Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is the reason why the Hemlocks are having issues. They are wiping Hemlocks out in warm areas. However, the Adelgids can't handle cold temps below -15F. It kills them. Especially if the temp drop is sudden. Like if you have a warm few days followed by the temps plunging to -15F or lower suddenly. This is why Hemlocks in high elevations and further north seem to be doing better.
I've been a framer and trim carpenter for 40 years. The most prevalent available wood by far was southern yellow pine, which we all hated. I absolutely loved Hemlock. It was dead straight from wet to dried, took a nail like no other. I would head to the lumber yard and let my nose lead me to the Hemlock pile, and then hug my lumber cart to the checkout. I've since moved to Texas where everything is made of steel and doesn't nearly smell as good. I miss that Hemlock so much.
I would mistake Hemlock for Fir (far superior,but more expensive)....for firewood, I named it "cat poop wood" ( for it's smell ) and for heavens sake, don't get sliver of Hemlock in your skin
@@GoatZilla You are clearly not a carpenter. It is NOT unskilled labor. Not by a long shot. Hire unskilled workers to build you a house and see what happens. It won't be pretty. Or stable.
What I was young man in southern Indiana working at The sawmill hemlock was considered trash wood the RR buyers wouldn't take it for ties. Uncle Harry said it tended to rot quickly.
My grandfather started into timbering over in Potter County before the turn of the last century as a 8yr old, peeling hemlock for tanbark. The stories he had... Happy to see the industry still alive in Pa. You and your sisters are a credit to your family. Keep up the good work.
Hemlock in PA (our state tree) is under attack by an insect that was imported into the US (scientists believe) on untreated wood pallets. The name of the insect is Wooly Adelgid. The PA State University (PSU) Extension service has all of the information you need to know about the infestation. We are starting to see a push by landowners to harvest there timber grade hemlocks before they go into decline. There is no wide spread corrective action for wooly adelgid at this time. The plight of the hemlocks may be the same as the chestnuts - about a100 years ago. SO you will continue to see hemlock on your mill for the foreseeable future.
@@ageofthecamera3435 There are survivors of the EMERALD ASH BORER (another imported pest). So it is more likely ash trees will recover over time - a long time.
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 That's good to know. Sadly my grove is completely gone, just a pile of litter on the forest floor. It's especially sad to me because i think ash is the most beautiful lumber.
The woodpecker has been doing a fair share of destruction to many trees in PA also. Many people think woodpeckers are good. I have witnessed the woodpeckers indiscriminately bore rings of holes into many trees with no insects, leaving open wounds that sheer off the top of the tree during storms. I believe farmers brought the woodpecker near extinction because of the destruction the leave in their wake every spring. An interesting but destructive bird. I've lost many trees to those nutty birds.
I helped take down a 3 1/2 story school house, built in the time of the first settlement there, whenever they started logging Michigan ... as part of a crew several years ago. All of the framing was sound, being old growth hemlock and was reused, passed engineering checks, as is, in a new construction. Just the Floor joists were 3" x 12" x 40 feet on 2' centers for the first floor; same on 4' ctrs the second and third floor. alot of roof and wall framing was salvaged as well, all true 2" thick of various widths, also true dimension
Just interesting fact. Here in Michigan they considered it trash wood in the logging days. Trappers would use the tannens in the bark for tanning hides. We now have a moth that eats the leader needle and eventually kills the tree. Thank you for all the videos
There is an Eastern Hemlock and a Western Hemlock. Here in the west a lot of Hemlock gets pressure treated for exterior applications. Fence posts and decks mostly. We have redwood and cedar for siding.
No. 1/2 Grade Hem/fir is rated for structural building materials. Low pitch, durable, low on knots and like Em said they grow relatively straight which is ideal for framers.
Haven't had any experience with hemlock here in michigan as a residential framer. Eastern white pine, White fir, SYP and Doug fir here and there. White fir is trash imo. It twists warps and checks worse than the others. Syp is just too damn heavy, pitch laden and splits easily. Doug fir is my favorite for stair stringers.. light, somewhat soft and resists movement as it dries.
My father liked to tell the 'true' story of where the Hemlock tree came from... It seems that one day the Devil approached God with the proposition that they have a contest to see who between them could create the most beautiful tree. Well...God was having a particularly good day and was agreeable, so the game was on! They both went off to work on the problem at hand. God came back with the Colorado Blue Spruce. When mature, the wood was light, clear of knots, straight-grained, and very strong for its weight. Also, the foliage was very beautiful and tinted with the color of a clear sky...but the needles were a little on the 'poke-y' side. The Devil then sauntered in with the Hemlock. wood from this tree, also, being light, clear of knots, straight-grained, and very strong for its weight. The foliage was also very beautiful...and so soft that its boughs made a lovely bed on which a tired person could rest their weary body after a hard day. It was obvious to all gathered that the Hemlock was the better, more useful and beautiful, tree. God, being omnipotent, and really not a fan of being shown up, let loose a lightning bolt of gargantuan proportions...blowing the Hemlock into splinters. The Devil, still proud of his beautiful tree, gathered up all of the bits and spent many months gluing and nailing it back together. And THAT is why hemlock so often splinters when worked with machine tools!
