Hi Guys
I've got several red oaks that need to come down but I won't be able to saw them on my mill until next year. Some are standing dead and some alive. Any suggestions on how to store these logs?
I would suggest getting them off the ground maybe as much as 8". end coat with whatever you have, and expect some waste due to sap wood deterioration. I have sawn red oak as old as 4 years on the ground, just had a loss to sap rot.
It also would help if you could shed or cover them.
I sawed a red oak log that had been cut 2 years ago.It was off the ground.No rot in the wood but it was hard to get a good bite with the cant hook in the bark.Got the butt log to do next.I cant take the humidity now so saw in early mornings.
It will also help to preserve the logs if you remove the bark!
Get them up off the ground too!
Cut the dead ones into fire wood . Trees dead on the stump are no good for lumber. And cut the other ones down when you're ready to mill them. Cutting dry logs are a pith :D
Depends.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/20011/2410/DSCN0235.JPG)
These logs yielded some very nice Oak lumber that was milled into wall paneling. ;D
It takes a long time for logs to dry out.The log I sawed had a 16 inch top and was not dry after the first slab.I have cut a standing dead cherry that had very sound wood in side.Same with Elm,if you get to them soon enough the lumber is fine.A bit harder to saw but thats why you keep blades sharp.
In reality logs won't dry to any extent in the round. Oak will last for sever years especially if it has good air circulation well off the ground. As soon as the bark can be removed easily peel it off. You will get some of the nicest, densest and most stable oak. Frank C.
Thanks for the info guys. I'll get the logs off the ground and mill them ASAP. Sawed a standing dead read oak on Sat and it was nearly perfect. Couple worm holes, but not bad.
Peter D, I am curious as to your opinion of standing dry trees. I respectfully disagree from my experience. I have some beautiful doug fir timbers and lumber from standing dry. I also have a shed constructed totally from standing dry fir, balsam and spruce. All this wood has stood the test of time. Just wondering what your experience has been. Thanks.
I've had mixed results with standing dead trees. Red elm is no good after about a year. some good wood, but mostly punky. some dead standing red oak gets rot down the center. on the other hand, I just sawed a bur oak that had been standing dead for at least 60 years. sap wood long gone, some superficial splits, but otherwise solid and dry. I'll be sawing all the branch wood and whats left of the roots this fall.
Although I have no personal experience with it, I have a buddy who uses his farm pond for long term log storage. He has about a hundred logs in there right now from couple years ago tornadoes and storms, and swears they come out as good as when they went in.
I've been tempted to try it myself, but never have logs laying around that long. Anybody else done this?
YH
Reminds me of all those logs that have been recovered from rivers and lakes up here. Sound timber once they were salvaged.
Wish I had a pond to experiment with that idea!
Quote from: 5quarter on July 30, 2014, 11:42:31 PMsome dead standing red oak gets rot down the center.
But maybe that Red Oak already had a hollow/rotting center when it died. A solid heart Red Oak should remain solid.
MM ...that's true. but since they are still standing, we don't know if they are solid or not. About half the dead standing red oak I've ever cut down has had some degree of heart rot. If Napowan has say, 20 trees, He should expect that some portion of them will not make lumber.
Napowan...Get them all cut down now and see what you have. Store the logs off the ground and out of the sun like others suggest. you will lose some sapwood but with red oak, that's not that much. Oh, and one other thing. If any of the dead standing trees has lightning scar, then do as Peter says and burn them in your stove. Some trees can be hit by lightning and be ok for lumber. Oak isn't one of them.
As YellowHammer mentioned, storing them in a farm pond is the option that I use. I sawed some cedar that has been in the pond for about five months this past weekend and they cut like fresh felled trees. They will smell sour and the bark will come off easily but it keeps the logs in good condition and I have not seen any submariner termites. I have not kept oak this way. Currently I have cedar, pine and cypress soaking (sitting in the bank).
Caveman
I cut standing dead all the time, it all depends on how or why it died. Shaded trees are just fine, while those with injuries or metal get ant attacts and are no good. The colr of the wood changes some so the quick turn over market place can't deal with them, but for the smaller niche markets it is fine. Wormy blue "denim" pine is a premium to the right buyer. My dunnage pine customer loves it when the pine 4x4's I send him aren't oozing sap. Most standing dead ash around here isn't good for the mill, but looking at the ends you can see it is like 1/3 punky, makes great firewood though.
Quote from: BCsaw on July 30, 2014, 08:40:26 PM
Peter D, I am curious as to your opinion of standing dry trees. I respectfully disagree from my experience. I have some beautiful doug fir timbers and lumber from standing dry. I also have a shed constructed totally from standing dry fir, balsam and spruce. All this wood has stood the test of time. Just wondering what your experience has been. Thanks.
Just had no luck with a dead tree. Part is good part is bad. If the wood was for me then I might cut a dead tree and cut all the junk off and use the good part. No way would I cut and sell lumber from a dead tree, You know 2x stuff. Maybe spalled stuff :D
I was thinking that you were looking at it from a different perspective. You are a professional sawyer and me....just a hillbilly making some boards and beams.
Lets say recreational as opposed to business!! :D
Thanks for the reply.
Custom sawing is a completely different species. You saws what the customer has, get paid, and leaves. ;D
Quote from: Magicman on August 13, 2014, 08:34:33 AM
Custom sawing is a completely different species. You saws what the customer has, get paid, and leaves. ;D
smiley_chop $$$$$$$$$ running-doggy
You are really a bad man.....but I still like you. :D
Why is it that these "sinker logs" people find on tv are so dang valuable?
Is it because they are "old growth" logs with tighter growth rings and the subaquatic envoronment in which they resided was the only way to preserve them? Or does the underwater environment actually change the physical characteristics of the wood?
I kinda understand how temporarily storing your logs underwater could help preserve them, but was just wondering about the $$$$ sinker logs you see people searching for...
Mostly the hype that goes with the long-term under water, IMO.
The wood is very little different from wood that can be cut in our forests today.
Probably someone adds alittle too. I saw 2 men pick up a 600 pound gator and walk to a pick up and put it in the back. ::)
How do you saw a 600 pound gator? Wouldn't think he'd hold still long enough for the first cut... and do you quarter saw or just through and through?
Lj
Up here we call it pond dry, the water pulls the sap out of the log and what you have is the most stable lumber you can get, After you dry it out.
When we had the hurricane in 38 the feds and mills around here had some rule about the logs had to be in the lake in 3 days. To save them. To cut later. All the ponds and lakes were full. And if you go to the big lake here and go to the bays the bottoms are full of logs. And no you can't get them. The state has a law [ leave them alone] Stupid ::)
I have tried soaking slat traps (made for catching catfish) that were supposedly made from red oak in a pond. There are some kind of worms in there that destroyed the traps. They are planks of red oak about 3/16th of an inch thick by 2 inches wide and 5 feet long. These worms eat the wood to nothing. Maybe they are just down here in the hot South I do not know. This pond also has a steady stream of artesian water going to it 24/7/365. I do not know if that has something to do with it either.