# Walnut Trees



## alexanderbuzz (Jun 17, 2013)

I was given 11 walnut trees that are at least 30 years old and there about 4 hours away from me, I have not seen them and what I would like to know would it be worth the travel to go get them and how big would a 30 year old walnut tree be. I have never seen a walnut tree in person so this will be a first for me.


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## healeydays (Jun 17, 2013)

I guess the first question would be is there good BBQ near where you would be driving to, cause you're gonna need to eat.

Are you talking transplanting or for the lumber? 30 years is barely mature in walnut trees, but you should still get some nice project wood out of them. After 30 years the root system is probably too big to move.


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## Treecycle Hardwoods (Jun 17, 2013)

alexanderbuzz said:


> I was given 11 walnut trees that are at least 30 years old and there about 4 hours away from me, I have not seen them and what I would like to know would it be worth the travel to go get them and how big would a 30 year old walnut tree be. I have never seen a walnut tree in person so this will be a first for me.



It is hard to speculate the size of a tree based on age. There are a number of factors that go into how big it will be rainfall being the biggest factor followed closly by soil/environmental conditions. I would say at best you are looking at 8-10" in diameter which doesn't leave much heart wood to use. Before going all that way it may be smart to try to get some pix of the trees in question with something in the pic for size reference. Who knows maybe the trees are older than 30 years and are bigger than expected. You may even get lucky on a 30 year old tree being a bit bigger than i had estimated if the growing conditions are optimal.


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## alexanderbuzz (Jun 17, 2013)

healeydays said:


> I guess the first question would be is there good BBQ near where you would be driving to, cause you're gonna need to eat.
> 
> Are you talking transplanting or for the lumber? 30 years is barely mature in walnut trees, but you should still get some nice project wood out of them. After 30 years the root system is probably too big to move.



so the root system is good what can you do with the root system


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## healeydays (Jun 17, 2013)

Root system is needed if you're transplanting 30 year old trees which is not unheard of, but other than that, probably not much.


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## alexanderbuzz (Jun 17, 2013)

I was going to cut them down for the lumber if it's worth doing.
I just got off the phone with the man and he said there 24 inch across so that should give me some wood right.


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## Kevin (Jun 17, 2013)

A 30 year young walnut is going to be too small to mess with for milling IMO. If they don't need to be cut down I'd let them grow for someone else 30 - 40+ years down the road. Milling trees that small doesn't yield much usable lumber and would be a big waste of a nice future harvest for someone.


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## alexanderbuzz (Jun 17, 2013)

Kevin said:


> A 30 year young walnut is going to be too small to mess with for milling IMO. If they don't need to be cut down I'd let them grow for someone else 30 - 40+ years down the road. Milling trees that small doesn't yield much usable lumber and would be a big waste of a nice future harvest for someone.



I agree but the land owner wants them gone and I just talk to him and he said there 24 inches across so I think there older then 30 years would they be worth cutting down at 24 inches


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## Kevin (Jun 17, 2013)

If they are 24" DBH (at breast height) they're worth cutting. 24" at the base not as good obviously but still better than burnig for firewood, and no matter the size nearly, you can always get some coin from the turners. If you have them milled for lumber, make sure to tell the sawyer to leave as much sapwood as possible. Most mills will saw out the sap but many furniture builders and craftsman love the contrast of heart and sap especially in walnut. Me for one.


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## alexanderbuzz (Jun 17, 2013)

Kevin said:


> If they are 24" DBH (at breast height) they're worth cutting. 24" at the base not as good obviously but still better than burnig for firewood, and no matter the size nearly, you can always get some coin from the turners. If you have them milled for lumber, make sure to tell the sawyer to leave as much sapwood as possible. Most mills will saw out the sap but many furniture builders and craftsman love the contrast of heart and sap especially in walnut. Me for one.



Thanks I will post pictures of them when I get up there and when I cut them up


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