How to cut a tree trunk into slabs

I have acquired a 2.5 foot diameter by 10 feet long pecan tree trunk. Two questions:

  1. How long should I let this age and under what conditions before I cut it?
  2. Any ideas on how to cut this into 2 inch thick planks? Is there a place around with a big enough saw?

Thanks

Logs don’t season so the best thing you can do is cut it into planks now and properly stack it to dry. This is a bigger task than most seem to understand so do some research. If you contact woodmizer they can usually refer you to someone who can cut it. If you can move the log to the saw it will be cheaper than them coming to you.

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These woodmizers?

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Yep, that’s what you need. I have cut lots of logs on those, have a few buddies in MO that own them. I also have an Alaskan Mill I cut really big logs with but you need a big chainsaw.

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These folks will mill it for you. woodsofmissiontimber.com. They are just north of Dallas on I35. They have a rustic saw mill and do this kind of milling all the time.

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The ideal is to cut it and then let it air dry in the atmosphere it will " live " in from 8 months to a year depending largely upon the quality of the air conditioning.

timber drying

“Harvest Your Own Lumber” - John English - recommendations in it are to cut the wood and then let it air dry a year under cover or under plastic stored level with rails in-between slabs.

Option 2 is to find a timber yard and kiln dry it but this will give you additional splits in the timber and different moisture content in the core than at the edges.

As for cutting - find someone with a portable sawmill and oversize all your cuts to allow for 7 to 9% shrinkage in width cross-grain.

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Thanks all for advice. Tree is at a sawmill and I’ll age at home

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Stickering is the most important thing. Paint the ends with cheap latex paint. Do two coats. You can coat after about a half hour. Make sure you have some kind of weight on top and that all the stickers are parallel with one another through the whole group.
You should keep the sides as open as possible for air to flow. In Texas it should only take about 6 months for it to dry. I have been cutting my own lumber for 8 years.
Feel free to reach out if you need any advice.

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