Happy Father's Day

Justwondering

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Let me be one of the first to say Happy Father's Day to everyone.
In case you have a tree that you find super annoying. So much so, that you mention it every, single time you drive by it.
'Sure wish that tree was gone.'
'Don't you think it would look better with that cedar out of there?'
'One of these days, that tree needs to go.'
You can officially scratch that itch.

The tree:
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Notch it.
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Fell it:
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Realize its gonna take a while to limb this tree:
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Cut:
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Limb it:
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Limb it more:
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More limbs
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Half done:
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Half done today. I'll finish the rest of it tomorrow.
Was 97% humidity and 84 F when I finished. So even though I started at 6 am I couldn't get it finished by 9 when the heat got to me.

More to come.
Til then,
Happy Father's Day.
 
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BudW

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What is the tree diameter?
What ye going to do with the tee core?

Even starting at 4am – doesn’t help much, and it’s not even August, yet (sigh).
 

Justwondering

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I didn't measure it before I started.
Will do that on my way to town.
I'd guess it was about 18 inches.
I keep the first 8 to 10 feet for posts or to redirect water off the driveway. Everything else is either fed to goats, dumped in the erosion ditches and covered with straw bales, or burned.

Can't always burn because of weather conditions.
I prefer to let the goats eat the needles off and then dump in erosion ditches. When you put a flame to a cedar its like setting gas on fire. Huge flames til the sap burns off. Makes me nervous.

We borrowed a sawmill to cut planks, but I can't do that by myself. Makes beautiful wood.

If you ever need any straight, long cedar, I have plenty.
 

BudW

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Cedar has a lot of oil in it, so yes, it does go up like a roman candle.

I have a bunch of woodworking equipment (which I hadn’t used in a while) and a stack of hardwood logs just waiting to take to a sawmill.

If you have any logs at about 8 foot long or thereabouts and 8 inches in diameter (or thereabouts) and bigger and no use for them, I wouldn’t mind coming down and taking them off of your hands (after your needs are met, first)..

Hardwood limbs are best for firewood, for you they grow weird and hard to get lumber out of.
Cedar is good for some projects, but not real good for big projects.
I just don’t like to see the core wood just being used for a bonfire.

Not done so sense kids came into our lives, but I have made a few hundred wood pens before. Sometimes the non-popular hardwoods make the best looking pens (Mesquite, Osage Orange, Western Soapberry, etc.). I made (only) one out of cedar and if feels so soft in your hand.

I’ve been looking for some fallen fruit tree woods (which is not easy to do).
 

kkritsilas

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How's this for a thought: See if there are any guitar hand builders in town. If there are, they may have an interest in the trunks, as they can be used for guitar tops, and can make for extremely good guitar tops if the builder known how to use the wood properly. Better than just burning it.
 

Justwondering

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Buddy -
I can keep you in all the cedar you want.
If you want some pre-cut for writing pens, already have some for you. We asked the guy that did our cedar cabinets to keep all the extras and he had some real interesting pieces he just gave us.
I'll send you some.

Kostas -
I hadn't thought about the music instrument makers. I'll put some feelers out. If you know anybody that needs such wood, let me know.
 

kkritsilas

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Justwondering/Becky:

I don't know of any in Texas, but I am sure there are some in Austin, Dallas/Fr. Worth, or Houston. I don't know how far they are from you. If you were in Calgary, I could direct you to a couple, but the transport costs to get the wood up here wouldn't be cost effective.
 

Justwondering

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Measured 16 inches in one direction and 18 inches in the other direction where I cut the base.
 

Justwondering

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Buddy -
How many posts do you want and how long?
I usually try to clear cedars on 2 acres a year so there will be plenty.
I usually cut posts so they are about 8 to 10 inches in diameter and 8 feet long. Corner posts are bigger of course.
Let me know what you want and I can cut and stack so they can start drying. Give me an idea of how many.

I have cedars 35 foot tall, so I get 2 to 3 posts out of each one depending on how brushy the top is. There are plenty of cedars for how ever many posts you want.

These will have the bark on. Love you dearly, but debarking is not my gig. You can use a powerwasher and knock the bark off in the driveway.
 
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