I owned a lovely yacht with a 40 foot clear grain hemlock mast. It was very strong and flexible. The mast could be bent dramatically. Superb timber. Spreaders were made of Sitka Spruce aircraft quality.
In 1961 my Parents bought 500 Canadian Hemlock seedlings for 18 bucks. They placed them around the several acres of Our yard, and they grew into really beautiful trees. When topped, in strategic locations form a really impenetrable screen. An asian insect, shipped over from china is parasitically attacking Hemlock in the Forests of New England.
It's great to see your family's understanding of sustainability and supplying products that will last. Here in NZ we used to build from Rimu, it's a beautiful wood, but then we sold all our forests and they cut them all down and replaced them with pine. I'm just happy to see that some people understand the cyclic nature of the environment we all live in and use their valuable time to try educate others about the importance of sustainability. Keep up the good work.
I bought a hemlock barn in 1980 when I was a young man it had 3x6 rafters 28'6" I made treads & risers, paneled outside of my bathrooms with hemlock boards off the barn in my log cabin.
Pennsylvania Lumber Museum in Ulysses Pa, about an hour and change west of you on Rt6 has a superb display of Hemlock in its heyday. It was used for lumber and the bark was peeled off for the tannin in it to cure the leather going into machinery belts for the line shafts that rotated the machinery of the early industrial revolution. there were mountains of bark removed and treated. There is also a lumber camp set up, a steam powered log loader run by cables, a Shay locomotive and a steam powered circle mill. There is even a millpond. The 4th of July weekend is the Bark peelers Convention when everything is up and running and casual competition occur.
This. Em and crew ought to go and plan a booth and video at barkpeeler's this year. Last year we were set up as vendors there, and enjoyed seeing the hatchet house mobile set up and folks trying their hand at hatchet throwing. Must have been 4,000 plus visitors if not more over the 2 days. Love to see our local museum get more exposure :)
Hemlock can get "ring shake" here in Michigan where the wood splits at the growth rings. That's why it was considered poor for building. A lot was waste after sawing.
When we cut hemlock on the west coast, the railroad would have standing orders for 2x4s. They said they would use them to insulate refrigerator cars with 4inch walls. They were cheap, light when dry and a great insulator. Thank for the shows...
I am going to send this video to my N.Y.S. D.E.C. 480a Forester and my Consulting Forester. I will never look at the Hemlocks growing in our forest the same! Thank you Emerald. Your tutorials are invaluable and enjoyable fir-sure. Lumber Capital Log Yard channel is in my top 5 already. Maybe my No. 1? I just started watching recently.
You're in PA, so you're talking about eastern hemlock, which we have plenty of here in Ontario also. It's not listed as a particularly rot resistant wood. If you get the bark off it quick and keep it dry, it is a serviceable lumber wood but prone to "shake" when drying.
It's weird when you feel so proud of someone that you don't even know... You girls rock! God bless all your family, the work, the job, and keeping you all away from any danger... Huge hug from Costa Rica !
Hemlock doesn't naturally reseed very well. My family homestead was once known as Hemlock Hill with the boards on the outside of the house being 24 to 28 inch Hemlock. They make great boards with few nots and not many imperfections of fancy grains. The house was built in the late 1700's BTW. Last I checks we have one Hemlock tree in the back corner of the property, have not been back that far in 10 years of more.
@@jar407 Only a hundred years ago few could see an end to the seemingly endless forests. We sure have cut a lot of trees! And, at least these days here on the left coast, there are lots of planting going on. But it's mostly mono-culture and even cloned seedlings. Oops.
My house was built in 1885, balloon construction out of hemlock. It's located in central east Ontario, an area with both hard and softwood forests. Anyway, I've been slowly gutting and renovating it over the past 3 decades and one thing I've learned to hate about hemlock is how easy it is to get slivers. Other than that though, the house is still standing 😁
I worked as a house framer in the Hudson Valley of NYS, and every house I framed was built from Hemlock but called Hem-fir. Sometimes the main girder was Douglas-fir or SYP, but mostly the studs, joists, plates, and rafter lumber were Hem-fir.
Good class. We live near the Top of Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Not far from the mill. We should visit. We will be building a new home after two estates are settled.
Thanks for the hemlock show. Here in the PNW, hemlock is sold as a second choice to the preferred Doug Fir for framing lumber. It is easy to work with but tends to have squiggly edges when kiln dried. Hemlock is king here for casings and finish lumber. It is always milled as VG or quarter sawn. I believe that is to avoid producing the wicked slivers and chipping that come from the hardness differential between the winter and summer growth rings. Is the eastern variety like that?
I had to do some minor construction work in the Eastern US a few years ago and, without thinking about it, just thought I could stop by any ol' place and pick up some Doug-Larch or Hem-Fir. Turned out that everything else available was at a premium over pine, which was everywhere in the nominal-cost category. Obviously wasn't in the PNW anymore...
Historically the bark of the hemlock was used in tanneries for making leather. My property (South Jersey) had a colonial era tannery up until 1886 when it shut down. The hemlock trees were gone. Tanners would cut down the trees and strip the bark. The tannery would place the slabs of bark in a grinding mill and then put it into vats with the animal hides. In 1877 the 3 year old grandson of the tannery owner drown when he fell into one of the hemlock vats.
