, barbed wire, and Gawd knows what all else. Such timber is subject to tipping fees and transportation cost, so should be available free, unless it needs serious handling for your benefit. Same with scraps too large (diameter) for the portable chipper and pieces too short for commercial use.

I don't know how many roadside orphans I've adopted. And IIRC, I've never bought a turning blank per se. Our WT club has a December competition with cash prizes, and the nominal cost of the timber is actually the entry fee.

Joe

BobL
That sounds like a version of heaven
Will you adopt me?

For those in the wintry Blue Mountains, I was up at Mt York the other day and noticed on the drive in some lovely 300mm dia logs of around 1.5m in length in the old quarry just off the road. As I drove past I could here whispers....pick me. pick me.

prozac

Originally Posted by prozac

For those in the wintry Blue Mountains, I was up at Mt York the other day and noticed on the drive in some lovely 300mm dia logs of around 1.5m in length in the old quarry just off the road. As I drove past I could here whispers....pick me. pick me.

prozac

Park Rangers saying yeh go on $$$$$$$$ Mnt York is all national park

Spoilsport. Can't remember which side of the sign it was. Anyway, doesn't it come under the banner of extreme sports? All the sweeter...

prozac

Blue Mnts national park starts at Glenbrook and goes down to Little Hartley
and north as far as you can see oh and south

I had a similar idea when I was driving up the Pacific Hwy last school holidays. They are extending the dual carraigeway south of Bulahdelah and they have cut down a huge number of trees. They seem to just pile them and burn them...not sure if the burning is just the small stuff but I have no idea what they are doing with the big stuff.....thought about coming back with a trailer, but then I'd have to figure how to mill them......But I really do like the idea of a "recovery" process where this stuff could find its way into the woodworking community.....

I reckon if it is not going to become habitat for something or deliberately left to break down into the forest floor (ie: It is piled up ready to go), then it should be available to re-use.

prozac

This is exactly why I bought my lucas, to try and salvage as many old tree's from becoming tub grinder dinner. Everytime i hear a chainsaw running, I go find it. once a week, I drive one point of the compass around town to scope out new build sites and ask anyone I can find about tree's coming down. Every few months I bother all the tree loppers, to srounge up logs from them. Our local dump is making it easier for me as they just decided, the tree loppers have to dock their logs into 400mm sections or no dumping - less work for the tub grinders apparently.

So basically I make a pain of myself, but also stay in peoples minds so they call me if something is available.

I asked Weisy to have a chat with his green waste dump guy about trying to keep logs longer, then I can shoot down to Brissy once a month or something to process it into more worthwhile stuff