What to do?

[Swede]

After the storm we had Jan. 08 there will be too much timber for our sawmills to take care of for 1-3 years. The prices are today ~ 50%. Some logs will be stored and sprayed with water, the big companies will make the profit, buying cheap and selling for regular price.
When the timber is sawn there is not much to cut down in this area for many years. I think 90% is spruce and 10% is pine.

People ask me what to do to help them get better paid for their timber.  I have 2 ideas.
1. I can saw the timber in big dimensions and resaw later.
2. Put the spruce logs in a lake and saw them when the prices are higher. I don´t think there is a market for "denim pine".

 :-/ But I´m not shure about the 2:nd idea. :
 What will the water do to the logs stored in a lake for 1-5 years?
And what will the logs do to the water?

Swede.

[Texas Ranger]

Tannin levels will increase some what, water may darken, depending on how big the lake and how much timber.  Storage for long term in water should not effect the wood.  In fact, in some woods the long soak releases a lot of the tension in the stem, making a more stable board.  Some historians think that Stradivaris used water wood for the fine instruments he made.

[SwampDonkey]

Swede,

I wish I had a solution for ya that would be beneficial to both parties, but I'm partial to the woodlot owner and producers of that wood. I'de almost think there should be a mediary involved to make sure that privately produced wood gets  far market price compared to cheeper public forest timber. But, if the storm is wide spread then the public forests also need to be cleaned up. How is the export market for round wood? Any of your neighboring counties hungry for wood? Here in 1995 we had a similar event with a massive wind storm than blew down thousands of acres of timber and the forest companies where set loose to clean it up like a feeding frenzie. You couldn't even walk in the woods for 3 years untill the mess was cleaned up and it's still a mess along riparian areas. Then in 1998 we had bad ice build-up from the Ottawa Valley all the way across the coastal maritime communities. And that takes in an area larger than most European countries, damaging alot of hardwood and mixed forest land. It was hard on maple sirup producers and created a glut on the pulpwood market. Of course the prices dipped as your experiencing, but it didn't much affect the world pulp price which is in US$$. Industry can come up with more ways than you can imagine to come out ahead of the producer.  :-/

[etat]

Swede, I'm really sorry to hear about yall's storm.  I just wanted you to know that.

[Swede]

Thank you.

Since I had an ad in the local paper last week people calls me every nigt for sawing or ask if they can buy Amerika-Sågen. Most of the timber is still in the forest but there will be a panic before May when the bugs comes. I want to saw all the year.


Think we may spray the logs with poisons, dump in the lakes and spray with water after submit an application. I don´t need that extra paper work and I don´t want people to pour diesel fuel on their logs in the night. >:(

As always I´m looking for alternative solutions. Think I´ve read here about a environmentally friendly preparate that works but can´t remember.  :  Can anyone tell me?
Or does it work just cover the logs with anything cheap. ???

Swede.

[Tom]

If you cover the logs with a tarpaulin they will rot.  If you put them in a building they well dry out and be difficult to saw. Also bugs will attack them.   

Spraying with a poison will only kill adults that attack the logs.  They may still lay eggs which will hatch later.  Many of these eggs will be in egg chambers deep in the log and will not be affected by further poisoning.

Spraying the logs with a continuous mist of water will keep the humidity so high that many fungus' will not grow.  That procedure is used to preserve Pine in sawmills here for short periods of time.  They are really combating blue stain.

Submerging logs in a pond will hide them from the bugs and protect them from fungus growth.  It's also done here and protects logs for a year or longer.  The logs generally don't degrade although they will slip their bark.  Anyone doing this should mark the logs to make them easier to take out of the pond.   I've seen some farmers tie a piece of polyethylene rope to a log.  It will float some but they will keep the free end next to the bank where they can get hold of it when they want the log.

Submerged logs may have sapwood deterioration over a long period of time. But usually they are pristine to saw.

I've heard of Borax solutions to protect lumber and that may work on logs as well.  That is just a guess.