Not sure if the eastern verity of hemlock is different than the Mountain orWwestern Hemlock out in the PNW but, I wasn't a fan of it. Years ago I worked putting myself through college working at a plywood mill in eastern Oregon. Hemlock was a pain whenever it came through the process. The main problem I saw was the sheets of veneer came through the dryers they would curl up. It doesn't lay flat like other species and would jam up the rollers and cause a lot of down time keeping the dryers clear. (The best wood for our process was white fur) Although the WWPA speaks highly of it (just not for plywood manufacturing).
The loss of the Eastern Hemlocks is greatly affecting the viability of the native Brook Trout. So sad, the shade provided by the Hemlocks kept the small streams and brooks cool enough for the little Brookies to thrive. The shade was nice for humans too. I do love Hemlock lumber...
Hey Emerald and Jade you are so lucky to have so much hemlock in your area and I hope you are helping to reseed the plant for the future. Here on the other side of the planet Hemlock dressed 2" x 4" costs the equivalent of $50 US dollars per yard, making a house from it hugely expensive. Anyway good to see the spring weather moving in and hope you both have a great day.🙂🌻🌻🧡
Emerald you are becoming the authority on wood. Just when I think I know something you inform me of something I didn’t know about. I did know about the crowding to get trees to up and straight and it worked well with the landscaping.
Thanks for posting a video about hemlock. I helped a relative build a log cabin house out of hemlock beams up Canada where there is a lot more hemlock. The site is about 300 miles north of Buffalo. I would say that hemlock is more than just slightly heavier than pine and more like a lot heavier maybe at least 50 % heavier. Those 12 ft beams cut one foot square weigh several hundred pounds. And wrestling with those beams was a workout. Just getting one 16 footer into the back of a van was a major deal for two guys with no special equipment.
We lost all of our hemlock some years ago to some white powdery stuff on them. I think it was caused by some kind of mite... but sadly all of the hemlock in my area are all but extinct. I hope your area doesn't go the way ours did.
Found this interesting since where I live in Montreal Hemlock is a wood that isn't sold by any of the suppliers. We have all of the hardwoods ( naturally since this is where the $$ is ) but as far as the soft woods, Pine most expensive of the soft woods, and Spruce mainly used for framing ( I do use Spruce for some outdoor furniture ) and Cedar. You are coming up with more educational videos which I love
What you said about hemlock is so true. Rot resistance is its best attribute. My windows are made of hemlock and mahogany. Both woods are just fabulous. Evey not well painted the wood is rot free. Nice for sure.
Just had some serious storm damage here in northwestern alabama and stumbled across a guy that has abunch of big hemlocks that got all blown down. its sad but im going to try and make the most of them since they are rare here! I do like the no sap part for sure! thanks for the video!
Great video. Lots of good stuff about Hemlock. I will be using it on my mill in Finger Lakes region of New York State. A lot of settlers in this region used Hemlock for their barns, for the reasons you mentioned. One thing, Hemlock tends to splinter as it dries. I've picked out lots of splinters from my hands to prove so. But. In fact, I've named my property "Tsuga Farm" which is the Iroquois name for Hemlock. Keep up the good work. D.
Good explanation of what speaks for Hemlock and what the advantages of this tree are. I even understood that. So I would be a white oak tree that only very few can afford.
Over here in British Columbia Hemlock is usually found in the wet western part of the province. It seems to have an affinity to cedar. Deadfall cedar and cedar stumps will quite often sprout Hemlocks. The quick ID here is the tree top is always bent over like a limp wrist.
Up in BC in the rainy lands, green hemlock is very heavy due to the moisture content. Smelled a bit like puke (LOL) and heaving a 2x10 off the green chain would give your muscles a workout. After drying, you are correct about it being lighter than hardwood. We had a dressed tounge and groove clear hemlock ceiling in our living room, BEAUTIFUL.
I recall from childhood as Dad was a builder, that Hemlock is a very good wood that wears well (e.h. floors), only disadvantage is thatcwhen wet it smells funny. I just used hemlock for some door trim.😊
In southeast Alaska hemlock is our heaviest wood. And very strong. It is used for areas that don't get as wet, red cedar being used for siding and more wet exposed areas. I was splitting hemlock for fire wood when this video came up
I worked for an outfit here in Maine that did a lot of repair and building logging roads, Hemlock is strong as hell. We'd build bridges out of it and we run log trucks that weigh in from 100,000 pounds to 250,000 pounds
The best description comes in wood for construction classifications. Hem/fir is approved for structural use by the IBC. Strength and durability are the main reasons for load bearing use in housing construction.
Here on the west coast we don't get a lot of hemlock. For structural building we use Douglas fir, and if we need a material that is pest and rot resistant, we are limited to redwood or cedar. Both quite pricey..
The hemlock woods creates a natural shaded area. Hardwood growing amongst them fight to get to the sunlight forgoing branches to reach the canopy of light. This is how you get good straight hardwood in and around hemlock. Many years ago (1800's) they could make more money stripping a fallen hemlock of bark for tanic acid. Some of these trees were giants. Most every town had a tannery as there was so much need and use for leather.
Great video! In the softwood category, I enjoy working with (western) Hemlock with hand tools as the grain is very easy to work with less distinction between the winter and summer rings compared to most pines.
