What's New on the PRR Panhandle 2.0?

[Mitch]

Yes, both and regular lumber yards have questionable lumber now. Pine boards I bought from HD were labeled as imported from Sweden. Cheaper to import lumber from Sweden than cut our own....

We're not using much of our own lumber these days due to the environmentalists screamin' about the forests not being sustainable. But I don't think there's a lumber company in the US who would fail to reseed and replant the thousands of acres used to harvest lumber. That is particularly true in the south where most of the pressure treated southern yellow pine comes from. That's one reason why we have a 300% tariff on Canadian lumber; mainly because the enviro weenies think that Canada is over harvesting and wasting the natural resources. It's not to protect our own lumber producers but is meant to punish Canada's. Apparently they don't understand that Canada has millions of acres of nothing but softwood larch, spruce, and hemlock, (and hardwood maple), and that they too are enviromentally conscious. Some time ago I purchased two 1" X 6" X 8' clear pine boards (white pine) from Lowe's for a wood working project. I don't remember what I paid, but it was obscene! I think it was around $35.

[healey36]

Drive behind Lowes or HD and you'll see lots of "kiln-dried" lumber stacked and tarped (exposed to the weather) prior to being brought inside for sale. Forty years ago we did the same thing when I worked summers for a decent sized independent building supply company. Two or three weeks of that and those two-by-whatevers looked like they'd been floating in the Baltimore harbor for a month. I can remember bringing them inside, cutting the bands, and jumping back, as a decent number of them looked like sled-runners once released from their environs.

[rogruth]

In this area, southeast Georgia, there is a lot of tree farming, mostly pine of some sort. An area will be almost clear cut but in a few years
it is full of trees again. That is still a good sized business in Georgia. I don't know many details but the land owner can make decent profit
with little personal involvement I have been told.

[chuck]

"Kiln drying" lumber that wasn't straight when it was cut is asking for trouble.

This stuff isn't shrink wrapped when it's first cut or processed and even the tyvek covers we see on lumber shipped on rail cars is to limit cosmetic weathering, not warpage. If the tree was too young when it was harvested and then processed to "straighten" you will get the anti personnel mine effect when you unbundle it. Some of this stuff starts oozing sap when you go to work on it.

[G3750]

The 2 x 2's were fresh-cut. The lumberyard does this exactly because of warping.

I went with this lumberyard because of their supply of Araucco (South American) plywood. A friend used it and I was very impressed at the quality. HD's wood is useful for kindling IMO. Lowe's typically (in my experience) has somewhat better lumber, but it's not wonderful. So far, I've been happy with these guys.

As for shellac, the beetles in the backyard simply weren't cooperating. I'm using a commercial product. Sorry, Rufus!

I'm trying to get things right this time around, but it isn't easy.

George

[G3750]

Drive behind Lowes or HD and you'll see lots of "kiln-dried" lumber stacked and tarped (exposed to the weather) prior to being brought inside for sale. Forty years ago we did the same thing when I worked summers for a decent sized independent building supply company. Two or three weeks of that and those two-by-whatevers looked like they'd been floating in the Baltimore harbor for a month. I can remember bringing them inside, cutting the bands, and jumping back, as a decent number of them looked like sled-runners once released from their environs.

That is criminal AFAIC.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

Yes, both and regular lumber yards have questionable lumber now. Pine boards I bought from HD were labeled as imported from Sweden. Cheaper to import lumber from Sweden than cut our own....

We're not using much of our own lumber these days due to the environmentalists screamin' about the forests not being sustainable. But I don't think there's a lumber company in the US who would fail to reseed and replant the thousands of acres used to harvest lumber. That is particularly true in the south where most of the pressure treated southern yellow pine comes from. That's one reason why we have a 300% tariff on Canadian lumber; mainly because the enviro weenies think that Canada is over harvesting and wasting the natural resources. It's not to protect our own lumber producers but is meant to punish Canada's. Apparently they don't understand that Canada has millions of acres of nothing but softwood larch, spruce, and hemlock, (and hardwood maple), and that they too are enviromentally conscious. Some time ago I purchased two 1" X 6" X 8' clear pine boards (white pine) from Lowe's for a wood working project. I don't remember what I paid, but it was obscene! I think it was around $35.

News to me and I think a lot of creative BS hyperbole. Lumber mill down the road from my place in Pa runs full blast and I'm seeing tri-axle loads of logs on the road all the time. I've got lumber buyers mailing my flyers all the time wanting to log my land. I may take them up on it if I can work the right deal. I can fill out quite a few tri-axle loads of logs pretty quickly just from the poplar close in to the house; many in the 3-4'+ range and quite a few in the 5'+ range. I'll have to talk to the Amish mill to see what deal I can work with them.

