There’s Swamp Cypress, Bald Cypress, Black, White, Yellow Cypress and many more — but did you ever hear of “Pecky Cypress?” How about “Pecky Sinker Cypress?” Meet Lacy Lary IV, TimberKing owner and Pecky Cypress sawyer.
“I was born and raised here in Mississippi. I went to Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) for a business degree, but what I really wanted to do was build furniture. I’m Lacy Lary IV. My dad, Lacy Lary III, has a circle mill he built from the ground up. I got it running and cut more lumber than I did build finished furniture.
I sold my truck and bought an older TimberKing sawmill, the B20 model. My dad and I want to get a 2500 TimberKing but we’re a few years away from that. Meanwhile, this older B20 meets all our needs.
Sawing cypress boards, beams, posts, molding, paneling, more
I build a lot of things, big things, a lot of it from cypress. We cut cypress on our land and buy it by the trailer truckload. I saw the logs, and sell the boards as rough grain lumber. Or I’ll turn them into molding, interior paneling, big beams, porch posts, and much more. Cypress is very popular in our area.
Rare Pecky & Pecky Sinker Cypress
Some of our cypress is Pecky Cypress. That’s cypress that gets a fungus in it and the fungus creates tubular holes throughout the board. The holes are so long and deep, and so many of them, it makes the board almost like lacework. It’s really beautiful.
Then there’s Pecky Sinker Cypress. That’s a kind of Pecky Cypress that’s really rare. It’s called ‘sinker’ because it’s been sunk in water. It happens when, hundreds of years ago, a cypress tree stood beside a lake, fell in, and sunk to the bottom. Since there wasn’t any oxygen, it didn’t rot. It sat on the bottom of the lake and absorbed minerals that turned the wood blue in places. I have some Pecky Sinker Cypress boards four feet wide. It’s very rare.
I’m sawing a lot of lumber these days, wide stuff. My dad is using wide boards to make doors for the home he’s building. I cut whatever he needs. But I do want to get into making custom furniture.
Business is good – we’re busy
Meanwhile, business is good and we stay busy. I’m selling lumber all throughout the South: Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, Missouri, Texas, and Arkansas. One fellow called from Kansas where he owns a cattle company. He wants to build bridges of cypress. That’s a good choice. It’s rot-resistant and termite-resistant.
This TimberKing bandmill is a lot more efficient than Dad’s old circle mill! I really enjoy running it. The Command Center lets you run everything without walking up and down the log. The four-post head is the industry’s best design in my opinion. I’ve had a good time sawing timber. Plus, TimberKing’s service is awesome — really great service and the people there are very helpful.”
— Lacy Larry IV, DH4 Lumber Co, Greenwood MS
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