EFFECTS OF LONG-TERM STORAGE OF SOUTHERN PINE SAWLOGS UNDER WATER SPRINKLERS

Loblolly pine sawlogs were stored under water sprinklers for a 2-year period to determine the effectiveness of different sprinkling schedule s on preventing infestation by insects and fungi. Sixty freshly harves ted test logs were selected from the same timber tract for the project and were placed under water sprinklers in four separate sprinkled dec ks, each with a different sprinkling schedule. The test logs were samp led periodically to determine moisture content, presence of fungi and insects, and change in mechanical properties. At the end of the 2-year sprinkling period, the test logs were processed in a sawmill and vene er plant to determine the extent of degradation by fungi and insects. The continuous-heavy sprinkling schedule afforded the best protection to the logs of the four sprinkling schedules; there was no visible evi dence of blue stain fungus, pine sawyers, or ambrosia beetles after 2 years of storage. Logs in decks with other sprinkling schedules with l ower water volumes showed various amounts of fungal and insect degrada tion, relative to the volumes of water applied. Some mechanical proper ties appeared to be affected by long-term sprinkling. Tangential tough ness was significantly lower at the end of the test period, but modulu s of rupture, modulus of elasticity, and radial toughness were not red uced by a significant amount.