Anyone storing wood this way?I have been covered up with beetle killed pine lately and not sure which way to go with it.I am going to square it up for now and saw it later.I think by getting the bark off and out of the weather will stop the decaying process.I will cover it to keep the weather off.
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With SYP, you are fine. Poston does that quite often.
I am starting to do this too. Pine logs don't last long otherwise. And right now I have about 50 fresh pine logs that I need to make into cants.
we usally keep 30-40 16' cants that will square up at 16" or bigger, for those jobs that require something odd. plus its a good way to save pine from degrading
I have done that as well. The question is how long do you guys leave them in a cant form before sawing so they don't start to dry and crack? I have left them too long a time or two...the cants will start to dry and crack which causes losses if resawing into boards. I have run into the same thing resawing old timbers or cedar power poles. It works great if they're for timbers or beams because the cracks arn't as big of a deal and still can produce good boards but with a loss of yield...that's if they're left to dry too long.
That looks like a good idea. If you don't have enough shed room, would a tarp work?
Thanks!
I do this too, handy to mill certain orders that come up. Bigger cants keep from checking its the smaller ones 12" under that will twist and check. I will try and mill the center out of most of them. Doug fir are majority of my cants. I always keep metal roofing on my stacks.
I just started doing this last month with some oak and poplar logs that were sitting out in the weather.
I was hesitant to cut the logs up for fear a customer would want a different size. It also makes it easier to stack the logs more safely.
I myself am not a fan of tarps at all. Some new or old tin works great.
In general, the safest way to store such large cants is to stack them as you have done, mow the grass or weeds very short to avoid dampness. However, prior to stacking, spray the surface of the wood with a fungicide designed for wood, and that will prevent NEW fungal damage or stain (blue stain), but will have no effect on existing fungi. Surface mold may occur. A tarp increases the humidity which can encourage fungal growth. Note that with some species, the starches and sugars in the wood will oxidize during storage and the wood will not be as bright and white at the end of drying as desired...so avoid this practice with maple, ash, poplar and similar. Sticker stain is also more likely with stored material. Surface checking in the sawn lumber is also more likely in oak that is stored.
Bottom line is to consider the quality you want, color mainly, and then decide if storage is likely to affect quality, especially during drying.
Here in south Georgia mold is my biggest problem.At times it is much worse.I have found that removing most of the saw dust helps not to mention circulation.
If your cutting cants for storage mill them oversize then when your going to use them take light cuts all around they will look new. and to dimension. Frank C.
Great advice! Oversizing them a little and covering with tin instead of a tarp sounds like the best way.
This is just some of the product from my first mobile sawing job, Ponderosa Pine.
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The customer had no specific plans for it but he got if for a good price (free). He asked me to saw it FOHC so it would not check heavily as it dried. I left plenty of wane so he would have more options when it came time to resaw it. The big cant on top measures 14" x 21" x 20'.
And, no, that isn't the final pile. He moved it and stacked it properly as I sawed it.