Apple tree came tumbling down.

[Don Kingston]

One of my brothers removed 4 apple tree's from his yard and I spotted them in the burn pile. Not yet lit. Told him not to that I will cut them up for tote's and things. The ? the to the knowledgeable ones, how to best cut and then proper storage for what length of time to have it suitable to make saw handle or plane handle or tote's and other item's that are tasty with apple wood. Biggest diameter might be 3-4" maybe 5 tops. lengths are 3-4' Now they are hole trees he plucked out of the ground and drug to the back. nothing has been cut.
Thanks for the knowledge sharing
Don Kingston
Last month lost some huge 200yr+ old oak tree's near me due to storms and missed some great lumber. Need to find portable sawmill by me. Southeast side of Chicago in Hammond Indiana. I snoozed I loozed.

[Frank Drew]

Don

ASAP, you should end coat the logs with Anchorseal, generic green wood sealer, or several coats of paint. Then, also ASAP, saw or split the logs down the middle, right through the pith, so that you end up with two semi-round halves per log. Those are your best first steps to prevent checking and splitting.

[george wilson]

If the WHOLE apple tree came tumbling down,that must really reinforce Newton's theory of gravity!!!:) I wish I had some apple trees around here. One might just come tumbling down! Of course,I got some nice apple from David and another member here.

[David Weaver]

Don, you may want to set it aside if it's 3-4" in diameter and use it for spoons or chisel handles. In order to get something like a saw handle out of apple, the quartered cut has to be from a fairly wide section of the tree - probably from something more like 18" in diameter so you can cut out the pith and some of the junk at bark level on the outside of the tree and still get 5" or so of blank.

Apple is poorly behaved when drying, so do like was mentioned above and split the wood and then seal it. It loves to split, I guess most fruitwood does.

[Prashun Patel]

The best is to rive it down the center. You'll end up with the most stable quarters. Then coat the ends in wax.

The next best is to chainsaw the stumps into D's, removing as much of the pith as possible. Then coat the ends in wax.

The third best is to just coat the ends with wax.

In any case, you'll have better success to the extent that you can keep the processed blanks near the floor in a cool basement with minimal (but not NO) airflow and stable humidity.

[Don Kingston]

Thanks to all it is very appreciated.Will do as Frank said and no airflow. Should be able to put in plastic garbage bags, that will stop airflow.

[Prashun Patel]

Dont put it in plastic. You risk mold. Better to just seal the ends with wax.

[jamie shard]

Just another vote for splitting and coating ends in anchorseal. You will be amazed at how much the wood will move, split, etc. If you don't split the wood, it may create many fine splits throughout the wood... rendering much of it unusable.

[Frank Drew]

Don,

You don't need to isolate drying wood from all airflow, just not hot winds and definitely no direct sunlight. The shady side of a building up off the ground and out of the weather would be fine, even inside a garage. As Prashun said, wrapping up green wood can promote mold and rot.

[Don Kingston]

OK I am glad I heard not to put in plastic. I was thinking maybe the fruit tree needed to be more protected than other trees.
Thanks to all.