Choosing logs

[dustyone]

Hi everyone, I am in the early stages of discovery, I plan on some day soon to go to the class. I live in Northern Illinois but I want to build in Southern Missouri , Ozarks. I have About 50 plus acres full of tall straight white oak. I do have a few big pines but it is oak country. I have seen pros and cons for using oak. all I have seen are comparisons on milled logs or short, 12 to 15 foot logs. I would want to use 40 plus feet and can saw and skid to build site. Well experts, This uninformed is curious about Oak viability, and when to cut.Thanks, Dusty

[islandr]

Hi Dusty-

Welcome to the group. The best time to cut the trees is after the sap is "down"... in fall or winter. This is the time when there would be less shrinkage in the logs, tho they can be harder to peel then than when the sap is running with nutrients. I

[dustyone]

Thank you for the information, I figured the cutting would be the same. I wasnt sure about the Oak verses pine etc... Oak is a hard wood and white oak has some great advantages ( from what I have read) but also some disatvantages, The one that worries me the most is weight. a second is checking, I have talked with a local logger ( logging is big in that area) and I can arrange some sort of swap for pine. The more I read about things , the more I realize besides building a log home always having been a dream, That the style and techniques I read about at log home builders assoc is the way to go, I will attend the class and get more anxious and excited with every bit of information I can scrouinge up.

[Basil]

seems like, as valuable as oak is, you could sell it and get all the pine you want!!

But and pass requires that you spike your logs, which means you have to drive spikes into the wood. I wouldn't want to do that with oak, but if you build with it you wont have to worry about the house being weak or rotting easily!!

[dustyone]

I am considering swapping oak for pine, I am not afraid to drive the pins. I was also considering using 1 inch solid oak dolls instead of rebar, seems the price of steel ( if I have to buy even wholesale) is somewhat more than 1 inch oak dolls. I am just curious to learn as much as I can, pros and cons using white oak. thanks for reply.

[KakarotMF]

As always, try and check w/ a PE about using oak dowels. The rebar dowels are for lateral resistance, something that steel is perfect for. Any house with a cathedral ceiling (most log homes) can have a higher lateral load on the exterior walls. That factor goes up the more snow you get.