Hi. My friend has offered to give me a couple of logs from trees felled
when he started building his new house. They're white pine, maybe ten feet
long, 12" to 14" in diameter. They were cut down in August, but have been
sitting there for a couple of years with the bark on. How likely is it that
these logs would be any good for milling into lumber? I'm hoping to get a
harvest table out of them, plus more for other projects already on the go,
if possible.
I'm imagining that there could be severe checking, but could I get 6'
lengths of good wood? How deep could I expect insect damage to be under the
bark? Should I be hopeful that they'll really be worth the trouble? I'm
looking forward to the chance to build something out of wood that I didn't
buy pre-milled. (His 1.5km fully-snowed-in-last-Sunday driveway might
prevent us from doing this for a few more months, unless we get a big
meltdown before winter really settles in.)
Thanks for your thoughts.
- Owen -
Wed, Dec 19, 2007, 12:31am [email protected] (Owen=A0Lawrence) puteth
out:
=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0=A0Hi. My friend has offered to give me a couple of
logs <snip>
I wouldn't count on 'em being usable. But, you'll never know until
you check. If nothing else you can throw a large marshmallow roast.
JOAT
I do things I don't know how to do, so that I might learn how to do
them.
- Picasso
<[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Hello, Owen. I have seen the tables on the 'net about what you will
> get when you harvest a log, and it ain't pretty.
>
> Add to the fact that they have probably been sitting on the ground for
> a season or two, and you will have even less lumber available. If the
> borers weren't there (or even if they are) I think Ross is right about
> the discoloration. And pine doesn't usually discolor in an attractive
> way, either.
>
> Cut the end of of one of your logs, and split it. You should have a
> vague idea of what you will be getting.
>
> But unless you are milling it yourself, you should check on the costs
> of having the portable mill guys come out. It ain't cheap. Likely you
> could buy much more white pine lumber of good quality for less money
> than it will cost you to have one of those guys out.
Well, that was the plan, borrow a mill from the neighbour and mill them
ourselves. Alternatively I could try to put them on my trailer bring them
to my wood supplier who also has a mill; it would add something like
$0.40/bf to the cost, plus whatever extra I had to spend in transportation.
But I'm not sure that alternative would be worth the effort. If I had some
exceptional hardwood logs then I might do it. There's plenty more trees
where those ones came from, but it's going to be awhile before we can get at
them. (No roads yet, and no hauling equipment.)
Thanks for all the responses, guys. I'll keep my expectations very low.
- Owen -
Hello, Owen. I have seen the tables on the 'net about what you will
get when you harvest a log, and it ain't pretty.
Add to the fact that they have probably been sitting on the ground for
a season or two, and you will have even less lumber available. If the
borers weren't there (or even if they are) I think Ross is right about
the discoloration. And pine doesn't usually discolor in an attractive
way, either.
Cut the end of of one of your logs, and split it. You should have a
vague idea of what you will be getting.
But unless you are milling it yourself, you should check on the costs
of having the portable mill guys come out. It ain't cheap. Likely you
could buy much more white pine lumber of good quality for less money
than it will cost you to have one of those guys out.
YMMV.