Falling a tree and leaving it for a day

[Joe3532]

Hello, all. There's a reason I'm asking this question, which I'll let you know at the end, since it's a little embarrassing but... anyway. Say it's around late October, temps around 50's F in the day and freezing at night. You cut down a pine tree, and leave it on the ground overnight, and come back the next day to retrieve it. You're planning on milling this tree at the sawmill, and not using it for firewood, so it needs to be in good shape.

My question is, will the tree still be in good condition if left on the ground overnight? Will bugs or animals get to it? Will it begin to rot?

Now the embarrassing part. I've never cut down a tree in my life (although I made a table once, does that count?!) My question is for research purposes because I'm writing a novel, and I want to make sure I get the details right. I can't have readers thinking that my lumberjack main character is, well, a dumbass.

Thanks

 

[bholler]

Uhhh yes overnight would be fine lol. A year probably would be for that matter

 

[Dataman]

They can freeze to the ground and be very hard to get off the ground if it's wet and then turns cold enough to freeze. Had to get Wife to pop them up when I had bunch of them down on ground. She would put bucket under them and move it most of the time. Some would not budge until it melted. Too much log frozen to ground.

 

[TreePointer]

Some softwoods (pine) and "soft" hardwoods can stain if left on the ground for days. That affects the look, but the wood structure itself should be fine.

Some actually leave wood on the ground and take other measures to get a spalted look for furniture and wood carving. Look up spalted lumber.

Some species can be down or on the ground for a good while and still have value. In 2008, we had a black cherry that had blown down a year before we put it on a truck for the mill. They still paid good $$ for it.

 

[sweedish]

After cutting down the tree, it can be left for quite some time on the ground, after a long time it will rot. But when you cut down a tree to mill, it’s best to seal the cut ends with either a paint, linseed oil or beeswax, reducing cracking on the ends by slowing the drying process. Good luck with the book.

 

[Joe3532]

Thank you, everyone, for your insightful answers.

 

[Simonkenton]

Overnight on the ground, No Problema.
I will tell you that when expert tree guys cut a tree for use in furniture building, or building a log cabin, they want to do it when the sap is down. Winter. When sap is down, less splitting and checking of the wood. Much less.
In other words the worst time to cut is April or May.
January is real good.