Sound timber from blow downs?

[danf26]

A tornado came thru the land I now own in 2006, 3 years before I ever set foot on the property. There are a number of down trees from that event, and I am hoping to salvage some of them and mill them for lumber. Some of them are showing no signs of rot, and some very much so are. Some of them have some fungal growth coming from them. The logs with lots of fungi arent at all anything Im hoping to mill, but there are a number of logs out there with very little or almost no fungi, and it is these I am asking about. Pictures can be seen of a number of examples at: Sound timber? - a set on Flickr

I dont want to go thru the time and effort to mill anything that will be rotten anyways, and I also dont want to use sketchy pieces of wood for the timber framed structure I will be building with them. Im looking for help with determining what is still strong, sound timber, and if they would still be reliable for big faming members (8x8 posts for example) or not and just boards or not and nothing at all.

If I can see any fungal growth, should I never use that log? What if theres some fungus showing in part of the log, but not in other parts? Are some species of fungi OK, and others not at all?

Thanks everyone,
Dan

 

[pwoller]

All the wood I mill is from blown down trees that have been down for a couple of years. Dont let a little fungi scare you off, it looks like you have alot of good sound wood there.

 

[jimdad07]

I have found a lot of red oak that is rotten on the outside all the way around the tree, sometimes almost 2" thick and the wood on the inside of the tree is perfect. You might want to take out a good sharp ax with you to check some of them, or cut a cookie off the ends to check. I also wouldn't worry about the fungus.

 

[peterrum]

It looks like the majority of the sap wood has the fungus growth on it and the heart wood looks to be in better shape. I am like the others and would not worry about the fungi that is there. Take the log that has the most fungi on it and mill it then that will give you a better idea of how the rest might be. I suspect you will be pleasantly surprised. Good luck.

 

[BlueRider]

Some species are not suceptable to funga damage of the wood but will still suport fungal growth on the bark of a downed tree, or even a living tree in the right cnditions. for this reason it can be very dificult to predict what if any fungus you will find once you mill a tree. And as others have written just because there is visual evidence of fungus in the lumber it does not meand there is any loss of utility in the lumber. The fungi will go dormant once the wood dries and will remain dormant if used on the interior of a structure.

I have made furniture out of wood with fungal discoloring and sld it for more money due to the coloring than if it didn't have any fingal damage.

Mill up some of those logs and see what you have before making a decision.

 

[danf26]

Great advice guys, thanks! I'll post with the results when all is said and done.

 

[boo]

trees that have been exposed to high winds, could have
"ring shake".
some trees are more subjective to ring shake than others.
I'm not sure how to know if the tree has ring shake other than notching into it to see if the wood blocks fall apart.

 

[northwest coast]

i've been milling some cedar lately that came down in a storm last year. it was hard to buck and prep because it was under so much tension and some of it had ring shake but i still got some 36 inch wide boards out of one log and not too much got scrapped.

i always sound it with an axe first and if it doesnt echo then buck into it and you should have a good idea.

alder is known for rotting very fast but we ran some that had been sitting dead for a couple years that looked rotten down a wood-mizer and the beams we got will definitely make a strong timber frame, so you never know til you try.

 

[Boleclimber]

Mills in New Hampshire would not accept wood that fell during NH's 2008 tornado. As boo pointed out, fibers have ring shake making lumber unusable. The rings will separate from each other making weak lumber.

The other reason was danger during sawing. As the saw blade passed by torqued wood will let go at times. This sudden release of energy can damage equipment and or injure people.

 

[Boleclimber]

I forgot to mention tornado trees have higher amount of tension and ring separation from the winds twisting action. In case of down burst, trees are pushed in a straight line. Down burst trees are fine for milling. Any cracks in down burst trees typically are easily seen and cross sectional. These damages can be bucked out.

 

[BC WetCoast]

i've been milling some cedar lately that came down in a storm last year. it was hard to buck and prep because it was under so much tension and some of it had ring shake but i still got some 36 inch wide boards out of one log and not too much got scrapped.

i always sound it with an axe first and if it doesnt echo then buck into it and you should have a good idea.

alder is known for rotting very fast but we ran some that had been sitting dead for a couple years that looked rotten down a wood-mizer and the beams we got will definitely make a strong timber frame, so you never know til you try.

Red alder has very low strength characteristics at the best of times, eg modulus of elasticity, bending moments etc. You should be careful in how you use it for timber framing and consult a wood strength handbook if you plan on using it for a beam.

 

[northwest coast]

Red alder has very low strength characteristics at the best of times, eg modulus of elasticity, bending moments etc. You should be careful in how you use it for timber framing and consult a wood strength handbook if you plan on using it for a beam.

good call, it is just being used for posts in a shed, no beams. you are right though, its best use is probably bucked up and burned in a wood stove. i'd like to make a floor out of it one day.