# When is a Walnut tree big enough to be harvested...



## andy close (Aug 18, 2017)

to yield decent looking wood/blanks? I do understand that I can't hope to get nice looking 5" wide boards out of a 3" wide tree. :D I'm wondering more about pith, sapwood and the nice 'walnut' colored wood; although I'm not sure I can wait much longer to harvest the tree.
The tree is growing up alongside my neighbor's house and is much closer than a tree should be planted, even a small ornamental tree. It appears to be about 3.5-4" wide at the base of the trunk & is a little over 2 stories tall. I'm going to offer to remove it for my neighbor and see about turning it into pen blanks as it's really not big enough for anything else.
I know there's not really a 'correct' answer to this question, but figured I'd see what people's thoughts were regarding usable branch/log sizes.


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## Tony (Aug 18, 2017)

@woodtickgreg maybe?


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## Ralph Muhs (Aug 18, 2017)

Too small for me. Want some walnut pen blanks? I will send a box full

Reactions: Like 1


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## andy close (Aug 18, 2017)

Ralph Muhs said:


> Too small for me. Want some walnut pen blanks? I will send a box full



Thanks @Ralph Muhs. I was just figuring my neighbor is gonna have to get rid of that tree in the near future and I didn't want it to go to waste if at all usable. :)

Reactions: Like 1


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## Albert Kiebert (Aug 18, 2017)

I would take it when offered. Usually turn a whole section of the trunk into a bowl, box or vase. There will be a good bit of white sapwood and some darker heartwood. Depending on your design you can get some nice contrasting with the two colors. The pith has not been a problem for me, just have to process in longer sections, seal and wait for it to dry out some OR turn it wet completely star to finish.


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## ripjack13 (Aug 18, 2017)

Something that small is going to have about an inch of sap wood all around. 
If the tree isn't a bother yet, leave it up. Although, you can top it off, so it get wider, not taller. Some arborists don't recommend doing that, and some don't mind doing it....


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## woodtickgreg (Aug 18, 2017)

I won't usually mess with the smaller walnut tree's, not enough dark heartwood in them. I like them at least 2' across to get some decent boards out of them. Smaller than that makes nice turning stock with the contrasting heart/sap wood.

Reactions: Like 3


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## ripjack13 (Aug 18, 2017)

This is what I have. These are from the trunk, not the branches....









Most likely, yours would be the same looking...maybe less...


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## Jdaschel (Sep 19, 2017)

andy close said:


> to yield decent looking wood/blanks? I do understand that I can't hope to get nice looking 5" wide boards out of a 3" wide tree. :D I'm wondering more about pith, sapwood and the nice 'walnut' colored wood; although I'm not sure I can wait much longer to harvest the tree.
> The tree is growing up alongside my neighbor's house and is much closer than a tree should be planted, even a small ornamental tree. It appears to be about 3.5-4" wide at the base of the trunk & is a little over 2 stories tall. I'm going to offer to remove it for my neighbor and see about turning it into pen blanks as it's really not big enough for anything else.
> I know there's not really a 'correct' answer to this question, but figured I'd see what people's thoughts were regarding usable branch/log sizes.




Andy, I took a couple renewable materials (wood science) classes in college and would recommend you wait about 10 years to cut that down. The first 7-10 years of a tree create what is called juvenile wood, where the wood will crack easily not matter how you dry it, because of the fancy cell structure (lots more details but this is the short version). Also, I don't think a tree that size will contain very much heartwood, so you will mostly get sapwood. Unless you plan to cut it into studs, it won't contain much valuable wood.

Reactions: Agree 2 | Informative 1


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## andy close (Sep 20, 2017)

James,

Thanks for the very informative reply. I'm guessing I won't be able to convince my neighbor to let it grow for another 10 years considering the trunk is already rubbing against his eaves, but I figured it was worth checking to see if anyone with experience would say that milling a 3-4" trunk would yield decent blanks or small boards. Maybe this tree is just destined to become firewood.


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