Here in central PA, there’s a couple hundred acre stand of hemlock. The forest service claims the trees in this area were never touched by human saws. The trees were huge and beautiful. Some 4’ +/- across. But, they’re all dying now. A damned little tiny bug is killing our state tree. Will go the way of the chestnut😩 Good video. Thanx!👍🇺🇸❤️
Our Port Alice mill use to turn Western Hemlock trees into high-purity chemical cellulose that is used in a wide range of manufacturing processes including rayon filament for garments, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, film, food thickeners, LCD screens and other products.
When she said that Hemlock of all things is "rot resistant", that almost made me choke on my drink. What this statement really says is that Eastern wood types are horrifically BAD regarding ROT compared to western USA wood varieties. I mean damn boys and girls, uh, plant different trees. >
Looks like the weather is warming up and Spring is in the air...🤗 Gone is the season of Cold Water Immersion Therapy... 🎶Here comes the Sun and I say... It's alright 🎶...🌄
My family on my dad's side is from Cogan Station, and my dad always used hemlock when building cabins, and used the strips from the bark to side them. Lasts forever.
Your county, Lycoming, has suffered an invasive pest since 1975. “The culprit, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, may have been imported from Japan as early as 1911, clinging to evergreen shrubs planted in the Japanese garden of a woman named Sallie Dooley in Richmond, Virginia.” A warning to us all not to move wood or agricultural products around carelessly. In Muskoka and Kawartha ON we still log a lot of Hemlock, as we are a few degrees latitude north of you. As the climate changes, though, bugs survive winters that would have killed them, and trees can’t migrate. In a 100 000years I guess the hemlock will be established in the current taiga but will we be there to see them?
Very nice looking hemlock . I’m a old logger in northern NY I’m 77 I don’t log like I use to but still if I can get the right lot I still can cut it when I drive down through PA I would like to stop and see your operation.
I've got some of the best straight 55' Hemlock in my yard that I have seen in twenty years of scribe fit log building. Look forward to the 50" of snow to melt so I can look at them again ;) Ridge/purlins for a project this summer, love Hemlock!
Down here in the south they clump Hemlock in with pine and spruce and sell it as studs. They call it SPH lumber and it is always cut and sold mostly green so it is always twist city when you get it. Glad it serves a good purpose up there.
The scientific name this tree is Tsuga canadensis. In Canada we call it eastern hemlock to distinguish it from our western hemlock that grows on our west coast or Tsuga heterophylla. Fun fact about hemlock , if you want to know which way the wind is blowing look at the top leader, it will always point in the direction the wind is blowing
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Hemlock Wooly Adelgid is the reason why the Hemlocks are having issues. They are wiping Hemlocks out in warm areas. However, the Adelgids can't handle cold temps below -15F. It kills them. Especially if the temp drop is sudden. Like if you have a warm few days followed by the temps plunging to -15F or lower suddenly. This is why Hemlocks in high elevations and further north seem to be doing better.
I've been a framer and trim carpenter for 40 years. The most prevalent available wood by far was southern yellow pine, which we all hated. I absolutely loved Hemlock. It was dead straight from wet to dried, took a nail like no other. I would head to the lumber yard and let my nose lead me to the Hemlock pile, and then hug my lumber cart to the checkout. I've since moved to Texas where everything is made of steel and doesn't nearly smell as good. I miss that Hemlock so much.
I would mistake Hemlock for Fir (far superior,but more expensive)....for firewood, I named it "cat poop wood" ( for it's smell ) and for heavens sake, don't get sliver of Hemlock in your skin
Steel is better.
@@GoatZilla Steel doesn't take a nail very good though. And it doesn't look very good for trim.
@@onusgumboot5565 And that's why wood framing still exists.
Unskilled labor.
@@GoatZilla You are clearly not a carpenter. It is NOT unskilled labor. Not by a long shot.
Hire unskilled workers to build you a house and see what happens. It won't be pretty. Or stable.
What I was young man in southern Indiana working at The sawmill hemlock was considered trash wood the RR buyers wouldn't take it for ties.
Uncle Harry said it tended to rot quickly.
My grandfather started into timbering over in Potter County before the turn of the last century as a 8yr old, peeling hemlock for tanbark. The stories he had... Happy to see the industry still alive in Pa.
You and your sisters are a credit to your family. Keep up the good work.
There is Emerald honing her sales pitch skills. It won't be long before you see her on late night TV. I can hardly wait!
🤣🤣
But wait, there's more...
Why would she switch to TV??? The new Young audience is on the internet. I'm just going to assume you're old.
Its educational not only sales.
Plus television is full of Chinese useless junk, a shelter is kind of nescarry.
@@gentilejoshsaved1646 the stores are full of Chinese merchandise, not the television. A shelter? Do you mean a safe space?
Hemlock in PA (our state tree) is under attack by an insect that was imported into the US (scientists believe) on untreated wood pallets. The name of the insect is Wooly Adelgid. The PA State University (PSU) Extension service has all of the information you need to know about the infestation. We are starting to see a push by landowners to harvest there timber grade hemlocks before they go into decline. There is no wide spread corrective action for wooly adelgid at this time. The plight of the hemlocks may be the same as the chestnuts - about a100 years ago. SO you will continue to see hemlock on your mill for the foreseeable future.
