Milling Douglas Fir that has been on the ground for a year

[BarryD]

Hi all,

A friend has five 20' Douglas Fir logs that have been on the ground for about a year.  He wants me to mill 8"x8" beams for a barn project he is doing.  The logs range from 30" to 44" diameter.  They were never end sealed, and are showing some serious checking.  He wants to cut them and stack them to air dry.  My question is should I end seal them at this point, or just count on some loss off the ends when they dry.

Thanks,

Barry

[logwalker]

Hey Barry,
I have cut quite a few D. Firs after a year or more and you should find that the end degradation does not penetrate too far. Maybe 6 inches. You might find that sapwood is pecky in places. Especially if bark was left on. You would do well to end coat. With the checking present something heavier like some old latex paint. Where are you at in the world? Were logs stickered for last year? Good luck. Joe

[Frank_Pender]

If you can end trim the log to fresh non checked wood, you can thn coat them with a sealer.   If the logs are close to length you may want to just wait 'till they are dry.

[whitey]

      i just finished milling  1500 bdft of v grain df that has been in a rr tunnel  since 1912 . all we did was cut the ends back  a foot and milled them  they were never pressure treated. just a heavy coat of coal  soot .  i think df would proably last forever if it 's kept dry.  the only problem with tunnel timbers is imbedded rocks.  i would just mill as is and leave a trim allowance .       Whitey

[BarryD]

Thanks for the advice guys.  The logs were bucked at 20'.  I'll check with the owner to see what exact lengths he needs. 

I was planning to cut them 1/8" over to allow for shrinkage (fore example 7 5/8" x 7 5/8").  Any advice there? 

I am planning to cut on Saturday.  I need to make sure I have enough strong backs around to lift these 20' 8"x8" off.

By the way, I am in northern California (Santa Cruz county), and I'll be using a Lucas 827. 

Barry

[ohsoloco]

Why not cut full 8x8's  ??? 

[BarryD]

Why not cut full 8x8's?
The owner has to fit them to some steel brackets with an inside diameter of 7 1/2" after they dry.  Hope that clarifies it.   

Barry

[ohsoloco]

Gotcha  ;)  You may want to ask the shrinkage question over on the Timber Framing board.  I don't know how much they'll shrink, but it will take a LONG time for them to dry out.