Highest and best use of Red Oak?

[ballen]

All the Red Oak on my land (about 20 acres of mixed hardwood forest with many red oaks) is dead or dying.  I'm going to do a salvage harvest of just them.  I plan to build a home in a year or two.  If I keep all the wood, what would be the highest and best use of all the red oak?
Thanks 

[Al_Smith]

I have no idea why it's dying but any oak will stand dead for years .After a few ,maybe 4-5 the top limbs will get rather dangerious so you can't wait forever to drop them .

Depends on what you want to do with it I suppose .Flooring,trim ,furniture .Of course it's excellant firewood but that's not something you want to do with a good saw log .

[Ianab]

Red Oak is a good hardwood for flooring, trim, furniture etc.

You might not save any money after you have the wood sawn, dried and machined, but you will have better quality stuff and the satisfaction of knowing the wood you cut is on show in the new house.

Ian

[shelbycharger400]

you could cut it into siding, at 1 inch thick, it would last your lifetime!

[scsmith42]

I would say that the highest and best use would be flooring, furniture and trim.  Quartersaw as much as possible.

RO is not a great wood to use outdoors, although it will last ok as siding if you have a good overhang and minimal splash-back at the bottom.

[ballen]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Now for the calculations....if I want to cut wide flooring and nice, beefy trim for a typical 30x40, two story house, how many board feet will I need on average and how do I specify that to the portable saw mill operator?

[DRB]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Now for the calculations....if I want to cut wide flooring and nice, beefy trim for a typical 30x40, two story house, how many board feet will I need on average and how do I specify that to the portable saw mill operator?

Well 2400 square feet of finished flooring is what you need. To get there I would start with at least 4800 bd feet of 4/4 more if the quality is not really good.  The wider you make it the more issues you will have with cupping and cracking.  If you want all clear no knots you may need more then 4800 bd feet to start with.  Red oak will get worms in a few months after dieing so expect small worm holes in all of it they add to the character also expect the sapwood to either rotten or badly stained.  Once you decide how wide you want the flooring have the sawyer cut it at least an inch wider then you want to account for for edging and trimming. Personally I would not make it wider then 6" exposure so 7" wide or 14" wide and split it. Some people are okay with wider flooring but it will be hard to keep it flat the wider you get, 12" is about the widest I have seen used well and it is very hard to keep it flat and uncracked.  I have seen tulip poplar that is several feet wide used in older houses but it is easier to work with then oak. Expect to end up with a lot of small scraps as you are cutting out the flooring. Knots may look nice to some but they will crack and are really hard to keep flat on a floor I would not put any knot bigger then a pin knot on a floor myself.  The nice thing is the trimmings will make nice firewood. The trim well you will need probably need several thousand  lineal feet but it depends how many rooms, doors and windows. 
Red oaks gets oak wilt that is probably what is killing your trees it is a fungus and hard to do anything about.

[thecfarm]

I suppose this will all be air dry? Need a good foundation to stack your lumber,treat the end of each log,stickers to the end of the lumber,cover just the top with old tin roofing,if you have it. I will be drying some ash. I hope it turns out good for you. I hate to hear of your RO drying on you.

[Al_Smith]

Now this might sound nutty but it works .Some type moth,gypsy or whatever it is dearly loves fresh cut oak lumber .The danged larva bores holes in the lumber .Once it's dry enough activity ceases .

Hose the whole stack down with sevin dust from a water applicater .Nary a moth. Same with ants in the hickory ,it works .

[Ianab]

Now this might sound nutty but it works .Some type moth,gypsy or whatever it is dearly loves fresh cut oak lumber .The danged larva bores holes in the lumber .Once it's dry enough activity ceases .

Hose the whole stack down with sevin dust from a water applicater .Nary a moth. Same with ants in the hickory ,it works .

I expect that would work, but Boric Acid should do the same thing, and is safer for humans.

[scsmith42]

Thanks for the suggestions.  Now for the calculations....if I want to cut wide flooring and nice, beefy trim for a typical 30x40, two story house, how many board feet will I need on average and how do I specify that to the portable saw mill operator?

If you want wide, "stable" flooring, you'll need to quartersaw it.  Width wise, QS red oak has about half of the movement as flat sawn.  Thus, you can safely go up to 7" - 8" with minimal seasonal wood movement (about the same as a 4 - 5" flat sawn floor).

QS shrinks more in thickness than FS, and wide boards tend to move more while drying.  If you want to net out 3/4", 8" wide floors, you should have it milled at 5/4 and 10" wide.  Make sure that there is no juvenile wood running down the inside, or it will crook on you as it dries.  It's best if the sawyer removes at least 2" of the point of the log quarter in order to get rid of the juvenile wood.

[tomb]

 

 
This is my newest stack of red oak lumber.  I had most of it cut to 5/4 thickness for woodworking projects, some 6/4,8/4 and 10/4.
These were three logs that came from my grandfathers property.  I had the biggest one quartersawn so I could make a morris chair from it.  The other two logs were not large enough to quarter saw.
I will be using the flat sawn lumber for trim in my house, eventually. 
I used to have my lumber milled at 4/4 but most furniture makers prefer 5/4 in my area.  It nets them 1" thick lumber when all the milling is done.
the 6/4 and 8/4 are great for mantle pieces or leg stock for tables.  The 10/4 is going to be for turning stock.
Like everyone has said, it will make great flooring and trim. 8)  Its really nice to make projects with wood from your own property, plus gives you great satisfaction knowing where it came from.
Good luck with your milling project and home build.
Tom

[Clam77]

That's a nice pile of Oak you've got there Tom...  I can see ALOT of treasures coming out of that.