Uses for red maple?

[Jackson Landers]

I've had an 'interesting' weekend, which involved one of the 3 main trunks from a very large red maple falling down on the power line between my house and the pole. Knocked it right to the ground.  Looking at the base of the fallen trunk, it because clear that the whole base was horribly rotten out and the other 2 trunks are going to drop at any moment. One of those trunks being aimed right over the bedroom of my 1 story house, the whole shebang pretty much had to be professionally removed immediately.

So right now it's all getting taken down and cut up. I'm trying to make the best out of a bad situation (this is expensive) and get as much use out of the wood as possible.

I told them to cut the limbs into firewood, turn the small stuff into mulch and leave the trunks as intact as possible. I've got a guy with a portable sawmill who is going to come out and rough-cut it for me.  Unfortunately, the nitwits doing the work didn't quite understand what their boss had told them (the boss knows his stuff), and they had already sawn up an entire 24" diameter trunk into FIREWOOD when I showed up on site this morning.

At least I straightened them out before they'd gotten to the other 2 trunks.

My question is what y'all think I ought to do with this wood. These are very straight trunks, very generous in diameter. A chance to work with wider and thicker pieces of wood than I could normally afford to.

I'm starting work in the next few months on the 2 story little house. How would red maple work out as wide plank hard wood flooring? I thought maybe I could take the rough cuts to a millner and then rout the tongues and grooves onto the boards myself. 

[NM_Shooter]

That wood is worthless at best and possibly dangerous.  If you keep it around it will likely make you go bald, and will increase your exposure to IRS audits. 

It would be in your best interest to bundle that all up and ship it to me.  I will not charge you for the disposal. 

-f-

[gandalfthegrey]

Don't burn the 24" pieces.  Have your friend cut the into planks, for Table tops, Chair seats, maybe cabinet doors, etc.

[glenn kangiser]

Narrower boards would have less shrinkage and warpage.

[Jackson Landers]

Don't burn the 24" pieces.  Have your friend cut the into planks, for Table tops, Chair seats, maybe cabinet doors, etc.

Good idea about the cabinet doors for the firewood-sized pieces. What I saw of it had some really nice grain (made me want to push the chainsaw monkey's face right up against it and shout "LOOK WHAT YOU RUINED!")

I'm also thinking about taking a couple of those pieces and cutting them square along the grain in order to glue them up into a foolishly large butcher block. My household runs on venison most of the year (the kids think beef tastes funny) and I was thinking that a 6 foot long butcher block built to counter-top height would be just the thing to make quartering and butchering a little faster with fewer back aches.

[JRR]

I'm not familiar with that species.  Would the 24" pieces make usable siding shakes/shingles?

[PA-Builder]

I've had an 'interesting' weekend, which involved one of the 3 main trunks from a very large red maple falling down on the power line between my house and the pole. ...

When the power cable came down, what damage did it do to your house ?  Did it rip your meter out ? 

[Jackson Landers]

When the power cable came down, what damage did it do to your house ?  Did it rip your meter out ? 
[/quote]

No, I actually lucked out big time. The cable that runs from the anchor point under the eave down to the meter was instantly jerked off of the wall. What ever fasteners held it in place came out so fast that the cable provided just barely enough slack that the meter was not ripped out and the power actually stayed on.  All of the damage was to the power company's equipment and my only expenses have been those resulting from being prudent about getting the rest of the tree removed before there's any further damage.

Meanwhile, I just got back from letting the dogs out and I caught a quick look at the pieces of the big log that they mistakenly chopped into firewood. Wouldn't you know it; it was SPALTED!

Ugh.

I'm wondering whether red maple is hard enough to work well as flooring. Also, should I have the guy with the portable saw mill come out right away, or is it better to let the wood sit for a few months and dry out first?

[Jackson Landers]

I'm not familiar with that species.  Would the 24" pieces make usable siding shakes/shingles?

JRR,

That's a neat idea. I have a blacksmith friend who is making a froe that I'm planning to use with some cedar. I should try it on the maple, too. I've got a whole bunch of standing dead cedar on the back of my property and I was going to see about using that for roof shingles. I wouldn't use maple shakes for a roof (it lacks the natural phenolic preservatives that cedar has), but maybe for siding under a generous overhang they could work pretty well.

[rwanders]

I believe "spalted" maple is actually sought after for its' unusual grain patterns and is probably worth more than plain red maple.---"google" spalted more more information.

[John_C]

All the varieties of maple that I know of are very susceptible to rot.  I don't think it would do well as shakes, shingles or siding.  It might make good flooring.  Many types of maple are used for cabinetry.

Probably the best approach would be to have it cut somewhat thicker than you intend to use it to allow for shrinkage.  Stickered and stacked it would need about 1 year / inch of thickness to dry.  Then you could re-mill it to finished dimensions.