You forgot to mention what car is best for driving across country to visit the forest.
Visiting the forest and mill sounds like a great idea, though I doubt that it would ensure the quality of the timbers you would receive. Great road trip though, if you had money and time to burn. (A small percentage of the overall budget is still a big number.) When I was preparing my house foundation, and ordering tools/materials for the frame, both time and money were precious commodities. Even so, I was prepared to take the 2000+ mile trip out west.
But, choosing my own logs was not an option, at least through the company I choose. I tried to arrange a trip to inspect the timbers prior to shipment. Even that was problematic, since they could not give me more than a couple days of notice and couldn’t hold the timbers for my review. The mill made it clear that I would be taking my chances, and that it was very unlikley that I would show up at a time when the timbers were available for inspection. Make of that what you will.
I think, in practical terms, the approach you suggest is viable if you are using locally grown timbers. If you are using timber grown on the other side of the country, you pretty much have to trust the integrity of the mill to provide what they say they'll provide.
As far as being “lured”, that may have been a poor choice of words. Thanks for pointing that out.
I liked the idea of not cutting a few dozen live trees for use in my frame. I also liked the idea of using timbers that had partially dried on-the-stump. I willingly paid a premium for those two factors. But, the timbers I got were green. They certainly were not dry/stable, as advertised, and I wonder if they were dead prior to the chainsaw.
I am just trying to pass my experience along to anyone considering standing dead timbers. They should know that what they advertise is not always what they deliver.
Of course, if you can be on hand as the crew selects, fells, and mills your timbers, that’s the best way to know what you’re getting.
