FAQ: How Soon To Cut Oak Trees For Lumber After Tree Is Cut?

When is it safe to prune oak trees?

• It is safest to trim oak trees during the colder fall and winter months. Oak trees are sensitive to trimming during the warmer months of the year, and trimming your oak trees during the summer can unnecessarily put your oak trees at risk for disease. The best time to trim oak trees is in the colder fall and winter months.

How long can oak logs sit before milling?

From Gene Wengert, forum technical advisor: As a rule of thumb, there will be a measurable loss in four to six weeks of warm (over 50 F) weather. It is just a rule of thumb.

How long can logs sit before milling?

Some logs you may want to pull to the side and let set for a couple of years. I would pile all of the maple and sycamore for atleast a 18 month sit. You can have a year or so on the oaks. Sweet gum does not last long and hickory and ash will get a bit buggy but that to adds to it sometimes.

How long after cutting a tree can you use the wood?

If you have cut down a deadwood tree or scavenged large branches from the ground to be used as firewood then these can typically be used within 2 to 3 months. However, if you have cut firewood from green wood trees then you are going to need to give it up to 24 months to properly dry out before using it.

Should you let logs dry before milling?

Summary: Logs should be milled for drying as soon as possible, and the ends should be sealed as soon as they are felled. A bandsaw mill will create less waste than a chainsaw mill. Logs can be sawn for grade, quarter sawn, or flitch cut.

Is it worth it to mill your own lumber?

Milling your own lumber can produce quality material for a fraction of the price of a lumber dealer. This means you select how you want the lumber cut and are in control as it’s drying. In my experience you’ll end up with stock that is much higher quality than you can readily buy.

Is it better to cut wood wet or dry?

But wet wood is actually much easier to cut than dry wood. With dry wood lacking moisture content, more friction is created as the chainsaw chain comes into contact with the wood fibers. As a matter of fact, dry wood that is wet on the outside will be easier to cut through than dry wood that is not.

How long should a tree dry before milling?

Depending on the thickness of the lumber and where you live, weather and time of the year, it will take anywhere from 6 weeks to 4 months. Most lumber is in the 1” to 2” thickness and the time above applies to thicknesses.

Do dead trees make good lumber?

Standing dead trees can indeed make some nice lumber. It just depends on what killed them. I’ve harvested and sawed several thousand bf of standing dead Walnut, Red Oak and Post Oak. Most of it rendered good lumber, some of it was firewood.

What length do you cut logs for lumber?

Find yourself a nice and straight stick, preferably green and hard like oak or ash. Use a tape measure and cut the stick to either 4 feet or 6 feet exactly. I like to use 4-foot-long sticks because most log lengths are divisible by 4 feet. Mark the stick by cutting a groove in it at 2-foot increments.

Can you burn fresh cut pine?

No matter which way you cut it (or split it with your trusty log splitter), fresh wood just doesn’t burn right. Fresh-cut wood has a high moisture content, which makes it hard to get burning. It also gives off more smoke.

What is the fastest way to season firewood?

5. Let in the sun. Allow sun and wind to reach your wood pile, the more sides of the wood it can reach, the faster your firewood will season. Your freshly cut wood can be left out in the wind and sun in a roughly built firewood stack for a few months before stacking it to speed along the drying time.

Can I use fresh cut tree for firewood?

Burning a recently cut live tree’s wood, referred to as “green wood,” is not the best use of the resource or safe in a home. The moisture also results in excessive smoke, causing green wood to be a poor choice for indoor furnaces or wood stoves.

How do you dry rough cut lumber fast?

All you need to do is set up a decent dehumidifier beside the stack of wood to be dried, let it run, and it will suck the moisture right out of the wood. This can speed up the drying time from months or weeks to just a few days. Even better is if you add an air fan into the mix to produce some extra airflow.

How long does it take rough cut lumber to dry?

The traditional rule of thumb is to let the lumber air -dry for one year for each inch of thickness, but this is only a general rule and close monitoring of the lumber, especially with the help of a moisture meter, provides more flexibility.