[healey36]

I see quite a few lumber trucks in the Hanover, PA, area, but they're loaded with pulpwood headed for Glatfelter in Spring Grove, which raises another question, why so much paper in a digital world?

Roger, the paper companies here routinely douse (aerially by helicopter) their plantations with fertilizer and growth hormone to make the trees grow faster. They can grow a thirty-five foot pine in about seven-eight years. A friend of mine's dad was an arborist for WestVaCo...he used to jokingly say they wouldn't learn their lesson until someone ran into a 600-pound woodpecker in the forest...

George, 2X2's are notoriously prone to warpage. Use them quickly and provide as much bracing as possible. Even doing that, there may be a few requiring replacement once they dry out thoroughly.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I see quite a few lumber trucks in the Hanover, PA, area, but they're loaded with pulpwood headed for Glatfelter in Spring Grove, which raises another question, why so much paper in a digital world?

Because the paperless world never really arrived and is only very slowly creeping towards that endpoint. I personally go through a case of printer paper every couple of months. I work for 2 publications that are in print format; one 100% so. The other publication is part of a publishing house that has over 80 scientific journals - paper. Most folks love accessing publications on-line, download the pdf, and then print it out to read it.

Roger, the paper companies here routinely douse (aerially by helicopter) their plantations with fertilizer and growth hormone to make the trees grow faster. They can grow a thirty-five foot pine in about seven-eight years. A friend of mine's dad was an arborist for WestVaCo...he used to jokingly say they wouldn't learn their lesson until someone ran into a 600-pound woodpecker in the forest...

Yes, you can grow pines very quickly and part of that rapid growth is the wood that is generated is prone to warpage unlike slower growth wood.

If they do run into a 600-pound woodpecker, they will probably celebrate and call Perdue.

George, 2X2's are notoriously prone to warpage. Use them quickly and provide as much bracing as possible. Even doing that, there may be a few requiring replacement once they dry out thoroughly.

Might have considered a hard wood 2X2

[healey36]

I see quite a few lumber trucks in the Hanover, PA, area, but they're loaded with pulpwood headed for Glatfelter in Spring Grove, which raises another question, why so much paper in a digital world?

Because the paperless world never really arrived and is only very slowly creeping towards that endpoint. I personally go through a case of printer paper every couple of months. I work for 2 publications that are in print format; one 100% so. The other publication is part of a publishing house that has over 80 scientific journals - paper. Most folks love accessing publications on-line, download the pdf, and then print it out to read it.

That was primarily a rhetorical comment. The most recent survey I read (online) from the US Dept of Commerce indicated their expectation that published materials in a digital format, as compared to print, would top out around 65-70%, far short of the earliest forecast of some 90%.

Maybe that changes after us old codgers pass into the great newsstand in the sky...

Female lac bug, BTW:

[MurphOnMillerAve]

... changes after us old codgers pass into the great newsstand in the sky...

A great deal has changed, is changing, and will have changed by that time, as I am sure all of us realize.
Murph

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I see quite a few lumber trucks in the Hanover, PA, area, but they're loaded with pulpwood headed for Glatfelter in Spring Grove, which raises another question, why so much paper in a digital world?

Because the paperless world never really arrived and is only very slowly creeping towards that endpoint. I personally go through a case of printer paper every couple of months. I work for 2 publications that are in print format; one 100% so. The other publication is part of a publishing house that has over 80 scientific journals - paper. Most folks love accessing publications on-line, download the pdf, and then print it out to read it.

That was primarily a rhetorical comment. The most recent survey I read (online) from the US Dept of Commerce indicated their expectation that published materials in a digital format, as compared to print, would top out around 65-70%, far short of the earliest forecast of some 90%.

Was worth responding to - top out around 65-70%...... Then again, that might not take into account the decrease in actual reading.

Maybe that changes after us old codgers pass into the great newsstand in the sky...

Maybe, but what's a newsstand?

Female lac bug, BTW:

Shameless!

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...Shameless!

That show is returning this Fall. I hope so. It's wonderful having a show that has the name "shameless" and has the worst, most shameful father one can imagine. I love it. It's like intellectual-slumming with the worst of 'em.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

...Shameless!

That show is returning this Fall. I hope so. It's wonderful having a show that has the name "shameless" and has the worst, most shameful father one can imagine. I love it. It's like intellectual-slumming with the worst of 'em.

Gee, I only have to visit some of relatives for that experience.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

...Shameless!

That show is returning this Fall. I hope so. It's wonderful having a show that has the name "shameless" and has the worst, most shameful father one can imagine. I love it. It's like intellectual-slumming with the worst of 'em.

Gee, I only have to visit some of relatives for that experience.

You couldn't possibly have relatives like this group - nowhere near !