And ash trees, mine are all dead now.
@@ageofthecamera3435 There are survivors of the EMERALD ASH BORER (another imported pest). So it is more likely ash trees will recover over time - a long time.
@@stevejohnstonbaugh9171 That's good to know. Sadly my grove is completely gone, just a pile of litter on the forest floor. It's especially sad to me because i think ash is the most beautiful lumber.
The woodpecker has been doing a fair share of destruction to many trees in PA also. Many people think woodpeckers are good. I have witnessed the woodpeckers indiscriminately bore rings of holes into many trees with no insects, leaving open wounds that sheer off the top of the tree during storms. I believe farmers brought the woodpecker near extinction because of the destruction the leave in their wake every spring. An interesting but destructive bird. I've lost many trees to those nutty birds.
Not true VA Tech has imported a beetle after years of research that eats the adelgid.
Emerald is looking trim. You can see the definition in her arms from hard work. Thanks another great video.
Thank you Spring! Both brilliant and beautiful!
I helped take down a 3 1/2 story school house, built in the time of the first settlement there, whenever they started logging Michigan ... as part of a crew several years ago. All of the framing was sound, being old growth hemlock and was reused, passed engineering checks, as is, in a new construction. Just the Floor joists were 3" x 12" x 40 feet on 2' centers for the first floor; same on 4' ctrs the second and third floor. alot of roof and wall framing was salvaged as well, all true 2" thick of various widths, also true dimension
Just interesting fact. Here in Michigan they considered it trash wood in the logging days. Trappers would use the tannens in the bark for tanning hides. We now have a moth that eats the leader needle and eventually kills the tree. Thank you for all the videos
Nice to see the warmer weather for the crew to work in! Hemlock thrives more so in cooler climates. Great video Emerald! Enjoy the warmer weather. :-)
Real pleasure watching & listening to y'all's videos. You speak with great clarity & knowledge. Very good editing & filming.
There is an Eastern Hemlock and a Western Hemlock. Here in the west a lot of Hemlock gets pressure treated for exterior applications. Fence posts and decks mostly. We have redwood and cedar for siding.
No. 1/2 Grade Hem/fir is rated for structural building materials. Low pitch, durable, low on knots and like Em said they grow relatively straight which is ideal for framers.
Eastern hemlock is different from the western hemlock which is what’s used for structural building material
Haven't had any experience with hemlock here in michigan as a residential framer. Eastern white pine, White fir, SYP and Doug fir here and there. White fir is trash imo. It twists warps and checks worse than the others. Syp is just too damn heavy, pitch laden and splits easily. Doug fir is my favorite for stair stringers.. light, somewhat soft and resists movement as it dries.
Some good advice hemlock sounds like the way to go Have a great day everyone 📹👍😉
My father liked to tell the 'true' story of where the Hemlock tree came from...
It seems that one day the Devil approached God with the proposition that they have a contest to see who between them could create the most beautiful tree. Well...God was having a particularly good day and was agreeable, so the game was on! They both went off to work on the problem at hand.
God came back with the Colorado Blue Spruce. When mature, the wood was light, clear of knots, straight-grained, and very strong for its weight. Also, the foliage was very beautiful and tinted with the color of a clear sky...but the needles were a little on the 'poke-y' side.
The Devil then sauntered in with the Hemlock. wood from this tree, also, being light, clear of knots, straight-grained, and very strong for its weight. The foliage was also very beautiful...and so soft that its boughs made a lovely bed on which a tired person could rest their weary body after a hard day.
It was obvious to all gathered that the Hemlock was the better, more useful and beautiful, tree. God, being omnipotent, and really not a fan of being shown up, let loose a lightning bolt of gargantuan proportions...blowing the Hemlock into splinters.
The Devil, still proud of his beautiful tree, gathered up all of the bits and spent many months gluing and nailing it back together. And THAT is why hemlock so often splinters when worked with machine tools!
I owned a lovely yacht with a 40 foot clear grain hemlock mast. It was very strong and flexible. The mast could be bent dramatically. Superb timber. Spreaders were made of Sitka Spruce aircraft quality.
Thanks for the hemlock information, you look wonderful, love you so 🌷🌹
In 1961 my Parents bought 500 Canadian Hemlock seedlings for 18 bucks. They placed them around the several acres of Our yard, and they grew into really beautiful trees. When topped, in strategic locations form a really impenetrable screen. An asian insect, shipped over from china is parasitically attacking Hemlock in the Forests of New England.
Hemlock grows naturally here in Michigan.
It's great to see your family's understanding of sustainability and supplying products that will last. Here in NZ we used to build from Rimu, it's a beautiful wood, but then we sold all our forests and they cut them all down and replaced them with pine.
I'm just happy to see that some people understand the cyclic nature of the environment we all live in and use their valuable time to try educate others about the importance of sustainability. Keep up the good work.
I bought a hemlock barn in 1980 when I was a young man it had 3x6 rafters 28'6" I made treads & risers, paneled outside of my bathrooms with hemlock boards off the barn in my log cabin.
Excellent information Emerald. I used to use Hemlock for exterior stair rails, but it's hard to find it here in the south anymore.
