Air drying before milling....and felling

[cantcutter]

I know old timers who pick trees for firewood the year before they need them and go out and cut a ring around the base of the tree into the sap wood. They claim this kills the tree, but leaves it standing to air dry... Sounds to me like a good way to make widowmakers, but that aside.... I wonder if it works like they think it does. I don't have a woodlot close enough to me to try it in, but think its an interesting idea for milling too... anybody else ever heard of this or tried it?

 

[Matildasmate]

They call it ring barking over here

I know old timers who pick trees for firewood the year before they need them and go out and cut a ring around the base of the tree into the sap wood. They claim this kills the tree, but leaves it standing to air dry... Sounds to me like a good way to make widowmakers, but that aside.... I wonder if it works like they think it does. I don't have a woodlot close enough to me to try it in, but think its an interesting idea for milling too... anybody else ever heard of this or tried it?

It defintely kill's the tree , they used to do it a lot in the old day's around here , mainly on red gum's , no idea about the rest of it though . Cheer's mm

 

[Sprig]

Girdling here

Uncommon and not recommended unless you really want branches fallin' on ya imho. Strikes me as unwise.



Serge

 

[Sawyer Rob]

For the best grade and quality of lumber, you should cut the tree down green, saw out the logs and end coat them with Anchorseal. Then mill the logs ASAP.

Rob

 

[olyman]

cancutter--its called girdling the tree---and anyone that tells you the tree will dry standing ----is fos--tell ya why---ex grandfather in law girdeld one in about 1948??---fast forward--in 1979 i went to cut the tree down for firewood--this was a burr oak-------and the outside of the tree was rotting--about 1 1/2 inches of it was rotted---ex fil said this tree was 2 1/2 ft dia when he started farming the land---it was now down to 20 in---------when i cut it down---the inside of the tree was still wet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and had to dry it like a normal tree for firewood------been there---

 

[aggiewoodbutchr]

cancutter--its called girdling the tree---and anyone that tells you the tree will dry standing ----is fos--tell ya why---ex grandfather in law girdeld one in about 1948??---fast forward--in 1979 i went to cut the tree down for firewood--this was a burr oak-------and the outside of the tree was rotting--about 1 1/2 inches of it was rotted---ex fil said this tree was 2 1/2 ft dia when he started farming the land---it was now down to 20 in---------when i cut it down---the inside of the tree was still wet!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and had to dry it like a normal tree for firewood------been there---

That is absolutely true. The only practical way to air try wood is to mill it.

 

[woodshop]

That is absolutely true. The only practical way to air try wood is to mill it.

Agreed... I can tell you from experience, that the wood in a tree doesn't really dry until it's cut into boards or firewood sized pieces. Also, girdling will not ALWAYS kill a tree. Some species, red maple for example, are tough to kill by girdling... it will weaken the tree for sure, but the tree still finds ways to get water and nutrients up into the tree and sap down from the leaves, and does not always die as it should.

 

[ginseng]

Drying logs

Hey guys i talked to a older gentleman logger who builds cabins out of tulip popular he told me he has good luck with falling the tree when sap goes down keeping the tree off the stump, when spring comes he said the tree will budd and get leaves that will dye when it gets the moisture out of log thought i wood let ya all know,maybe not all of course but does make some sense.indiana

 

[woodshop]

Hey guys i talked to a older gentleman logger who builds cabins out of tulip popular he told me he has good luck with falling the tree when sap goes down keeping the tree off the stump, when spring comes he said the tree will budd and get leaves that will dye when it gets the moisture out of log thought i wood let ya all know,maybe not all of course but does make some sense.indiana

This is interesting... I'm sure the spring budding and first leaves would help take some of the moisture out of that log through transpiration, but I'd be willing to bet that wood is still way saturated until it's sliced into lumber and that moisture has a chance to escape from the wood. I've opened up logs that have been dead for years and every one was still pretty wet inside.

 

[smokechase II]

standing dead

This is going to vary by species and aspect. Bark thickness and consistency is a factor also.

Softwoods locally will dry out standing much much faster than laying down.

To get them seriously dry takes about 3 years.

One year of drying, beetle kill, takes them to a moderately dry condition throughout most of the tree. Be aware that the butt will be the last place to lose moisture. But, to get really dry takes a couple years longer.

***************

Of course, what everyone else here is saying about milling / bucking allowing the air to have excess to the wood cells to speed their drying is correct.

 

[ginseng]

I agree with you guys letting the tree budd out and die off is not going to get all that moisture out of the tree but it can help a little i guess! i am going to try it this year on some popular tree's i have on the property and see what the moisture content will be on one of them . And then let air dry

 

[Trigger-Time]

All ways thought it helped for fire wood. Ringed trees in July or Aug.
Hottest and driest time of the year here. Leaves sure seemed to pull
moisture out of the tree. I do know it will be dryer standing than
laying on the ground.........standing it catches allot of air, and if
you wait 1 year all twigs and most of the small limbs will be off.

 

[cantcutter]

I agree with you guys letting the tree budd out and die off is not going to get all that moisture out of the tree but it can help a little i guess! i am going to try it this year on some popular tree's i have on the property and see what the moisture content will be on one of them . And then let air dry

let us know how the experiment goes

 

[johnb]

drain my tree

Yea, I can see leaving a tree stand to dry out some is ok. Perfect examples (here) are elms dying from dutch elm disease. The standing timber that debarks is always dryer then the ones that fall over. Some trees that are heavy sap trees probably won't dry standing very well but most should. I have cherry logs that were cut green 5 years ago in my milling pile that are still wet inside. They won't dry till sliced and diced and piled inside. Happy milling the Hoosier