One man's junk is another's treasure
I wouldn't give a nickel for an original, first shipment, cereal box with an illustration of Tony the Tiger on it. Someone else might pay $10,000 for that prize. Most people see a map as just lines on paper. A surveyor may give it a very high appraisal.
Anyone who is currently married to someone who had been married previously has made their own assessment as to who was the smarter spouse in that first marriage.
The bottom line here is that you were offered a gift that in no way was connected to whether or not you performed the job or how well you performed it. The guy needed the trees to go away and you were a simple alternative to other potential options. There is no ethical or moral dilemma.
no moral or ethical dilema here.
i've asked for and taken rocks and wood off of jobs. my hauling them off saved the developer $ and helped me accomplish whatever it was i was trying to do. even had one subdivision that the developer let us cut post oak trees that were in the r-o-w and were doomed to the big yellow machines. selling the firewood from that one helped pay the medical bills for my daughter's birth.
just saying, ask first before taking. if they let you have it, then take it and run. i do agree w/ others stating that a gift back to you buddy would be in line.
Going from raw logs to finished lumber is a lot of work. Sounds like the fellow knows it's valuable but doesn't want to deal with it but also wants it to go to a good home and not to waste. One less thing he has to deal with and it sounds like you appreciate the value of it. It's a win win. There's no ethical conflict here. You get the logs milled, make him a nice coffee table or something and be sure to post a pic on here for me and others to drool over. 😉
Just because I'm paranoid, doesn't mean they aren't out to get me.
Making me feel bad about cutting those walnut trees up for firewood a few years back. I think some of it ended up in the bon fire too. For some reason, I think not all walnut trees have nice figuring and color.
JB,
I think you may be looking at this in the wrong way. Said 'Tree Guy' is going to charge your friend to cut round the tree and or remove it. By letting you have it he is saving either the cash to remove it or the labor of doing it himself. Unless you have the ability to mill the wood into lumber it is fire wood with a lot of work at best.
When I worked for a large engineering firm, the developers let us take the trees they cut down for fire wood. It saved them the effort of clearing what we took.
I use to have a client that supplemented his retirement by salvaging hard wood around town. I think some of the land owners even paid him to yard it out.
So in reality, he probably views your willingness to deal with the wood as a benefit to him.
Like others have said, buy him some beer and make a nice walking stick out of his former tree.
Walnut as firewood
What's it like?
I've burned a lot of almond, but I've heard that walnut is oily, not so good.
How was your experience?
Don
Walnut as firewood
> What's it like?
> I've burned a lot of almond, but I've heard that walnut is oily, not so good.
> How was your experience?
>
> Don
Burns fast with not much heat. Makes lots of fluffy ash as well.
Don't bother.
Even poplar was better than walnut.
That was my experience.
E
Don't let Kent fool ya....he's never even seen a tree. He lives in Texas.
> Don't let Kent fool ya....he's never even seen a tree. He lives in Texas.
No, we have plenty of very good trees in Texas. Unlike the folks in those congested Eastern and Western forest states, we don't have to cut them down to make pallets and railroad ties to sell to tourists.
Walnut as firewood
I once had a neighbor who owned a trophy manufacturing business.
He had a lot of black walnut scraps left over from trimming the wood base portion of the trophy which he gave us for our fireplace.
I liked the fact that it burned almost to nothing. "Fluffy ash" as you say.
If that's a 'tree' then truly everything ISN'T bigger in Texas. 😉
> If that's a 'tree' then truly everything ISN'T bigger in Texas.
I'm willing to bet that is a much, much larger bald cypress than any growing in the Northeast. :>
> If that's a 'tree' then truly everything ISN'T bigger in Texas. 😉
Awwwww...I think it's a cute little guy.;-)
I have a 14 year old neighbor who makes the best looking wine stoppers and duck calls with exotic woods you will ever see. If you have some scraps he might make one for you in exchange for more wood. I seem to remember he uses pieces about 2" by 2" by 4" but I will have to verify.
Walnut as firewood
Don, if I recall correctly, I was anticipating it to burn like other hardwoods.
I seem to remember it smelled bad when it burned and didn't really put very much heat out.
I would not go out of my way to cut another one up.
This was one that had fallen on a shed and needed cleaned up. It was a mess when it was alive and a real mess when it fell down.
I have burned quite a few different species the last couple years.
Incense Cedar, Shasta Red Fir, Doug Fir, Black Oak, Canyon Live Oak, White Oak, Madrone, Apple, Pear.
One thing I discovered, Pear wood is great to cook with. The smoke is so strong, it will literally blind you momentarily. It will fully penetrate a tri-tip roast.
> I'm not sure if they understand how valuable this stuff may be.
Walnut sells in hardwood supply houses for about the same per-board-foot cost as oak, maple, or cherry. These cost a lot more that spruce, pine, or fur lumber but as furniture hardwoods go they are at the low end of the price scale. The real trick is properly drying and curing the wood to prepare it for sale. Dry it too fast and it will crack, warp, and split. Too slow and it will get moldy and stained. Allow about a year in an unheated shed to do the job.