Well said. You hit on two of the three key problems:
1) Possible embedded metal in the trees. Obviously, chainsaw chains
are expensive. But even more expensive are milling blades and
veneer blades. Imagine the economic loss from a 16 foot veneer
blade which hits a nail.
2) The extra cost of dropping and removing a few trees from a homeowner's
property versus the relative ease of harvesting trees in a forest area.
3) The fact that trees on a homeowner's property are almost never properly
grown for lumber use. Hardwood trees on commercial sites will have
their lower limbs pruned up beyond an 8 foot height as soon as reasonable.
Similarly, lower limbs up to 16 foot high are removed as soon as possible.
This optimizes the amount of knot-free veneer which can be harvested.

I spend 20 years trying to convince a neighbor that she shouldn't plan on
sending her sons to college using the income from the 16 American Maples
growing close to her house and her utility lines. Estimates that she
eventually got ranged around $10,000 - that is her cost of removal, not her
income from removal.

Gideon

====================

ameijers wrote in message ...

wrote in message
oups.com...
Hi, this will seem like sacrilege to some, but I have too many trees in
my yard, an unusual number that is - 20+ full size trees in a 0.4 acre
backyard. One is a big oak tree (3 foot trunk) but the arborist says
the base of the trunk is partly eaten away. Another medium sized oak
in back is stronger but half of it extends over my house. Got some
others, a pin oak, maple, a beech.

Am I delusional or would someone offer me money for these, either for
veneer or lumber or firewood ? I'm in the midwest US.

Thge other thought is to put a wood stove into the fireplace and offset
the natural gas bills next year after the wood dries.

Possible, but unlikely, that anyone would pay you for them. Most lumber
mills, even custom veneer houses, won't touch yard or fencerow trees for
fear of embedded metal from old nails from fences and treehouses and such.
Not to mention, of course, the cost of removal is usually much higher in a
yard, due to no place to drop it, and the need to clean up the stump. But
what the hey, it is worth a few phone calls to whatever veneer guys are in
your local phone book. They may pay a token amount, or take it down for free
in exchange for the logs. They may also know the guys on the next step down
the food chain- the firewood guys. They are much more likely to barter
cutting service for all or part of the wood.

If you have never felled a big tree, especially peice-by-piece to avoid
dropping it on a house, I would not recommend DIY. I did a few, as a much
stronger and more immortal kid, and would now pay to get it done. It is hard
frigging (and dangerous) work. And that bucket truck with the air-powered
chainsaw-on-a-stick makes it SO muuch faster...

aem sends...