Treating 6"x12" SYP cants & 1"x12"s

[jrkimroxie]

I'm milling/air drying 6"x12" cants for a log cabin and wondering the best chemical & process to prevent beetle infestations ? Some of my logs are up to 30" dia. so there's a lot of 1" lumber coming off to get to the 6"x12"cant. The 1"x12" lumber will be used on the interior walls. I've come across some white larve/grub worm looking creatures in the sapwood, and while the holes & tunnels do add a bit of character to the 1"x12"s I don't want to introduce these bugs to my new home. I already have 20-30 timbers milled 12'-20', stacked & stickered under a pole barn. I do have access to 55gal drums if a vat is to be built.

[PC-Urban-Sawyer]

You could try using a boron solution made using borateam laundry product. You can mix it and spray using a garden sprayer or making a dip tank might be a more efficient way to treat the beams and lumber.

Good luck!

Herb

[ljmathias]

Sounds like good ole southern pine beetles- can you hear a munching sound in the trees during the day?  Anyway, I've had them and it seems that once you cut the lumber, they die out pretty fast and shouldn't be a problem down the road- won't eat your house, I don't believe, but see what one of the experts on the forum has to say.  The cant is another matter- they might eat a lot of that before you get to use it.   >:(  Their tunnels look rustic, alright, but also weaken the wood, so that might be a concern.  Also, the beetles deposit the blue stain bug when they lay their eggs that turn into the larvae you're seeing (at least that's what I've heard), so plan on lots of 'denim' pine.


Anyway, good luck with your project.

Lj

[WDH]

I would not worry about those kind of bugs because they will perish very soon as the wood begins drying.  The real buggers are powder post beetles, and they attack and ruin dry hardwood lumber.  You did not say what species you were milling.