jellyghost 378 #1 Posted February 12, 2018 My cousin manages the family apple orchard in NY. It's more of a hobby than a business, and he is tired of the Red Delicious trees. He intends to cut them down and use the wood to heat his house. I told him WAIT! People like to smoke meats with apple wood. So, how do you market a few dozen trees worth of apple fire wood? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tunahead72 2,403 #2 Posted February 12, 2018 No idea, but make sure your cousin keeps a couple of trees' worth of firewood for his own personal use, apple wood smells GREAT in a wood stove or fireplace! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,262 #3 Posted February 12, 2018 Nice catch on your part! My boss and his brother are both hobby/occasionally paid smoker cookers. Also, I have an orchard down the street I can call and ask for you. At the very least I'd say CL. Or whatever other local buy/sell mags you have around. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
19richie66 17,500 #4 Posted February 12, 2018 Thats all we use in the smoker. Makes a great aroma and taste. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sarge 3,463 #5 Posted February 12, 2018 Certain species of apple trees also make for some interesting grain structure in wood working - some carvers seem to really like the stuff... Sarge Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jellyghost 378 #6 Posted February 12, 2018 Thanks for all the responses. Someone told me that he should just try to cut it into short pieces and chunk it with a maul. I don't think he is looking for the extra work. Perhaps he should just call a local BBQ joint. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
formariz 11,987 #7 Posted February 12, 2018 (edited) Obtaining usable wood form an apple tree is pretty much like panning for gold. Lots of work, time, and patience. In the end, the reward is all worth the effort. Apple trees have usually lots of defects and it is a highly unstable wood rather hard to dry properly. Once you get past all the difficulties the result is often a beautiful wood similar to cherry but with distinctive character and personality most of that from the defects on the tree. Usually the largest boards obtainable are only large enough to use as panels on small cabinet doors. If you were closer I would definitely would get a trailer load from you. Edited February 12, 2018 by formariz 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
moe1965 737 #8 Posted February 13, 2018 B B Q places and i have sold some good smoking wood to a local pizza place that has oven fired pizzas. I use my band saw to cut the wood into smaller smoking pieces. watch your fingers...... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Achto 27,502 #9 Posted February 13, 2018 20 hours ago, jellyghost said: So, how do you market a few dozen trees worth of apple fire wood? One option would be to run as much of it as you can through a chipper. Bag the chips up and sell them that way. Most places around me get $3 & up for a 2L bag of wood chips for smoking. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
jellyghost 378 #10 Posted February 13, 2018 3 hours ago, formariz said: Obtaining usable wood form an apple tree is pretty much like panning for gold. Lots of work, time, and patience. In the end, the reward is all worth the effort. Apple trees have usually lots of defects and it is a highly unstable wood rather hard to dry properly. Once you get past all the difficulties the result is often a beautiful wood similar to cherry but with distinctive character and personality most of that from the defects on the tree. Usually the largest boards obtainable are only large enough to use as panels on small cabinet doors. If you were closer I would definitely would get a trailer load from you. If I helped him harvest the wood, is there a way we should log the trunks so as to preserve possible boards? Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
formariz 11,987 #11 Posted February 13, 2018 (edited) 3 hours ago, jellyghost said: If I helped him harvest the wood, is there a way we should log the trunks so as to preserve possible boards? Apple trees from an orchard are going to yield relatively short logs and probably not more than 12" in diameter. When you cut the trees and look at the top and bottom of log you can first determine if it has heart rot which is very common . If it doesn't it will probably have some decent board material in it. I would right away paint the ends on them with a couple of coats of any paint you have laying around to prevent checking enamel paint preferably.I use paraffin but not everyone has that around. It should then be milled as soon as possible. 6/4 or 8/4 would be ideal for initial drying. There is going to be a lot of waste since apple will warp and twist like no other. Even if it has heart rot it will have great pieces that can be used to turn small items such as furniture knobs and small bowls. Since logs will be short and not too thick it can be milled with a re saw band saw if available.One would have to devise a cradle to mill the round log.I use a vintage Makita with a 3" blade. Edited February 13, 2018 by formariz 4 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ebinmaine 67,262 #12 Posted February 13, 2018 9 hours ago, formariz said: apple will warp and twist like no other. Like me. ..... Explains why I like apples I guess. Super cool equipment there !! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Sarge 3,463 #13 Posted February 13, 2018 I'll second that - getting much usable wood out of an apple tree is a true labor of love. I had worked with some of it years ago when I was at the cabinet shop - we made a few small jewelry boxes out of it and I had to do all the finishing work. Customers wanted all this dark stain - I finally got a sample done with a lightly tinted clear, they decided that was far better. Such a nice aroma when working the stuff in the shop and once it settled down I missed it . The stuff takes finish in an odd way as well - ended up using a sealer/base tint and a clear urethane coating to keep it sealed tight since one of the first smaller ones warped it's lid badly . Most of the issue is drying - ours came from a custom cutting shop I suspect was close to what @formariz has pictured. Hats off to anyone trying to use this material - it's beautiful and very unique, worth the effort in my opinion and I love it's natural colors and those defects. I got out of that shop in the early 90's , miss it every day but life goes on in other directions. I didn't care for much of the work we did but other stuff was truly art work - most times just people with too much money and no taste in overly expensive homes that had zero character to them. Many of the houses we worked on were well into the millions in cost, shame they weren't done properly but it is what is and we had to cater to the customer's wishes. One job was all solid cherry - they wanted it all stained nearly black, why people do that to something with a natural character I'll never understand....who knows but they spent hundreds of thousands on it and we could have made the same look with scrap pine...lol. Sarge 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
stevasaurus 22,706 #14 Posted February 14, 2018 Cas...you have been holding out on your talents. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
