We live in Colorado, south of Denver—where it is very dry, at 8,300ft—surrounded by Aspen and various conifer trees. We have the need to remove the many fallen trees on the property to mitigate fire hazard. Rather than paying someone to do so, I’m wondering what my options are for sourcing this material into something usable for furniture, etc.
I have a Maslow, of course, and a smaller CNC machine. I’m not a woodworking professional. I’d be happy to pay someone local to cut them into various sizes, if that’s an easy and cost-effective thing to do. They’re thin, so I doubt I could get a Maslow-sized sheet out of it. Which makes me think they’d mostly be useful for thicker beams and railings (?)
Pretty unsure where to start, other than calling lumber mills. Any advice appreciated!
Check out something called “an Alaska Mill” it’s basically a chain saw and a aluminum ladder, but they work well. Drying the wood takes some care to prevent warping.
Place an ad for sawmill wanted for hire.
Someone has a woodmizer or similar that could come in and rip all your wood down to whatever dimensions you need.
Most people who run them are reasonable on prices for what you get out of it.
A competent operator with the basic woodmizer can easily get you 200+ planks in 2 days or so of cutting.