Delayed Milling

[catvet]

I'm in the process of selling our wooded property and am trying to get some Cherry and Sugar Maple logs (as well as some hemlock and pine) to mill down the road.  My thought is to try to harvest what I can before a sale, find someone to transport it to our home and mill it over time.  I just don't have the time to harvest and mill at this point.  I'm concentrating on milling what I need short term to finish up a number of projects.  The mill is currently at the property which is being sold.

Any suggestions or advise?  I figure on end coating all the logs as soon as possible after cutting but should I be doing something else also?  Some of the logs, in particular the hardwoods might be sitting for a couple of years before I get to them.  It's a hobby not a job.

Am I going to lose the logs to rot, or some infestation?  If I'm just going to end up burning the stuff I won't bother cutting it.   Sure would like to have that cherry and maple down the road.

[Dan_Shade]

how many logs are you talking about? 

Do you own a mill? or were you planning on having somebody come in?

it's best to mill the logs when they are fresh.

[catvet]

Dan,

Thanks for the quick response.  Yes I own a mill (Timberking 1220).  I'd love to mill the logs when fresh but isn't going to happen.  It's a matter of taking the trees down or milling, but not both.

Number of logs is still to be determined.  It depends on when the snow arrives.  I currently have 8 approx. 16" diam. 10 ft. cherry logs and have twice that much cherry still in the woods. Sugar maple is what I have most of and again the amount depends on the weather.

[Tom]

The best way to keep logs insect and fungal stain free in the south is to submerge them in a pond.   We are dealing, mostly, with pine and cypress though.

Once taken off of the stump, the grade of logs goes steadily downhill.  The longer they sit, the more you are going to lose the sapwood.  Leave them long enough and you will lose the heartwood too.  You can justify letting them lay if you are trying to get them to spalt, but that is an effort that requires your attention and a lot of luck.

Sealing ends and large openings from the removal of limbs is a good first step.
Getting the logs off of the ground and not allowing them to touch one another is another good step.
Since insects like the sugar in the cambium, an insecticide is a good effort and removal of the bark is another.

The best and favored method would be to saw the logs as soon as they hit the ground, seal the ends and store the boards under cover on stickers.

Living in a place where it's cold in the winter is a plus.

[tyb525]

From what I've heard you might lose the sapwood. The maple might get blue stain. I'd say keep them several inches off the ground, by putting firewood peices or something under them. Sealing them is a good idea, since you would not want to lose a lot from splitting and checking. I think peeling the bark off helps too. That is much easier to do in the spring when the sap is flowing.

(sorry, jeff just posted the same info, in a more detailed manner.)

[Dave Shepard]

I sawed out about 10mbf of black cherry this spring. It had been cut for quite some time, most all were bare of bark, and the worst damage was some end checking of the logs, they weren't sealed. I don't think maple is going to last very long at all in the log, but haven't dealt with it. Could you trade some of the maple logs to someone else for milling fees? I know that's like an oxymoron for a mill owner. :-\


Dave

[Robert Long]

You say you have 8 cherry logs.....get help and mill it up this week end or ASAP and both tasks will be done to this point with the cherry.......When you get another op to knock down some more logs, mill them ASAP also and if you "stick" (get it :D)to it you will have accomplished both the cutting and milling before the wood lot is sold.

Robert

[catvet]

Thanks for the feedback so far.  Doesn't sound great for my idea of delayed milling.  Don't have a pond to put them in.  As far as milling when cut, need to get other things done before winter.  Only so many hours in the day. 

[backwoods sawyer]

Lay out where you want to deck the logs. Put together a foundation that will keep the logs at least 12" off the ground and cover it. We are just starting into the cool weather what better time to build up a small log deck.  A year at 12' off the ground is not unreasonable, 2-3 and you will be looking at firewood. The sooner you get around to milling them the better, but it sure would buy you some time.

[bandmiller2]

Catvet,we can't have eggs in our beer all the time,cut the logs you want,stickem off the ground and mill them when you can.No stress, worst you'll end up with is wood to keep you warm. Frank C.

[Kelvin]

If you don't mind stained maple then they will keep for a couple of years if you treat them as above, but sawmills won't take maple logs from loggers unless they were cut after Nov. and still frozen, or within a few days of cutting other times of years.  Veneer maple near me is kept refridgerated.  If my maple isn't snow white after planing (sticker stain, sitting around) then you might as well burn it for firewood.  However if you are using yourself and don't care about the stain, you could keep for quite awhilie off the ground.  I've found cherry to be fine for many years in the shade, even if sapwood rots off i'll still mill it and its mostly fine.  If it were me i'd cut all the cherry you could to keep and only cut the maple you could saw soon, and or trade someone with a mill to saw on shares w/ the maple.  It doesn't keep in its white state very long unless frozen or under water (though i think underwater changes colors as well)  Watch out for sticker stain in maple, that is the worst,horizontal lines aren't becoming furniture, and its amazing how deep it goes.  Usually maple is put in a kiln right after sawing, but i've had some luck laying out the lumber to surface dry for a few days in the shade and using moulded stickers that are kiln dried.  (though i still have trouble.  Very hard wood to dry properly!)

KP

[Engineer]

From my personal experiences with letting logs sit around and milling them "when I get around to it" - I'd advise against it.  Worst thing I ever did.  I have pine logs, probably five thousand BF or more, that will be feeding my wood boiler because I didn't cut them right away.  I lost probably 1000 BF of clear maple to rot for the same reason.  Even keeping logs up off the gournd only works for some species, and you're still taking your chances.  I have some mixed hardwoods in a pile - white and red oak, birch, basswood, and ash, and only the white oak is really any good after three years up off the ground.

As a hobbyist, I won't even look for or accept logs anymore unless I can saw them almost immediately.  Wintertime, I might let them sit a month or two.  I'm embarrassed to have let some potentially prime lumber turn into firewood (or worse, just rot) as a result of telling myself I don't have the time to mill it.

[Robert Long]

'Right on Engineer'

We all would like to keep logs til' the next time you cut but that seems to never come.

I think at best he should make cants out of all he can as he cuts them down and store up the cants to dry slowly and the advantage of that is he could cut the cants into the thickness sizes he needs later.

Robert

[Dodgy Loner]

I've milled cherry logs that were 2 years old that had no defect other than end checks.  Of course, the sapwood rotted off.  Keep them out of the sun so the sides don't split open.  If you let your maple logs sit for more than a week or two, you might as well let them sit for 2 years and wait for them to spalt, because they'll already be starting to stain.  Of course, my experience is with red maple, not sugar maple, but from what others have said, it's just as tricky to work with.

[zopi]

Was coming in to say...cut cants and sticker inside...let 'em dry as timbers...gotta couple of maples
laid up like that now....of course I intend to use them for plane blanks and turning blanks...so it's not that big a deal.

[catvet]

Again thanks for all the feedback.  I will try to mill as much as I can as soon as I can. My plan is that this is all for our personal use so a bit less concerned about mild defects from drying.  Still would like it in the best shape we can have it.