Pine & Oak Log Ends

[emasterson]

I am in the process of clearing some pine from my property, approx. 50 trees. I have started milling the logs and found my production time is much less thatn expected. I looked into some log end treatment and found it is extremely expensive, is there an inexpensive alternative out there? If I am going to mill within the next 6 months do I really need to treat the ends?

On another piece of property there are two nice oaks I intend to take for some long beams for a timberframe addition. I was going to leave them until I was ready to mill, but the property is being sold and I was told if I want the logs I need to have them out by August. I will not be milling them until next summer. WIll the logs be ok outside if I treat the ends or should I mill them righ away and sticker the beams to air dry?

Any insite is much appreciated!

[Tom]

Pine is pretty good about sealing its own ends.  The resin does it.  You should be OK with them, but, the oak needs some help.  Wait until the last minute to take them down, leave them in as long a piece as you can (buck to size later), Seal the ends (preferably a commercial sealer), and saw them as soon as possible.

If you can't seal the ends, leaving the oak logs tree length might allow you to get away with end trimming later.  You will get end splits.

Get all of the logs off of the ground.  Get the pine bark away from the logs when it starts slipping.  You will find threads on here about pine log preservation, submersion, sprinkling, etc.   Keep the Oak out of the sun  it will not fair as well as the pine to sunburn/quick drying.  Even the pine could check.

I would saw the oak and dry the beams over the winter.

Don't cover any of it with tarps that would hold stagnant air or moisture even a couple of inches beneath it.

You will fair best if you mill as soon as you can.   Winter might help to be a saving grace if the insect population is deminished.

[Ron Wenrich]

I agree with sawing them now.  But, leave them long as you will probably get some end checking.  To help prevent bad splitting, you can use those joist plates that they sell at the hardware store.  Railroad tie plants are plating the ends of ties to stop splitting.  Put as many as you need on each end.

Then, just cut to length when you want to put into place.

[John Mc]

A wood turner I know suggested just painting the ends of some Oak logs I have to slow the drying. Not as good as the regular sealer, but better than nothing. What do you guys think of that? Is it a waste of time?

John Mc

[Tom]

Definitely not as good as the commercial sealer.  Latex is the worse, Oil based works better, Shellac seals, but, Wax is the best of the options. Actually, the commercial sealers are water soluable waxes.  Some fellows have used paraffin that they have melted over water.  It can be dangerous to melt it alone.  One concoction is wax, turpentine and boiled linseed oil.

If using paint, more than one coat will probably be needed.  If end splits have already started, sealing will probably not be very effective.

[John Mc]

Thanks, Tom. Ends had some minor cracks in them. I put a coat of Latex on them, because that was all I had around. Might it be worth trying getting some regular sealer, cutting a foot or so off the ends, and resealing? It may be a while till I can get someone to saw it.

At least it's been pretty humid around here lately... maybe that has helped a bit?

John Mc

[woodmills1]

once the pine is over 70 degrees it will stain and no end sealer will fix that.

[Tom]

Woodmills is right that 70 degrees begins the window for some stains.  Read up on Blue Stain, its not detrimental to strength.  The mildews, white fungus', Black fungus' are rot.  It takes chemicals to kill them.  Or, dry the outside quickly so that they can't get started.

Still, if you're limited to time, you must make some decisions to get the worse sawed the quickest. Your end use will have bearing too.  It doesn't matter too much for construction wood.  Your pine may fall into that.  The Oak may be cabinet wood and you should pay special attention to it if that is true.

I wouldn't worry too much about the ends of the pine.   Your biggest concern should be getting it all sawed as soon as possible, stickered for air-drying and gotten under roof.   It's the Oak that will need the end sealing the most.

[zackman1801]

only problem with blue stain is it will ruin your profits for selling to a mill. we talked with a guy at the mill who has seen select grade lumber come off a truck only to find that when it gets sawed it gets graded down to industrial use because its got lots of blue stain from sitting outdoors.  You really have to be careful of you could loose a lot of money.

[isawlogs]

From reading your post I am not sure as to how much pine you have down , the other concern , for me , would be bugs getting into your logs . Blue stain is nothing compared to the drilling those bugs can do .

  One thing you can do is to have the logs debarked ..............  :-\

[emasterson]

Thank you all for your input. I am not too woried about the blue stain for the pine because it is mostly construction lumber for personal use. I will wait on the Oak until the last minute.

It has only been three weeks and the beatles are already into the pine logs! Didn't see that one comming.  :-\