Desperate in New Orleans

FrankA · April 06, 2004, 04:16:29 PM

Hi guys. I have a great cypress log, about 13 feet long, 27" or so across and no way to cut it into lumber. I can't move it to a sawmill and have been searching (without success) for someone, anyone, who can come out and turn it into lumber for me.

I'll pay for the service, but I haven't found anyone who can do the job. I've called lumber yards, sawmills, the forestry service and posted to a number of web sites, but turned up only dead leads.

I'd hate to see this great log go to the land fill. Any takers? Any leads? Any ideas?

Thanks,

Frank Andrew

Ron Wenrich · April 06, 2004, 05:12:03 PM

Welcome aboard Frank. Over to the left, under those ads, there is a section that says "Find-a-Sawyer". Click on that and pull up the state of Louisiana. You'll see that we have a mill listed there that buys logs, and custom saws, and seems to be close to the Big Easy. May be worth your time to send him an e-mail. Tell him you came by the way of the Forestry Forum. Let us know how things turn out.

LSUNo1 · April 06, 2004, 05:57:02 PM

Frank I'll call you. Over the weekend I finally got my trailer outfitted with a winch and we'll see if we can at least drag it up on my trailer and out of your neighbors hair.

I dont have a mill at present but I know a guy on Ames Blvd. who has one and will cut it if you bring it to him.

Mitch

Fla._Deadheader · April 06, 2004, 06:06:05 PM

Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Frank. Notice how quick this bunch is to help??? Hope ya stay around and enjoy yerself. ;D

Jeff · April 06, 2004, 06:41:48 PM

COOL

ARKANSAWYER · April 06, 2004, 08:50:31 PM

LSU1 If you get Franks log on your trailer come on up and after the dust settles we will go fishing. Spring has sprung here and fishing is good.
ARKANSAWYER

LeeB · April 06, 2004, 09:50:55 PM

Glad to see you made it over here Frank. I told you they could help you here

Great bunch of people here. If you and LSU can't drag it up on the trailer, remebeber what I said about rolling it up the side with ramps. LeeB

FrankA · April 07, 2004, 06:35:21 AM

Thanks everybody. I hope Mitch and I are going to be able to move it on Saturday to a local mill. We'll take a look at it on our mutual lunch breaks today to see what will work the best.

I appreciate all the input.

-- Frank

QuoteFrank I'll call you. Over the weekend I finally got my trailer outfitted with a winch and we'll see if we can at least drag it up on my trailer and out of your neighbors hair.

I dont have a mill at present but I know a guy on Ames Blvd. who has one and will cut it if you bring it to him. [\quote]

LSUNo1 · April 07, 2004, 08:24:36 PM

Thanks for the offer ARKANSAWYER. I'd like nothing better than to come up for a visit to Hog country. I have a feeling I'd come back home a better sawyer.

Actually Im going to Alexandria, La. for a few lumber sawing and drying classes in May, which aint too far from Shreveport, which aint too far form the Arkansas state line. If I can get the wife to handle the my three indians for a few more days :-/...well if you get down here before I get up there, you have an open invite

Mitch

LSUNo1 · April 10, 2004, 10:00:08 PM

Frank and I were able to hook up this morning to load the log and haul to "Mr. Johnny's" 70 year plus circle mill. A rather unique operation. Still kicking myself for forgetting the camera.

Anyway I did want to show a couple pics of my new Log Gettin Rig. It consists of a 10,000 lb trailer and 10500 lb MileMarker hydraulic winch. Thanks again to DanG for the tip. It is a quiet, smooth machine that will pull all day long.

Photo below is of the winch mounted on the front of trailer. I got the rear mount hoses that are long enough to reach from the p.s. pump to the back of the truck. Have additional hoses from winch to tongue of the trailer. Quick connect fittings on all. Just hook up the trailer connect the hoses and ready to run.

This one shows my 10 minute plywood ramp made with scrap around the shop. Steel ramps underneath, plywood just gives the log something to slide on. Gonna do something permanent out of steel.

Got some good cypress wood out of Frank's neighbor's tree that otherwise was headed for the dump. And had a darn good time doing it.

Hey!!! How'd that one get in here... 8)

Mitch

Norm · April 11, 2004, 05:33:42 AM

Good looking outfit Mitch.

I didn't know LSU had a LaCrosse team. ;D

Haytrader · April 11, 2004, 08:43:21 AM

Mitch,

Me and my Sooners wished that decal wouldn't have been printed.

:-[

FrankA · April 12, 2004, 07:42:36 AM

Thanks to everyone. Lots of you had great ideas for how to move the log. Of course, the problem is always finding someone with the gear you describe and the will to use it. I searched and called and networked the heck out of things.

And Mitch came through for me. His new hydraulic winch on his double axle trailer could probably load the super dome if you had a cable long enough to wrap around the base. Saturday morning we hooked up the log, winched it up onto his trailer and took it to a sawmill in LaFiette.

