Sawing River Logs

A few quick tips on handling and sawing sinker logs. March 28, 2012

Question
I am currently recovering ax-cut pine and hemlock logs from a river. Do I need to saw them immediately or should they dry some before sawing?

Forum Responses
(Sawing and Drying Forum)
From contributor A:
The logs should be kept wet till sawn. Either in water or a sprinkler system. Pressure washing helps remove mud and some of the silt. River logs are hard on blades. The lumber needs a lot more attention than just green sawn lumber. There is a learning curve on this and it is easy to lose money fast if not careful. You were wise to ask.

---

From contributor J:
I recently cut up some sinker pine and cypress here in east Texas. Beautiful wood. The only problem was that on several of the logs, my blades dulled almost instantly while squaring off the cants. It took little investigation to reveal that the spongy outer wood was embedded with hundreds of small muscle shells. So if you start dulling blades too quickly, one word of advice: cut deep on your first few cuts. Good luck.