An oak’s life is normally from 150-300 years. Trees don’t live forever and they eventually die; most of them become mulch or firewood unless they are specifically harvested to be used for lumber. This seems to be a waste, as many local trees are beautiful hardwoods. I recently acquired several 33″ diameter oaks that had been cut down. I took them to a local sawyer and had them quarter-sawn into 3″ thick planks.

Wood has a very high moisture content and it has to be dried before it can be used in any construction process. This is most often accomplished by exposing the wood to air for many months. Final drying is done in a heated chamber called a wood drying kiln. The wood will spend a long time in the heated and ventilated kiln until it has a moisture content acceptable for construction

My log on the sawyer’s saw mill.
The sawyer cutting the oak into planks.
The yield.
I transferred the planks to a friend’s property so it could continue to dry in the environment.
These planks are very heavy so I’m glad that I have a dump trailer to make my life just a little bit easier.
Ready to dry out, these planks will eventually be processed into finished pieces.
The planks covered with a tarp. They will then be stacked to allow for airflow. They will then stay outside for 6-8 months before they are completely dried in a wood kiln.