First log home HELP!

[steadn']

I dunno if this is in the right section but here it is. I posted in the forestry forum under timerframing and have had no replies. Please help.

So I was given a few acres that were cleared out to build on. I have a bunch of long straight beams cut. Mostly Red and Black oak. I want to build a post and beam or stockade log cabin. My 60yr father in law saw what timber I had down and told me it would rot to quickly and was a waste of time. He suggested to selective harvest whites. This cabin is going to be very small under 500 sq ft with a loft, reciprocal timber frame roof. I will live in it while building my house. Id like to save as much white for the actual home as possible. After the home is built the cabin will be for guest/storage/ man cave.


The question is will the red oak rot to fast and be a poor choice. Or just go with it? Any recomendations on post beam or stockade. I looked up tree mechanics and red and whitw are very similar just that white is rot resistant and red is not due to tylus or something. Thanks in advance I plan on homesteading off the land as much as possible with little to no store bought items. I live ina very remote part of the Boston Mtns in AR if that helps.
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[treeslayer2003]

if kept off the ground the red will last a long time. there is a 400 year old cabin near here that has some red in it, long over hang on the roof and whit oak first layer on piers.
the historical society has put clap boards on it, IDK if they did that original and thats why it lasted or not.

 

[steadn']

So say I timber frame it with a mix of red and black, I can have slabwood delivered for $25 a truckload. I could say clapboard the outer layer with it?

 

[treeslayer2003]

i suppose ya could, may have trouble with knots and cupping............slabs are normally pretty trashy.
IDK where you are but tulip poplar is good for clapboards as is most pine...........i know nothing about white pine other than its soft.

 

[B Harrison]

White Pine will rot quickly near the ground, a hardwood timber should be used there, but it too needs to be treated.
Yellow Pine is less likely to rot, however its harder to work with (warps)
Hemlock would be ideal especially if you are going to mill them square. Many original cabins were built out of chestnut, which is all gone, but never rots.
If you can get them debarked and treat them every few years the white pine logs will be easy and cheap. Do yourself a favor and start with some treated timbers. mill out some siding from the white pine too.