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John Nordyke
08-24-2015, 11:29 AM
Hi - first post from a new member. One month ago, a wind storm blew over two cherry trees at church - the trees grew right next to each other, and are laying on the ground, shared root balls still intact (in fact, leaves are still green). Volunteers with chain saws are coming TOMORROW. I can have ALL the wood (largest diameters on each tree are nearly 15 inches).

My situation seems to have some mutually-exclusive limitations for how best to handle the wood while minimizing degradation, and I need to know what to do:

1. They will cut the trees however I ask, but then leave.
2. It will be at least three months before I can get around to doing anything with the cut-up logs.
3. I will have to transport the logs basically by myself, with no hoists or cranes or other assistance other than 'arm power'
4. It will be more wood than I can store indoors for the next three months, so I'll have to stack/cover in my yard.
5. Over the winter, I will rough-turn bowls, and use the boil-and-bag method of seasoning.

In what man-portable form should I have the trees processed by the chainsaw gang, and how do I best protect this wood until I can get around to rough turning?

Thanks in advance....

Cody Colston
08-24-2015, 2:06 PM
Hello John and welcome to the Sawing and Drying forum.

Have the volunteers cut short logs that are about 4 inches longer than the tree diameter. That is optimum for bowl blanks and you should be able to manhandle the short logs. If they are really accommodating, have them chainsaw the short logs in half lengthwise. Seal the log ends ASAP after they are bucked to length. Original Anchorseal is my preferred sealant, available through U.C. Coatings. You could also use melted paraffin wax or a 50/50 mix of aluminum paint and varnish. Water-based paint is not advised.

Don't store the log chunks indoors. They will dry out too fast and check/crack. Fruit woods like Cherry are notorious for cracking. An open-sided shed or even a canopy would be ideal. If that's not an option, stack them off the ground and cover the stack with corrugated metal roofing, available at your local home center. Place some weight on the roofing sheets to keep them from blowing off. Don't cover with a tarp as it will promote mold and mildew.

John Nordyke
08-24-2015, 8:26 PM
Thank you, Cody.

John Nordyke
08-25-2015, 12:50 PM
Ok, all the blemish-free trunk is bucked to length and sealed. I'll go back and cut in half lengthwise this evening - at least the bigger pieces that turned out to be more like 18-20 inch diameter and thus too heavy for me to manhandle as a whole log. Make my cuts enough off-center to remove the pith, right?

Also, just the end-grain sealed, not the exposed interior side of these logs? For pieces I COULD handle without splitting in half, is it advisable to leave as whole logs for now?

As I am told is common with large cherry trees, the upper portion of the trunk was hollow/full of punky wood in the middle. It looks, though, like I could still get a lot of good blanks by cutting length-wise off-center avoiding punky wood. Will I get a reasonable number of salvageable blanks from those pieces, or are so many of them likely to deteriorate on me that it isn't worth the effort?

Cody Colston
08-26-2015, 8:54 AM
Yes, you only seal the end grain. You can leave the smaller logs whole but they will be subject to stain and spalt depending on how long it will be before you turn them. See the attached link on processing logs into bowl blanks. I think it's even a Cherry that Bill is cutting up.

http://wonderfulwood.com/sawing-a-log-for-bowls/

John Nordyke
08-27-2015, 10:25 AM
Excellent. Appreciate the pointers. I'm cut, slabbed, sealed, and stacked. Now I need to find someone to help me make a monster rocket stove for boiling the rough turned bowls when I make shavings in November.