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How long can I dead-stack pine before stickering?

Started by btulloh, August 31, 2016, 08:32:12 AM

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btulloh

Overnight?  A couple days? Early on I had some problems from waiting to sticker so I've been stickering the same day or as I take boards off the mill.  Looking to change the order of battle, but I don't want to find out the hard way that I waited too long.  This juicy pine seems to take on mold quickly if I don't get the sawdust off and sticker quickly but I'd like to maybe wait a day or two if I can get away with it.  I could dead stack and cover with a piece of tin and then do all my stickering after a day or two if that can work. 

Getting sawdust off fresh pine is a big slow-down, but essential.  Need to find a way to make it go faster.
HM126

Magicman

In this weather it is crazy how fast it will mildew.   :o
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

btulloh

That's what I learned the hard way.  Maybe I should quick-sticker and then re-sticker. 
HM126

Magicman

It's sorta double work, but sometimes circumstances dictate it.  I have stickered lumber on trailers that was hauling the lumber to the lumber shed.   ::)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

btulloh

Roger that.  Working alone I try to move wood as few times as possible.  Stickering kills my back, and I'm only stacking 32" wide, but there seems to be no way to avoid lifting the whole board and bending over to place it gently on the stickers.  I thought maybe if I could delay the stickering I might improve overall throughput.

My sawmill is a lonely place, but the duck blind is full of friends.   :D
HM126

Rougespear

Back in July/early-August, my 1x yellow pine was showing mildew after only one day being left dead-stacked.  Doug Fir I've found several days dead-stacked is not a problem.
Custom built Cook's-style hydraulic bandmill.

Deese

QuoteMy sawmill is a lonely place, but the duck blind is full of friends.   :D

Exactly!
2004 LT40 Super 51hp w/6' bed extension
Cooks AE4P Edger
Cat Claw sharpener/Dual Tooth Setter
Kubota svl75-2 skidsteer w/grapple, forks, brushcutter
1977 Log Hog Knuckleboom loader/truck

fishfighter

Quote from: Magicman on August 31, 2016, 08:41:14 AM
In this weather it is crazy how fast it will mildew.   :o

Yep, sawed some SYP about a month ago. Within two days they were covered in mildew. Of course it got rain on over night and I didn't have it covered.

OP, get yourself a 12" sheetrock knife to scrap off saw dust. Works like a charm.

btulloh

I'm gonna try the sheetrock knife and see how that works.  Amazing how hard it is get all the sawdust off fresh pine.

I learned early on that rain on fresh pine is deadly.  I have five or six pieces of 12' tin I keep at the mill now and everything gets covered before nightfall. Even a good dew will cause trouble.
HM126

WDH

Yeah, a day or two at most.  Fans will be invaluable once stickered to keep the boards fresh.  In this pic, I have three fans running on poplar and pine.



 

The other side of the stacks.  Red oak on left, poplar on right.  No fans on the red oak.  I am a stickler for stickering, for stickering on 16" centers on dead level foundations.  Furniture makers will not buy bowed boards.  Boards bow for different reasons.  Sometimes it is unavoiable stress or tension in the log.  Sometimes it is because of poor stickering, handling or storage.  That is the part that I work hard to eliminate.  The fans are a huge factor in eliminating sticker stain and gray stain. 



  
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

LittleJohn

...I have seen green logs milled into lumber begin to shows signs of staining within hours of being turned into Lumber.  No we stack twice a day, before lunch and before the end of the day.  BTW, I only saw for hobby, and profit it I am lucky.

Also the log in question we were working on was a North White Pine, cut in the August heat, there was sap running out the saw dust chute, BIGGEST MESS EVER

btulloh

Looks like the only way to be sure is sticker and stack the same day.  I need mill help!! Stacking by myself is not good.  Maybe Kbeitz can whip me up a mill robot to stack lumber.   8)

- Nice shed WDH.  That's what I need.

- Fishfighter - tried the mud knife today.  10" was the longest I had on hand.  Works GREAT!  I can't believe how well it works.  Handy for other things too - removing a little wane, scraping strings off board edges.  Best tip ever.  8).  You mentioned it last year, but I never picked up what you were puttin' down.
HM126

Peter Drouin

WDH are the concrete piers poured on top of the ground?
They look like it in the pic.
And the net hanging, Is that to catch lumber fiying around? :D :D ;)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

thecfarm

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

Kbeitz

Quote from: btulloh on September 01, 2016, 05:46:24 PM
Looks like the only way to be sure is sticker and stack the same day.  I need mill help!! Stacking by myself is not good.  Maybe Kbeitz can whip me up a mill robot to stack lumber.   8)

- Nice shed WDH.  That's what I need.

- Fishfighter - tried the mud knife today.  10" was the longest I had on hand.  Works GREAT!  I can't believe how well it works.  Handy for other things too - removing a little wane, scraping strings off board edges.  Best tip ever.  8).  You mentioned it last year, but I never picked up what you were puttin' down.

