I went up to the family cabin this weekend and saw something slightly odd on the highway. It was a a truck hauling timber with its bark still on it. Almost all of the timber was at least 18" (about .5 meters) in diameter. It appeared most were hollowed out and filled with the same material as particle board (glue and tiny wood chips). We tried to figure out why someone would do that and what it’s for. Any theories/answers?
WAG - Lag cabin construction - that partical board might have been some sort of insulation.
I haven’t heard of this product, but I’ll guess here too.
Like k2dave says, I think it’s likely for log cabin construction.
What laymen don’t often think about is that logs are not really meant to be, or designed to be lumber. Logs are meant to be living trees. Living trees are filled with water, and the dimension of a log is equall to the wood fibers plus the water contained in them. When logs dry, they shrink significantly. The shrinkage causes cracks called radial checks.
My theory is that the logs were hollowed out, dried, and then filled with (reletively) dimensionally stable particleboard. This procedure would allow the log to be used for appearance’s sake, and not check radially. It would also allow the manufacturer to reuse the waste product from sawmill operations.
The timbers could not be used structurally, because particleboard does not have linear strength.
Logs in a log cabin type structure are in compression only, so the structural requirements are very limited. Essentially, a log cabin is nothing more than a pile of logs. The qualities of tension and shear are not required from the building materials. (roofs excepted)
Another point to ponder is the following. The shrinkage of logs creates beaucoup difficulties for the construction of doors and windows. The dimensions of those elements will change a great deal, and some provisions for dealing with that problem must be worked out. Perhaps this product you saw is dimensionally stable enough to relieve the builder of that particular hassle.
I will state again that the above is merely a guess.