Sawmill Question - Storing Cants?

[N80]

The pines on my property are dying from pine beetles at a faster rate than usual. Some of these are nice 18" diameter 90' tall pines. As soon as I see the tops starting to go brown I try to cut them and mill them. I don't cut them after they're completely dead. They deteriorate fast.

(Sadly, pulp wood prices are low right now and diesel is still high so it can be tough to get someone to log them)

Anyway, my sawmill is completely manual and milling logs this big is a lot of work. So lately I've just been milling them down to cants just to save time and because I don't have any big projects lined up and don't have specific board requirements.

So my question is: is there any downside to storing them as cants until I know what I need and then milling boards later?

 

[JJT]

Will the cants be stored undercover? If not, they will most likely be rotted away by the time you want to use them. Pine is not rot resistant.

Stored out of the weather the cants will survive for decades. Make sure they are stickered. I've used 50+ year old pine boards stored in a barn loft, there was no decay. The old growth boards were beautiful.

 

[N80]

Thanks. I am going to tent a tarp over them until I can find or build a place for them. They are stickered. They are well up off the ground.