wow. thanks so much for the informed responses. now that i understand a little better how the wood may move and why, the situation is even more perplexing. a couple of ignorant chainsaw cuts would have made life a lot easier, or faster anyways.
i wonder, what to do with this big white pine timber then? it's going into a perogala, along with an already cut, curved overhead beam, so one curved piece could work out lucky. i had wanted to get at least 2 8*10's or preferably 8*12s out of the 16*20 piece. any suggestions?
many thanks again for the collective wisdom here.
