Spruce logs

550Doug · Nov 26, 2022

I have a couple of dozen spruce trees to be taken down next spring. They vary from 10 to 20 inch diameter and 50 to 90 ft tall. What to do with the logs? I will take the limbs off but no access to a sawmill. The bark will still be on them. Could they be used as posts to act as a retaining wall? How about as a base for a laneway with fill and gravel on top? any ideas?
TIA

Stephen Newell · Nov 26, 2022

The amount of wood you have it might be worthwhile to purchase a sawmill from Harbor Freight. I bought one early this year and wished I had gotten one years ago. If you don't want to do
that you might run an ad on craigslist. There are a lot of people around which have a bandsaw mill that could cut the lumber for you. The biggest issue is if they are live trees it can
take a year or more per inch thickness for a board to dry. If you want to find someone I would make arrangements before you cut the logs. My sawmill will only cut logs 8' long.

Russ from MN · Nov 26, 2022

No loggers or sawmills nearby? In N MN the sawmills are eager for logs like that.

RogerinIowa · Nov 26, 2022

Where are the logs?

Ark68SS · Nov 27, 2022

You can go here to find a sawyer in your area-
https://woodmizer.com/us/Find-a-Local-Sawyer
BillL

RM-MN · Nov 27, 2022

Spruce would be almost the worst wood for posts as it rots really quick unless pressure treated....and it doesn't pressure treat well. If you use them as a base for a roadway the same would apply except as they rot the road becomes more and more spongy. Spruce also makes poor firewood as it is not a high density wood although it does burn quickly if you need just a little heat.

showcrop · Nov 27, 2022

I would ask a professional forester in the area. As others have posted there could be guys looking for Spruce for DIY.

Blackhole49 · Nov 27, 2022

The member map puts him in Guelph Ontario.

Crazy Horse · Nov 27, 2022

RM ---- Lumberyards up here sell pretty much exclusively spruce for most applications from fence posts to house framing and trusses, etc. Most of the outside applications are pressure treated although I think that term is used pretty loosely these days for a quick dip into a tank. Yes, one can expect rot, even cedar rots although people think it i resistant. Maybe a bit more so but cedar posts rot here eventually as well like everything else for the most part. It's used a lot for firewood too, but it has its limitations as you mentioned.

Geo-TH,In · Nov 27, 2022

This summer I saw 2 men digging around the electric poles and
putting in the ground around the pole a chemical they claimed
the pole will absorb and climb up the pole to preserve it.

I wish I had taken a pic of the box of chemicals they had in the
back of their truck.

They claim the treated pole rot off at ground level.

Could they be used as posts to act as a retaining wall?

I'm 73 almost 74. I would ask myself will the retaining wall
made of spruce live longer I will?

redforlife · Nov 27, 2022

My thoughts are, ... they are probably not
suitable for what you want to use them for.

If they were mine, I'd sell them to a mill
to be cut into lumber. Use the money you
get from them to buy what you need to do
what your wanting to do.

Traditional Farmer · Nov 27, 2022

I cut down a Norway Spruce and as you say it would burn hot but not very long in the stove,made great kindling.What was left outside rotted in a couple years.

550Doug · Nov 27, 2022

Thanks for the replies.
Yes, the real problem is that spruce wood is a low value wood for most uses. I could make small piles of logs and have a local fellow come in with his track-steer and forrester head to turn the logs into wood chips (but expensive). Or, if there is such a thing as a chemical that will accelerate the rotting process, I could place them in some low areas that could use some good top soil (in 10 years?). There is a local sawmill but they really don't want spruce wood, especially since there are so many limbs, hence knots, in it.
Regarding rotting posts, I have taken out cedar post that were in the ground for over 30 years. They were rotted off at the soil-air boundary but were solid underground. So possibly if a spruce post were treated somehow at the soil-air boundary, they may last longer.

caterpillar guy · Nov 27, 2022

Spruce may rot fast but used in under cover jobs like interior shelving or other jobs like that it would work just fine. It could also be sawed into bigger pieces for light blocking or other purposes. I would love to have a couple timbers about 40 foot long for different jobs timbers meaning something like in 8x8 or some other dimension similar.

Bill(Wis) · Nov 27, 2022

Around this part of Siberia we have a lot of paper mills that always need pulpwood. The problem is that the pulpwood cutting companies are looking for large tracts of it.
Although, if accessible and they happen to be working in the neighborhood, they will cut smaller tracts, which yours would be considered around here.

mjsnodgrass · Nov 27, 2022

the good spruce, cedar, and fir trees are long gone. there are very few old growth trees left in my area of the PNW, and they are pretty much
protected. the legacy today's trees have, owe it all to the old growth. if you have aircraft grade spruce, guitar or piano grade you have
something. if not just as well burn them.

Spruce logs

550Doug

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Stephen Newell

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Russ from MN

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RogerinIowa

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Ark68SS

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RM-MN

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showcrop

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Blackhole49

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Crazy Horse

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Geo-TH,In

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redforlife

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Traditional Farmer

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550Doug

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caterpillar guy

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Bill(Wis)

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mjsnodgrass

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