Hey fellas new guy here. I just scored 100+ Ponderosa logs today. I am pretty excited about this. They are good size and I have milled already a bunch from this area so i know the wood and they come out great. Long straight grain and sweet lumber to come from these. I will haul them home starting tomorrow on my trailer. I have a home built carriage chainsaw mill. I run a mac 105 super on it. But I would like to upgrade here. So I have some questions about which direction I should go. I want to do away with the chainsaw power head. I am thinking about going to a verticle shaft mower engine and still use a 42" bar and ripping chain. OR I have an 18" upright band saw. I could take this saw and put it on it's side widen it to whatever would be best and put a gas engine on it for power. Then I would have a band saw. What would be best? I will take pictures tomorrow and post them here so you got a very good idea of what I have for a mill and my band saw setup to see if this would be a good plan or not. meanwhile enjoy the logs I just scored. There is 2 decks a good 75ft deep these are pictures of them from the front that is 2 different stacks. Lots of lumber in there. The logs on the trailer are some I hauled last summer but wanted to show off my trailer. I have a 12,000 pound winch on the front and can drag the logs up with the boom on the back or roll the bigger ones up from the side. I just picked up a hydraulic lift for the side of the trailer to pick up the smaller logs. I will put it on shortly.
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Golddredger, welcome to FF! Your trailer appears well suited for the task, nicely done. Those are some dandy looking logs too. With all those logs I would work toward a band mill setup, in my opinion it should cut faster then a chainsaw mill of equal horsepower. The best mill is always the one you have that works ;).
Nice score! I encourage you to get them milled before warm weather. I used to be a fan of bluestain but the market is very spotty (pun ;D). I think the best choice is mill, sticker, dry and sell the lumber bright. People want bright lumber and not fungus lumber.
Grinding through that with a chainsaw mill sounds like work. Enjoy the process. Sawdust is its own reward!
Kderby
Welcome golddredger, Looks like some nice logs to work with, what part of the contry you located?
If you fill in your profile then it helps everyone.
then someone can come along and say something like, while traveling I have spent several nights at the Fossil motel and someone like kderby will know egzactly where you were, by the way folks it is the only motel i have seen with a sign "take a key to any open room, see you in the morning"
Also stayed over in spray a few times
that is a score golddredger! And I like the trailer set up too. Welcome to the forum.
mark
Wow, you made a great score, those look like some beauties!
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, golddredger!
Golddredger, welcome to the forum! Looks like you've got a real start on the sawmilling business. I don't think a chain saw mill will be quick enough to mill that much lumber before degrade starts in. A band mill would be a much better solution, but the 18" upright would likely be too small, too lightly built, and way underpowered for what you need. Your best bet would be to get a band saw mill now and get to work on the logs right away. If the market is good, you may be able to sell the lumber for enough money to pay for the mill. Any guess on how many board feet total? When I estimate volume for my band mill, I use International 1/4" scale and add 15% because of the narrow kerf.
Good luck, and keep us posted on your progress. Nice job on the trailer. Looking forward to seeing the log lifters.
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, golddredger. :)
Those logs surely would look nice on a bandmill. ;D
Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Golddredger.
Nice logs and trailer. If at all possible I'd look into a bandmill. If you could dig one up used at a decent price you may be able to pay for the mill with what you have there.
I agree with Kderby, that you want to get it sawn asap, before it starts turning.
I'd like to here where your located, I'm betting between dredging and ponderosa your in Nor Cal, just a guess.
Allan
When I see a pile of logs like that, I see a nice home! (Well, with a little work involved.) Nice score!
That's a nice pile of logs and a nice trailer. What kind of trailer is that? Home made? Can you post some pictures of your log lift when you get it on the trailer? I am working on doing the same thing (hydraulic log lift on the side of a trailer). I'm going with a design similar to the WoodMizer log loader. I'm planning on having the two pistons each lift a pair of arms separately (four arms total). This way I can lift any size log from 2' to as long as the trailer.
golddredger,welcome to the forum. Between you hauling and sawing,you are going to be real busy. ;D What's all the lumber going to be used for? Are all those logs free?
GoldDredger,
I know you want to save money on your mill. I think you'd do well to look at buying a bandsaw head from Linn Sawmills (http://www.linnlumber.com/ (http://www.linnlumber.com/)) They sell heads and other parts in just about any configuration you can name. That chainsaw is gonna get old real fast and the little 18 inch shop bandsaw would probably be a pain in the *** to convert.
Good Luck!
Keep us updated (and remember, no pictures, it didn't happen...)
Be Careful!
Herb
Hello Golddredger, welcome to the FF, nice looking trailer and log pile.
Dboyt has the right idea on sawing the logs, use a band mill, you will gain a lot of lumber that would be saw dust with chain saw mill. plus less labor.
Good luck and get'er done! Dansr.
WOW holy smokes thanks for the replies!!!!
Yes I am in Northern Ca. Paradise to be exact. I did get the logs for free. So my only cost is hauling them home. I am going to put them up on some smaller logs as runners to keep them well above the ground. I suspect it will take me awhile to get them all milled. I do not have a plan for the logs. So I will need to put a plan together as to what sizes I should cut them. I am still very new at this milling thing.