Never thought I'd get to flex about my clear quartered Hemlock ceiling for my Douglas Fir timber frame, but today is that day 😆 It looks awesome.
Pennsylvania Lumber Museum in Ulysses Pa, about an hour and change west of you on Rt6 has a superb display of Hemlock in its heyday. It was used for lumber and the bark was peeled off for the tannin in it to cure the leather going into machinery belts for the line shafts that rotated the machinery of the early industrial revolution. there were mountains of bark removed and treated. There is also a lumber camp set up, a steam powered log loader run by cables, a Shay locomotive and a steam powered circle mill. There is even a millpond. The 4th of July weekend is the Bark peelers Convention when everything is up and running and casual competition occur.
This. Em and crew ought to go and plan a booth and video at barkpeeler's this year. Last year we were set up as vendors there, and enjoyed seeing the hatchet house mobile set up and folks trying their hand at hatchet throwing. Must have been 4,000 plus visitors if not more over the 2 days. Love to see our local museum get more exposure :)
Hemlock can get "ring shake" here in Michigan where the wood splits at the growth rings. That's why it was considered poor for building. A lot was waste after sawing.
When we cut hemlock on the west coast, the railroad would have standing orders for 2x4s. They said they would use them to insulate refrigerator cars with 4inch walls. They were cheap, light when dry and a great insulator. Thank for the shows...
Hello from Alaska love ur show from a fellow woods man ❤ 🍀👍🍀🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸.
I am going to send this video to my N.Y.S. D.E.C. 480a Forester and my Consulting Forester. I will never look at the Hemlocks growing in our forest the same! Thank you Emerald. Your tutorials are invaluable and enjoyable fir-sure. Lumber Capital Log Yard channel is in my top 5 already. Maybe my No. 1? I just started watching recently.
You're in PA, so you're talking about eastern hemlock, which we have plenty of here in Ontario also. It's not listed as a particularly rot resistant wood. If you get the bark off it quick and keep it dry, it is a serviceable lumber wood but prone to "shake" when drying.
It's weird when you feel so proud of someone that you don't even know... You girls rock! God bless all your family, the work, the job, and keeping you all away from any danger... Huge hug from Costa Rica !
Hemlock doesn't naturally reseed very well. My family homestead was once known as Hemlock Hill with the boards on the outside of the house being 24 to 28 inch Hemlock. They make great boards with few nots and not many imperfections of fancy grains. The house was built in the late 1700's BTW. Last I checks we have one Hemlock tree in the back corner of the property, have not been back that far in 10 years of more.
but if left unharvested when they die off they become fire hazards other species will take over
@@jar407 Only a hundred years ago few could see an end to the seemingly endless forests. We sure have cut a lot of trees! And, at least these days here on the left coast, there are lots of planting going on. But it's mostly mono-culture and even cloned seedlings. Oops.
Hemlock reseeds itself fine on my property in New Hampshire but, we’re seeing the wooly adelgid in southern NH now.
@@nhmountains5683 It's possible that the last tree on my woodlot was a male. But in four generations not a single hemlock has self propagated.
@@jimdavison4077 Interesting! Here in SE Alaska hemlock regrows so thick that it is often called Dog Hair Hemlock (thick as the hair on a dog).
I will admit I never thought that much about the tree Hemlock, though from what I understand I have some growing in my backyard...
Now I know! Getting info from a professional is always to go! Thank you Em.
My house was built in 1885, balloon construction out of hemlock. It's located in central east Ontario, an area with both hard and softwood forests. Anyway, I've been slowly gutting and renovating it over the past 3 decades and one thing I've learned to hate about hemlock is how easy it is to get slivers. Other than that though, the house is still standing 😁
Awesome information loving the warmer weather stay safe family
Built my shop with green rough hemlock. It's heavy but easy to work with, but it cures hard as a rock so you must nail it when still green.
I worked as a house framer in the Hudson Valley of NYS, and every house I framed was built from Hemlock but called Hem-fir. Sometimes the main girder was Douglas-fir or SYP, but mostly the studs, joists, plates, and rafter lumber were Hem-fir.
Good class. We live near the Top of Virginia, in the Shenandoah Valley. Not far from the mill. We should visit. We will be building a new home after two estates are settled.
Thanks for the hemlock show. Here in the PNW, hemlock is sold as a second choice to the preferred Doug Fir for framing lumber. It is easy to work with but tends to have squiggly edges when kiln dried. Hemlock is king here for casings and finish lumber. It is always milled as VG or quarter sawn. I believe that is to avoid producing the wicked slivers and chipping that come from the hardness differential between the winter and summer growth rings. Is the eastern variety like that?
I had to do some minor construction work in the Eastern US a few years ago and, without thinking about it, just thought I could stop by any ol' place and pick up some Doug-Larch or Hem-Fir. Turned out that everything else available was at a premium over pine, which was everywhere in the nominal-cost category. Obviously wasn't in the PNW anymore...
In 1966 we lost a lot of hemlock to an extended drought. Some were huge trees. Amazingly cool under them in Summer.
Historically the bark of the hemlock was used in tanneries for making leather. My property (South Jersey) had a colonial era tannery up until 1886 when it shut down. The hemlock trees were gone. Tanners would cut down the trees and strip the bark. The tannery would place the slabs of bark in a grinding mill and then put it into vats with the animal hides.
