A neighbor had had me take a 45 inch dia white oak yesterday, he game me the main truck and a 8 foot section of crotch wood. I painted the ends with latex paint and have it propped off the ground with firewood.
Will this log remain in good shape till spring? (my mill should be built by then)
Modat,
I'm still cutting logs that have been down (on the ground) since the end of August. Some hardwood and some softwood. I have not had a problem with them. Some end sealed and some not. I did notice some deterioration on some of the logs after about a month so I raised them off the ground. (Mainly the bark starting to peel and some bugs in the bark) I'm sure some of the more experienced members will give you some better info, but I think they would be okay as long as you keep them out of the weather and they have good airflow around them.
Stew
The biggest problem will be bugs.
Let it sit, you might lose a good board or two to worms.
If you wait till spring to saw and don't kiln dry, you could
lose much more.
If its white oak it will be fine for a long time, certainly until spring. Just remember, the longer it sits the harder it is to cut.
You should be OK. Any logs cut this time of year should keep till spring. Latex paint helps, but not much. Get some Anchorseal or equivalent on those logs, it will help out alot. Bigger sawmills frequently build a log inventory through the winter to get them through wet spring weather.
The white oak should be good to spring, maybe just a little darker because of stain. I just finished a job with some 5 year old white oak logs. About 1in of sap wood was gone , but the rest looked good. The logs were in a pile with some on the bottom.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10432/rotten_logs_op.jpg)
Edit: When I started this post there were no replies to Modats question. After all of the trouble typing I was still going to post even if 10 people already answered before I finished and got it posted. ;D
thanks folks. This log has a really nice double heart wood pattern on the crotch wood and the slabs would probably make some fine tables.