The tree I want removed from my yard, turns out to be Mahogany!

[radhak]

I have a tree in my yard that's too close to the house - given so many hurricanes, I want to remove it, grind the stump, and replace with a short palm tree.

Today the guy came over to estimate, and says it's mahogany! And here I was thinking ficus - looks like I have no clue about my trees!

He says he could leave me the wood after cutting it, if I so wish. But I have no idea how to use such wood, or if I should even try - what are the steps to turning a tree into a wood worth using for furniture or stuff?

For the record, it'll cost me $550 for him to cut the tree down and de-stump it.

[capncarl]

I primarily deal with 2 people for kiln dried boards for my tiny table, both do “consignment” cutting and kiln drying for customers boards. These are usually a one time event such as yours. I do not have any idea of the cost but i would guess it is substantially less than the wood would cost. One of my long time work friends retired and went into business with his FIL sawing limber and kiln drying it. I was touring his operation a wile back and he showed me a stack of boards in the kiln that they were doing on consignment, again a situation like yours. (I don’t purchase wood from this this source because all he has for sale is pine). These 3 instances tell me that other sawmills elsewhere should be doing the same consignment cutting and drying. I know that both of my sources get a good bit of their logs directly from tree services like the one removing your tree. They either give them the logs because otherwise they have to pay to dump them in the landfill, or sell them if they are a particular valuable log like what your have.

Have ave you asked your tree service if he knows of any sawmills that provides this service? Ask him what he does with the trees he removes.
But.... before you ask him anything else, ask to see his proof of insurance. Get his agents phone number and personally verify that he is insured for whatever you think your possible damages to your property could be and what liabilities you could be sued for in case one of his workers were injured on your property. If you are not satisfied, find you a tree service that has insurance.
capncarl

[atgcpaul]

How big of a tree is this? $550 to do all that work is phenomenal! Typically in the northeast we are talking thousands of dollars for tree removal if it is substantial in size--like 50+ ft.

I had a walnut tree milled into lumber after a storm felled it. The sawyer (who I knew from before) had it cut into 3 14' lengths, then picked it up with his log truck, and we processed it on his farm with his bandmill. Including the air drying in his dehudification kiln, I want to say I paid around $2/bf for everything.

I haven't used this, but you can see if there is sawyer in your area:

https://woodmizer.com/us/Services/Find-a-Local-Sawyer

[radhak]

I picked the guy from Angie's List - he's licensed and insured for this work; others told me they asked for and checked his insurance so I have not bothered yet.

The tree is taller than my single-home by an easy 10-15 feet, so, probably around 30-35 feet in height, maybe? It's not a fully grown tree yet, as the trunk is only 40" around or 12" diameter.

That woodmizer is a great link but does not seem to have anybody in the southern part of FL. Googling has thrown up a couple of local names; I should call them and ask today. I would only be interested in kiln-drying - I won't have the time/patience to wait years for it.

My wife had an idea of making a log bench out of it, like this:



Dunno if mahogany is good for outdoors, or how to protect it from the weather.

[capncarl]

Google sawmills in south Fla. , there are are more than you think in your area. There are a lot in central Fla. as well. Tampa area has quite a few. It might be worth it to haul them a ways to get some good lumber. I definitely would not waste 8-10 feet of logs to build a bench like your photo. Specify that the Sawmill cut you enough 4” thick slab to build a really nice bench, and you will still have enough wood left for projects.
capncarl