Eucalypts a good choice for farm timber

MacBlack sawmillers Hamish Randle (left) and Ross Greenbank with the results of a several days work at Rangitoto Farm. Photo / Peter van Essen, MDFFA

Farmers from the Middle Districts Farm Forestry Association are extending an open invitation to learn more about getting good timber from eucalyptus this weekend.

Denis Hocking is hosting the event at Bulls on Saturday and will be supplying the sawlogs from his own woodlots.

His sand country farm, Rangitoto, had been in his family for generations. His flats grazed dry stock, while the sand dunes were planted in a wide variety of forestry, including more than 30 species of eucalypts that produced good timber.

All were welcome, but the event would be of particular interest to those farmers who were disinclined to plant radiata. Eucalypts don't grow as fast as pine trees, but the best were not far behind, and comparable to cypresses like macrocarpa, Hocking said.

They were also suitable for erosion control or riparian planting, provide fast-growing shelter and were an excellent choice for sequestering carbon; E. regnans ranked even higher than Californian redwoods for longevity and size.

Sawyer John Fairweather, who owns a specialist timber mill in North Canterbury, was attending.

"John has a lot of expertise in milling E. fastigata and E. nitens," Hocking said.

"We'll have plenty of questions for him but we're also wanting to impress him with a wider range of species."

Denis Hocking. Photo / Peter van Essen, MDFFA

E. muelleriana, saligna, lavopinea and pilularis would be milled and possibly some E. microcorys, or "Australia's finest hardwood", according to Hocking.

Two portable sawmills would be operating, the Lucas circular swingblade operated by Whanganui's MacBlack Timber and a bandsaw run by Ross Campbell who was travelling from Otaki.

Unlike a previous sawmilling event several years back that focused on a wide range of alternative timbers, Saturday's field day was a chance to get to grips with eucalypts in particular and the advantages and disadvantages of different types of mills and sawing techniques.

MacBlack was a specialist timber yard and manufacturer so its sawmillers see the timber all the way through from logs to final use in the joinery workshop.

Sawmiller Hamish Randle conceded there was a perception that eucalypts were hard to mill.

"If you compare them to radiata, that's true but only because radiata is so ridiculously easy," he said.

"It's not necessarily milling that's hard, but you do need to take care with how the timber is dried. Bigger logs are invariably more stable and some species are easier than others."

Hamish Randle tailing out on the MacBlack mill. Photo / Peter van Essen, MDFFA

Randle had milled E. muelleriana for Hocking in the past and liked it: "It's very well-behaved".

Their eucalypt timber was very popular for flooring and decking and they can't keep up with demand.

Hocking said there were a lot of tricks and tips Farm Forestry Association members could share: choosing which species to grow, what conditions they liked, where to source planting stock, how to mill them and what uses to put the timber to.

While many associated eucalypts with hot, dry parts of Australia, many of the species grown in New Zealand came from temperate parts of that continent, including Tasmania and Victoria and some species were remarkably frost-hardy.

Many produced outstanding timber and there were significant trials underway with species whose timber was naturally ground-durable.

The field day begins at 10.30am on Saturday 29 May at 370 Parewanui Rd, Bulls.

Attendees are encouraged to bring ear-muffs, high-viz and a helmet if they have them, plus lunch and a thermos.