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A great way to get Free wood

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Wood_Jedi:
Hey guys, Have you ever considered looking to your local tree service companies to get free wood. While the wood is free, getting it milled does have a coast. but compared to the cost of buying the wood from a lumber yard or big box store..There is big savings when with getting your own wood. What I did was contacted some Tree removal service companies. I got to know them and talked to them about their process. Basically asking them, what do you do with the trees you cut down? Some companies take the trees to a mill and the mill pays them for the trees. But supprisingly some companies just dump the trees..That is an opportunity Knocking at your door.

Give them a way to contact you. Tell them if they have any trees (specify what you are looking for) to give you a call and you will take them off their hands. Let me give you an example. I specified to them I was looking for the 3 C's Cedar, Cherry, Cypress as well as Red Oak and White Oak. I also said if they get a hold of any rare trees let me know. By them giving you the trees it saves them the cost of dumping & adding more to their bottom line.. Its a win win situation!
And for those companies that sale their trees to mills..depending on what the mill pays them, you may be able to compete with the price and still save big money.

Let me give you an example.. Not long ago, I got a cedar tree from a company. I took it to my mill and had it milled into 4/4 and 8/8 stock. My mill charged me about $0.35 per bd ft. for that particular tree I got 142 bd ft.. a cost of $50.00 . Not bad considering a 1x8x12 cedar board at one of the big box stores runs about $24.69  That is $3.08 a bd ft.  So lets use my cedar tree as a reference. 142 bd ft. for $50.00 having it milled for me.  or 142 bd ft from the big box store for $438.25  Big difference right??? and Big Savings!! So if you can find a sawyer in your area that has a mill or even a portable saw mill.. you may want to contact him and get to know them.  I got a call the other night from a tree service that has a Pecan tree, I had them deliver to my home.. Here is a look at that delivery. Now tomorrow The tree logs get loaded on my trailer and taken to the mill... I will have a great stock of Pecan for a small fraction of the price if I ordered it from a hardwood dealer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=unsPcKg02nk

Summers Woodworking:
What great information. I will definitely give it a try. Thanks!!!

Wood_Jedi:
You are welcome..

LRTX1:
Laney,

How is the pecan wood coming along?  Have you built anything with it yet?

Wood_Jedi:
No I haven't built anything with it as of yet. As a matter of fact, I had planned on checking the moisture content of it Tuesday. It has been raining a lot so I wouldn't get an accurate reading however it has been hot and sunny this last week and weekend. So its a good time for me to check it. I am looking forward to building with it as soon as it is ready. If you haven't already, be sure to check out my two videos about the pecan. here is the link.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Or5wSCJSt8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4ESIBlT_bdU

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