Pine Questions

[AJ]

Hey guys,

I've got a chance to get some pine trees that were knocked down for a road project, have a few questions about them.

Never having been around the piney woods, are these trees located in south Texas classified as SYP?  If so, are they suitable for 2x4 and 2x6's?  Not sure what I'm building yet, but I'd hate to see them burned. They are pretty good size, some probably better than 24".  They are already down, I believe at least a week. They're pretty clear for the first 15-20 feet, then the branches start.

If they're worth cutting, and I can figure out a way to get them loaded, I figured I could saw them and let them air dry.  Since I'm only planning to use them for framing, I'm not too worried about staining.  Is this an oversight on my part?  I am building a solar kiln, but it's not complete yet.

Also,  when cutting, how much oversize should I cut them to allow for shrinkage?  Will an extra 1/8" be enough, or should I go more to allow for truing up after they dry?

Thanks for any advice y'all can give, or fill me in if I'm missing something.

Andy

[Tom]

Long Leaf, slash, loblolly and shortleaf pine are the Southern Yellow Pines, AJ.  Pond pine is not the best and makes better posts or firewood.  I'm not sure what you would find in Texas but Don Staples sure should know.  Perhaps he'll be on later.

Blue stain doesn't hurt a thing but don't let it rot or mildew. Mildew stays with it and will follow it to the building.  It smells bad.

I cut all pine that I use for rough construction at the true measurement which causes it to be minus the kerf.  On most of the bandmills, if you use the true scale rather than the quarter scale, the kerf is included on the board side so a 1" board will be 7/8 and a 2" will be 1 7/8, etc.  It gives you plenty of wood to build with and room to plane if you need to straighten it out but more importantly it is easier to figure on the mill.  You don't worry about kerf or fractions regardless of which way you turn the cant.

[Jacar]

AJ,

I have been sawing pine here NW of Houston, and have made some pretty good lumber.  We have built a corral out of 1x 6, and sawed 2x4's for framing.  The biggest problem I have is keeping the mildew off while airdrying in our drying shed.  If you don't get airflow you get mildew, so we have decided to run a fan on the stack and that seems to work.  We have sprayed a chlorox water mix on the boards, but we still get mildew if we don't have airflow.  The next boards I saw are going in my solar kiln.

I get blue stain if I don't seal the ends, but I have sawed some very attractive blue stained boards I am going to use for paneling.

,

Jack

[Minnesota_boy]

I've been told that the bacteria that causes blue stain only does that when the temperature is over 70 degrees, so if you can saw when it is cooler and get the moisture down before it warms up, you don't get blue stain.  The key to avoiding mildew here is to get the airflow up so you dry the surface of the lumber before it gets started.  I've also been told that it is best if you can stack the lumber so the long dimension is oriented north-south, so the sun dries the sides of the piles more evenly.

[AJ]

Thanks guys,

I'm going to try to salvage some of these logs as soon as I can get to them, hopefully I'll get them before they're burned.

Thanks again,

Andy

[Texas Ranger]

Well, as usual, I'm a day late and a dollar short.  But, yes, would be SYP, if in south East Texas loblolly, in north East Texas possibly shortleaf.

Blue stain does not effect the finished product.

Cut oversize and plane to dimension if your going to be using any commercial lumber with it.  Might want to go a quarter inch.

And they are good for any structural material you need.

Like the other folks, air dry under cover with lots of air circulation.

[AJ]

Thanks for the info, Don.

Andy