“The lumber yards are going to know people who buy or need wood,” says Griffin. If you don’t have a use for it, consider selling it or giving it away to wood craftsmen.Įven if the wood isn’t craft quality, if you want to give it away, check with lumberyards. “I’ve got a bowl here at the office and some vases made from it,” he says. In his office Lipthrott used old heart pine salvaged from a river. “If you have a red oak or live oak, you can saw it and use it as wainscoting or use it in other parts of your house.” Then, there’s “the sentimental value of putting the wood in the house,” Lipthrott says, of actually using the wood as part of the house construction. Rough sawn wood is great for stalls, corrals and pens.” “I have an 18-foot cabinet for storage and supplies made from rough sawn pine that we cleaned up.” He adds, “I f you’re going to have animals, you’re always going to need places to keep them out of the weather.
“Rough sawn wood, you can build your barns, garages, different things like that,” says Griffin. The first cut of the wood, called “rough sawn,” is good for less aesthetic projects, such as sheds and fencing. Ash looks like pecan wood when it’s finished,” he says. He uses exceptionally pretty woods for furniture or cabinets, setting nice pieces aside when he harvests trees on his property or buys wood elsewhere, he says. The photo below is an example of one of his projects at the ranch, which features some of the wood Griffin has harvested. He even finished out an Airstream trailer in pine. “Certain woods are more valuable,” agrees Griffin, a skilled wood worker who built the structures at his ranch, including his cypress-sided home, as well as much of the cabinetry and furnishings. “If I was clearing a lot, I would build my house around my oak trees instead of cutting them,” he says. However, he says, if the timber stand includes hardwoods, it’s less likely you would want to cut them. “If the 5-acre tract has 20-year-old big timber on it, selling the timber on the property could net you a pretty good return.” “ A lot of times, if it’s five acres of Rayonier planted pine, there’s definitely enough there to sell,” says Lipthrott. “You could stack it up for firewood if you don’t use it or sell it,” he says. The mulcher also allows you to clear other designated spots, such as food plots for game animals.Īnother option might be to cut and use the wood for cold weather. Paying a mulch operator may be the simplest solution. “There’s a big mulcher machine that comes in and chews everything into little pieces,” Lipthrott describes. If the wood that you’re clearing is too small a tract or not merchantable, consider mulching. Once you’ve cut it, what do you do with the timber? It depends on the quality and type of wood.
LAST WOOD CLEARING PORTABLE
Griffin advises searching on Craigslist and asking large saw mill operators, neighbors and friends for portable saw mill operator recommendations. The sawmill uses a band saw instead of a wood blade, which helps salvage more of the wood. Griffin describes these as “a portable little lumber yard that you can pull behind your truck or car.” “A lot of times, they just get 50 percent of the wood as payment.” “ They have a sawmill on the back of their truck, they pull up, and they saw your trees into lumber,” Lipthrott says. Portable saw mill operators will be happy to oblige, however. “ If they can’t move 30 loads of wood in a week, it’s hard to get these guys to come cut it,” he says. “ Too much money and too much equipment,” he explains. Unfortunately, large lumberyards aren’t interested in cutting small tracts, according to Griffin, because it’s just not worth their time. So what do you do with the timber? For ideas, we asked Billy Lipthrott, a 22-year- veteran land resource unit manager for Rayonier, Rethink:Rural’s parent company, in Hastings, Fla., and Carl Griffin, owner of The Griffin Ranch near Ocala, Florida. But before you start construction, perhaps you must first clear trees that stand between you and your new home. The spot meets all the criteria: access, view, etc. You’ve found the ideal site on your property for your house. But what will you do with all that timber? Clearing your land means you are well on your way to building your dream rural home.
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