Keeping it Simple

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

The key word being "FREE" 😁🤣 We have quite a bit of balsam but haven't milled much as it (as you say) gets rot and ants and most of ours blow down before we have a chance to get to them. Poor Timothy missing out on the fun!

[@Twobrothersoutdoors]

@@southernadirondackoutdoors the fir is great for siding and any use for soft wood. Structural lumber, not so much. But it's free!

[@DANG--]

Does one kind of fir have more pitch or grow slower or is there a fir that makes better lumber then the other kinds. You have other kinds of fir on your property ? Balsam fir is a lot different than Doug fir ? So fir is like oak it is NOT all the same quality of lumber ?

[@Twobrothersoutdoors]

@@DANG-- we only have balsam fir in the northeast as far as I know and is a very soft wood. Doug fir is harder than any of the pines species in the northeast and I wish we had it growing here. Our spruce and hemlock in the northeast are different species than the hemlock and spruce in the Pacific NW. What pine species do you have in the Midwest?

[@DANG--]

@@Twobrothersoutdoors I have access to White Pine, great for paneling or 4/4 boards but horrible for 2x4's or structural lumber. I have some scotch pine on my property. About 3 hours south of my location is Southern Yellow Pine, the standard for the lumber industry, but I am 100 miles to far north to get SYP to grow.

[@Twobrothersoutdoors]

@@DANG-- SYP would be another great pine to have. Your white pine species must be the same as ours? We can and do use white pine for structural lumber although hemlock is better.

[@southernadirondackoutdoors]

@@Twobrothersoutdoors I planted some douglas fir 20 plus years ago...only one is still alive and it is about 1 foot taller than it was when planted and looks pretty sickly.

[@Twobrothersoutdoors]

@@southernadirondackoutdoors I brought Spanish moss up from the south years ago. The birds stole it to make a nest. It's still alive in the nest but not growing very fast.

[@MarkBrey-w8o]

If you have a have a harbor freight in your area they have a hand metal wand metal detector that is reasonable and works well.

[@Twobrothersoutdoors]

@@MarkBrey-w8o we have a wand style and a regular metal detector. We use them if we suspect metal. But then again probably not enough. Catch our video august 8th we search a log for suspected metal.