Author Topic: Milled first eastern white pine WOW (Read 1094 times)

A-z farmer · « **on:** January 30, 2019, 07:17:19 AM »

I thought I was prepared to mill up my first ewp by reading everyone’s experiences here but I was wrong .The ewp bled sap like a stuck pig and coated everything it came into contact with even my clothes.i used windshield washer fluid along with added degreaser and also had a bottle of kerosene to run on the blade after every cut . I ended up with over a thousand bf of lumber from the tree .What could I do differently to deal with all the pine pitch .After milling up this pine it makes me want to only mill up hemlock,cherry or oak.
Sticky in New York
Zeke

LoneDuck · « **Reply #1 on:** January 30, 2019, 07:31:50 AM »

The bad thing is that the sap will run and run and run. I have beams in the house that still run years later.

Southside · « **Reply #2 on:** January 30, 2019, 07:57:01 AM »

Pine-sol added to the lube tank will help, EWP pitch is about the worst one.

As far as it running in the house, that problem is solved by setting the pitch in a kiln to 160°, it won't run / bleed again unless the temperature exceeds that.

WV Sawmiller · « **Reply #3 on:** January 30, 2019, 08:18:13 AM »

I have used WD40 to clean up the sap off my mill afterwards. I cut some one time while the guy was cutting and dragging trees while I was milling. I cut into one fork and hit a pocket and it ran out like honey. Was pretty wood but messy.

terrifictimbersllc · « **Reply #4 on:** January 30, 2019, 08:33:23 AM »

I have been using about 5-6 oz of Cascade gel in 5 gal water, and for EWP Lubemizer pulse on about 3/4 up. Wider cuts need more, narrower less. Sometimes put it on full to keep very wide cuts clean or to clean the blade after a few cuts. EWP doesn't always cause problems, some logs are sappier than others.

randy d · « **Reply #5 on:** January 30, 2019, 08:56:04 AM »

Balsam can be pretty sappy to but smells better might help to let it sit for a while. When my brother and I were younger we had a balsam logging job because that's what we could sell. We cut it in the winter still got full of pitch but not as mush as summer cutting. Randy

Weekend_Sawyer · « **Reply #6 on:** January 30, 2019, 09:40:59 AM »

I milled 6 white pine logs recently, they were cut a few days before I milled them.

I didn't use any water. I have cut way back on using water on everything with good results.

What I did was to fill a spray bottle with diesel and before each cut I would spin up the band and lightly spray it. This worked very well, before that I made a couple of cuts and you could see the sap building up on the blade.

mddillon78 · « **Reply #7 on:** January 30, 2019, 09:53:54 AM »

Im in NH and mill EWP as well. I love the wood, but it can be messy. I havent done anything about trying to prevent the mess, but instead I just cleanup what I need to afterwards. Solvents work good. Kerosene works good. Just wipe things down and move to the next batch of logs. Prevention might be a good way to go as well, but for me I just cleanup after as it is less stressful. I just accept the mess while I am cutting and deal with it after.

Tin Horse · « **Reply #8 on:** January 30, 2019, 10:17:55 AM »

I also mills lots of WP. I'll try and avoid milling green wood in warm or hot weather because of the mess. I'll leave the logs a few months if possible but not throughout the summer. The worms affect it then. I can't keep ahead of B&B so I set up in the shade for summer and deal with the clean up.

alanh · « **Reply #9 on:** January 30, 2019, 11:19:00 AM »

This falls under "your mileage may vary' but I have good luck with the purple degreaser "superclean" in the water tank, I buy it by the 5 gallon container, I probably put at least a quart at a time in the tank

A-z farmer · « **Reply #10 on:** January 30, 2019, 12:52:02 PM »

Thank you everyone for the recommendations.I was only using 16 ounces of pine sol per 5 gallons of windshield washer fluid .And allan I use purple power on the machines so I am going to definitely try that the next time.
We use pine mostly for bee boxes and also barn siding .
Would cutting the ewp down now and anchor sealing them and letting them sit until spring help reduce the amount of pitch.
Thank you
Zeke

mddillon78 · « **Reply #11 on:** January 30, 2019, 01:07:08 PM »

I would suggest girdling the tree and let it die before cutting down. It will basically "bleed out" the tree of its sap as well. It may help with the amount of sap left in the tree when you mill it. Check out this link. Redirect Notice

69bronco · « **Reply #12 on:** January 31, 2019, 07:46:06 AM »

No need to seal EWP, checking is not an issue. Let em bleed out! You'll find puddles of sap running out the log ends when conditions are right. Stack your logs up if you can and leave them for awhile, also the bark will slip off in large pieces. Don't leave them stacked too long in hot weather or you will have swiss cheese from worms. I saw fresh felled when I need to, keep a spray bottle of diesel handy and keep your band wheels clean. After awhile your gloves and clothes will be waterproof!

A-z farmer · « **Reply #13 on:** January 31, 2019, 12:27:49 PM »

Thank you for that information 69 bronco
My uncle has always had me seal logs with anchor seal when ever we have cuts trees for milling .My other mistake was cutting up the slabs into 14 inch lengths in a wooden rack that I copied one of the members here made . I had my dad and another ole timer splitting all the slabs into kindling in the warm shop with an electric splitter.Needless to say when the split up the ewp they were not happy with me .i am new to milling our own trees but with the help of the members here I am learning .
Thank you
Zeke

Southside · « **Reply #14 on:** January 31, 2019, 03:28:17 PM »

What were they not happy about? Pine makes excellent kindling, especially when it's dry, I keep my dry pine trimmings for exactly that reason. The really sappy stuff from yellow pine is known as lighter wood down this way.

Bruno of NH · « **Reply #15 on:** January 31, 2019, 03:42:38 PM »

I mill lots of EWP
I let the logs set
Pitch runs out the ends and bark slips off.
But I find some logs have large pitch pockets mostly the big ones I save to saw live edge slabs out of.
Bull pines have more pockets.

A-z farmer · « **Reply #16 on:** January 31, 2019, 05:55:04 PM »

Southside logger
We all burn wood every year about 8 cords each so my dad is always looking for something he can do that does not involve standing too long so every year he splits up about 100 bushel of kindling for all of our wood stoves and furnaces .My dad said he has never soo much pitch run out of pine before but I am going to let it dry out in slab form for a year from now on.
On the bright side he says he can pick up things a lot easier with his gloves so sticky .
Thank you all

quadracutter222 · « **Reply #17 on:** January 31, 2019, 07:17:02 PM »

Pinsol, Purple cleaner or Cascade sound like pretty popular alternatives to diesel. I will be cutting predominately doug fir and western red cedar, so will need something good for the fir. I hope to land a bunch of resaw work stacking my mill behind a Mobile Dimension, and that sawer says no diesel on his wood.

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Author Topic: Milled first eastern white pine WOW (Read 1094 times)

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