Is hickory wothwhile?

Larry, I agree they should not have went south that fast. Nephew dropped off two of them this evening and I got a look at them. They are cracked right through the heartwood, Looking at the ends the cracks form a cross and extend to within about 4 or 5 inches of the outside edge. they are cracked the same on both ends. I have never seen anything like it :huh: What I didn't know till tonight was it was dead all ready and is pretty dryBut I still stand by the fact they should be sawn as soon as possible. I did saw one a couple years ago that was windblown, uprooted the whole stump. which between that and the branches kept the log off the ground. Bark was completely gone off of it and it was radial cracked in about an inch or so. It made some beautiful lumber.

I'm going to flop one on the mill tomorrow but I suspect that the boards will all fall in half along the crack. If they do and its as dry as I suspect it is they are going to be firewood. Dry logs are hard on blades and if they fall in two that means I have to go back and edge all the ones that fall in half. which means handling the boards and twice as much as I normally would.
 
If you cut it, you will want to mill up and kiln dry (if possible) the hickory right away. Bugs, (powder post beatles in particular) love hickory. I've seen them turn a stack of hickory firewood ino sawdust in one season. (BTW, first post here, hi y'all)
 
If you cut it, you will want to mill up and kiln dry (if possible) the hickory right away. Bugs, (powder post beatles in particular) love hickory. I've seen them turn a stack of hickory firewood ino sawdust in one season. (BTW, first post here, hi y'all)

Those must be Arizona specific bugs. Hickory is a very popular firewood here because it has a high btu output and is slow burning. I have a rack of some that is over ten years old, still solid.
To help with the original question: It is not a fun wood to turn. But it is probably the best handle wood there is with ash a close second. Tough and shock absorbing. But for flatwork, it should be just fine, not the prettiest but, in it's own way, attractive.
 
Frank, actually north Missouri, my ancestral home, grew up loging and cutting fire wood. in those parts bugs and hickory are a widely known fact of life, you're either just lucky or its not a problem in your area. Yes, it's great firewood, and as lumber it's strong, tough, and attractive in a rustic sort of way. It moves quite a bit with humidity though (dimensional stability).
 
Hickorys tough to work.
Does make some beautiful flooring though.
 
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