Advice on milling beech

[Stephen Blair]

Hi, I have a large beech tree I want to mill, I want to put it into boards.

The boards will be 30'x3 ', how thick will I need to make these if I want to stand them on their end and concrete them into the ground?

I want them to weather, twist, crack but not snap and break.

Cheers:001_smile:

[John Shutler]

Hi, I have a large beech tree I want to mill, I want to put it into boards.

The boards will be 30'x3 ', how thick will I need to make these if I want to stand them on their end and concrete them into the ground?

I want them to weather, twist, crack but not snap and break.

Cheers:001_smile:

 

id say they want to be 6 inches thick

[Brushcutter]

About 6" thick.

 

I don't think they would last more than a year or two. They will rot off very quickly at the ground/concrete level.

 

If your going to do it with an alaskan mill make sure you have a lot of chains as with the exception of Hornbeam nothing wears the chain like beech.

[morten]

About 6" thick.

 

I don't think they would last more than a year or two. They will rot off very quickly at the ground/concrete level.

 

If your going to do it with an alaskan mill make sure you have a lot of chains as with the exception of Hornbeam nothing wears the chain like beech.

 

+1

 

Beech (along with birch) is about the least suitable species when moist (e.g. eath contact). Oak (or even better, Robinia) is among the most suitable species.

[openspaceman]

About 6" thick.

 

I don't think they would last more than a year or two. They will rot off very quickly at the ground/concrete level.

 

+2

 

mill slots in the base and use Tee section angle iron bolted to concrete or a 6mm plate embedded in slot and concrete.

[Stephen Blair]

Ok, i will forget directly into concrete, and go with a steel idea.

How long do you think beech will last outside?

If its the wrong timber for the job then I will accept it and use the timber for another project.

Thanks guys, keep it coming.

[Brushcutter]

Be hard to say how long it would last. It's quite wet and windy up there so i think you wouldn't get too long. Say 5 tops years before it starts to look bad.

[Brushcutter]

I've just been down to the end of the garden where i have some 8"x1"x4' beech boards. I've been at the end of the garden stacked and sticked for 5 years. They have a weathered look but they're not rotten.

[Stephen Blair]

Great thanks mate.

[morten]

I've just been down to the end of the garden where i have some 8"x1"x4' beech boards. I've been at the end of the garden stacked and sticked for 5 years. They have a weathered look but they're not rotten.

 

Are they exposed to rain? I guess not. If beech is kept dry and ventilated, it will keep for decades. If submersed in water, likewise. If it gets moist and exposed to oxygen, it'll discolor in weeks and rot in months.