Advice needed - drying ponderosa pine

[MFinity]

Been ransacking the forum here for advice on milling and drying lumber. Truly appreciate the wealth of
knowledge, opinions, humor, etc. here. Lots of info to go through... 47 pages on this board... gulp... and out
here deep in the piney woods, with a dialup internet connection : research can be.... a..... s.....l....o.....w
process... Sooo I'm continuing to read and research here, but as my modem grinds painfully onward... in the meantime
why not wave my own flag and holler HELP!?

So here is our situation:

Planning on building a house this summer on our property here in Eastern WA.  Harvesting trees from around
the house site will provide about 35 ponderosa pine trees 8 - 20 in. diameter. Would love to turn this material
into rough siding and possibly interior paneling. The house will be a 2000 sq. ft. post-and-beam, with strawbale
infill (mostly) stuccoed exterior. Portions of exterior walls to be conventionally (2x6) stick framed with rough siding
(about 1000 sq. ft. of siding needed). We're aiming for a more or less Rustic look. I figure with my rudimentary
Owner/Builder skillset it's going to turn out "rustic" no matter what. :D

Plan is to bring in a friend with his Lucas mill and turn the logs into 1 inch lumber for rough siding and possibly interior paneling. Air dry the lumber over the summer May need to store the lumber over the winter, depending on how the house is progressing.... Summers here are (usually) very warm and dry. So, from what I've gleaned so far I should:
   - Sticker the lumber with 1" or 3/4" thick stickers 16" apart
   - Layers 4 ft. to 5 ft. wide.
   - Stack the lumber 4 ft. high or as high as a the two of us stacking can reach without straining?
   - Keep the stacks 12" - 16" off the ground (pallets? concrete blocks? treated posts? two-by lumber?
Hmmmmm how to cover them... considering a tarp, temp. carport type awning? Metal roofing?

What issues do you foresee with sap/pitch?
Bark beetles can be a problem in this area when cutting green trees in springtime. Going to peel the logs, lop and scatter the slash, hmmmmm maybe burn some of it....
Any other glaring (or not) omissions?

*sigh* ... or maybe I should have the logs hauled to a mill and have them milled/dried there... :

Any and all suggestions gratefully received. Thanks!

Mike

[ely]

looks to me like you have it pretty much covered. if you can let the trees lay when you fell them, the needles will draw alot of the sap out of the tree. if you can wait until the needles brown before limbing the logs.

[WDH]

If it is very warm and dry, that must mean that the humidity is low.  In that case, 3/4" stickers will allow the lumber to dry a little slower than 1" stickers, and you may get less checking.  

I cut some 8/4 maple about 3 weeks ago, and to prevent gray stain, I left it stacked against the side of the barn under the shed for several weeks to assure that the humidity did not get too high to cause the gray stain reaction.  All was well until today when I looked at the boards.  We have had a week of dry weather, and the temps are up with some wind.  That was enough to cause checking in the surface of the boards.  I hope that the wood is not ruined.  Anyway, it is possible to air dry lumber too fast.  Pine is more forgiving than maple.

[red oaks lumber]

to prevent blue stain, you'll want to go from stump to sticker fairly quickly. pile on treated timbers in the best area for air flow(wind). cover the top of the pile with tin, not the sides. by next fall unpile your lumber have it planed up and your "home" free.

[MFinity]

Thanks for the input guys.
D'you think it'd be advisable to peel the bark off the logs first? Or peel the waste slabs?
I'm worried about bark beetles. Especially considering the State logging job done just down the road, where they left ha-huge monster slash piles. Looks like a ticking time bomb to me... :-\

[WDH]

Bark beetles that kill live trees will not infest a tree or wood once it has been felled and sawn.  There are other beetles that will, like ambrosia bettles, but the key is to get the lumber cut and stacked as soon as possible to reduce the likelihood of beetles or other insects.