Will pin oak be allright for barn framing material? How well does it work for board and batten siding? Have a lot of it growing here on the farm and thought I might use some of it in these applications. Thanks!
Makes fine beams, as for siding it will have holes in it if that does not bother you it will work. They do not prune well and there are always a lot of dead knots in pin oak. The dead knots will fall out as the boards dry.
I would use it for the framing and something else for siding.It dosen't nail too bad when green.Frank C.
I have found with any oak that it is best to drill a hole in it for nailing. You will bend every nail otherwise. It is easier to nail green but allow plenty of margin for shrinking.
For siding, we normally nail down one side and let the other side float under the batten, or nail down the center and let both edges float. In that case the batten is also nailed through the center. If you capture both edges of the siding, it is likely to split down the center as it shrinks.
If the pin oak you have out there is like the pin oak we have back here, I wouldn't use it for anything but filling a ditch. The pin oak we have tends to "de-laminate". It's full of shake and shell. If you don't see it in the log, you'll see it in the beam and lumber when it starts to dry. It doesn't stand up to decay like any other oak.
Besides, it stinks. It smells like a pig pen. And it smells like that when it burns so it's no good even for firewood. Our loggers know not to bring pin oak in but they try to slip some in now and then.
Quote from: Bibbyman on April 12, 2010, 09:40:44 AM
If the pin oak you have out there is like the pin oak we have back here, I wouldn't use it for anything but filling a ditch. The pin oak we have tends to "de-laminate". It's full of shake and shell. If you don't see it in the log, you'll see it in the beam and lumber when it starts to dry. It doesn't stand up to decay like any other oak.
Besides, it stinks. It smells like a pig pen. And it smells like that when it burns so it's no good even for firewood. Our loggers know not to bring pin oak in but they try to slip some in now and then.
Agree, its not even fit for firewood.
Quote from: Bibbyman on April 12, 2010, 09:40:44 AM
If the pin oak you have out there is like the pin oak we have back here, I wouldn't use it for anything but filling a ditch. The pin oak we have tends to "de-laminate". It's full of shake and shell. If you don't see it in the log, you'll see it in the beam and lumber when it starts to dry. It doesn't stand up to decay like any other oak.
Besides, it stinks. It smells like a pig pen. And it smells like that when it burns so it's no good even for firewood. Our loggers know not to bring pin oak in but they try to slip some in now and then.
When we had the mill in NW Ohio we got great pin oak. It grows straight and tall but keeps all its small limbs. The wood is much browner then other red oaks but I think it looks very nice when it does not have a knot hole in it. Clear pin oak boards of any size are a rarity. Made great beams because you could get long straight sections. Like any oak it is very hard when dry and next to impossible to drive a nail in.
O.K. newbie question. What does this stuff look like? I`m asking because we just dropped two huge trees to mill up for decking on our backhoe trailers. I thought they were red oak because of the bark and leaves, did I mention the part about me being a newbie? Any way, this stuff is not red and cuts like a softwood. one guy calls it pis* oak cuz it smells so bad.
http://mdc.mo.gov/nathis/plantpage/flora/motrees/p24.htm
This link describes the pin oak well but does not show a whole tree. The trees often have many small limbs that hang down all around the trunk of the tree.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10034/wsbirdseyeoak20080815.JPG)
This is some fresh sawn pin oak lumber.
Hmmm, it definately doesn`t look like that, lighter in color, almost no knots. I`ll have to get the camera and figure out how to post a pic
Trailer decking should be OK. There are many different oak "species" that fall into the Red Oak category.
Pin oak has smaller leaves than most oaks with points on the leaf lobes around here dosen't grow as large as the outher oaks. Frank C.
Well, I live in NW Ohio, (not sure why DRB woulda left this great place) and have milled many pin oaks. Commercially it's junk, but like said it's ok for framing materials. Not something you want to plane after drying due to all the knots. If you're looking to build a barn or shed, try it out.
I've got 1K bd. ft. sawn and stickered, another 1K ready to be milled for a couple of projects.
Joe
Quote from: jwoods on April 14, 2010, 06:47:43 PM
Well, I live in NW Ohio, (not sure why DRB woulda left this great place)....
I left nearly 30 years ago because there were no jobs there and I was fresh out of college. It still sounds like jobs are scarce there.
Some of the straightest long logs we sawed were pin oak it got nice sized and grew straight like a conifer without forking. It does not prune itself so it is low quality stuff.
DRB, You should be able to see my location in the profile map. Where are you from?
OBTW, it was sarcasm, still no jobs....
Joe
Used to live on US 24 2 miles to the West of Waterville. Right across from Farnsworth park. That is awful close Toledo. A little North of you and to the East it looks like from your profile. Mill is gone 15 years now land was sold 9 years ago.
Quote from: Bibbyman on April 12, 2010, 09:40:44 AM
If the pin oak you have out there is like the pin oak we have back here, I wouldn't use it for anything but filling a ditch. The pin oak we have tends to "de-laminate". It's full of shake and shell. If you don't see it in the log, you'll see it in the beam and lumber when it starts to dry. It doesn't stand up to decay like any other oak.
Besides, it stinks. It smells like a pig pen. And it smells like that when it burns so it's no good even for firewood. Our loggers know not to bring pin oak in but they try to slip some in now and then.
My thoughts exactly except for one item...I think it smells like rotten eggs. A forester told me the smell is a bacteria infection which is the start of shake. I kiln dried some once for a forum member...I thought it was a disaster as the shake got even worse during the drying process.