I think all of your trees would be great for a timberframe... I have used red oak, white oak, and yellow (tulip) polar in my frame. White oak is my favorite - if I could, I'd build the whole house with white oak. Red Oak is almost as nice. Poplar is much much lighter, much easier to chisel, but not nearly as strong and checks more than oak (it seems to me so far). If I was going to try raising the frame by hand, I'd use poplar.
If you are _really_ serious about building your own home with timbers on your land, I would suggest...
0) buying either (or both) of Sobon's timberframe books. He has the best summary of what types of trees are appropriate for a timberframe house. I would also suggest buying (or borrowing) the 2 books by Benson that are geared toward how-to-build and how-to-finish your timberframe house. (he has a third book full of pretty pictures - borrow that book from your library). Both authors have a great description of how to build a timberframe and what tools you'll need, but they have different approaches to be sure. One (or both?) of Sobon's books has a whole chapter on hand hewing.
1) sign up for a timberframe workshop somewhere - make sure the class culminates in a raising. Look for a timberframe workshop that will show you traditional, as well as modern, timberframing tools and methods.
2) this is going to be hard hard work and take a long long time. I would suggest that you embrace any power tools that you can beg, buy, or borrow. As long as you don't take any quality short cuts, no one will criticize you for using power tools. Unless you require a hand-hewed look, I would hire someone to come and sawmill your timbers (after you take a timberframe class). If you are going to build a whole house and surrounding buildings, a chain mortiser will likely save you many weeks of effort.
3) yes, get that chisel sharp and learn how to keep it sharp! Most of the chisels for $8 at the antique stores are as good as the new $100 chisels.
4) Find someone in your area who is building or has built a timberframe house. All 3 of the owners I met were proud to show me their homes. Take lots of pictures if they don't mind. Here is the project I've been working on...
nearly 2 years into this project
