Alder is very brittle, so be sure to chain the base when you cut them down!
Alder would be just about the last wood that I would use in a log home.
Good for other things. Last year alder was selling at a premium, but now I don't know...
Good luck

thank you!! i really appreciate the info and insight. there are plenty of confers on the land to use, they're just more difficult to get to and have more taper to them. i have fir, pine and cedar trees to work with too. its old growth forest and many of the trees are 100+ feet tall. the Alders are right at the building site. no problem. i plan on lots of elbow grease. a little more to do it right will be more than worth it. thank you again for your comments. i'll probably ask more questions as i progress. i'm just clearing the building site this weekend. long way to go.

Bobby

thank you all for your input! i went and surveyed the property this weekend and discovered that is chocked full of 100+ foot old growth Hemlock trees. so, the cabin will be made of Hemlock. i should be able to get at least 2 usable logs out of each tree, many of them i should be able to get 3. there's very little taper to them for the first 50-60 feet. i marked a bunch for harvest that ranged from 9 to 16 inches across at the base. there are a few Cedars in the mix and those will be used for the support pillars.

i cut down a bunch of scrub alder and some up to 7 inches thick to clear the building site and a road to it.

thank you again for the advice on the Alders. we found several that were downed in the winter of '06 in the huge windstorm and they were already rotting at a rapid pace. i use it for the firniture inside instead.

i think this may be my last trip there until late winter next year but i'm glad i have a better idea of the resources available and now i can take the next step in planning.

thank you all again!

Bobby

be careful using hemlock that they havent been attacked by the wooly adelgia yet, http://www.saveourhemlocks.org/index.shtml after the get the bug, they rot pretty quick,just a heads up

Look, listen and learn
Im Your Huckleberry!
Keep Rocking With Dokken!

Before you make any mistakes try build with no training .
The class might save you some money in the long run and is very interesting also.
I looked over the site for about a year and a half before i took the plunge and i dont regreat it.
People were saying why are you gone do that.
Parents tried talk me out the class.
If you take the class you will like it and learn allot on savings.
Come on Bobby take the candy this one that will not posion you ahahahah
One small step for man one giant leap for man kind.
What the with of the trees in pictures you cant tell. And be carfull on cutitng the trees its dam dangerious.
I cut 27 to 30 inch black oaks down and one false move and there no going back.
when i cut some my trees down people hear it fall in my neborhood.
Use a 3 ton wench and cables to make the trees fall in a general direction.
Tress are stuburn they tend to fall in the direction they want to.
Ok be safe and good luck.

thanks rcklmbr. i'm going to build it regardless. i'll feel bad for the trees, but they will be replaced with new ones soon enough. this place is so dense that any available forest floor is quickly filled with new trees. the Alders aren't surviving as much as i thought they would. no tap root. they get blown down every winter and re-seed but survival isn't good. the hemlocks do grow to maturity though.

Chad,

i appreciate the concern but i'm not a rookie. i've done plenty of logging and building before. never a log cabin from scratch but i think i can handle it. i've had a chainsaw in my hands since i was 10 years old. i see the class teaches the butt and pass method. thats not the method i want to use. i'm going to be using saddle notches and modified scandinavian chinkless construction with a slow set, 2 part polyurethane foam insulation between the logs. (i'm surprised i don't see this more often) i have one more weekend of work to clear the site then i can set my support pillars which will be cedar on concrete pads. it may not be the most "orthodox" (if there is such a thing regarding log cabin building) cabin but it will be sturdy, functional, and long lasting when i'm done. i'll keep updating here as progress, well, progresses. :)

Bobby

thanks for the recommendation! i'll try to pick up the book. yes, i'm hell bent on using saddle notches. i don't mind the labor. i'm still somewhat young and spry and i love the "authentic" and rustic look of saddle notch cabins. i do plan on using solar for some 12v lighting in the place when its done too. this is strictly a fun project and a little getaway place in the boonies. no hurry in getting it built. i'm giving myself 3 years. i should have less than $5k into it when i'm done. (before doing the solar power anyway)

i have one more weekend of clearing the site then i can start prepping it for the support pillars. i'm getting pretty excited about the whole thing.

again, i appreciate the input from everyone!

Bobby