# Apple trees...what would you do?



## Upstatefarmer (Mar 27, 2018)

Hello folks,
I've got a few larger apple trees on my property here in New York that I'd like to pick your collective brains about. These are "wild" trees that have had no pruning. They are tall and wide trees. I've got plenty of the short and scraggly type, too. But, my question to you is, if these were YOUR trees, what would be the optimum thing to do with them (material-wise). There are logs over ten feet long and over a foot wide four feet up. I understand the trickiness of apple wood, but is long lumber the way to go? As wide as possible? Thickness? Or just a lot of pen blanks?

Is it worth even trying?

Thanks in advance!


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## John Smith_inFL (Dec 15, 2017)

rent a wood chipper and chip up all the unusable branches into wood chips
for the smoker and BBQ grill. spread the chips out on a large tarp to sun dry
for a few days before bagging or they may rot with high moisture content.
.


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## gargey (Apr 11, 2016)

Saw handles come to mind


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## msinc (Jan 8, 2017)

If it was me and the trees were still alive…I'd prune them way back and see if I got some apples next year. Fruit trees make fruit on "new wood" so they have to be pruned for best results. They are worth more to me for the fruit, definitely not the wood. If they are dead or you absolutely hate apples then as above…chip the whole mess and use it in your smoker or sell it to others that smoke a lot of meat.


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## Finn (May 26, 2010)

Apple wood is very pretty! Lots of nice color variations in the grain. It makes very nice wood to carve. You could sell it to wood carvers, especially smaller pieces. And yes pen turners would like it.


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## sras (Oct 31, 2009)

If I had a tree like that and it needed to come down I might save a single 4 ft log and a few 1-2 ft pieces. Slab them up and see what happens.


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## JayT (May 6, 2012)

As gargey alluded to, if they are big enough to get quartersawn lumber from, even in shorter lengths, then people who restore handsaws would love to have some. QS apple is what was historically used on Disston and other American saws.

As others have said, smaller pieces would sell well to turners, carvers and BBQ types (definitely save the limbs and other non-woodworking pieces for them)


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## LesB (Dec 21, 2008)

I'm not sure if this is an arborist question or a wood working question.
If you want the fruit then prune the trees back fairly hard in the early Spring when they are still dormant. They will send out new branches….lots of them. They produce fruit on spurs of second year growth so the second year selectively prune the new growth to thin it out and shape the tree. Fruiting spurs can produce fruit for several years. From then on maintain the annual pruning.
Trees that old may have some unique old varieties of apples so you may want to check that out too; even it it is just long enough to take some grafts to start new trees of that variety.

If you are removing the trees apple wood is wonderful for turning on a lathe. I have made some beautiful bowls from it. Usually the grain of the wood is a bit irregular for slicing in to lumber but short sections would be great for making boxes and other small items. Your biggest problem will be getting it to dry without cracking. If you leave the log sections whole be sure to seal the ends and store it someplace where it can dry slowly over a period of year or more. Don't seal it in there needs to be some air flow. I just put several large pieces of apple logs under a tarp in a shady place in my yard and will be checking it next year to see how dry it is.
Also as indicated apple wood is great to use in a smoker. I save my lathe shavings for that purpose.

Here is an apple wood bowl I made a couple of years ago. It is about 10" x 4".


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## dhazelton (Feb 11, 2012)

I would make applesauce and can it.


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## Upstatefarmer (Mar 27, 2018)

I'm enjoying the opinions; please keep sharing.

There are hundreds of apple trees here that offer fruit. Small but wildly varied and begging to be made into cider. These trees do fruit, but thirty feet in the air. They grew amongst other trees and reached for the sky. Hopefully I can post a photo. The straight edge is five feet.

Thanks!


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## splintergroup (Jan 20, 2015)

Being the scrounger I am, if I were you I'd section those trunks into 2' lengths and slice them up into 1" thick slabs on my bandsaw. Seal the ends and sticker for a year or two to dry. 
Fruit woods often have nice figure and look great on smaller wood projects (boxes, frames, etc.), hence the short lengths.

Beyond that, I wouldn't bother with hiring someone with a portable mill to cut planks, there really is just not enough "there" to make it worthwhile.


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## summerfi (Oct 12, 2013)

As others have said, apple is a great wood, and the preferred wood for saw handles when quarter sawn. It has a lot of color streaking, and sometimes even has a curly figure. It is an easy wood to work. One thing I've noticed about the apple that I've cut is that it seems to want to check more than some other woods. That makes it especially important to seal the ends well with Anchorseal or paraffin. It probably would benefit from drying a little slower than some woods as well.


