Pond Boss Forums GENERAL QUESTIONS Pond Boss Pecan wood slabs

This has nothing to do with ponds but I am cutting some slabs from a bunch of 90 year old pecan trees that we cut to sell for BBQ wood. Up until this point we had no way to utilize the large trunks. So we just pile and burn them. But I bought a slabbing mill attachment for my stihl 880 chainsaw just to see what they would look like. And it blew me away when we opened up that first log. The slabs are as nice as any of those imported South American species. I am going to have dozens of these, and I hope I can find a market.

Take a look and let me know what y'all think!

Wow! Top to a bar, coffee table, ......Great looking wood!

Very nice.

Good looking wood. Your chain must be pretty dang sharp to do that.

Just curious; how thin can you cut it? I've never even heard of a slabbing attachment.

Editing here: OK, I started looking around and found a heckuva lot of things for saws that I didn't know existed.

Yes I can cut down to 1 inch. When you go thinner it's hard to maintain an even thickness. I bought a panther pro because I wanted to start basic then add as I needed. There is also the Alaskan mill but it comes as a package and I didn't want all the bells and whistles to start with.

Cray, Don't know how experienced you are, but if you have any questions on drying, cutting, etc, LMK. I've been doing it for over 30 years.

I have no experience at all. I have been cutting stickering and stacking. I was thinking I would allow them to dry for a year then see what they look like and offer them for sale. Do I need to weight them down? Also I have a few that have a split starting so I put a steel strap across the end and drove a few nails through the strap on both sides of the crack to keep it from spreading. Is that what I should do or is there something better I can do?

Ok... there is a lot to this. Simply put, you are cutting thicker slabs and of a harder wood. Both make it difficult to dry easily. Stack the wood in area that will only get a light air movement thru them. Also don't let the sun directly on them, or put them in a heated area to begin with. Cover the pile(only on top) to keep the sun and rain off. Coat the ends of each piece with a sealer. Center cut pieces will ALWAYS crack. Sometimes your better off dealing with doing something else with those pieces. Put your stickers about 20" apart.Make sure the sticks are uniform otherwise the pieces will get more deformed as they dry. Make sure they are placed on top of each other as you build the pile. Get a sticker on each end. The weight of the pile as it gets bigger helps pinch the ends much like you are trying to do with the straps. If using straps they will need to be tighten frerquently as the pile dries and shrinks, thus stapling would be a problem. And yes, weight the pile with around 500#, the more the better. I usually take a stack that has dried for a awhile( and thus stabilized) and put it on top of the green one. Lots more to it, but this might give you a fighting chance and avoid basic pitfalls.

Somewhere along the coast (can't remember - Washington, Oregon or northern California) wife and I stopped in a coastal town and walked out on their pier system. They had benches with backrests made of half sawn logs like you have in your pictures. They were beautiful.

They impressed me enough to buy one of the mills and also one of the mini-mills that make the first cut easier. I've used the mini-mill but have yet to use the larger one. Bought a new bar and 90 degree sharpened chain. I was just thinking about that attachment the other day and contemplating making some benches for around the pond.

My saw is not really a big enough one to do any production work. From what I have read, to really mill a lot of wood a person wants the biggest, baddest saw because of the power needed for ripping instead of crosscut.

Beautiful wood. We have burned a bunch of pecan for fire wood, but mostly limbs from large trees that needed trimming or a tree that went bad. Dense wood.

Keep us posted on how you get along.

Ok so I have put them in a un heated warehouse and I have them stickered every 14". I used 3/4" ply for sticks is that ok? Also how long should I wait to use forced air to speed drying? And thank you for the advice! I know I only get one shot at this so if there is anything else I can do that will help them to dry strait please fell free to tell me. Would latex paint be ok for end coat?

Cray, can't add any advice but am curious, why are 90 yr old trees being removed? Non productive anymore? I've seen small things made from Pecan and you are right, gorgeous wood. I cringed when ya said ya used to sell it for firewood. On the other hand, what you're embarking on now will be a lot of work. Good luck, hope it works out that someone will be appreciating that wood another 90 yrs from now.

I don't think I would use forced air. You want that to dry nice and slow. Too fast and more cracking will happen. However, check it every few days, and if you notice molding on the surface, then use forced air to stop that, but no more than necessary to keep it from molding. Then in 6 months, go ahead and use some forced air, but if you notice new cracks starting then, do less of it.

Yes, put at least a heavy coat of latex paint on the ends. Wax works better, but it is a pain. There is great commercial products, but as a starter you probably don't want to invest in that yet. Make sure the ends are dry to the touch so the paint won't peel. However, don't wait to long or cracks will start and then it doesn't do much good. Very fine line on this.

Dry straight wood: good level base to stack on... uniform sticks placed above each other.... weight evenly distributed on the stickers, lots of weight!! Some woods have to be cut thicker to allow for warpage, you just can't stop it. Can't say for Pecan, never cut any of that. But my guess is that chances are higher that it will warp more than other types.

In the fall bring it into a heated area. Let sit over the winter, and you should have wood ready to use by spring. You will get it down to 10% inside most heated areas. Wood that has been Kiln Dried will usually come up in moisture content and equalize to its environment.

Those are some pretty slabs! Why do you suppose the color contrast is so great?

I used to drive between Atlanta and Tallahassee regularly and about 10 years ago a tornado seriously damaged the pecan groves around Baconton/Camilla. Rather than salvaging the wood, they pushed it all up in piles and burned it. It seemed like such a waste.

These trees are no longer productive. So we cut them down and replant with new improved cultivars. I know it hurts my feelings too when I have to fell such a large beautiful tree, but as a pecan farmer I have to do what needs to be done. And don't worry we interplant 5 years before we cut so as not to lose production. Each one of these trees has been replaced by 4 new trees.

The heart wood is just that way. Now in the new young trees we plant we don't see that kind of contrast. Probably b/c we grow them so fast.

Thanks for the help!!!

Cray, how do you grow them fast?

The new cultivars that have been released in the last 15 years or so are more precious than the older varieties. We are planting excel, creek, Lakota, Huffman, McMillan, and Ellis. These varieties start producing enough to harvest by year 5. And in the case of creek we have had 2 year old trees that grew 100 nuts per tree. We also push them with fertilizer and micro nutrients.

No Lipan or Oswego?

Cray,
Any new varieties resistant to pecan scab? All 8 of my trees fall to this every season.

Those sure would make for nice benches or picnic tables...

Gosh Cray, we die for access to pecan wood up here for smoking, but also never knew that it was such a beautiful wood. Kinda feel bad for all those chucks I burn now. Really neat work there...how's it's density and ability to work? Figure it's along the density of hickory...not sure.

The most scab resistant varieties out there are excel,Lakota, McMillan there are others but these are the most profitable that have been cleared for planting in my area of South Georgia.

Pecan is a very hard wood. It is used in bowl turning a lot. But when it dries it is like concrete.
I hope you aren't paying to much! The wood you buy at the store may by my wood. I sell 500,000 - 1,000,000 lb a year for smoking.

Wow, that's a lot of Pecan! I love it's taste, like a mellow Hickory. This thread has my interest - learning a ton and didn't know Fish was an expert, either. Keep going!