# What to do with my Post Oak?



## tbaker (Dec 20, 2004)

Howdy all. Back in 2009 my wife and I bought a place in Spring. We had pick of the litter on the street as it was undeveloped and all lots were available. We picked the one that was high, and had the monster post oak in the front.

Years later my neighbor built next door and his builder, Perry Homes, disrupted the natural drainage of the site. This past April we flooded big time, and the big tree got stressed. The tiny beetles soon followed. Months of tree doctor and lots of $$ later it looks like the old girl is gone.

Next step. I don't want our tree to go away in vain. Sentimental value, even the neighbors are sad. It is a 32" diameter post oak with about 15'-20' of straight trunk at the bottom. The drip line is probably 70'-75' across.

I have a cousin who made wood beams from a bunch of his trees, but he is a good distance away. Anyone have suggestions on how to have this tree milled into something usable? Not sure what we would do with it yet, but I know I don't want it to be firewood. 

Thanks in advance.

tb


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## jharrigan07 (Mar 25, 2011)

Bummer! I would look into portable sawmill under services on Craigslist. You would likely have to have it felled before they would work on it, but on the other side of that equation, you could probably pre-sell some of the material to offset those costs. Pick up as many of the acorns as you can find, and start planting. I would use the lumber after it is milled and dry to make a side table to something smallish that could really accentuate the quarter-sawn boards (I would try to keep the quarter-sawn, more expensive to mill).

We have a big oak in our backyard. I have already told my wife that if we ever lose the tree, I would just assume rip out the breezeway to make sure we could get it milled and made into something special.


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## jharrigan07 (Mar 25, 2011)

I would buy some (assuming you are close to Houston) even if it was green.


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## jharrigan07 (Mar 25, 2011)

https://collegestation.craigslist.org/sks/5961617920.html


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## tbaker (Dec 20, 2004)

Funny you posted the sawmill guy in Franklin. That's about 5 miles from my cousin's place. Might even be the same people. 

Only issue I have is that it is in the middle of a natural area in front of my house. We are going to tear up some stuff getting the large pieces out. On previous trees we just cut them small enough to hand carry or dolly them out. Not gonna happen with this one.

Thanks for the response.


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## The1ThatGotAway (Jun 24, 2009)

these slab tables bring good money.


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