# Blown down hemlock



## Ralph Muhs (May 13, 2012)

What do you do with a blown down hemlock tree? 
1. Make siding for your house.
2. Build a workshop.
3. Build wife a chicken coop.

Which one of these comes first???


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## davidgiul (May 13, 2012)

Ralph Muhs said:


> What do you do with a blown down hemlock tree?
> 1. Make siding for your house.
> 2. Build a workshop.
> 3. Build wife a chicken coop.
> ...


Getting pretty good with that camera, Ralph. Are gonna give DDT some lessons? Nice pictures. :davidguil:


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## Ralph Muhs (May 13, 2012)

davidgiul said:


> Ralph Muhs said:
> 
> 
> > What do you do with a blown down hemlock tree?
> ...


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## Kevin (May 13, 2012)

Beautiful place you have there Ralph. Just gorgeous love the setting. My wife and I honeymooned on a mountain top in West Virginia in the cabin of some friends in 2004. "Cabin" take that lightly it was a two story ski resort without the ski resort. We both decided we could live there real easy. I just loved that area cannot remember exactly where it was will have to ask the wife. 

Looked just like your place. We stayed there two weeks and if we had a vehicle come down the road more than once a day we thought uh-oh this paradise has finally been discovered by the outside world. Truly, we saw many more black bears during that two weeks than we did humans. Sure was nice.


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## Mike1950 (May 13, 2012)

Yes Ralph you are getting good with the pictures. Thanks for your (her) persistence. Also Nice house and setting.


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## Ralph Muhs (May 13, 2012)

Kevin said:


> Beautiful place you have there Ralph. Just gorgeous love the setting. My wife and I honeymooned on a mountain top in West Virginia in the cabin of some friends in 2004. "Cabin" take that lightly it was a two story ski resort without the ski resort. We both decided we could live there real easy. I just loved that area cannot remember exactly where it was will have to ask the wife.
> 
> Looked just like your place. We stayed there two weeks and if we had a vehicle come down the road more than once a day we thought uh-oh this paradise has finally been discovered by the outside world. Truly, we saw many more black bears during that two weeks than we did humans. Sure was nice.



Thank you. I love it here. It never gets hot and humid like it did in Illinois, seldom above 85 degrees. Lewisburg is a lovely little town, recently selected "Coolest Small Town in America" by Budget Travel Magazine. The house, workshop, and chicken coop were all built from trees growing in my back yard. 42 acres Now I am building another house, on a cliff, with a 60 mile view all the way to Virginia.


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## Kevin (May 13, 2012)

Ralph Muhs said:


> ... Now I am building another house, on a cliff, with a 60 mile view all the way to Virginia.



Haha funny you said that because what I did not say in my post was that this cabin was also built on the side of the mountain to where you could see over the other side of it when you were on the top story balcony. It wasn't possible to see 60 miles off but you could across the numerous valleys to the other mountaintops. 

Sounds like you have a piece of heaven Ralph and I know y'all are enjoying it. As much as I love my home here I have gotten to the point where I miss the mountains - the little times that I have spent in them. Maybe I was Jeremiah Johnson in my last life.


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## DKMD (May 13, 2012)

That's a beautiful setup, Ralph! I'm not at all familiar with hemlock, but it sure makes pretty siding.

So what are you gonna do with the house you're living in once the new place is finished?


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## NeilYeag (May 14, 2012)

Beautiful area and beautiful workmanship. Ditto on the nice pics!

Neil


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## Ralph Muhs (May 14, 2012)

DKMD said:


> That's a beautiful setup, Ralph! I'm not at all familiar with hemlock, but it sure makes pretty siding.
> 
> So what are you gonna do with the house you're living in once the new place is finished?



Sell it! Or make my son a deal he can't refuse.


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## Ralph Muhs (May 14, 2012)

Joe Rebuild said:


> Wow nice place! Is there a guest room?



Yes! You provide the drinks. The guestroom is free. We seriously do this!
A bottle of nice red wine and a veggie, cheese tray would be the total cost, but we insist you share the snacks and wine on our porch.


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## Kevin (May 14, 2012)

Ralph,

We found out the nearest town, it was Thomas WV. Best I can remember it took almost an hour to get there the two times we went to town and it was downhill all the way to town - steep too by a Texan standard. Of course we were honeymooning so maybe 45 minutes now . . . 

How close to Thomas are you?


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## Ralph Muhs (May 16, 2012)

Kevin said:


> Ralph,
> 
> We found out the nearest town, it was Thomas WV. Best I can remember it took almost an hour to get there the two times we went to town and it was downhill all the way to town - steep too by a Texan standard. Of course we were honeymooning so maybe 45 minutes now . . .
> 
> How close to Thomas are you?



Never heard of Thomas, but we moved here from Illinois four years ago. We looked it up though. Thomas is north of us about 75 miles. It is the same mountanous area.


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## bench1holio (May 16, 2012)

ralph, that is a beautiful looking home, i hope theres never a fire threat in your area, your house seems to be fairly well surrounded by bush!


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## West River WoodWorks (May 19, 2012)

[attachment=5697]
Here is a root ball of a blown over hemlock we saw in the UP of Michigan.
Tom


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## Ralph Muhs (May 19, 2012)

West River WoodWorks said:


> Here is a root ball of a blown over hemlock we saw in the UP of Michigan.
> Tom



What would you do with a root ball? The lumber itself can be used for framing lumber or siding or whatever. Some of the hemlock and white pine here are quite large. It is not unusual to get 2500 ft of lumber from just one tree. I have some 2 X 8 white pine rafters in my house that are 28 ft long and perfectly clear! About 9 meters for our Australian friends.


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## Vern Tator (May 19, 2012)

In the 80s, I lived on an island here in the Northwest that had no power, phone, or ferry service. I paneled the inside of the house in 8" T&G hemlock. It was beautiful. I have turned some hemlock. Got a butt section that the loggers left at the turn of the century, 20th, and it was dry and sound. I turned a couple of big bowls that are fantastic. The grain is really pretty. Not many turners work with it, and they are missing something.


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