The Forestry Forum

I'm about to log (8" dia. and above) about 5000 Austrian pines.  Everything 8" and under goes to the chipper (for free).  Does anybody have experience building cabins with Austrian?  I really want to build a hunting cabin with the "tops" between 8" and 6", but I've never built a log cabin so give me some help.  Should I just build deer blinds?

As nobody else replies.

Over here that log size would be considered the absolute minimum for a small building. I think it would be fully possible to build a small cabin of maybe 3x3 metres, using those logs, but you are close to the limits. The old fishing huts are often built from very small logs, as that is what grows on the outer islands. Hay sheds and firewood sheds were often built from that size of logs. With that small logs you cannot expect any good insulation properties.
Tops are often very very knotty and twisted so I would use a lot of pegs to keep the logs in place and yet you have to pick the best logs.

This answer is written when thinking about the Scandinavian method of fully scribed hewn logs. I think that the American method requires bigger logs, but I do not know that method. If Austrian pine is the common European pine, it will be good for log building.


Waiting for those who know more

Thanks TW,
Actually I've felled several of these trees and can get 12'-14' (4 meters) straight lengths (with few branches) that would be 8"-5" taper.  I was told by my forester that they were the biggest, straightest Austrians he's seen.  I believe they were planted in the 1930's for government work here during the depression.  I plan on only hewing the two matching sides and leaving the rest round.  I just hate to see something "useful" go to the chipper.  Someone told me that they will get so hard once dry that they can't be worked with.

I doubt they'd get that hard, but all wood works easier when it's green.  Is this stuff the same as scotch pine, the stuff that normally won't grow straight enough to cut a sawlog here? Kind of looks like a cross between jack pine and red pine. 12"-14" butt red pine is what I'm building our house with, 6-8" is getting a bit small. But, one of my friends built a house with balsam fir, some of those tops were as small as 4"!! It's a very nice house, and seems to heat decent.