Thanks guys, I actually made the first cut while still down by the seaside, I have always wanted to try cutting lumber from a stump and when I saw the tree had fallen over eventually (it was on its way out for some time) I thought it would be the perfect opportunity to try! However I didn't want to try and haul back the stump if it was going to be of no use, so I decided the best course of action was to try and saw it in half length ways (well a portion at least) to see if the insides look worth while.
The saw we have at the beach house is ancient and not in great condition to say the least (a number of teeth are missing) so it did take a bit of time to do, but in the end I'm very happy that I gave it a try!
Roger, I believe you are correct, I had no idea what "spalted" meant so I googled, and the photos that come up look the same, the spalting on my log isn't that heavy but I like the look of it, thanks for teaching me something new!
Malcolm, I'm not sure, you may be completely right, it wasn't a very big tree and this portion comes from close to the base of the stump, it was however very slanted, so that could account for additional pressure.
Andy, that looks like it would be a very useful tool to have, what blades do you use for it? I think clamping the wood down would be a challenge in my case as it isn't very straight and the cuts aren't square either, I have asked to borrow my brother's reciprocating saw and will try using that as I'm not overly keen on sawing the log in half by hand again!
That being said sawing by hand does leave a pretty straight cut where other methods may not...
Paul, I would say it isn't extremely dense, probably more so than the Pine we have over here, but not properly hard like the Emboya I have worked with before, in fact it feels lighter than expected when you pick up the log. My grandfather always used to say it was a "Manatok" tree, so I googled a bit and the closes I could find was Manatoka, which apparently is an alien invasive species in the Western Cape. The photos don't look quite right though, so I'm not entirely sure if this is even the same type of tree.