Timber Framers Guild Forums General General Forum Questions dead standing pine

Has anyone made use of dead standing pines, or other species for timber framing. I have heard of a company advertising that they use only dead standing pine for their log homes, but I have always heard that it would be best to use green timbers for timber framing as it is easier to cut joints, hew, and that the frame could then shrink around the pegged joints as it dries. This company advertised the benefit of less checking and drying defects since they are already well dried. Can anyone shed some light on this subject? At the very least I would like to make some use(perhaps milled into board lumber?) of the 25 or so dead standing pines on my property from a drought a few years ago. tb

TB
I would be VERY careful using dead standing pine. If you do not have LOTS of experience felling trees and some experience with dead trees do not try it.
Here in New England pine is attacked very soon after dying by a multitude of insects and fungis. I have found pine borer beetles in logs felled the week before. The larve bore deep (I have a sample in the mill that shows their holes 4 inches in) into the stem and ruin it as lumber ( unless that is the look you want)
Leave the dead trees to nature :-)
Bob

I've had the least luck with standing dead pine of all the speices I've tried. Often the wood is rotten and rather than dry it is wet. Bob's point on danger is probably most importand here, as the tree is getting cut there is a chance of branches breaking off and raining down below, very unpredictable business.

Thanks guys. I have felled some of them already and taken the necessary precautions and all went quite well, not to say that something could not go wrong but I think with proper pre-cautionary measures these can be felled without injury. I have to take them down anyhow to prevent them falling on their own later on, my house, other structures, power lines, me, so I figured why not try to make some use out of the logs if there is any. I have hewed a couple of them and it was difficult because they are dry but there seems to be good heart wood inside. some pine borer holes but I do not mind using such wood for board lumber if there is just a hole in the board but otherwise good heartwood lumber. Not much stain on them either ,which is surprising. I guess the consensus does seem that dead standing pine is not at all suitable for a timber frame structure though?and maybe not worth sawmilling as it may be cost prohibitive? tb

My brother is making a living milling with a woodmizer in Dayville Oregon. He mills a lot of (formerly) standing dead trees. His answer to being able to use dead trees for timber frames was "it depends". It is deffinitely possible to use them, but the longer they have been dead, the more insect damage. Fire killed trees harvested promptly are fine, but he pointed out that heavy equipment logging in a burned area may offset the "green" factor of "salvaging" dead logs. I would imagine lightning killed trees could have structural problems from the steam explosion which killed them.....It depends.

Jim

hello, currently I am in the process of building my own house out of all standing dead lodgepole pine. We (my girl and I) have purchased a sawmill in order to take advantage of all the western pine beetle killed trees we have access to here in central idaho. It just seems crazy for us to import lumber to the forest where we live. Anyway, as far as standing dead pine goes, It seems to me that as long as it isn't spiral checked or rotten it is a viable building material. Just make sure you oversize everything due to pine's relative weakness.

Steve K.

My original note of warning in this topic was more toward the dangers of felling dead trees, not the quality or integrity of the harvested wood. Hopefully you have taken a basic class on using your chainsaw or better yet have had the opportunity to take a class like "the game of logging" offer here in New England. I have taught basic chainsaw skills and am amazed we do not have more deaths. Many people I have taught knew nothing about the dynamics involved with felling and admit after the class that they could make a tree fall over, but never understood how to make it fall in a controlled manner. ALWAYS wear approved safety helmets and chaps/pants and it is a good idea to have someone standing and observing when felling deads.