What would you do with 50+ large digger pine logs?

[danda]

Hello everyone.  I'm new here.  My name is Dan.  I am an amateur, so please take it easy on me.  I found this site while googling for information about digger pine and what uses it may have.  Y'all seem quite knowledgeable, so I'm asking here first.

I live on a ranch on California.  We have a lot of digger pine, as well as some live oak and white oak.   The digger pine kind of takes over though, along with the brush.

About 18 months ago, a gentleman with some dozers and big chainsaws approached us with a deal whereby he would cut a bunch of these to make some more pasture for us, and the logs would go to some sort of animal habitat improvement project.  A government project of some sort.   Well he did the work, and I suppose he got paid, and they took some logs, but there are still a whole bunch more, stacked in piles.Most 15" to 30" diameter.

At this point, I am wondering what my options are if we get stuck with these logs.  I really hate to see them go to waste!

One thing I have considered would be to have the logs milled, or maybe even buy a little bandsaw mill myself.  But I'm dubious about using the pine for lumber as I've read it is quite knotty and very prone to twisting.  Anyone have experience with this?

Another idea would be to build a pole parn.... those are pretty big poles though.   And I'm not sure if they would need to be treated or what......?

I am also wondering if we can make any money off of them. Is there any market for these?

Is it a problem that they have been sitting so long?

Of course I plan to discuss the matter further with the gentleman who did the work before I do anything, but I'm hoping to educate myself here a little first.   And of course we have many more trees as well, so if I knew there was a market that could factor into my thinking.

Thus, the question I pose to you:   What would you do with 50+ large digger pine logs?

[barbender]

Welcome to the forum, danda. I'm not familiar with digger pine, so I can't really help there. It sounds like something that could be used for lumber around the ranch, at least. If it's really knotty or twisted it might just be firewood, or it perhaps could be used for paneling. I bet digger pine is a local name, see if it is called something else.

[WDH]

If they were cut for 18 months in GA, they would be just bug food by now.  I am not sure how fast they may have degraded in CA, but I suspect that they have been down too long to be still structurally sound.  They may have fungal stain and spalt (fungal hyphae that figures the wood) such that the wood may still be usable as paneling or other decorative purposes.  But, you will never know until you cut one open. 

[shinnlinger]

Hi and Welcome!

WHile the monetary value of those logs is gone, Go out and take a screwdriver or chainsaw a few in half and see how spongy they are.  If the rot is just at the surface I would search on this forum for a sawyer or find one locally and have them come up and make 1 inch boards.  While I am unfamiliar with digger pine, if they like to twist, that is minimized by making boards vs timbers.  There are posts here on storing lumber, but basically if you create level bunks and stack your piles with stickers and cover just the tops of the piles with tin and some weight to mnimize twisting, you will have ALOT of boards that I think you will find very handy for projects around the ranch.

Do you have a tractor with loader and forks that could assist a mobile sawyer?  If the logs are just sitting there in a pile, you might benefit from paying the hourly rate as opposed to board footage and just keep feeding the  sawyer logs.  If you don't have a tractor don't worry, because most mobile sawyers can self load out of a pile.

Good luck!!!!

[BBTom]

Welcome to the Forum, Danda.

From what I have read about "Digger pine" (Pinus sabiniana) the lumber is not usable due to warping and twisting.  It does seem to make decent firewood, so I suggest you find a firewood guy that might be able to use it. 

[beenthere]

Welcome, and would you post a pic or two of the piles of pine logs, as well as the woodland where there are more?

Would help judge the quality and any further helpful suggestions.

[shinnlinger]

Again, I have no experience with "digger pine" but I think you should ask the guy that cut them what his original intentions were and what he thinks of boards.  He obviously is not going to do anything with them now.  I would also ask a local sawyer how digger pine boards work out and get some quotes to saw them up.  I can see the twisting being an issue in 2x and bigger, but boards can usually be nailed/screwed flat, and if they are properly piled and stickered with weight on top while they air dry I have a hard time believing they would be useless in farm construction.  The livestock don't care what their shelter is made out of....

[danda]

thanks all.   good suggestions.   What should I expect to pay a sawyer?

[shinnlinger]

If I were you, I would go down to the sawmill section of this forum and ask for recommendations for a sawyers in your area and see what they have to say.  Most folks on this site strike me as pretty honest and they will tell you if you are wasting your $ or not on those logs and give you reasonable price if thats the direction you decide to go.  Keep in mind that mills and maintenance are expensive and the sawyers knowledge is priceless.

Might help if you take some pics first and probe the surface to determine the level of rot.

[danda]

I'll get my chainsaw out tomorrow.    :-)

[sjfarkas]

Digger Pine is slang and I've been told that the term digger is derogatory to native americans her in CA.  Another slang name is Bull Pine but I believe the proper name is Foothill Gray Pine.  I've heard so many story's about how horrible it is to burn in the wood stove because of all it's pitch.  I've burned it in an outdoor furnace and it was fine.  I've also heard how horrible it will twist when milled.  I had a large log milled up.  It had been down for a couple of years.  The lumber stayed straight.  In fact I think it did better than Ponderosa Pine.  All have said it was pure luck.  It does have a neat looking grain.  Around here people are chipping it for co-gen fuel and we now have a shavings mill that will take it.  Both pay around $25/ton. Shavings mill green and the co-gen bone dry.  I hope that helps you out a little.  My guess is that he was trying to take advantage of the BCAP money and when that program got cancelled he left the logs lay.  BCAP is back and you should be able to get any out of work logger to come chip them up for you if you have a co-gen plant nearby.

[barbender]

A lot of natives out in that country subsisted of roots and tubers they dug up, is that where the name comes from?

[beenthere]

The name came from the Digger Indian tribe, according to one article I read.

That tribe may have that name for the subsistence you mention.

[Tillaway]

Danda,
I know a bit about them,  As far as lumber goes, no big mill will knowingly touch them.  I do know they will occasionally accidently on purpose find the odd log hidden in a load of Ponderosa Pine.  However there is a market, they make excellent rail road ties.  The spikes will stay in them.  There used to be small mills in the Redding area that cut them exclusively and sold the ties to Kerr- McGee in The Dalles, Oregon.  They are not good firewood, try splitting bunch let alone the creasote problem in your stove pipe.  If you can't find a local tie cutter sounds like biomass or shavings.  Not sure about the animal bedding market, they tend to be fussy.

The name comes from what the settlers called the many different local tribes.  They were well known for digging roots with sticks.  They also were the only tribes that figured out how to leach the tannins out of acorns so they were edible.  Acorns and roots were a diet staple.