In 1877 the 3 year old grandson of the tannery owner drown when he fell into one of the hemlock vats.
Well done ....spot on informative and correct !...Hemlock was the wood of choice for barns for the last 300 yrs and before I would think .....
Love your videos! I never knew any of this stuff about Hemlock. You are a natural presenter and absolutely adorable as well. Keep up the good work.
Not sure if the eastern verity of hemlock is different than the Mountain orWwestern Hemlock out in the PNW but, I wasn't a fan of it. Years ago I worked putting myself through college working at a plywood mill in eastern Oregon. Hemlock was a pain whenever it came through the process. The main problem I saw was the sheets of veneer came through the dryers they would curl up. It doesn't lay flat like other species and would jam up the rollers and cause a lot of down time keeping the dryers clear. (The best wood for our process was white fur) Although the WWPA speaks highly of it (just not for plywood manufacturing).
The loss of the Eastern Hemlocks is greatly affecting the viability of the native Brook Trout. So sad, the shade provided by the Hemlocks kept the small streams and brooks cool enough for the little Brookies to thrive. The shade was nice for humans too. I do love Hemlock lumber...
Hey Emerald and Jade you are so lucky to have so much hemlock in your area and I hope you are helping to reseed the plant for the future.
Here on the other side of the planet Hemlock dressed 2" x 4" costs the equivalent of $50 US dollars per yard, making a house from it hugely expensive.
Anyway good to see the spring weather moving in and hope you both have a great day.🙂🌻🌻🧡
Emerald you are becoming the authority on wood. Just when I think I know something you inform me of something I didn’t know about. I did know about the crowding to get trees to up and straight and it worked well with the landscaping.
Thanks for posting a video about hemlock. I helped a relative build a log cabin house out of hemlock beams up Canada where there is a lot more hemlock. The site is about 300 miles north of Buffalo.
I would say that hemlock is more than just slightly heavier than pine and more like a lot heavier maybe at least 50 % heavier. Those 12 ft beams cut one foot square weigh several hundred pounds. And wrestling with those beams was a workout. Just getting one 16 footer into the back of a van was a major deal for two guys with no special equipment.
We lost all of our hemlock some years ago to some white powdery stuff on them. I think it was caused by some kind of mite... but sadly all of the hemlock in my area are all but extinct. I hope your area doesn't go the way ours did.
Found this interesting since where I live in Montreal Hemlock is a wood that isn't sold by any of the suppliers. We have all of the hardwoods ( naturally since this is where the $$ is ) but as far as the soft woods, Pine most expensive of the soft woods, and Spruce mainly used for framing ( I do use Spruce for some outdoor furniture ) and Cedar. You are coming up with more educational videos which I love
Come over to Maine there's plenty of small yards that have Hemlock.
Hemlock is widely available in green form from small sawmills all around Montreal.
What you said about hemlock is so true. Rot resistance is its best attribute. My windows are made of hemlock and mahogany. Both woods are just fabulous. Evey not well painted the wood is rot free. Nice for sure.
Just had some serious storm damage here in northwestern alabama and stumbled across a guy that has abunch of big hemlocks that got all blown down. its sad but im going to try and make the most of them since they are rare here! I do like the no sap part for sure! thanks for the video!
Thanks for the info and the video ladies! Looks like its warming up in North Central PA. Have a great evening. TTFN
Great video. Lots of good stuff about Hemlock. I will be using it on my mill in Finger Lakes region of New York State. A lot of settlers in this region used Hemlock for their barns, for the reasons you mentioned. One thing, Hemlock tends to splinter as it dries. I've picked out lots of splinters from my hands to prove so. But. In fact, I've named my property "Tsuga Farm" which is the Iroquois name for Hemlock. Keep up the good work. D.
That was actually really interesting, and well done, young Lady! Did Dad proud.
Good explanation of what speaks for Hemlock and what the advantages of this tree are. I even understood that. So I would be a white oak tree that only very few can afford.
You're a wonderful gal packed with hemlock knowledge. 74M here in Michigan.
Not much for Hemlock here in northern MN, We have “Norways” (red pine) instead.. Very sappy…. Good to find fatwood for fire starting! 😊
Over here in British Columbia Hemlock is usually found in the wet western part of the province. It seems to have an affinity to cedar. Deadfall cedar and cedar stumps will quite often sprout Hemlocks. The quick ID here is the tree top is always bent over like a limp wrist.
yes, easily identifiable from a distance.
Always good to see you again sorry have not felt well thanks for all the wonderful information
Very knowledgeable about Hemlock and other Lumber Products.
Thank You for a Good Video and an Education on The Differences of the Lumber Products
Up in BC in the rainy lands, green hemlock is very heavy due to the moisture content. Smelled a bit like puke (LOL) and heaving a 2x10 off the green chain would give your muscles a workout. After drying, you are correct about it being lighter than hardwood. We had a dressed tounge and groove clear hemlock ceiling in our living room, BEAUTIFUL.
I recall from childhood as Dad was a builder, that Hemlock is a very good wood that wears well (e.h. floors), only disadvantage is thatcwhen wet it smells funny.
I just used hemlock for some door trim.😊
Cutest logger ever!
