Advice on drying a downed Arbutus tree

by Phil Barrett
(Seattle, WA USA)

Love the work you do! Wonderful site.

I have a rather large madrone/arbutus tree that was heavily damaged in a recent wind storm (the top half of the tree snapped cleanly off). After mourning the death of this beautiful tree, I'm thinking of harvesting it as the trunk is unusually straight for the species.

Everything I read says to dry the log before sawing. However, I'm thinking if the grain is fairly straight, it would be ok to saw it while green and air dry it (stickered, ends sealed). Is this a reasonable direction.

Phil Barrett
Seattle

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Ron here...

That's what I would do Phil.

But it will still check and crack in places no matter what you do.

You could try different thicknesses depending on what your project plans are.