Worth milling red oak?

[FS7]

The miller must have had a pretty nice mill.  I think my max. production was just over 1000 bf in a day with my completely manual bandsaw mill.  

How are going to move those full width 8/4 slabs?  

John

Wood-Mizer LT40. Hydraulic log lifting and positioning. Very handy.

He came by himself and I ended up helping him. Two cant hooks and two guys rolling them around, chained to a truck if need be. Once on the mill, it went quickly. They advertise 550 board feet per hour, and we worked for 7 hours so it's not a blistering pace or anything.

We loaded them into the truck with two guys and I drove nextdoor (the tree was in my neighbor's front yard) to stack them. It wasn't too bad to slide them out and walk them to the stack. No actual lifting. 

I'm hoping they are substantially lighter when (mostly) dry. Otherwise, I will have to enlist some help to move them.

[FS7]

This is what I got. Eleven crotch slabs on the left, a stack of 5/4 in front, about two full pallets worth of 5/4 in the back, and two stacks of 8/4 full slabs (one with a few 5/4 boards on top). I haven't yet covered the stacks and I'm not sure I need to. I feel like I'm going to get very used to this stuff occupying my driveway over the next two years.

[jteneyck]

Nice mill the LT-40, and it sure made some nice looking wood.  Now, yes, cover it.  You don't want rain/snow making it wet, and you don't want sun shining directly on it either.  I use galvanized roofing panels with chunks of wood on top.  And now that I look at your stacks again, they are not very high off the black top.  Rain is going to bounce up onto those lower layers which is not good.  I hate to suggest you restack it, but it would definitely decrease the degrade you're going to have if you don't.  





John

[FS7]

The back stack is probably 6" off the ground, while the rest are 1". There should be sufficient airflow underneath, I think. Or I hope.

I don't have anything yet to cover it, and the cost of plywood isn't helping that. But I can easily get a few sheets and some 4x4s to help weigh them down.

[jteneyck]

The back stack is probably 6" off the ground, while the rest are 1". There should be sufficient airflow underneath, I think. Or I hope.

I don't have anything yet to cover it, and the cost of plywood isn't helping that. But I can easily get a few sheets and some 4x4s to help weigh them down.

It's not just the airflow underneath it's the rain that's going to bounce off the driveway onto the lower boards.  Wetting and rewetting causes staining, structural degrade, and mold if the conditions are right.  

Also, your racks need to be flat, in one plane, or the wood will dry with a twist, etc.  That's almost impossible to do on a driveway with just stickers as you have them.  The racks in the photo I posted are constructed that way so the cross bunks can be brought into one plane, and they are high enough off the ground for good air circulation and to avoid rain rebound.  

John

[FS7]

It's not just the airflow underneath it's the rain that's going to bounce off the driveway onto the lower boards.  Wetting and rewetting causes staining, structural degrade, and mold if the conditions are right.  

Also, your racks need to be flat, in one plane, or the wood will dry with a twist, etc.  That's almost impossible to do on a driveway with just stickers as you have them.  The racks in the photo I posted are constructed that way so the cross bunks can be brought into one plane, and they are high enough off the ground for good air circulation and to avoid rain rebound.  

John

Rain rebound wasn't something I had planned for. The back pallets are as close to level as I can get, and one sheet of plywood will pretty easily cover that stack. Covering the driveway stacks should be straightforward as well. The driveway is pretty close to flat, and what isn't flat is at least planar (where the wood is, anyway). Would that still cause an issue? I had read about keeping the area as flat as possible.

We are entering what is a pretty dry season here, so I will keep an eye on it once it's covered. Drying lumber in this quantity is new to me so some of this will be a learning experience.