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When must logs be sawn

Started by JimMartin9999, March 20, 2009, 10:04:19 PM

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JimMartin9999

  NY state cut down about four acres of my trees for  a road. They told me I could have them. Mostly white pine  and hemlock but a few hardwoods.  So far they seem to have dumped them into two big ugly piles.
I am on the road so have not seem them yet.
I would like some advice and knowledge about how long the logs can lie there before degrade starts.  I have heard that logs should be sawn as green as possible  because they are softer and easier to cut. How long can I wait before the harden up to the point that  it will be hard to cut them.How should I store them?
Jim

Tom

Depending on the weather, you have 1-3 months before bugs get into them bad. Stain will occur right away.  Hardness will take place as the logs dry and you are probably looking at 3 to 6  months.  Get them out of the dirt piles and stacked off of the ground.  Debark as the bark begins to slip and get the bark away from the logs.  Saw as soon as you can. (don't cut to length until you have to do it.  Short logs means more ends and more ends means more end splits.

Submerging logs in water (pond) will help to preserve them.  Keeping them constantly wet by sprinkling them with a mist is next best.  If you can't do that, keep them out of the sun, but no tarps.

SwampDonkey

If you have a lot of white pine, they need to be tended to quick. They will go stained and the bugs hit them fast. They did mine. I cut it in October and sawed it in May and the bugs were already all through it in the sapwood and a lot stained because the ambrosia tunneled all through it. Toute suite mon amie.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

moonhill

I like the pond method of soaking the logs, only issue is environmental concerns, none from me, it's the others.  If the logs are dirty, peeling will be a plus, other wise I always debate with myself, if it is worth the effort to debark or just invest the time into forward progress and put them on the saw and deslab them.  Blue stain can be a concern, it depends on the final use of the stock, it is the first stages of rot, but will arrest if in the proper environment, it is a degrade, no question, but I don't loose my head over it.   Bug holes aid in drying.  I try to find any excuse for the buggers, they need it.  I don't mind sawing pine logs that have set for a year or more, they are not as sticky, I think they may even saw easier.   I use the blue stain as a tell tail, that is wood venerable to rot, the heart is much more hardy.   

Tom what issues arise with logs being covered with a tarp?  I have thought ,cover them with a tarp to keep the bugs to a minimum, wishful thinking, more of a dream.   

Tim 
This is a test, please stand by...

SwampDonkey

Tarping is a moisture trap, and the heat build up makes great habitat for fungal growth. Even if the rain doesn't hit directly on the logs, the moisture rises from the soil and condenses on the tarp and drips back down on the logs. I've never seen a white pine log setting for a year or more that would be worth much, not in my climate anyway. No mill would ever buy the logs.
"No amount of belief makes something a fact." James Randi

1 Thessalonians 5:21

2020 Polaris Ranger 570 to forward firewood, Husqvarna 555 XT Pro, Stihl FS560 clearing saw and continuously thinning my ground, on the side. Grow them trees. (((o)))

Tom

Swamp Donkey is right.  Tarps trap water.  Even if you cover a drying stack with a tarp, that little bit of overhang turns all of the area above it into a green house.  That is why it is recommended that roofs/covers on drying stacks be flat and have an air flow.

isawlogs


The pine needs be cut as soon as you can , within the next month or so . The stickers you will use to pile you lumber need be dry , I have seen guys use the edgings but this is not a good idea , it is a very bad one , the wood will stain ,also , take the time to take all the bark off your boards if any is left on them , the borrers will get into your lumber if not .  ;)
A man does not always grow wise as he grows old , but he always grows old as he grows wise .

   Marcel

DanG

Like the others said, saw as soon as possible.  I would plan to do the best of the pine first, followed by the best of the hardwoods, then the lesser pine, lesser hardwood.

The hardness factor isn't so much of a concern.  The only really essential thing is to get them before they soften again. ;) :D
"I don't feel like an old man.  I feel like a young man who has something wrong with him."  Dick Cavett
"Beat not thy sword into a plowshare, rather beat the sword of thine enemy into a plowshare."

JimMartin9999

 I found a thread which addresses this question  in Forestry and Logging.

new guy question, why do & how long,,,,,
« on: August 30, 2003, 11:14:17 AM »
Jim

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