In article ,
tdstr wrote:

Greetings!

I'm not certain that if this group but I figure it is worth a shot. I
have a 50' black walnut tree in my backyard that I'd like to get rid of.
Now people tell me I would be able to *sell* the tree for some serious
coin as black walnut is considered a exotic wood. I've never heard of
selling a whole tree before but I have heard the story from at least 20+
different people telling me otherwise.

Any form of truth to selling a whole black walnut tree or am just
wanting to believe a pipe dream.

Go back and ask those 20 people to direct you to the person who sold
their Black Walnut for "serious coin". My guess is that they'll bail out
on providing a solid source. We all hear stories about the tree worth
big bucks - problem is that they're extremely few and very far between.
But that doesn't stop folks from spreading the story until it's believed
to be a common occurrence.

You'll run into several potential problems with your tree:

How large in diameter is the tree 8' off the ground? Minimum for a
commercial outfit would likely be 2.5' to 3'. Less than that there's
just too much waste for the effort.

How close is the tree to a structure and how accessible is the
location to machinery? Oddly enough residential folks just don't cotton
to a skidder tearing up their lawn. And, the proximity of a building
would heavily dictate the skills of the feller (the guy who actually
takes the tree down) - you also don't want some unbonded, unlicensed Joe
dropping the tree on your roof.

Yard trees and those along fence rows are notorious among mills and
woodturners to contain nails, screws, bolts, even horseshoes. Many
commercial outfits don't want the hassle and expense to repair and
resharpen a band saw blade so won't even consider such a tree.

A professional tree service can certainly take the tree down for
serious coin - but it's going to be your coin going into their pockets.
You could then have it milled to lumber by a self-employed sawyer in an
attempt to get a portion of the felling costs back.

You may be able to offer the trunk portion to a local turning club for
money, but don't expect to get rich - most turners get their green wood
for free. When they do pay, it's usually on the order of firewood prices
unless it's especially figured or burled. If you do go this route, drop
me a note here and I can direct you to a local chapter of the American
Association of Woodturners - contact the local turners before you cut
the trunk into sections.
--
Owen Lowe
The Fly-by-Night Copper Company
__________

"I pledge allegiance to the flag of the
Corporate States of America and to the
Republicans for which it stands, one nation,
under debt, easily divisible, with liberty
and justice for oil."
- Wiley Miller, Non Sequitur, 1/24/05