Short answer: We do. Pop’s Barn is a working sawmill in Byram Township, Sussex County, NJ, and good logs are how we stock the slab rack. Black walnut is the one we want most, and good walnut is worth money. Oak, cherry, maple, hickory, elm, locust and cedar are welcome too.
Text photos to 973-524-4282 and we’ll tell you straight whether it’s worth milling.
What to send us
- A photo of the whole trunk, and one of the cut end if it’s already down
- Rough length and diameter (a tape measure across the cut end is fine)
- The species, if you know it. If you don’t, the photo usually tells us
- Where it is, and whether a truck can get to it
What makes a log worth milling
- Big and straight. Wide, long trunks make the slabs people actually want. Short, skinny or twisted logs usually end up as firewood.
- Fresh. A log that’s been on the ground for years is often rotted or full of bugs.
- No hardware. Yard trees collect nails, fence staples and old clotheslines. Tell us what you know is in there. One hidden spike wrecks a saw blade.
- The trunk, not the branches. Most of the value is in the bottom section.
Walnut
Eastern black walnut is the best slab wood that grows around here, and it’s the only species we pay for. What it’s worth depends on size, straightness and condition, so send photos and we’ll give you a real answer instead of a guess.
Getting it here
Dropping logs at the mill in Byram is easiest. If you can’t move it, send photos anyway and we’ll talk about it. Call or text before you show up. It’s a sawmill, not a drive-through.
Why bother?
Because your tree turns into a dining table instead of wood chips. Tree services charge to haul logs off and grind them. We’d rather cut them into something that lasts another hundred years.