Delay in Milling Southern Pine

If you have a supply of logs you can't saw up right away, what's the best way to handle them? January 12, 2015

Question (WOODWEB Member) :
I have access to a bunch of SYP being cut in the next week (30-40 logs). I would like to just mill each log into a cant and sticker them. Then in the next few months do the rest of the final milling. Will the cants be ok while they start air drying until I can get to them? Will they blue stain? I'm just a one man show, and I can't get to fully mill each log in a timely fashion. The person cutting down the trees is doing it now so I have no choice as to when I get them. Plus they are free so I can't be anything less than grateful.

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From Contributor M:
I think if it were me I'd do each log completely and sticker the lumber. Seal the ends of the other logs to slow the checking and just get to them as soon as you can. If you just do big cants they are going to keep checking almost as bad as the logs, and they will twist with the pith included. This way what lumber you do get is good and you did the best you could with what’s left.

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From contributor K:
A couple of other suggestions: Would be to set up a sprinkler system over your log stack to keep them from drying too much over time? A few years back, while I cut some pine, I was caught by a heavy rain which lasted a couple of days. I was just stacking the lumber dead on a trailer, to move it over to where I would sticker. I was really surprised how fast the mold colonized that stack before I got it stickered. I ended up getting it all pressure treated, My friend that managed that plant said that it wouldn't have any effect on the final product, since it was all early stage. I ended up using some of it for my own floating boat dock, and can say that after a short period of time, it all looks fine, or no difference than fresh lumber would look.