Cut the trunk into the longest straight pieces you can move, keep the bark on, get the logs off the ground, seal the ends, and get them to the mill as soon as you can. Most logs that end up not worth milling were good trees that sat on the ground too long or got cut into short rounds.
This guide covers the decisions that matter between the moment a tree comes down and the day the log reaches our yard.
Decide what you want before anyone cuts
Every cut on a trunk is permanent. A log cut to 4 feet can't become an 8-foot board. Before the saw comes out, decide roughly what you want from the tree:
- Boards for a project: you want logs at least as long as your longest board, plus a few inches.
- Slabs for a table or bench: you want the widest, straightest section, usually the butt log, cut a little longer than the finished piece.
- A beam or mantel: you want a straight section with as few big knots as possible.
- Not sure: leave the logs long. Long logs can be cut shorter at the mill. Short logs can't get longer.
If a tree service is doing the work, tell them before they start. Our guide on what a tree crew should do when you want to keep the log covers what to ask for.
How to cut the trunk into logs
Cut lengths with trim allowance. Boards get squared up at the ends, so add a few inches to whatever length you want. If you want 8-foot boards, cut the log a little over 8 feet, not exactly 8 feet. Leaving several inches of extra length is standard practice.
Cut at the defects, not through the good wood. Make your cuts at the base of a big limb, at a bend, or at a rotten spot. A short, straight log is worth more than a long, crooked one.
Cut above the root flare. The flared base of a trunk often holds dirt, rocks and sometimes old fencing. Cut the butt log just above where the trunk starts to widen.
Keep the crotch whole if you want it. The fork where a trunk splits into two big leaders can make a striking slab. Leave a foot or two of trunk below the fork and a foot or two of each leader above it.
Don't split, quarter or notch the log. Leave it round. Wedges, deep notches and chainsaw cuts along the length ruin boards.
Get logs off the ground
A log lying in the dirt picks up moisture, insects, fungus and grit. Grit and stones embedded in the bark dull saw blades fast, and so does dried mud.
Roll each log onto a pair of cross pieces: old landscape timbers, scrap logs, cinder blocks. A few inches of clearance is enough to keep the bottom from sitting in wet soil. Don't drag logs across gravel or a dirt yard if you can avoid it. Lift, roll or skid them on something.
Keep the bark on
Bark slows drying and protects the outside of the log from knocks and dirt. Don't peel it. Bark that falls off on its own is fine; just keep the log clean.
Seal the ends
Wood loses moisture much faster through its end grain than through its sides. When the ends dry ahead of the rest of the log, they shrink and crack. Those cracks, called end checks, can run well into the log, and that wood gets trimmed off as waste.
To slow it down:
- Trim a fresh end if the cut is old or dirty, a couple of inches back.
- Coat the end grain with a wax-based end sealer made for logs and lumber. MU Extension notes that a wax emulsion sealer or aluminum paint in a spar varnish base works for end coating (MU Extension G5550, Air-Drying Hardwood Lumber). Thick latex paint is a fallback if that's all you have.
- Seal both ends of every log within a day of cutting if you can. Sealer on a log that's already checked slows further damage but won't close the cracks.
Keep it shaded and moving
Store logs out of direct sun if you have a shady spot. Sun and wind on bare ends and exposed wood speed up checking.
Then get the log milled. This is the most important step, and the one that gets skipped. Freshly cut logs saw cleanly and the boards can be stacked to dry the right way. Logs left sitting for months, especially through a Missouri summer, pick up problems:
- Sap stain. Fungi move into the sapwood and leave blue-gray streaks. Light-colored woods like maple, ash, sycamore and the sapwood of oak and walnut show it most.
- Insects. Bark beetles and wood borers move into stressed and cut wood. Their tunnels end up in the boards.
- Decay. Logs in contact with the ground, or in wet, shaded piles, start to rot from the outside in.
- Deep checking. Even sealed logs keep drying from the ends and the surface.
What not to do
- Don't cut it into firewood rounds "for now." That's permanent.
- Don't leave logs on the ground under the leaves where they fell.
- Don't drive nails or screws into a log to mark it, chain it or hang a sign. Mark it with paint or crayon.
- Don't hide metal. If you know there's a nail, a staple, a tree stand bracket or wire grown into the trunk, mark the spot and tell us. See nails, wire and fence staples.
- Don't haul a log that's rotten through. Check both ends first. A soft or hollow center can mean there's not much left to saw.
Getting the log to us
If the tree came down in a storm, start with storm-downed trees. If you're not sure the log is worth any of this, read is my tree worth milling? first.
Get a Quote
Send us photos of each end of your log, one of the full length, and the small-end diameter and length. We'll tell you whether it's worth milling and what it will cost.