Wood from a silver dollar eucalyptus Tree

[harryn]

Hi, we have two trees in our yard that are "Silver Dollar Eucalyptus". I think this species is called Eucalyptus polyanthemos, but I am still checking on that.

We planted them about 15 years ago and believe they are about 30 years old. Since then, they have grown considerably and provide wonderful shade, but for various reasons we need to remove them and I don't think it is practical to transplant them.

The largest is around 2 ft. diameter, while the smaller one is closer to 1.5 ft. I have no experience with turning trees into usable wood, but it seems like some decent boards up to 10 ft long could be cut from these.

I am curious if anyone thinks this kind of wood is useful for projects, and how I could go about getting it turned into lumber ? It is likely too large of a project for me, so I need to find someone with the right tools.

Frankly, otherwise it just gets scrapped, which would be too bad.

Thanks for any ideas.

Harry

[stevespo]

Harry, I can't say if the wood has much value/utility as lumber, not being familiar with the species. You might want to check with some local woodworkers and see what it's characteristics are. In Australia, it seems to be used for a lot of outdoor things (decking, furniture, etc) and (of course) firewood.

I have turned several good-sized trees into boards for projects (apple, maple, cedar, hickory). The process is a fair amount of work. It's helpful to have a straight trunk that is clear of branches. Large diameter is obviously a plus.

Check and see if there is a sawyer with a portable (bandsaw) mill in your area. They can come onsite and turn the tree into lumber, dimensions of your choosing. They can advise as to how to saw, either to maximize yield or for particular needs.

Another method (labor-intensive) is to cross cut them into manageable pieces, split them (hand or machine) into wedges, and then use a decent sized (resaw) bandsaw to turn that into lumber. It all depends on what you want to do with it, and how much wood you want to process.

Drying lumber is a whole science/art of itself and the yield may depend on how well you take care of once it is in lumber form. Some species are quite easy to dry and others are not forgiving. You generally want to remove the bark, seal the ends (latex paint, wax emulsion), and then sticker/store it out of the sun/elements, but allowing for air flow.

Steve