Logs Into Lumber LLC, Portable Sawmilling

A Mixed Assortment of Logs I went to Huntingdon County to saw a pile of logs. It was a great example of what Pennsylvania forests have to offer. Started off with a big hemlock, then white pine, cherry, oak, ash, and a maple. These logs all sawed like butter as compared to the black locust I was sawing (see previous post). We had a beech log but it was starting to rain and we didn’t get to it. The customers were good off-bearers and things went smoothlyuntil the setworks on the saw started acting up. I’ve been troubleshooting this issue for a month, and ordered some parts this morning. Yesterday’s work paid for the cost of the part! I’m not sawmilling to get rich, but wow, parts are expensive.

Black Locust We started out with this standing dead tree thinking it was Ash. It had been dead for awhile. When I looked closely at it however, I didn’t see any evidence of the Emerald Ash Borer. When I sawed it, I knew it wasn’t Ash. It was like cutting iron. Very hard. So hard I thought something might be wrong with the saw. I changed blades...same thing. I finally settled on Hickory, which is a notoriously tough wood to saw, but it didn’t really look like Hickory e...ither. So I asked for help. There’s a great website called The Forestry Forum. There is a wealth of expertise thereI posted a few pictures and asked what everyone thought. Black Locust was the answer. Very thin sapwood, hard as iron, long straight trunk with no branches, and central PA is in the heart of its growing range. Locust is an incredibly durable wood. Used widely for fence posts, they can last a century. It’s tough. Also some of the best firewood around. A cord of locust has the same BTU equivalent as a ton of anthracite coal. US Navy ships in the Revolutionary War were credited with winning battles because critical components were made of locust and stood up to British cannonballs! American Indians made bows from locust. OK, you get the picture. If I had known I was sawing locust, I may have cut it differently, but as it worked out, I now have a pile of locust slabs. I am supposed to cut some Honey Locust next weekwill see how different/similar that is.

Ash Slabs Pennsylvania has a sad history of invasive insects and disease killing off tree species. The American Chestnut, which once dominated PA forests, was wiped out in the early 20th century by blight. A few decades ago the Gypsy Moth killed millions of oaks until it was brought somewhat under control, and today the Wooly Adelgid is killing off the Eastern Hemlockthe state tree. The real tragedy of this century however, was the arrival of the Emerald Ash Borer. With ...few exceptions, every ash tree in Pennsylvania is now dead. As you drive along Pennsylvania’s highways and see standing dead treesmany of them are ash, waiting for rot and the wind to bring them down. Besides being the premier wood for Louisville Slugger baseball bats (what is MLB going to do?), ash is a very good firewood, and splits easily. It’s also a beautiful wood for cabinetmaking and I’ve been lucky to saw many of them. The most recent ash came from Tubbies on Benner Pike. A year ago, I helped the owner, Bill Klaban, cut down 2 dead ash trees. I finally got around to sawing them last week. While it’s sad to see these trees go, hopefully they will live again as furniture in people’s homes. Next insect on the horizonthe Spotted Lantern Fly. I’ve heard it is an equal opportunity eater that could threaten black walnuts: really hope I’m wrong about that.

Sawing Cherry in Mifflin County Pennsylvania is a beautiful state, and this location along Jacks Mountain is certainly one of the nicest I’ve sawn at.

Axe Throwing Go check out THROW on Hamilton Ave. in State College. They go through a lot of target boards and I’m helping out in that regard with pine and hemlock 2x10’s.

Staging Logs for Sawing I sometimes have a hard time communicating and that often comes back to haunt me when I show up to saw and find logs all over the place. This leads to a lot of time NOT sawing and instead rounding up logs. So I was pleasantly surprised this weekend to arrive at a site and find this pile of logs. This is how it should be done!! Thank you!!

Poplar We’re cutting poplar at the farm. Cousin Barry fell several and dragged them out of the woods for sawing. Really nice logs. Let me know if you need any!