Milling lumber from a yard tree

An email asking about what to do with a big cherry tree being taken down in a residential area? Can the wood be sold?

I said: "Unless it is a truly exceptional specimen, one tree is probably not going to be worth a great deal compared with the costs of taking the tree down and moving it. Many tree removal companies have connections with sawmills that will take good logs, however many mills are reluctant to take city trees due to the risk of metal and other objects being embedded in the wood.

I would suggest talking to the tree removal companies about your options. If you are interested in having some of the wood for yourself, you may want to contact someone with a portable sawmill – unfortunately, there is no directory of such sawmills in the state that I know of."