Virginia Pine?

[butchersong]

I am building a log cabin on an old family farm and trying to select which trees to cut. We have a lot of Virginia Pines also known around here as Black Pines. From what I can tell the trees tend to get about one to one-half foot in diameter or so and fall over.. As we have quite a few around the property that seem to be leaning or ready to come down, they seemed to be the ideal choice for the cabin without impacting the rest of the woods much. Anyone have any input about the suitability of these for a log cabin or bulding in general?

[Odinn]

On 3/25/2006 10:03 AM [e-mail] mumbled something about the following:

The Black Pine is a Japanese pine and the Virigina Pine looks similar (has smaller needles and doesn't grow as large). It's normally used for pulpwood. Be careful for older decaying trees, as these are favorite nesting trees of woodpeckers. Heart rot is common in 60+ year old stands, and pine beetles love this tree. It's also a very knotty tree (except in extremely large trees), and warps easily. Personally, I wouldn't use it.