drying logs before milling

[cypresskayaksllc]

A lot of my customers think its best to let logs dry before milling. I dont agree with that. Any opinions? Im in N FLA so I cut mostly pine and some oak

[Magicman]

I seldom have an opportunity to saw "fresh" logs.  Generally they are beetle/lightning killed SYP, so they have partially dried before they are sawed.  Personally, I would rather saw them than fresh felled.

[Jay C. White Cloud]

Typically log are always sawn green, and if taken to a yard, they are sprayed down with water.  Logs that are stored underwater are of the highest quality.  So, no, they are mistaken.  Beside it would take a very long time for most wood species to "dry out" in log form and the stresses could be uneven from doing so.

Regards,

jay

[ddcuning]

I have always made it a rull of thumb to saw the logs within two weeks of felling them. Even then, I paint the ends to keep moisture in the logs. As a log drys, the ends will dry faster than the areas covered in bark and cause uneven stresses and stress cracks. Painting the ends with latex paint then sawing as quickly as I can has always worked for me and produced good lumber.

Dave C

[Tree Feller]

I think a log will rot before it dries, at least what I think of as dry which is less than 20% MC.

[Banjo picker]

I think a log will rot before it dries, at least what I think of as dry which is less than 20% MC.

x2

[Bibbyman]

A question often asked.  I tell them at least 10 to 15 seconds.   

[bandmiller2]

I'am not taking the bait on this one.In reality "you cuts what you gots".Freash can be pitchy old can be harder to cut but not much difference.A log will never fully dry in the round.I like to cut pine that the bark has fallen off.Freash green pine on a circular mill you can feel the piney mist in your face.Frank C.

[GeneWengert-WoodDoc]

Nothing beneficial happens to syp or oak logs when stored.  Pine logs can get blue stain in the sapwood.  So can oak.  Some hardwoods develop enzymatic stains including sticker stain more easily from stored logs.  There is also a risk of insects when storage is over six weeks of warm weather.  Plus, many species including oak get end splits.  Also, lumber from stored oak logs that have been stored more than 90 days is much more likely to surface check and also has some strength loss.

[CalebL]

Last year I sawed about 50 black walnut logs that a guy had stored in an old chicken house for over 2 years.  Those logs were the hardest things I have have ever sawed.  It was brutal.  I tried every blade I had to cut that stuff nothing worked with any speed.  It was a long hot slow couple of days. 

[Brucer]

From time to time a customer wants me to saw some timbers out of "standing dead" logs -- logs from trees that died and remained standing for a few years before harvesting. I always ask why and the answer is always that they don't want the timbers to shrink.

I explain that a timber or log that has the pith in it is going to crack and check as it dries. If a tree has dried enough that it will no longer shrink, then it has already checked and cracked.

A timber will always tend to check in the center part of the face. The checking will be "well behaved".

A log can check anywhere, and the checks will follow the grain. This means if I saw a timber out of a log that has dried enough to shrink, the checks will be all over the place. On a long piece they may even wrap around the "corners". The wood will often be difficult to work with, it may not look very good, and the location of the checks may degrade it structurally.

[Tee]

When any of you have logs with no end product in mind, do you ever saw them into cants and store the cants? Don't know if that would even help the matter.