Let’s create a lumber yard

historydesignteam

Feb 5

A couple of our values at Taliama is to “be resourceful” and “respect all living things”. So when we needed to clear some land for future built environment, we wanted to repurpose the timber we were felling and save it to be saw-milled into usable lumber. It’s an adventurer’s dream to hand build a cabin out of raw materials gathered on site.

We cleared less than 2 acres and with that over 100 trees. I had the guys cut the timber into 12 and 14 foot logs and stack them for air dying. Once they had dried in the forest for about a year, I found a local fella with a portable saw mill who came and helped us transform these raw materials into usable boards and beams. After a few Saturdays, we had our own lumber yard!

When clearing the land, we pushed the trees over, stump and all. It is the most efficient way to work. Once downed, chain saw in desired lengths then add to the lumber pile for drying. We burned off a 15 foot pile of remaining stumps.

With the price of lumber these days, it was a worthwhile investment.

We have poplar, oak, sweetgum, some hemlock and pine. All air drying in the forest on the land from which it came.

The Wood Mizer LT40 was the portable saw mill we used. It handled these big timbers easily, while we had a crew of men carry the boards and beams to a wood stack close by. We plan on using all this wood somewhere on site.

On a few Saturdays, we milled over 320 logs into several stacks of lumber. It took Paul, the WoodMizer owner, 4 men and Steve to roll the logs onto the mill, cut them, then stack them. These cold January weekends were very productive and we delight in using the wood in the built environment.

If you have read this far, you are a wood geek like us. And if you really want to experience this close, join us for a Volunteer build some weekend. We are building decks, patios, gardens and outbuildings. No experience necessary, only a willingness to enjoy the fresh mountain air with some like-minded fellas. Come join us.