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## Upstatefarmer (Mar 27, 2018)

Thanks again for all of your opinions.
I'm a bit surprised!
I've read what I could find about apple wood. I've seen it quite often written, that finding straight wood in lengths greater than four feet is near impossible, yet no one suggests trying to give that a go. I've got plenty of other apple trees that I could make four foot or two foot lengths of. I just never expected that one could look at those trees and say… chip it…

There was a reason I asked you experienced wood workers for advice(my lack of experience).
I'm glad I did. Without it, I probably would have found myself two years down the road with a stickered stack of wildly cupped and warped ten foot apple slabs that I'd be chainsawing into furnace filler!

Thanks, and if you have any other suggestions, please share them. I really enjoy the variety of opinion.


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## Woodmaster1 (Apr 26, 2011)

I would make bowl blanks and turn them while they are still green. I love to let the chips fly from green wood.


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## summerfi (Oct 12, 2013)

If you do have it sawn into boards, sticker it as you said, cover it with roofing tin or something similar (keep it out of the sun) and put a good deal of weight on the stack to minimize cupping and warping. You can also secure the stickered stack with tie down straps to help with cupping/warping.


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## Upstatefarmer (Mar 27, 2018)

Does anyone know what size log one needs to make quarter sawing worthwhile?
It would seem that "smaller" sized logs would make for some very thin stock.


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## summerfi (Oct 12, 2013)

Even on a small log that is plain sawn or "slabbed", the center board will be quarter sawn. The two boards next to it will be close to quarter sawn. It may not be practical to fully quarter saw your apple trees due to their size, but you'll still get some quarter sawn wood out of them. For saw handles, you need boards that are at least 6" - 6.5" wide, depending on the type of saw.


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## runswithscissors (Nov 8, 2012)

Many years ago, I had a little classic cutter (sailboat). I had taken down an old, sick apple tree in the yard, and had saved some good sized chunks. Decided to make mainsheet blocks with wooden shells, bronze sheaves, axles, and bearings, and rope stropping with bronze thimbles. The rope was 3/8" US Navy manila from the 1940s, wonderfully scented with pine tar (or Stockholm tar, not sure). There was to be one single block, one double, and one single with a becket.

After carving the one-piece shells, I boiled them in a mixture of linseed oil and turpentine. (Very dangerous-don't try this at home-hence my LJ name). When I was done, they were almost black. The heat had distorted the wood, so I had to do a little re carving and rasping.

They were still on the boat when I sold it about 15 years later, and looked like the day I made them. They had been exposed to all sorts of weather, winter and summer, with no ill effect. Had to replace the rope stropping after about 10 years, as I recall.

Apple wood in a fireplace gives off beautiful flames with purple and lavender highlights .


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## HokieKen (Apr 14, 2015)

I'd be game to buy a few pieces for turning. I bet lots of other LJs would too. If you wanted to cut some to fit in flat rate boxes and offer it for sale on here, you could probably unload some while it's green and not have to worry about slabbing/stickering )


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## PPK (Mar 8, 2016)

Heck, I'd cut that bad boy down and definately keep them boards as long as possible. And little branches would get chipped up for smoking and BBQ-ing! Don't cut up that tall tree into tiny pieces!


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## 8iowa (Feb 7, 2008)

Back in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the makers of flintlock longrifles occasionally used fruit woods for gun stocks. This would require a board about 55" long, 2 1/2" thick, and 6" wide. There would probably be several modern contemporary longrifle makers who would be interested.


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## Holt (Mar 15, 2011)

Don't fruit woods work well for wood threading?


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## gargey (Apr 11, 2016)

Regarding making boards - I'd be tempted to give it a shot, if the truck is nice and straight. If it doesn't work out, oh well, you can still BBQ or make pen blanks etc.


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## DavePolaschek (Oct 21, 2016)

Cut the trunks into 4-6' lengths, paint the ends, put them up on something to hold them off the ground, and forget about them for three years. Then slab them up, sticker, and finish drying. We did this with my apple and apricot trees and had minimal checking. Five years after the trees came down, I'm starting to make handles, and my buddy with the storage space and mill is making bowls, and there's some very pretty wood in there.


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

Apple is really pretty wood. As is most fruit wood.
All I have ever done is turned it.
Here are a couple of pictures of the last Applewood bowl I turned. 
I imagine it would make really nice boards too.










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## Upstatefarmer (Mar 27, 2018)

Thanks again for all of your thoughts!
I literally have hundreds of wild apple trees on my property. There are a dozen or so that fit my description of being tall straight and having a large diameter. There are many shorter ones with wide diameters that I could cut out 4-6 foot lengths or large chunks for turning large bowls.

