Lumber Milling and Firewood from Your Own Trees

The short version: Sound trunks milled into slabs, beams and boards on our own sawmill, or bucked and split for firewood. Your tree, your wood. The estimate is free and Ismael looks at it in person. Call or text (253) 590-8194.

Milling your own trees

When a tree comes down, the trunk is either hauled away, cut into firewood, or, if it is straight and sound, milled. We bring the Wood-Mizer to the log, or take the log to the mill, and cut it to what you want: live edge slabs for a table or a bar top, beams and posts for a pergola or a shed, or dimensional boards. The Webbers had a cherry we removed milled and are using it for accents in their house. Another customer had a yew milled, and Gregory Lopez had us mill about two dozen logs after we took down two trees next to his power line.

Douglas fir, western red cedar, big leaf maple, cherry, walnut and the occasional yew or madrona: the trees that grow in Pierce County yards make real lumber. Cedar and fir are what the old houses around here are built from.

How milling works

The log is bucked to length, usually eight to twelve feet, and skidded to the mill. Slabs are cut to the thickness you want, two to three inches for a table top, and stickered in a stack to dry. Air drying takes about a year per inch of thickness, so slabs for furniture are a long game; beams and rough boards for outdoor projects can be used sooner. We can mill on site, which saves hauling, or bring the logs back and mill them at our yard.

Not every trunk is worth milling. Rot in the center, a lot of big knots, metal from an old clothesline or fence, or a trunk that is too short or crooked all count against it. Ismael will tell you when he looks at the tree whether there is lumber in it.

Free estimate: call or text (253) 590-8194

Firewood from the job

Most people keep the wood. We buck the trunk and the big limbs to fireplace length, about sixteen inches, and stack the rounds where you want them. Splitting is extra and we have the splitter for it. Venita DeLeon wrote that the crew cut her tree small enough to fit the fireplace; Dan Gilbert’s leaning tree became a split stack of cord wood. Fir and maple season in a summer; cedar is quick to light; alder is the local favorite for the stove.

Buying firewood or slabs

We sometimes have seasoned firewood and milled slabs from our own jobs for sale. Supply depends on what has come down recently, so call or text to ask what is on hand and the price.

What it costs

Milling is priced by the hour on the mill or by the log, and it is often less than the cost of hauling the trunk away, so for a good log it can lower the price of the removal. Bucking to firewood length is usually included in a removal; splitting and stacking are priced on top. Ask when Ismael gives you the removal estimate.