OT White Pine

Had the electric company take down a very large White Pine that was between my tractor shed and the power lines. Way too close to the lines for me to mess with. They were kind enough to buck it up for me. Most will go into the outdoor stove or on the bonfire, but I wanted to save some of the wood for projects. Problem is this stuff is weeping sap like crazy. Would it be better to let the rounds season and then slab it or cut it and then season?

Always hated to cut pine in the spring! Give it a few days to stop weeping and then go ahead and split it. It will dry faster.

If you are going to save it for projects and the wood will be in a dry environment, you should seal the ends of the log so it doesn't develop large cracks.

For firewood, just split or leave it dry whole; doubt if it makes much difference.

If you plan to use it for any project that needs to look good, you need to get it sawed out and drying ASAP. Otherwise it will get "blue stain", a kind of fungus,in the sapwood, and also wind up with a bunch of beetle larvae growing in it.

I have been cutting and burning "dry" white pine stubs for sugaring, my helper was collecting the grubs for fishbait. I am not sure what they are, but the grow about an inch and a half long, and make about a .38 caliber hole when they finally chew their way out of the tree.

X2 on the blue stain, get someone to take it today!

Those grubs are the larvae of pine sawyers, really large and ugly bugs, On a quite night, you can hear the bugs chewing their way out of the dead pine logs. Leave a nice pile of sawdust, too.

I have 43 out of 60 white pine logs 20" to 30" Diam., 18' +/- long to cut to finish up a job I was cutting last fall. As long as the temperature stays down the bugs won't attack but when the temperature rises they will ( no bugs yet on them). The best bet is to find a local sawmill and deliver it to him to saw. It should take less than an hour to cut it up. You maybe able to wait around and take the lumber home with you. The most important thing is to stack it properly when you get it home. Even the best lumber can be ruined by poor handling. A good solid base with stickers 4" from the ends and not more than 18" apart should be maintained on each layer as you stack it. I scrape and brush all the surfaces to remove lose saw dust, stack 3' wide and cover with a sheet of steel roofing, never cover with plastic or other materials that will trap moisture, good air flow through the stack is important to proper drying, if you don't get good air flow through the stack it will mold from trapped moisture and ruin your lumber. Adding weight to the top of the stack also helps keep the lumber straight. Now for the bad news, " COST ". Most sawyers won't be thrilled to take on such a small job as this, if you take the log to them they will cut it but at a premium price. I do not know what area you are in so this is a SWAG as to price, I've heard of $40/ $65 per Hr. for small jobs or $.25 / $.65 per BF. So now you need to ask your self if the log is worth the cost to saw ? If their were large branches, say 2" or bigger the lumber is of lower quality, if the log has a curve to it, internal stress may make it bow and curve as well. Often yard trees also contain metal and sawyers charge $25 +/- for blade damage if they hit it hidden in the log. Sorry for the long post but those are the facts you should be aware of in deciding what to do with the log.
Jo

Make sure your stickers are directly over the ones on the layer below. If they are not the boards underneath will be bowed from the weight above.