After a storm, your yard may need some cleaning up, and some of your trees might have taken a tumble. 

Before you get rid of your fallen trees or put them through a chipper, consider turning them into your next project.

Here are a few steps to assess if a storm-downed tree can be turned into lumber.

Safety First

Before you get too excited, make sure that the fallen tree is away from any power lines and isn’t at risk of falling further onto a building.

Tree Quality

You don’t want to go through all this work just to realize the wood isn’t good. Here’s an easy checklist to follow:

Check for Metal:

Check for any metal located in the tree. Property trees can have nails or wires around them, so ensure they are removable before going further.

Check for Rot:

It would be a shame to find out mid-project that there’s wood rot, so save yourself time by giving it a look first.

Species:

Some species produce quality lumber while others don’t hold up. Double-check that this species is durable.

Start Small

Cutting the log into smaller pieces will make transporting it manageable. Before you cut, make sure that the length is long enough for your project. Measure twice, cut once.

To transfer the logs, consider an electric tracked dumper. This one from MechMaxx has a 1100 lbs bucket capacity, which means it can carry a lot of logs.

Milling Time

Decide what your project is before you cut! If you’re looking for ideas, Phil from Peterson Farms of Nashville on YouTube used his storm-downed trees to create beautiful cedar hatchet handles. 

He did it with his portable SM-36 MAX MechMaxx Sawmill, which performed great for this task.

Once you have an idea of your project, mill it ½  inch thicker to mitigate warping during drying time.

Gear: Make sure you have protective eye gear and gloves!

Set-up: Place your log on your Sawmill. Depending on the size and weight of the log, you may want to consider using a grapple attachment. This one by MechMaxx works great at securely grabbing large objects.

Line Up: Figure out where you want your cuts to be. Avoid any cracked or rotted areas, so you have the most durable lumber for your project(s).

Clamp and Cut: Securely clamp the log and start your first cut. Flip and repeat to square out the log.

Seal the ends: Use white latex paint or paraffin wax to avoid splitting

Dry Out: Stack your slabs off the ground and dry for one year per 1 inch of thickness. 

Enjoy: Marvel and brag about your gorgeous new planks of lumber 

Now, if you don’t have your own sawmill, check out our table below to get an idea of size and workload.

To start your milling journey, check out MechMaxx for their full Sawmill collection