Red Oak Log

[Hemlock121]

Hi,  There was a tremendous storm 2022 that took down a 25" red oak tree that I found in the woods.  The log is off the ground and will take a lot of effort to get it out of the woods.  With a tree that has been air drying that long, will the wood be very difficult to mill?  Would it be better to leave it and find something green?  

[NewYankeeSawmill]

I've cut up some pine tree's that are similarly aged and they came out good. No warping at all! 

[WV Sawmiller]

   Did it break off or is it uprooted? If uprooted it may still be almost totally green. In any case the wood still should be pretty good but if it will take a "tremendous" amount of effort to get it out I'd cut it for firewood.

  

[Magicman]

I have sawed many Oak trees/logs under similar circumstances.  You may loose a bit on the outside but the heartwood should be solid.

[Hemlock121]

Hi WV Sawmiller,

The tree uprooted so the trunk is completely off the ground. 

I will give it a shot and if the wood is to hard to cut, then firewood it is!

Thanks everyone.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Does it still have leaves? Uprooted trees will still grow leaves for many years in lots of cases. If enough of the root system died there will be no leaves and the wood will start drying and getting harder to saw.

   I had a stack of RO logs here and it was 2 years before I sawed the last one. As MM said I had to slab it deeper to get past some punky sapwood but the rest of the tree was really nice wood.

   Why is it going to be so difficult to harvest/get out? 

[scsmith42]

You should yield some good millable lumber from the log(s).  There will probably be some spalting in the sapwood so you might lose the outer few inches of the log.

[Magicman]

I sawed this miserable Red Oak log:








After I had finished sawing a job the customer dug this out of a briar patch.  My only regret is that I did not take pictures of the lumber which was used as wall paneling on each side of the fireplace in an upscale new home.

This old log had lain probably 5 years at least.

[Old Greenhorn]

Well with no pictures or detailed description, I would have to agree with everyone else, mill it up. I am sure you will get a mess of good wood out of it. Is the bark slipping at all yet? If not, that log will likely will as id it were cut just a couple of months ago. RO takes a long time to dry. I milled one that was laying on the ground for 10 years plus, covered in moss and black rot on the outside 2" or more. I got a lot of good wood off that once I took off the junk.
 I wouldn't think twice, just mill it. Betcha the inside looks like a fresh cut log.

[Ron Wenrich]

Logs dry from the ends.  That takes a long time to entirely dry out a log.   Add in a punky sapwood, and there will be very little drying.