In southeast Alaska hemlock is our heaviest wood. And very strong. It is used for areas that don't get as wet, red cedar being used for siding and more wet exposed areas. I was splitting hemlock for fire wood when this video came up
I wonder if there are different types of Hemlock? Here in B.C., it is considered a trash wood, only good for railway ties.
And now I know all about Hemlock. Very interesting. A great video
I’d buy what ever you are selling - what a beauty ❤️.
When I was having kitchen cabinets made back in the 80s he offered hemlock in place of oak as an option, but then could not get it.
Thanks Emerald! Always great info.
I Hemlock down here in south Florida. Thanks for sharing
I worked for an outfit here in Maine that did a lot of repair and building logging roads, Hemlock is strong as hell. We'd build bridges out of it and we run log trucks that weigh in from 100,000 pounds to 250,000 pounds
The best description comes in wood for construction classifications. Hem/fir is approved for structural use by the IBC. Strength and durability are the main reasons for load bearing use in housing construction.
Here on the west coast we don't get a lot of hemlock. For structural building we use Douglas fir, and if we need a material that is pest and rot resistant, we are limited to redwood or cedar. Both quite pricey..
The hemlock woods creates a natural shaded area. Hardwood growing amongst them fight to get to the sunlight forgoing branches to reach the canopy of light. This is how you get good straight hardwood in and around hemlock. Many years ago (1800's) they could make more money stripping a fallen hemlock of bark for tanic acid. Some of these trees were giants. Most every town had a tannery as there was so much need and use for leather.
Thank you for your comment, it explained what Emerald stated in the video, but she failed to elaborate on.
Lots of interesting info on the Hemlock Tree Emerald great job enjoyed the video.Enjoy the warmer Spring weather.
Great video! In the softwood category, I enjoy working with (western) Hemlock with hand tools as the grain is very easy to work with less distinction between the winter and summer rings compared to most pines.
Here in central PA, there’s a couple hundred acre stand of hemlock. The forest service claims the trees in this area were never touched by human saws. The trees were huge and beautiful. Some 4’ +/- across. But, they’re all dying now. A damned little tiny bug is killing our state tree. Will go the way of the chestnut😩 Good video. Thanx!👍🇺🇸❤️
Our Port Alice mill use to turn Western Hemlock trees into high-purity chemical cellulose that is used in a wide range of manufacturing processes including rayon filament for garments, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, film, food thickeners, LCD screens and other products.
When she said that Hemlock of all things is "rot resistant", that almost made me choke on my drink. What this statement really says is that Eastern wood types are horrifically BAD regarding ROT compared to western USA wood varieties. I mean damn boys and girls, uh, plant different trees. >
Looks like the weather is warming up and Spring is in the air...🤗
Gone is the season of Cold Water Immersion Therapy...
🎶Here comes the Sun and I say... It's alright 🎶...🌄
I never heard of hemlock until I started watching you guys
My family on my dad's side is from Cogan Station, and my dad always used hemlock when building cabins, and used the strips from the bark to side them. Lasts forever.
You are looking extra fine there Emerald! Thanks for the eye candy!
Your county, Lycoming, has suffered an invasive pest since 1975. “The culprit, Hemlock Woolly Adelgid, may have been imported from Japan as early as 1911, clinging to evergreen shrubs planted in the Japanese garden of a woman named Sallie Dooley in Richmond, Virginia.” A warning to us all not to move wood or agricultural products around carelessly.
In Muskoka and Kawartha ON we still log a lot of Hemlock, as we are a few degrees latitude north of you. As the climate changes, though, bugs survive winters that would have killed them, and trees can’t migrate. In a 100 000years I guess the hemlock will be established in the current taiga but will we be there to see them?
Great video Emerald, thanks. Very helpful.
Nice Weather for you finally, Happy Easter!
IT MATCHES YOUR BEAUTIFUL HAIR COLOR
Emerald, Hemlock thrives in the mountains of North Carolina. Thanks for the rundown on this lumber!
Very good explanation, Emerald!
Very nice looking hemlock . I’m a old logger in northern NY I’m 77 I don’t log like I use to but still if I can get the right lot I still can cut it when I drive down through PA I would like to stop and see your operation.
God has Blessed us with Beautiful, Strong and Smart Women!😍
Thanks everyone this is my favorite lumber channel I'd like to see a you tube guitar maker use your wood to make a guitar
Emerald shines like a diamond! The Hemlock is a conifer in the family of trees similar to pine.
I've got some of the best straight 55' Hemlock in my yard that I have seen in twenty years of scribe fit log building. Look forward to the 50" of snow to melt so I can look at them again ;) Ridge/purlins for a project this summer, love Hemlock!
Again Lumber Capitol Log Yard, good information thanks.
Emerald ; your an absolute gem .
Down here in the south they clump Hemlock in with pine and spruce and sell it as studs. They call it SPH lumber and it is always cut and sold mostly green so it is always twist city when you get it. Glad it serves a good purpose up there.
The scientific name this tree is Tsuga canadensis. In Canada we call it eastern hemlock to distinguish it from our western hemlock that grows on our west coast or Tsuga heterophylla. Fun fact about hemlock , if you want to know which way the wind is blowing look at the top leader, it will always point in the direction the wind is blowing
Your presenting skills are excellent.