Cordwood construction

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I have about a 1/2 acre of pine trees I need rid of (and not becuase of Pine Beetles), and it is starting to look like I'm gonna have burn 'em to get rid of them. Can't sell 'em, as the local saw mill is so swamped he's laid off his crew and is just selling what he has cut. Won't even mill the lumber for me! Even called a pulp wood mill - told me if I could truck them, they'd unload me and take the wood free, but they wouldn't come to me. So I got to thinking about a simple quasi-cordwood outbuilding to use as a chicken coop or a goat shed, garden shed, dog house, etc. I was thinking I could set my corner poles, lay out where I wanted the door, and build a single layer between my posts, then stucco the outside. Has anyone done anything like this before? What kind of results did you have?

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), September 28, 2000

Answers

Eric, pine is a poor choice for cordwood masonry--cedar or locust (black or honey)would be better. Pine rots, shrinks, and houses termites, borers, and powder beetles. The rosinous exudate from cut pine makes a poor join to masonry and the pine sawdust makes too dry and tacky an addition to the mortar mix you would use in cordwood construction. But also, consider locating a portable bandsaw mill operator to saw your pine. In Alabama we have a monthly farmers bulletin that always has the name and address of several bandsaw operators. You can also find these fellows in your local "shopper" type publications.

-- Rags in Alabama (RaggedReb@aol.com), September 29, 2000.

My parents first house was a round cordwood house they built themselves. 'Rags' is right, pine isn't a good choice. A friend of ours used cedar, from our property, for his cordwood 'mansion' and his house is a beauty! Perhaps you know someone with a portable mill? Hope you find a use for your wood!

-- Abigail F. (treeoflife@sws.nb.ca), September 29, 2000.

Thanks for the feed back. Maybe I'll drop 'em and stack the trunks, burn the rest of it, and wait until the saw mill is back in operation. I thought about the portable sawmaill, but my buddy hired a guy, and it just didn't seem cost effective at the time to me, considering what the saw mill is asking for his cut lumber.

-- Eric in TN (ems@nac.net), September 29, 2000.

You could do a internet search on "Chainsaw lumbermill", its basically where you take your chainsaw and cut planks with it, works pretty good too.

You could then stack the green planks and let them season for a bit and sell them.

Just an idea.....

-- Dave (Ak) (daveh@ecosse.net), September 30, 2000.


grab the chain saw- you've got yourself a booming firewood business!m.b.

-- maureenb (firegirl102@hotmail.com), October 07, 2000.


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