We live in a disposable world, and with each Solo cup or plastic wrapper we contribute to global warming. Living in a modern society has many advantages, but some of these short-term perks can have long term consequences.
Like many, I try to turn off my lights, and I recycle my garbage. Recently, I had an opportunity to extend my efforts a bit further. I saw an ad from a man in Michigan who was selling two oak trees that he felled. I wondered, “Could I turn these logs into wood?” I set out on an adventure.
See the photos below for the rest of the story.
The logs were huge, heavy, and downhill. I had to back my trailer from a narrow circular driveway, while trying to be as respectful as possible to the sellers lawn.I had a 13,000 pound winch installed on the trailer, as there was no way to manually lift the logs.Using a little physics and a primitive lever to move one log into position.A made a ramp out of 4 x 4s and lowered the back of the trailer. If you look at the front of the log you can see the winch’s cable attached. The logs were so heavy that they completed drained a new deep cycle battery.A wide-angle shot illustrating that this was an “uphill” project.All three logs loaded on my trailer. I was hoping that I could use the split log on right but it was too damaged to saw into boards.I took the logs to a local sawmill. Raw cut wood has to be air dried for months, and then dried in a heated kiln for another 4 weeks before it is useable.Unloading the logs at the sawmill.Boards from my two oak logs. I had the logs quartered sawed. This process cuts the wood at a 90 degree angle from the grain. Boards cut this way have a very pleasant looking grain. In addition, there is less “cupping” of the wood. The downside is that the board yield is less than if the wood was straight sawed.I’m glad that I have a one-ton pickup.I’m drying the boards on-site. These logs won’t be further dried in a kiln as they will be use for decorative purposes only.
