Is this a defect in Douglas Fir?

[Gilman]

This is from one log out of two log truck loads of Douglas Fir. There was only one log in the bunch that had these markings.  The logs came from a small clearing.

Do you know what it is and is it a defect?

6" x 12" Beam


End View


Close Up


Any help would be greatly appreciated

[Kevin]

It looks a lot like shake.

[Gilman]

Like a micro pin shake?  It was in all 36' of the log if that makes a difference.

[Kevin]

You'll know when it dries.
Is Doug Fir prone to shake?
I see it here with hemlock and poplar.

[Tillaway]

Possible shake or pitch ring showing on the end.  Your close-ups of the face do not show anything that I could tell is a defect.  Get the lumber grade book from the Western Wood Products Association, WWPA.

[arojay]

looking at your pictures, my first thought was shake.  Did you log it?

[Gilman]

I didn't log it but went to the site to inspect and pick the logs for my loads.  The site is near the mouth of the Columbia River Gorge, which has prevailing winds coming out of it.  This little stand was protected on three sides by other same age stands of timber.  There were logs with clearly visible heart shake and rot.

I'm just curious about the the spattering of what I would guess to be pitch spots that are spread pretty evenly through the entire length of the log.

[ARKANSAWYER]

  I do not see the seperation of shake.  What I do see looks like bird peck.  Hickory get that and in some places the trees will be so full of it that they will not take it.  Walnut is one.  Looks solid to me but then I do not have Dfir here in the Ozarks.  We get it in SYP and it is from sapsuckers.  The wide dark growth rings looks like stress,  Maybe the tree got lots of wind or on the side of a hill.

[logwalker]

Gilman, are you worried about it from a strength perspective? Cut a 2x4 and stress test it. It doesn't look weak but it is a picture. It is unusual but I have seen it around here before. I don't think it is shake but could be a parasite. Do you get any root rot disease in your D.Fir? I have been seeing a lot around my place. Not a good thing.

[ID4ster]

You've got a pitch seam maybe a partial ring. It happens in DF and WL especially canyon timber that is brash. Not much you can do about it. The mill scaler would have detected it in the end of the log and deducted an appropriate amount. The worst way to find one is with an increment borer but that is another story.

[Tillaway]

You've got a pitch seam maybe a partial ring. It happens in DF and WL especially canyon timber that is brash. Not much you can do about it. The mill scaler would have detected it in the end of the log and deducted an appropriate amount. The worst way to find one is with an increment borer but that is another story.

Been there done that, what a mess.

[Kevin]

 Check or shake filled with pitch is what I would assume is pitch seam?

[ID4ster]

Kevin,

Yes a pitch seam is just that. If you're lucky it'll dry and crystalize before you bore into it. If its still liquid it leaks every where, into your borer, out the end of the log once its cut, just everywhere. DF also gets a defect called mass pitch that shows up in the butt log and is a concentration of pitch that compromises the strength of the lumber cut from that section and so is defected out by the scalers if it isn't long butted out at the landing or on the strip.

[arojay]

I run into those pitch seams, we call them pitch pockets, from time to time in white spruce.  What a mess is right and the pitch smells like it must be fermented or something.  Pretty rank.  I find lots of blowdown that busts off around 18 inches up the stump.  Often the shake can be bucked out in a couple of feet.

[Gilman]

I would like to know what is for curiosity sake, structural sake, and to be able to tell a customer what it is if they question it.

What is "brash?"

Pitch pockets in DFir I usually see at about 4" long x 1/4" wide.  Pitch seams can run from a foot to 30' and be 1/8" to 1/2" in width.  Seen a pitch seam cyrstalized in old growth that was 1" wide by 10+'.  That burned okay.

I guess we're lucked with the fir, I think the pitch smells great unlike the spruce you talk about.