Someone allready beat me to it...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rzgaxoZ3D8
Collector and builder of many things.
Love machine shop work
and Wood work shop work
And now a saw mill work

YellowHammer

I'm a big fan of fans, they will pay for themselves very quickly.  I just bought two more of the 42 inchers, they go on sale at the end of summer at the big box stores.  I've been recently experimenting making a tunnel, with a stack of wood on either side of the fans, and metal roofing over the top, bridging from stack to stack over the fans forcing the air through the stacks like a kiln baffle.  Seems to work well, so far.   

Also, attach a sticker to the handle of the putty knife and use it as a long handle.  You'll be able to scrape the board very fast with having to bend over.   
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

4x4American

Quote from: btulloh on August 31, 2016, 10:10:08 AM
Roger that.  Working alone I try to move wood as few times as possible.  Stickering kills my back, and I'm only stacking 32" wide, but there seems to be no way to avoid lifting the whole board and bending over to place it gently on the stickers.  I thought maybe if I could delay the stickering I might improve overall throughput.

My sawmill is a lonely place, but the duck blind is full of friends.   :D


You only have to lift the first board all the way, and don't bother getting it perfect either, just get it close.  Set the first board on the stickers and only let it go down (so as to not disturb the orientation of the stickers).  Then set one end of the next board on that board, slide it down, and then twist it over to move it over to the far side (or right next to the board you just placed).  At this point recheck your stickers to make sure they're still in line, which they should be.  Then you can slide the rest on and flip em onto the stickers, and one you have sufficient hold down weight on the pile (generally a minimum of 3 boards), organize the boards to your liking ( I typically like to align the ends and slide the outside boards flush).  There ya go, alot less work than setting each board.  No sense in hurting your back.  If you have a loader or forklift, put the pile of lumber to be stacked next to it so you just slide it all right on.  Leave room in between the pile and the end of the boards on the loader, works more better thata way.
Boy, back in my day..

btulloh

Thanks for that detail 4x4.  I'm going to put that into play today.  I'd been playing with the orientation of the forks to the pallets, but I hadn't come up with what you're describing.  I think you just saved me a year of experimenting.  Maybe I should have already figured it out, but now I don't have to. 

Your method will help me whether I'm stacking right off the mill, or stacking on the forks and then stickering.  I just have to move things around a little bit.  Can't wait to get to the mill to try it.  I'll be adding that handle extension to the mud knife as well.

This sure turned into a helpful thread.  Thanks for all the input.
HM126

fishfighter

Quote from: btulloh on September 01, 2016, 05:46:24 PM
Looks like the only way to be sure is sticker and stack the same day.  I need mill help!! Stacking by myself is not good.  Maybe Kbeitz can whip me up a mill robot to stack lumber.   8)

- Nice shed WDH.  That's what I need.

- Fishfighter - tried the mud knife today.  10" was the longest I had on hand.  Works GREAT!  I can't believe how well it works.  Handy for other things too - removing a little wane, scraping strings off board edges.  Best tip ever.  8).  You mentioned it last year, but I never picked up what you were puttin' down.

Glad it helped. Sawing fresh fell logs, oak or SYP, saw dust is a pain in the backside for our small mills. ;D

WDH

Quote from: Peter Drouin on September 01, 2016, 05:58:05 PM
WDH are the concrete piers poured on top of the ground?
They look like it in the pic.
And the net hanging, Is that to catch lumber fiying around? :D :D ;)

Yes Sir.  Formed with 1" x 4" boards and re-bar .  4" thick slabs.  Working great.  I don't have any lumber fiying around  :D
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

Sixacresand

I scrape/sticker right off the mill right onto pallets.  If applying boron, spray and flip individual boards on the stack. 
"Sometimes you can make more hay with less equipment if you just use your head."  Tom, Forestry Forum.  Tenth year with a LT40 Woodmizer,

btulloh

I used some of your suggestions today 4x4 and had good results.  Thanks for that detail.  I had tried the forks with lumber in a bunch of different orientations to the pallet, but never end to end.  End to end is the ticket.  My back feels better tonight.

Seems like I should have figured that out, but that's why the FF is so great.
HM126

4x4American

Hey glad I had something I could offer!  Have gotten many good ideas from here, any time I can add something I try to!
Boy, back in my day..

4x4American

Quote from: WDH on September 02, 2016, 07:56:05 AM
Quote from: Peter Drouin on September 01, 2016, 05:58:05 PM
WDH are the concrete piers poured on top of the ground?
They look like it in the pic.
And the net hanging, Is that to catch lumber fiying around? :D :D ;)

Yes Sir.  Formed with 1" x 4" boards and re-bar .  4" thick slabs.  Working great.  I don't have any lumber fiying around  :D


Must be nice not having to worry about frost heaves!  8) 8) :( :o ;D
Boy, back in my day..

WDH

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

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