sanshouheil wrote:Hemlock?
I though hemlock was a soft wooded evergreen tree. Akin to juniper.
Enlighten me on the propertys of said wood ol Howlin one.
George,
Pennsylvania's,s state tree is great timber. It's threatened by a pest called the woolly adelgid which are insects . The ones that I'm fixin' to harvest are blow downs. They grow to a point where the swampy soil can no longer resist wind and ice storms and they blow over. Hopefully the timber will still be uncontaminated by wood destroying fungi .(All three have been laying over with their roots sticking up for a couple of years). Hemlock is a highly workable wood and excellent for heavy timber frame applications.
I've used Norway spruce for siding on my shop, which is inferier to hemlock as construction lumber.
I have utilized a blown down pitch pine to mill four hexagonal columns.
Pitch pine is known for its natural preservative properties. It's getting to be a rare tree around here but Cin and I are fortunate to have several magnificent specimens. Pitch pine requires fire to seed, and ours are all over 70 years old.
I fell a few oaks and hickory trees when I was clearing our building lot, but they are to difficult to practically cut with my chainsaw mill . Hickory takes several years to cure and warps to badly to be of any practical use to me.
Back to the hemlocks, we once brewed tea out of the needles. It made me sweat like crazy.
I better go get some sleep or I won't get anything done tomorrow.
(were getting a break in the weather, gonna get up into the 40s

)
Later...
John