Ever hear of using WHOLE, ENTIRE TREES as building material – trunk, branches, and all – everything but the roots?
A company named WholeTrees has been supplying WHOLE TREES as building materials to the industry for nearly 20 years. Creating and filling a unique niche, they do it all: felling, processing, milling, designing and engineering structures, marketing, and shipping entire trees.
WholeTrees’ Mark Hensley, Director of Operations, told us recently, “WholeTrees uses the inherent strength of solid structural timber to give architects and commercial builders beautiful, affordable, sustainable, and durable forest products — both sawn lumber and whole trees.”
Sawn Heavy Timber with the TimberKing sawmill
A lot of WholeTrees’ products are whole trees. But they do a whole lot of sawing, too, milling whole trees into brawny timbers they fabricate into trusses, columns, flooring, and more. They make “sawn heavy timber” from sustainably-managed forests. These beefy beams are naturally strong, inherently beautiful, and have environmental benefits, too.
WholeTrees’ sawmill choice? TimberKing 1220CRZ
Mark tells us why they chose TimberKing, and why this particular model. “In our Maine facility, we have the TimberKing 1220CRZ. We chose TimberKing because of the simplicity of the machinery. We do all our own milling work on all projects.
We have limited indoor space so this particular model was perfect. It’s plenty for the scope of sawing work we do day in and day out. It works extremely well and we’ve had zero issues milling logs up to 32” diameter. And we have 38 feet of saw deck to accommodate long log lengths.
What’s it like to operate the TimberKing sawmill?
Shop Foreman and Sawyer, Austin Hensley, gave us his hands-on sawyer’s review of sawing with the company’s 1220CRZ.
“I started at WholeTrees as a welder and the job morphed into managing the shop and doing a lot of hands-on sawing on the company’s TimberKing sawmill When we got the TimberKing, the manufacturer, TimberKing in Kansas City, sent a rep out to show us how to operate the mill. It’s really pretty self-explanatory. Coming up, we’ll be sawing out 50’ trusses for a roof project. That’s 15 trusses, 50 feet long each!
I’ve personally sawn white oak, black locust, tamarack, sugar maple, and more on this TimberKing. Some of that was for an exhibit at the Smithsonian. Our sawn timbers get incorporated in trusses, platform decking, flooring, substructures, beams, benches, kids’ playscapes, balance beams, and more.
We don’t really have a dedicated milling area so we move this mill around — so the fact that it’s a portable mill is important.
1220CRZ allows sawing flexibility
Every tree is uniquely different and I appreciate the way the TimberKing 1220CRZ is set up so I can manipulate the log as needed on the sawmill’s rails. I can saw a bit at a time, move it if I need to, cut a little more, and get the best out of each log. Of course, I can run a log straight through the mill if that’s what’s needed but, because so many trees have sweeps or bends in them, it’s nice to have that flexibility.
Better than fully-automated mills for our needs
For our uses, the 1220CRZ is better than fully-automated mills. I think of our kind of sawing as craftsmanship. Or you could call it artistry. Two sawyers might saw the same log completely different ways so you can make your own choices with this machine. You can get very hands-on with each log.
Plenty powerful
Our mill is plenty powerful. I crank it up and it’s never gotten stuck, never jammed. You move the head forward with a hand crank. It’s easy with a nifty little cable-and-pulley system. Never any problems. For some jobs, I just cut a slab off the top leaving three sides round. Other jobs, I’m sawing slabs off two or three sides. And some jobs are slabbed on all 4 sides making, for example, 12” by 12” beams.
I wish I had one of my own
WholeTrees is a unique company and I really like working with the TimberKing. This model has base features but pro quality. It’s affordable and handy to have. I wish I had one myself!”
— Mark Hensley and Austin Hensley, WholeTrees, TimberKing 1220CRZ
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