Those dozen or so could be 8,10 or even longer boards. From reading what I could about native apple lumber, it seemed longer lengths were not readily available and limited the projects that folks such as yourselves could undertake. I see a lot of apple slabs that are live edge and short, curvy arcs.

I thought maybe supply and demand might come into play. Maybe it does, but not in the way I envisioned! If folks don't have access to long apple lumber, maybe they choose projects utilizing the wood they CAN get easily, due to Apple's unavailability. Nobody's sitting around waiting for that long straight apple board so they can get started on THAT project… That said, what the hell would one use a 10 foot length of apple for anyway!

Thanks again.
Let me encourage you all to continue sharing.
All advice will certainly inform my decisions in the future.


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## bigJohninvegas (May 25, 2014)

If you do plan on thinning out some trees. You can contact a local wood turning club. 
Also contact any saw mills in your area. 
I have heard that saw mills will come and cut it down for you. Not that they pay much. 
I see turning blanks on ebay, but I don't think there is much of a profit with the time involved in processing the wood.
Locally, turners talk to each other about wood sources. Most of the time its free wood that we most often harvest ourselves. Or haul off chunks that a couple guys can manage to handle. 
Sometimes we have had rather large groups go after several trees at a time. Make a day of it and share all the wood among ourselves. 
When I find free wood like that, I always turn a bowl or vase for the supplier of the wood. 
Here is a link to New York State turning clubs. 
https://www.woodturningonline.com/community/clubs.php#USNY


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## avsmusic1 (Jul 10, 2016)

What little Apple wood I have drying right now is moving and checking pretty badly.


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## DavePolaschek (Oct 21, 2016)

Mine has moved a lot, but the checking is mostly in the last few inches. But I'm making saw, knife and plane handles out of it, so I'm not too concerned. I just cut a chunk that seems like it'll be big enough to work. And it's awfully cool to be able to say, "this came from a tree that used to be in my yard."


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## Upstatefarmer (Mar 27, 2018)

Do you think that the reputation that apple wood gets for drying poorly is because of the twisted and contorted way that the tree grows? If so, the trees I'm talking about have grown relatively straight and will probably lack that internal torturing of the grain.


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## DavePolaschek (Oct 21, 2016)

I think twisted trees are part of the movement issue. Seems likely that a tree that's been bent around by Mother Nature is going to have some tension in it. My apricot, which was pretty well sheltered most of its life dried fairly straight. But whether that's from it growing straight or from it getting three years to slowly dry before we cut it into slabs, I don't know.


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## Upstatefarmer1 (Jun 1, 2019)

I'm back.
I decided to leave those large trees alone for the time being.
I HAVE decided to buy a lathe and start turning.
Bowls I think.

I've got plenty of large but "twisty" apple trees here to keep me busy (as well as many other species).

I hope to be seeing some of you in the wood turning board although I'm sure my newbie questions will drive some of you to hide!

John


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## ibewjon (Oct 2, 2010)

You will love turning.


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## Fresch (Feb 21, 2013)

Where are you located,


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## Upstatefarmer1 (Jun 1, 2019)

I'm living in upstate New York. 
I'm afraid I will enjoy turning…. afraid given the costs involved.


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

Upstate NY is a pretty broad area. My wife was born in Penn Yan. We might visit the area sometime.


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## Upstatefarmer1 (Jun 1, 2019)

.Well, a little town I'm betting no one here has ever been to, On the borders of Central New York and the Southern tier. Between Binghamton and Oneonta, Have I given enough without naming it?
I've lived on the same piece of property for 40 years(just warning the trees grow).


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## Ocelot (Mar 6, 2011)

Hmmm. Are there a lot of fork lifts around there?


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## avsmusic1 (Jul 10, 2016)

Most of my extended family is from the New Berlin area - about 30min NW of Oneonta 
It's a gorgeous area this time of year


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## Upstatefarmer1 (Jun 1, 2019)

> Hmmm. Are there a lot of fork lifts around there?
> 
> - Ocelot


That's about 45 minutes west of me.



> Most of my extended family is from the New Berlin area - about 30min NW of Oneonta
> It s a gorgeous area this time of year
> 
> - avsmusic1


I'm about 25 min WSW of Oneonta. But we only go inta the city bout twice a year.

I live in the Town of Unadilla. And yes it is beautiful ( for 7 months of the year).


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## Fresch (Feb 21, 2013)

Motocross


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## Upstatefarmer1 (Jun 1, 2019)

> Motocross
> 
> - Fresch


THE THRILLA IN UNADILLA
Actually the races are located outside of New Berlin about 30 miles from me. In the Unadilla Valley along the Unadilla River.


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