many beginning questions

[sliverofmercy]

I haven't started milling - only visited some friends and helped a limited amount. I'm about to clear a couple acres to have my home built - new construction and planned to save the trees to mill.  I have a lot of random questions in case you could weigh in as I begin my journey. I live in the foothills of the Shenandoah mountains in Virginia. I'll likely air dry in some type of ventilated tent. 

- How long should I wait before milling logs (mostly tulip poplar (up to 32"), then oak, also some black walnut)
- How long until logs will rot/how long is too long?
-How useful is the wood? For example will it rot easily since it's not pressure-treated or is there treatment to assist with this? I'd like to use the wood for making a pavilion, shed, barn, animal type structures
- what is the best attachment for moving logs? (grapple/forklift?) 
-What size tractor would you recommend? (up to 17' logs)

Thank you

[doc henderson]

Welcome SOM.  curios about your handle.  equipment depends on what you will use it for in addition to milling.  will you farm?  I have a track loader.  some like telehandlers.  tractors have a longer turning radius.  grapples add weight that subtracts from you weight you can lift. forks have less weight, but less control of the log.  Have your tried to search the forum, lots of info here already.  you can go to the toolbox and enter the 17-foot log, with a diameter and species and get a weight.  this may help you choose your equipment.  time to mill depends on species, intended use, how they are stored and prepped.  we use end sealer on hardwood to help reduce end checks.  store out of direct sun and rain (tent?) with good ventilation.  some store in ponds under water.  If the wood sheds water, can be sealed, and is not in contact with soil, then all should be good.  white oak is rot resistant. walnut is beautiful, but less used for construction.  @Brad_bb uses it for timber frame.  for wood working, you do not want end checks that can work their way down the log.  some coat the ends with paint, or a pro product like anchorseal.  there are plastic pieces to hammer in the ends to minimize splitting also sold by US coatings.

[doc henderson]

example a tulip poplar log 30-inch diameter mid log, 18 feet long, weighs 4,000 pounds.

[sliverofmercy]

 Thanks so much doc. Regarding the handle...our property where we want to plop our house has a narrow strip that's outside of a 100 yr flood zone so I call it a sliver of mercy. 

A question from your response...is the below all regarding wood thats still a log? (pre-milled)
Are you saying it's best to store pre-milled logs out of sun, off of ground, put end sealer on them, etc? Whats your ballpark guess of how long they can be cut before being milled and starting to rot? (for the tulip poplar)

time to mill depends on species, intended use, how they are stored and prepped.  we use end sealer on hardwood to help reduce end checks.  store out of direct sun and rain (tent?) with good ventilation.  some store in ponds under water.  If the wood sheds water, can be sealed, and is not in contact with soil, then all should be good.

[doc henderson]

closet I have here is cottonwood, the Kansas state tree.  It has so much moisture that it can rot in the log and grow mushroom and new branches laying on the ground.  out of the sun and off the ground is best.  a milled and air-dried slab, will not rot (depending on your definition) off the ground.  I have one for 7 years in rain and sun, but off the ground milled, and still solid although it is dark gray and has surface checks.  I would put it up green on a barn for siding, but 14-inch-wide boards will shrink and inch in width.  Maple can stay a while in the log but may develop spalting.  It is beautiful for the right project, but if engraving a picture, you want a blank white canvas, so that should be milled and dried ASAP.  Pine will develop blue stain, and that adds character to the right project.  It is a form of early rot but does not bother structure much.  If this is for framing, you want little rot of course.  Punky is the term I use when you can scoop out wood with your finger.  that cannot be used for framing, but some epoxy, and it can still make a countertop.  

[doc henderson]

You mention flood plane.  do you have a pond to store them under water away from oxygen?  lots on that here as well and a few forumites do that.  try the search function and read some.  you can always ask questions of the person in the thread.  you can ask in the thread or PM the person.  you can also tag them with a @ sign before their handle and ask the question.  No need to tag if it is following a comment by only a few posts.  

[doc henderson]

you can also copy a link.  here is a thread I did on making thin maple and drying it white and straight.

drying thin wood for coaster stock. (forestryforum.com)

[doc henderson]

I did a search for "storing logs" and got 8 pages of threads.

The anchorseal is best put on ASAP to do the best.  

the goal is to have water leave the log in an even distribution.  due to the structure of wood, it loses moisture faster from the ends and surface.  do you leave the bark on as an example could be debated.  may slow surface drying but encourage insects.  I have elm logs that are 8 years old and not rotted, the have 1/2-inch-thick end check/heart check that go halfway into the log.  Big mills use sprinklers to keep the surfaces from drying.

[barbender]

 The best thing you can do with logs is get them milled ASAP. Storing them will always result in various stages of degrade and decay. Some of those things can add character, like bug holes and staining, if you are open to using those sorts of elements. 

 Different types of wood decay more quickly than others, or in ways that may or may not be useful to you in the end. 

 I don't have any experience with yellow poplar or walnut. Oaks hang in there in log form pretty well. But if I was you, I would wait as long as possible before harvesting the trees and get them milled ASAP. Then you can move on to lumber drying and storage, which is a whole 'nother subject😊
 

[jimF]

oak can be used for structural purposes and often used for fence rails. Yellow poplar can be used for siding and architectural purposes. Ii often is brash and should not be used for structural purposes other than studs or for small buildings like chicken coop or small sheds.
Walnut is usually used for furniture but it has a large portion of sapwood so you need a very large tree to get much usable lumber out of it.
Like it has been mentioned endcoating should be applied when the tree is felled and bucked. keep logs and lumber out of the sun light and breeze. The most dangerous time for surface checks is when milled and stacked. A light breeze and sun while stacking starts the surface checks.

[aigheadish]

I have no where near the experience these guys have but a word of warning from what I'll call myself in this context; a log storer/hoarder.

I've cut a few handfuls of trees or taken logs from other people but I do not have more than a chainsaw mill that I don't really have the right saw for, so that means I'm just sitting on these logs that I'd like to eventually do something with. My word of caution is keeping the logs off the ground is challenging. I tried putting things on pallets, to some extent, but after sitting for years the ground starts finding the bottom of the log or the pallet rots away. I haven't taken the advice to seal the ends either, so most of my logs will likely be tossed on the burn pile. All that being said I do have some wood that seems to last a long time. I've got several chunks of Ash rounds I've cut with the intention of turning them on the lathe, while they are checked severely, they don't seem to rot much after sitting for years on concrete, but your results may vary. They do seem to rot and get punky when sitting in the pile awaiting burning. Usually, from what I've found with friends harvesting firewood from this stuff is that even punky they'll have good wood inside them, the effort to get it may not be worth it though. 

Like Doc says make sure you look around here, all trees seem to have quite different features and tolerances for storage and end use. It's pretty interesting as you learn about it. Neat stuff like I think it's Osage and Black locust that'll out last you as fence posts, for example. You can also use specific bark as siding and it'll last, untreated, for decades and decades, and there is a season for harvesting that bark.