Shopsmith Forums

Because of a drought in Texas there are 100's of pine and oak trees that have died in my area. My question is how long after a hardwood tree dies can it be cut down and milled and still produce good results. If you do cut it down what is the best length to cut for milling purposes. What is the shortest a mill will accept. Thanks in advance for any advice you might be able to provide.

Fred Sheldon
The Woodlands, Tx.

If you go to the Wood-Mizer Sawmills website, they have a service where you fill out a form regarding what you want done and they will give you the names of a few sawyers in your area. That way, you can talk directly with a nearby sawyer who can give you any particulars before embarking on obtaining logs.

I'm not sure about the time frame. I'm also guessing the sooner the better. You want to try and salvage as much wood as possible before the bugs, worms, and other critters get to it.

As for length, a lot of the larger mills are looking for quantity (if they do any extra milling on the side at all). But, often times there will be small operations or individuals who will do milling on the side. There is one guy in my area who has a milling machine and does side work at his farm. He really doesn't consider size of logs all that much (I'm guessing as long as they are big enough to cut with his machine) since he charges by the hour anyway.

Unless you need longer material I would stick with 8 to 12 foot long. One thing to remember is the lengths such as 4 foot long take longer to mill because of the extra handling. If the pine has been dead for a month or so it probably is full of bugs and the oaks can stand longer if the bark is gone. Sometimes the oaks will get darker colored wood if not sawed shortly afer they are down. I have sawed oaked that has been down over 10 years and the dia was about 3 foot but it had rotten wood around the outside 6 to 8inches thick. The guy I milled if fore made the cabinets for his house out of the wood.

Thanks to everyone for that information. I will try to locate a local miller and obtain additional information.

Fred Sheldon