That sawmill, and the people that run it, were quite an experience. The mill is probably a 100 years old and looks every bit of it too. An antique diesel tractor engine powers the contraption with a fifteen foot drive belt. A combination of levers, wheels and shorter drive belts moves the sled forward or backwards. The main drive shaft has a circular blade with enough of a bend in it to rattle like a train of empty boxcars moving at 70 MPH, a dented and rusted log sled that sometimes stalled out the mill by moving too fast and a few very knowledgeable guys running the operation.

The whole work area was covered over-head in bits and pieces of wood nailed together over the decades to form a kind of framework to support the wisteria that provided the actual shade. Even though the huge yellow jackets and bumble bees buzzing around the wisteria blooms were furious at the incredible racket and thick diesel fumes, we all managed to avoid getting stung.

We cut some gorgeous lumber out of the trunk. I gave Mitch three nice boards, (around 15" wide, just over 12 feet long, one just over 2" thick and two 1" thick) for his effort and the use of his trailer, truck and winch. In turn, I stacked more cypress wood in my back yard than I'll need when it dries - though I can always come up with another project or two!

Thanks a ton Mitch! I really appreciate the help and the opportunity to watch a log of mine become lumber. That's something I've wanted to do for years whenever I've seen a nice trunk get cut up and hauled off to the landfill. It was a great first experience.

And thanks to everyone here that posted ideas and suggestions. It's appreciated. The next time I come across a good trunk, I'll already have a stack of ideas and resources for finding a way to turn it into lumber while saving some space in the land fill.

Cheers,

Frank

Fla._Deadheader · April 12, 2004, 07:54:59 AM

8) 8) 8) Glad ya got it done, Frank. Stick around and let us know what else ya get into. ;D ;D ;D

LSUNo1 · April 12, 2004, 10:50:19 PM

Hey Norm...I had to look it up but yes we do have a Lacrosse team. We suck at it right now but them Hawkeyes and Cyclones ? better look out up there cause were gettin better at it.

Haytrader...another quarter and that decal probably would not have been made.

Frank...now I dont feel so bad about forgettin the camera...nice description.

Norm · April 13, 2004, 04:53:11 AM

Mitch Patty smacked me in the back of the head for my LaCrosse crack. I might need one of those helmets. :D

Ah yes the cyclones football team, they really should play LaCrosse instead. :D

DanG · April 13, 2004, 11:08:36 PM

Well, ain't that a nice little story, though?

Dontcha just love it when a plan hatches out, right before your eyes, then actually works out? Sounds like a real fun little project.

Mitch, I knowed you was gonna like that winch. I still haven't found anything that will stop it. Me and Eric found some big ol' rubber wheel chocks up at Mr. Hootie's, and I bought'em, thinkin' they was the answer to my prayers. First time I got in a real bind, that winch just pushed'em into the ground!

I have to chain the front of the truck to a tree, if I want to get real serious about it.

Stan · April 15, 2004, 03:24:42 AM

QuoteMitch,

Me and my Sooners wished that decal wouldn't have been printed.

:-[

I think you're lucky to have got into the game, "Fight on for old SC".

LSUNo1 · December 16, 2005, 11:08:27 PM

Through this forum, and in fact this very thread, I met a kindred spirit here in the N.O. area. Frank Andrew and I teamed up on several other occasions to fetch and saw logs into lumber.

One of the things Frank was doing with the lumber we were sawing was building a sailboat. He finally finished the boat which was about 19 ft. long and he named her "Fox Feathers". About 2 weeks ago he and his wife took her out in Lake Pontchartrain for her maiden voyage.

Tragically, at some point during their cruise the boat capsized and Frank and his wife were missing. One week ago their bodies washed up on shore, along with a packed picnic basket and two unopened bottles of champagne.

It has really hit me hard because they were a fantastic couple with a very bright future. Frank's wife was 6 months away from being a Pediatrician and had already accepted the job as town doctor in Rifle, CO. where they were going to settle and start a family.

Frank called me just a few weeks ago and we were going to saw up a few logs he had scavanged in his neighborhood after Katrina. He was an inspiring young man, who has written several books, had a black belt in karate, and at 39 was wealthy enough to retire. But what I liked best about him was his love of woodworking and for making lumber.

This place is all of a sudden a little bit lonlier.

beenthere · December 16, 2005, 11:49:27 PM

LSUNo1
Very sorry to hear about FrankA and his wife. What a tragic ending to a budding life ahead of them.
This story of how this forum brought FrankA into our lives, and gave us the enjoyment of how a budding relationship can happen with a sawmill involved, was a joy to read. Just the ending is, as you said, making it a bit lonely here too. :(

Jeff · December 17, 2005, 01:40:56 AM

What a horrible sad thing. I just spent several minutes on Frank's website that is linked to his profile reading about the building of the boat.

I remember your meeting very well as we awarded a rust reaper award because of how you jumped in to help frank.
https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php?topic=6564.0

I'm so sorry for the loss of your friends.

ellmoe · December 17, 2005, 06:37:04 AM

LSU1,
Wow, what a tragedy. I'm sorry for the loss of your friends. I just read this thread for the first time and chuckled at how enthusiastic your friend was. Then I read your post, what a change in emotions. A terrible waste.

Mark