Live Oak Job

Last week a customer was kind enough to present us with a somewhat challenging job.  When we got to his property, he had about 50 logs for us.  The challenge was that they were actually the branches of a huge Live Oak tree that he had recently taken down.  The wood was absolutely beautiful and we are so thankful to have had the opportunity to mill it up for him.  He plans on turning the lumber we milled into cabinets, a barn door, and hardwood flooring in a cabin he plans on building here soon. There are several things that made this live oak a challenge.  Live Oak is a very hard wood (over twice the hardness of Red Oak).  The branches can extend out dozens of feet and hold thousands of pounds of weight.  The branches are usually not straight.  The average length of the logs we could find that were straight were five and a half feet.  Five feet is the minimum length I need to lift the log on the mill.  I can cut shorter logs, but have to use special equipment to get them on the mill.  The shortness of the boards meant that I could not use my hydraulic braces to hold  the logs in place while I milled them, so I had to use the manual braces which significantly added to the time.  But, even with the extra time, he still wound up saving significant money by having his own tree milled up, AND, he hill have a story to tell about his future cabinets and floors.  If you have a fallen tree that you would like to turn into a story, you can find us at www.meriwethermillworks.com, or call us at 770-740-2684