leaving the bark on log poles

[Paul Wheaton]

I'm doing some thinning and getting a fair amount of wood that would make good poles for a porch or a barn or something. At first I was going to peel them, but some of that bark really doesn't want to peel! My brother pointed out the wood on a dead snag. The wood seemed plenty strong. The bark came of easily. There were little bug trails all over the outside of the wood, but nothing on the inside. He made a very compelling argument to just leave the bark on. Stack the poles and let them dry. When the time comes to build anything, make sure the overhang from the roof keeps 99% of the water well away from the pole in the ground. And make sure there is ample trenching around the structure to keep any ground water away.

So I saw stars in my eyes and the lazy putz in me said "sounds good!"

Am I gonna regret this?

[Travis in Louisiana]

I mess with log furniture some, so here is my somewhat answer. The green logs will peel better than when they are dry. I have found the bark is hard to get off of pine logs after they have dried. Also, if you peel the bark off, the logs will dry faster. I know if you leave the logs out in the weather to dry with the bark on them, the logs will usually rot. Now I live in the south where the humidity is quite high. On the other hand, at my cabin in Montana, there is no humidity and I see log buildings standing in the area that are ages old and are in fairly good shape. So in the long run, If it was me, I would peel the bark off. I use a draw knife, disc sander, or an electric hand planer to get the bark off and trim off the limb stubs.

[bare]

If you want easy to peel logs, springtime is the time to cut them. The lazy man's way is to just peel a single strip, preferably on two sides of the log and let the rest fall off.

I've always been told that an unpeeled log will harbor critters and always be a problem, but the very first log cabin I ever was involved in building was constructed of small diameter, unpeeled lodgepole pine. That was 40 years ago and the bark's still tight and can't tell that there's been more of a critter problem there than conventionally peeled logs.

The only time I wish we'd taken the time to peel them was when trying to clean all the collected dust from the interior. You simply can't.

[bare]

Forgot to mention...those bug trails you see on the cambium layer of the snags, under the bark? Those are beetle tracks and are in all likelyhood what weakened and killed the tree. As soon as the tree is dead, the beetles make tracks for another live tree. They don't stick around long in dead ones.

As a side note, you can look at the pattern of those tracks under the bark and tell exactly what kind of beetle made it.

[Haggis]

When I was a boy we used to cut poles for tobacco barns and they needed them to be peeled. They dry faster if cut in the winter and the good poles are easier to find will the leaves are off. We would cut them, prop them up off the ground, and take about a one inch strip off them from end to end with a drawknife. The poles would dry faster and the bark could just be knocked off later with an axe.

Hickory and some other hard woods are not so easy if cut in the winter. Their bark would dry as hard as Portsmouth Flint and stick like glue. If you let the sap come up before you cut your poles the bark will almost fall off of any kind of pole; especially poplar.

[Laura]

Leaving the bark on harbors bugs and hide any rotting that may happen. The only logs that can be used with the bark on is cedar.

Stack your poles in the goat pen. They will peel the bark off for you.

[diane]

"Stack your poles in the goat pen. They will peel the bark off for you."

:haha: Sure enough!! And do a pretty good job of it too!!

[rambler]

Very much depends on what species of wood you are talking about.

It _can_ work your way, but you are inviting rot & critters & fungus to cause you some problems. If kept dry & stacked so air can circulate - can work. If tossed on a pile in the weather, more likely to rot out on you. Peeled logs dry out quicker & better so you will have more solid wood, less shrinkage when you start building.

If this is a 'someday' deal & they might be laying there 10 years from now, let it be. If you are serious about wanting good poles next year, you can depend on good wood if you peel them.

--->Paul

[MikeJoel]

Originally Posted by Laura

Leaving the bark on harbors bugs and hide any rotting that may happen. The only logs that can be used with the bark on is cedar.

Stack your poles in the goat pen. They will peel the bark off for you.

Would sheep do this too?

Thanks
Mike

[SouthernThunder]

Have you tried a draw knife? Next best thing to goats.

[Alex]

Only peel logs when the sap starts to flow: in the spring and early summer. If you start the peel with an ax, shovel, spud, or just about anything, then, you can pull it off in big strips.

I have had to peel logs at other times, because I wanted more logs for some building project -- I hated the sweat and physical effort -- only because I knew if I did it at the right time -- it would be no trouble at all; an 8 year old child could do it -- and did on some of our logs -- for our log cabin.

About May 15 and onward up at Moberly Lake in northern BC is the right-easy time to peel.

Good luck,

Alex

[Paul Wheaton]

These are all fir and pine.

I'm not too far from montana.

And, yes, these logs will be off the ground and under tin. Nice and dry.

[Virg]

After stacking I like to put some tar on the ends. It helps to stop the checking.