Preserving logs to cut later

[jrokusek]

Kind of a good news, bad news sort of thing for me I guess.  A storm passed through my hometown a few days ago.  With the storm there were a number of what the weather service called "downbursts" and "straight line winds."  Similar to a tornado but not quite as destructive.  As you can imagine this knocked lots of trees down.  It's a small town and they have what's called a rubble pile where anyone can dump tree branches and such.  I called my buddy who lives there and he said there are lots of tree trunks that I can scavenge if I want them.  If I can get to them, I can have them.

So here's my dilema.  I can't get there until Monday so the trunks will have been laying on the ground for a week (ash, elm, cottonwood, hackberry, some smaller walnut, misc. trees too).  I have a tractor and loader to move the logs to where my homemade mill will be located.  However, my mill isn't finished yet.  Probably going to be another month before I can finish it up and start "testing" it.  How do I preserve the logs to cut later?  I know there have been discussions of this before but I can't seem to find them right now.

I have a few railroad ties.  My thought is to get them off the ground to keep the moisture away.  Don't have any anchorseal nor can I get any by Monday.  Should I just use some paint, lay on a few coats to the end of the log and hope for the best?  I can get them into water but there wouldn't be any way to ever get them out!   I don't think 2' of mud and 2' of water would de me much good anyway.  :D  Any other suggestions?

BTW, this is just a hobby for me.  If the logs get ruined they can always be turned into firewood.  Just thought this would be an easy way to get a few logs with minimal effort.

Jim in SD

[Part_Timer]

We do just what you were thinking.  get um up off the ground.  if no anchor seal paint them real good.  I try and cut them long of they are going to be around a month or so.  them I can cut them back and get rid of the end check.  It seems to work for us.  just my .02

[beenthere]

If it gets warm, then a sprinkler keeping them wet (and good to be off the ground and the ends anchorsealed) will be the best way to preserve them for later cutting. You don't want them to dry out as they will get deep end checks and the surface will dry and begin to check (like a utility pole or log cabin log).

[Furby]

Yep, get something on the ends, and get them off the ground.
I use small dia. straight tops to stack bigger logs on. When you go to seal the ends, trim a little off the end just before sealing.
I have a couple piles I'm sawing now from last summer.
If they are free and not too much trouble to get, a small amount of loss is no big deal.
You will still be ahead in the long run.