How long is a tree good for lumber after its been cut?
I cut a white oak down in late October and talked to a logger that said hed cut it up for me if id bring it to him. Would it still be good?
White oak should be fine. The outside 1/2" may be slightly spalted but inside the log you shouldn't even notice.
I cut down a standing dead red oak, left it laying in my yard for 4 years and then had it cut up. It was punky for the first 2" around the outside but the heart of the log was beautiful.
I use fallen trees almost exclusively, since I'm smack dab in the middle of an oak forest. If they are up off the ground, I let them sit for quite a while - up to a year or more in some cases. If they are in direct contact with the ground however, they will go wonky pretty quick.
It is directly on the ground but is on the side of a real steep hill so its not laying in water or anything like that. Should I drag it up and go a head and take it to be milled or pull it out and set it up off the ground to dry for a bit?
How large a piece are you looking at here? I have some small logs that are from oak limbs. I have them under cover but in any controlled environment.
Mine are easy to handle, at about 4" dia, and four to five feet long. I had in mind they could sit to dry for 6 months or more, and then I would try to see what kind of chunks I could get out of them. So admittedly, this is more of an interesting experiment than a serious quest for good lumber.
I don't have a plan for the bark, and for now it is still on the pieces.
The tree is about 16-18 inches around at the base and shrinks down to around 12-14 inches after about 16 foot or so. There are no limbs the first 20 foot of the log. My thoughts were to cut it into 2 9foot logs so I could get 8+ foot long boards. Or might do a 11 foot chuck and a 7 foot chunks to give me some longer stuff for siding and shorter stuff for projects
Have the log milled into lumber at the earliest opportunity. Logs do not "need" to dry before being milled, indeed they tend to deteriorate due to checking and other drying defects while they remain in log form.
The tree is about 16-18 inches around at the base and shrinks down to around 12-14 inches after about 16 foot or so. There are no limbs the first 20 foot of the log. My thoughts were to cut it into 2 9foot logs so I could get 8+ foot long boards. Or might do a 11 foot chuck and a 7 foot chunks to give me some longer stuff for siding and shorter stuff for projects
A log that size will be fine, especially if it was alive when i came down and still has bark on it. You may find that it has some beetles living it in though. There are several types of wood boring beetles that only attack dead or dying trees. The sooner you have it milled the less damage they'll do.
And make sure that it doesn't have any nails in it, especially if the tree was growing in your yard. Not fun to find with your saw mill blade or chain saw mill.
typically, large scale sawmills will have sprinklers on the log piles to keep them wet until milling. dry logs dont mill as easy as wet logs. smaller mill operations like to mill fresh or wet wood,too.
keeping logs wet also keeps bugs from hatching.
heres a good read on it https://www.srs.fs.usda.gov/pubs/ja/1963/ja_1963_carpenter_001.pdf
Have the log milled into lumber at the earliest opportunity. Logs do not "need" to dry before being milled, indeed they tend to deteriorate due to checking and other drying defects while they remain in log form.
This…..don't think that you can leave a log sit around for a year and that is the same as drying boards. Even cut to firewood length, at least around here, it will lay there and rot before it dries out enough to even get it to burn. Have left firewood sit for a year or more, only to finally split it up and still have to wait for it to dry out to burn. I know full well the ends of a log will crack and check, but that doesn't do much for the moisture content further in.
Also, I don't know of any saw mills that leave logs sitting around to "dry". I'm not saying some wont, not saying in some climates {the desert maybe} it cant be helpful. But again, around here not only do they cut them right away, they often request that you bring in certain logs immediately. Hickory is one off the top of my head.
I wouldn't worry about a log that was cut down a few months ago, it will be fine. I probably take more logs to saw mills than most guys, I have about seen and tried it all.
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