Sawing fallen trees

[Barron Shaw]

I'm getting ready to have a recently fallen oak sawn. It is a beautiful old tree deep in the woods and nearly 40" in diameter. While I'm at it, I plan to saw other trees that came down in the same storm. But where to stop? I know of at least one pretty cherry (about 28" wide) that came down 3-4 years ago. Any chance it is still any good at the core?

While perusing this question I noticed the quality of large trees that I know have been on the ground 30 years (because I played on them as a boy). Seems like it takes a long time for nature to have its way with them...

[Mark Bolton]

More often than not anything that has been on the ground that long will be in bad shape once you get it open. While it takes a long time for nature to completely digest a fallen tree the process begins very quickly. Trees get buggy and spalt pretty quick. Sometime the buggy can be nice but it can be tough to time.

You will likely be able to tell how sound the tree is when you buck it up into saw logs. Any major decay will show up then.

We have sometimes had good luck with trees that have been down a whiel if they have fallen over a gap or are not laying directly on the ground but you often can run into problems with tension in the logs when they have been down a long time. We once sawed a large basswood log that had been laying across a gap for some period of time. It seemed that with the drying that had occurred and having laid across the gap so long, every board would split up the center before it got off the mill. Many would split along their total length when you dropped them in the pile.

If the log seems sound it may be worth a try but be ready to turn it to firewood if things start to fall apart.

Mark

[Scott T Smith]

Barron, the primary factors that affect the suitability of older logs for milling is based upon the species and the environment that they are in. Higher temperatures and higher humidity environments will see an accelerate decay, as opposed to a log laying on the ground in a desert.

I would definitely see if the 3-4 year old cherry was still solid, as it could have some spalt in it.

Usually, if a tree falls in the fall, you can safely leave it down until the spring and have minimal degrade. During the summer months you need to mill them more quickly if you want to avoid staining.

[Danny Hamsley]

I agree with Scott that it is species dependent. The heartwood in cherry, oak, especially white oak, walnut, black locust, etc. last a long time, even if the log is on the ground. Other species like soft maple, yellow poplar, sweetgum, sycamore, are toast in as little as a few months to a year.

[Mark Bolton]

I agree with Scott that it is species dependent. The heartwood in cherry, oak, especially white oak, walnut, black locust, etc. last a long time, even if the log is on the ground. Other species like soft maple, yellow poplar, sweetgum, sycamore, are toast in as little as a few months to a year.

The only two in the list I have had decent luck with with regards to bugs and rot/decay are Walnut and Black Locust. Those two are a given. You cant go wrong with any material used for building sills and fence posts. All the oaks, including white oak, for us have been very susceptible to bugs and rot with the white oak being better with rot but still gets buggy. The closed capillaries of the white oak really help with moisture but do nothing for the bugs.

We have found that cherry gets buggy very fast on the ground for any period of time but perhaps its a location thing.

I didnt aim to say nothing good can come from a log on the ground. I am just of the mind that you shouldnt get attached to it just because its on the mill. Sawing is a ton of work and rather than handle a bunch of boards you later wish you hadn't its better to just roll it right back off and get some BTU's out of it.

Mark

[Dan Barber1]

I had a cherry that was down for five or six years and it still had some of the prettiest wood that I have ever seen. The first inch or so was affected but not much more than that. This was in Tennessee.

[Steven Green]

I just cut up a 30 foot Hackberry trunk that has been down for at least three or more years. It was suspended above the ground widow maker style but I thought it might still have some good dry cordwood in it. I was surprised to find the trunk spalted but sound in all respects. There is another one just like it down in the draw a bit away from there and I'm gonna have a shot at it tomorrow. I think I'm going to save some for turning and burn the bulk of it.