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Don't Cut Maple in Georgia in Summer

Started by WDH, June 17, 2013, 07:52:23 AM

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WDH

Customsawyer and I cut up a big red maple log Saturday.  The log was about 24" DBH and 40' long before being bucked.  The wood was pretty and light colored like maple should be.  We finished sawing about 1:30 p.m..  I drove the wood the one hour drive home, and as I had a daughter home for the weekend, we grilled out, so I parked the trailer.  Yesterday morning, 16 - 18 hours after sawing, I unloaded the trailer and stickered the lumber.  Much to my chagrin and disappointment, I saw that the wood was already gray staining.  Unbelievable.  Here are a couple of pics of the wood.  These planks were 15" wide and 2 3/8" thick.  They had one layer of boards on top of them overnight.  There was a little ambrosia in these boards.



 

Here is another pic of some of the lumber.



 

Far cry from what it looked like when we sawed them, Jake  :-\.  There must have been just the right combo of heat and humidity.  I put a fan on the sticker stack to make sure there is good air flow, so maybe the stain does not go too deep  :).

Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Andy White

WDH
I know how exasperating that can be! I had it happen several times already this spring. All mine was SYP, but you would like for it to look like "new" wood. I may just do all my hardwood cutting in fall and winter from now on. There are so many variables to this sawing, I don't know if I will ever learn it all.                                        Andy
Learning by day, aching by night, but loving every minute of it!! Running HM126 Woodland Mill, Stihl MS290, Homemade Log Arch, JD 5103/FEL and complete woodshop of American Delta tools.

dboyt

Wow, that is some fast fungus!  Might consider putting on some fungicide on each board right after milling.  Hope it either planes out or you can find a good use for it.  Blue stain pine goes for a premium in some markets, so maybe you'll be able to charge a little extra.
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

Okrafarmer

Yeah, I would just charge extra, WDH. Call it chrome maple, or something like that.  ;) I've been milling up some great ambrosia maple a customer brought me, but camera's broken.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

EZland

I started adding a cup of bleach to my mix for SYP.  It has helped along as I get it stickered fast enough.  I might dare to add more. 
EZ Boardwalk Jr. 30", Husky 455, Kioti 5010 w, FEL , And I just moved to Ohio.and still looking for logs.

God is great!  I will never be as good as the "Carpenter's Son"

Jay C. White Cloud

I love all of your feedback if you try this in your lube water:

1/4 cup bleach to each gal.

1/2 cup "20 mule team borax soap," to each gal.

It has done very well for me in the past.
"To posses an open mind, is to hold a key to many doors, and the ability to created doors where there were none before."

"When it is all said and done, they will have said they did it themselves."-teams response under a good leader.

WDH

Bleach won't help.  It is not fungus or mildew.  It is a chemical enzymatic oxidation reaction in the wood itself.  A different animal altogether. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Jay C. White Cloud

That is interesting WDH.  Do you think it is a mineral of some type that is unique in the soils where these Maple grew?
"To posses an open mind, is to hold a key to many doors, and the ability to created doors where there were none before."

"When it is all said and done, they will have said they did it themselves."-teams response under a good leader.

SwampDonkey

Probably not much for yellow birch down there, but it spoils even worst than maple in the summer heat.

Hopefully that stain won't go too deep.
"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)))

drobertson

All I can say is Heart Break!  no words to describe the disappointment,   david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Peter Drouin

ya WDH thats to bad, maybe you can save it after it drys :)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

In all seriousness, is there anything different you would have done if you had to saw it over again?

I have to agree with you on this southern heat and humidity. It brutal....and it's here until winter.  >:(

Maybe you can save it somehow Danny.  smiley_thumbsup
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

customsawyer

All I can say is that Danny and I talked about it before we did the sawing and felt like if we let the log set much longer then we would get some gray stain. Well between my pea brain and his wealth of knowledge (we) decided that we should cut it as soon as possible.  ;D
All jokes aside we did the best we could under the circumstances. Now we get to deal with what is left.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

drobertson

Custom, you are right on this, deal with what you have, still a bummer for sure, just another opportunity for creativity!   david
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

WoodenHead

Wow!  That went fast.  Could it be that the log already sat out too long? 

WDH

Woodenhead,

I believe that you are on the right track.  The log sat for several months, and was probably on the hair trigger from some gray stain anyway. 

Here us an article that was a free download from the Purdue University web site.  Look at the section called "chemical stain".  Hopefully, what we have is not gray stain, but I suspect that it is. 

http://www.extension.purdue.edu/extmedia/FNR/FNR-90-W.pdf
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

Okrafarmer

So putting Borax and bleach along with my Cascade in the lube tank will help prevent mold and bacteria, but not gray stain?

I guess for best results with maple, the thing to do is to treat it like holly-- cut in the winter time, mill the day after it's harvested, pop in the kiln ASAP after it's milled?
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

5quarter

WDH...That's a cryin shame. I have seen red maple start staining in as little as 1 hour....and I'm not even in Georgia. ;) with luck they might plane out, but I wouldn't count on it. I would throw the worst offenders up on your saw and resaw them and then let the surface moisture flash off for a few hours before putting them back to bed. they should still dress out to a 6/4 board...plenty thick for a tavern table plank or similar project.
What is this leisure time of which you speak?
Blue Harbor Refinishing

WDH

Quote from: Okrafarmer on June 17, 2013, 11:23:16 PM
So putting Borax and bleach along with my Cascade in the lube tank will help prevent mold and bacteria, but not gray stain?

That is right. 

5quarter, I believe that you are also right.  Getting the surface dry quickly is key.  We sprayed these boards with the disodium octaborate tetrahydrate solution, so the pack was wet.  With the bad heat and humidity here last Saturday, the deed was done. 
Woodmizer LT40HDD35, John Deere 2155, Kubota M5-111, Kubota L2501, Nyle L53 Dehumidification Kiln, and a passion for all things with leafs, twigs, and bark.  hamsleyhardwood.com

thecfarm

Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

John_Haylow

Lets just hope it does not go very deep.
John
2004 Wood-Mizer LT40HDG28

pyrocasto

Immediate stickering and PLENTY of airflow IMO is your best bet in the future. I get the same thing with pine wanting to blue stain, if I dont get a fan on it immediately in the summer. Gotta get that outside surface drier fast.

Jeff

We used a mixture of Borax and something called PQ-8 to treat hardwood lumber in the summer, but it was only a temporary treatment to get it to the broker.  We saturated every layer of lumber as it was flat stacked, and our 12 to 15,000 foot loads went out within three days of sawing to the buyer where they were broken down and graded. How they were processed from there I do not know. I do know that when I was working at the mill, summer treatment of lumber coat around $5 a thousand. Every hardwood was treated including aspen and basswood and all of the northern dense hardwoods. Even with treatment, you didn't want to sit on the lumber for more than a few days. Sometimes we had a grader come to the mill and we would grade, and restack there, and also retreat. You could always tell if one of the lumber stackers messed up and skipped a row in treatment. the boards would be almost glued together with a white mold, and that could happen almost over night. 
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: Jeff on June 18, 2013, 11:13:58 AM
the boards would be almost glued together with a white mold, and that could happen almost over night.

I've seen that white mold on some of my boards here in S.C. Its almost like a PASTE. Its awful! >:(

The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Peter Drouin

this time of year you got to be on it  :)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

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