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Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3673 02/12/07 04:04 PM
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Argofan Offline
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Hello all, this has been an interesting thread since I will be cutting down a bunch of pines and hemlocks in a couple of weeks, for my first frame.

My question is this, I may begin cutting my frame this summer, but more than probable it will be next summer.

Should I stack the trees, seal the ends and get them cut into posts next year ?

Or should I get them cut into timbers this spring and let them season as timbers ?

Thanks

Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3674 02/12/07 11:24 PM
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Thomas-in-Kentucky Offline
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Argofan,

I would cut them into posts and let them season, if you have a way to keep the posts dry. Of course they won't be completely dry when you go to cut the joinery (far from it), but you will have some indication of which way they are going to bow, and on which sides the checks are going to appear. I am not a big believer in end seal for timbers. Makes sense for boards, but I could not tell a difference on my timbers. (I end sealed half of them and then decided it wasn't really helping - maybe I should have end sealed them as logs instead of waiting to seal them as they came off the saw mill).

Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3675 02/13/07 07:39 AM
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Raphael D. Swift Offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Thomas-in-Kentucky:
(I end sealed half of them and then decided it wasn't really helping - maybe I should have end sealed them as logs instead of waiting to seal them as they came off the saw mill).
You really have to get the sealer on almost as soon as the log is bucked in some species. My EWP sat as unsealed timbers for ~3 months (in summer) before the ends started crack. A 15" diameter Hickory log starts to open up in about 8hrs in dry winter weather.


Raphael D. Swift
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Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3676 02/15/07 01:52 AM
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Timbo Offline
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I would remove strips of bark , about 3 on an average log , 4 on a real big log. Stack em up on cribs so there off the groud. Do not let vegetation grow up and around them. Put them out in the open on dry ground in the sun , but don't let the sun hit them. Lay some scrap wood on top and some roof tin. Weight the tin down good! Every 2-3 weeks roll the logs. The other suggestion where great and I agree with them , but I would cut the timbers just before I was ready to build. Plans change over time and you can't cut it bigger. One time a pily of logs I had for a cabin turned into 2k worth of siding for a friend. Cutting ahead of time is great if you got the place to season the timbers as prev. posted you can cull problem timbers but they will need to be replaced. Try to choose your logs carefully. A crooked or twisted log won't make a decent timber. Did you say your cutting hemlock? Great wood , but it can be funky, ring shake and all that. I've never used sealer for soft woods but I would like to know more about that. Pine borers are bad around here. Snows hit record 10 miles from here 11' in 7 days. Adios


Timothy W Longmore
Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3677 02/15/07 06:08 PM
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Argofan Offline
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Hi Timbo (and others), thanks for the info. How does one remove 4 strips of bark from a tree? Do you mean something like a 4" strip on 4 quadrants ?

I'll be harvesting roughly 70 trees. 50 EWP and 20 hemlocks. Sizes range from 12" to 45" in diameter! Turning them every 3 weeks will be quite a challenge.

Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3678 02/16/07 03:44 AM
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mo Offline
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when it talks to you smile

Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3679 02/16/07 02:49 PM
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Argofan Offline
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OOPS!
Slight correction. I buggered up my tree diameter calculation. 91 inches in circumference divided by PI (not 2) gives a tree diameter of 29 inches.

I would want anybody thinking that I was crossing EWP with Douglas Fir !!!
shocked

Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3680 02/17/07 05:22 PM
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Timbo Offline
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The simplest an hardest way to remove bark is w/ a drawshave. This might be rough on the knucles on large logs. Another method is a chainsaw attachment called a log wizard. Works like a plainner. I use a felling axe but my logs are usually partialy peeled by a method i call "bullying" . When the log is skidded out I'll stop when the butt log lines up with the pile and buck it into the desired length. I'll then go get another hitch and as I aproch the pile I'll use the bucket of the tractor to scrape a strip of bark from the log previously left. I'll also be pushing the second log cut from the first tree mentioned , or I'll bump it out of my way. The tires will also remove bark just be carefull.After I get the logs home I'll remove some bark where needed. This also speeds up the removal of bark if desired. Rolling the logs isn't a big issue if the're up off the ground and protected from hot sun. Don,t cover with tarp , it will do more harm than good.


Timothy W Longmore
Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3681 02/17/07 06:15 PM
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Thomas-in-Kentucky Offline
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Just had a thought on Argofan's question. Someone please tell me if my logic is flawed here...

End seal or no end seal, whether you "leave it in the log" or cut it into posts, it seems to me that your timber is going to check along its entire length.

If you cut your posts and let them season as posts, you will have gained the 1" boards that result from cutting the log into a post. You can set these 1" boards aside and let them dry as well. (They call these boards "tie siding" around here, since they are viewed as a by-product of making cross ties.)

If you wait until the whole log checks before sawing, then when you go to cutting your "siding" boards from the log, they will tend to have splits down their entire length, would they not?

Does this sound right, or is there a theory that the whole logs will not check and a few years later you can cut pristine boards and timbers from them?

Re: When is the best time to harvest timber? #3682 02/17/07 08:59 PM
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Don P Offline
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Your theory is correct and more than that;
By sizing the timber down you are lowering the stresses that build as it dries. Less tangent grain in full strength pulling around the shell. The cells in a growth ring are trying to shrink twice as much around their circle as they are in their radial or heart to bark direction. By making the timber smaller you lower the stresses. You're also interrupting more of the tangential grain. Nothing wrong with going oversize and trimming later if you have the time. The timber stacks better for handling and drying. Usually the major check forms along rays on the shortest path from heart to bark. The check forms when the tension perdendicular to grain stresses exceed the strength of the wood.

There is no advantage to having a tree laying around. Leaving any bark on, even a board edge, here is like ringing the dinner bell. I keep a drawknife at the back of the mill.

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