I built my trailer. I still need to put a deck on it. But it hauls long longs just fine now and with no deck I am saving the weight so I can haul more logs. My truck can tow up to 9000 pounds. The trailer has brakes on BOTH axles so it stops like a dream. So I haul 3 to 4 big logs at a time. The trailer is 19ft deck. Seems to be a good combo and it tows nice with zero issues. My mill can run up to 36" logs and 15ft long will fit. I will snap some pictures here in a bit. I been searching locally and mills are spendy. I can fab anything so I will see what I can dream up and get built right away. After a bunch more reading I am pretty convinced I need to do a band mill asap. I only need the band saw portion and I will use my frame and carriage. So I should be able to put this together fast. My 18" band saw is industrial. It has an 1 1/4" blade on it and it has rubber bands 18"X1 1/2" on the wheels. So I can get the Timberwolf replacement bands mine are due. And buy some more 1 1/4 blades at whatever length I decide it needs to be.
Give me just a bit here and I will get some photos.
Again thanks for the responses!!!
Hey ! welcome . That is one heck of a pile of logs ! Just my opinion here but with that amount of milling ,it seems to justify the purchase of a band mill ! Go used new whatever bare bones or high end ! You will increase your yeild in BF and save a ton of time ! There are many to choose from and the price points are real good IMHO . Just a thought but if you continue to get that amount of logs or even saw for someone else the mill may well pay for itself ! Good luck what ever you decide !
very nice whack o logs golddredger! The SP105 is a nice saw, I think Hiltop366 made a CSM as you describe, using a vertical shaft lawn tractor engine. I would second the comment on Linn Lumber mills. They can selll you pieces, kit, or the whole completed bandsaw headrig, that you can adapt to your track and logbunk setup you already have built. Would be a SAWeet way to slice those logs up. You will have to get busy thinking up buildings and other things to make with all the lumber you will be getting from that haul!
Welcome to the Forestry Forum BTW.
Ok here is the pictures of my mill and my band saw I was hoping to convert. This band saw is heavy cast iron. It will unbolt apart in the middle allowing me to open it up with a spacer I will build to whatever width I choose. I took a picture where to arm to the top comes apart. It has a big bearing out the bottom with large belts to choose speeds ect and the electric motor is underneath the entire thing. So when it is on it's side i can just bolt the Gas engine in place and run the belt to it very easy.
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Welcome to the Forum, Golddredger.
I think that Reliant band saw will serve you better as it sits. If you want to put a band saw head on your mill build one, or buy one that was designed for milling.
Just my opinion.
indeed that is some nice framework for your CSM, I'd think of fabbing a bandmill head for that and do what redprospector said, leave the vertical bansaw the way it is. just my humble opinion. Sounds like you'll be preserving those logs the right way till you can get to them.
That is a nice CSM/slabber, but I can not offer you any encouragement on your band saw idea.
retrofitting the band saw onto a frame to mount to a track would be a fairly straight forward proposition if you have fabricating and welding skills. If you don't then the purchase of a small hobby type mill may be a better solution. It all depends on your skill level.
I think it is possible to convert the band saw to run on your mill.
But a purpose built mill head would work better and last longer.
I skipped a lot of the answers, but isn't there a lot of waste with a 3/8" kerf on the chainsaw mill?
And a lot of time and fuel not to mention labor.
The smaller WM and Norwood mills aren't overly expensive and would yield a lot more lumber.
If you plan to do more if this if might be an option even if you have to finance.
Thanks again for the tips and help. I need to stick to my budget at the moment and get some wood milled and sold to offset the cost of s band mill. So for now I have to use what I have. If I go ahead and swap the upright bandsaw onto my carriage for now get some wood cut then save up and upgrade very soon. I think this is where I am at with everything now. Will only cost me a few hundred to get this bandsaw on my mill and working. It will do the job for now. The mods I will make will not affect the bandsaw itself so when I upgrade I can just put this bandsaw back into it's original state as an upright band saw. So nothing lost. But I agree 100% the CSM will be a long hard road in cutting these logs.
I got an estimate with the guy that gave me the wood on Board Feet. He is a 40 year retired logger. Measured the logs and he gave me number of 25,000 board feet of good millable logs. 8)
Paradise is a beautiful town. I've played paintball there a bit and hiked a lot.
I understand making due with what you have, and I'm just hard headed enough to know I can turn one thing into another to suit my needs, BUT 25,000BF is a pretty tall order in my mind.
I've had a small bandmill for just over a year and don't believe I've sawn a third of that, granted I have a full time job that gets in my way quite a bit. :D I don't know if you work also, but that should be taken into thought also.
If I were in your spot I think I'd take a look at letting someone saw on percentage basis. They saw "X" amount of logs for you and take "X" amount of logs for their time. It puts money in your pocket out of logs that won't be getting sawn until you can make yours work or buy a mill.
If you kept 1/2 of your logs for yourself and make a deal with someone else on the other 12,500 bf and got half of the total footage I think you could pick up a decent mill new or a pretty nice used one, and you still have half of your logs left to saw yourself. ;D
Just my way of thinking.
Allan
Quote from: golddredger on February 20, 2014, 06:10:01 PM
Thanks again for the tips and help. I need to stick to my budget at the moment and get some wood milled and sold to offset the cost of s band mill. So for now I have to use what I have. If I go ahead and swap the upright bandsaw onto my carriage for now get some wood cut then save up and upgrade very soon. I think this is where I am at with everything now. Will only cost me a few hundred to get this bandsaw on my mill and working. It will do the job for now. The mods I will make will not affect the bandsaw itself so when I upgrade I can just put this bandsaw back into it's original state as an upright band saw. So nothing lost. But I agree 100% the CSM will be a long hard road in cutting these logs.
I got an estimate with the guy that gave me the wood on Board Feet. He is a 40 year retired logger. Measured the logs and he gave me number of 25,000 board feet of good millable logs. 8)
sounds like you have a plan now get to it and take lots of pictures for us!!!
I don't like sounding like an old nanny, but I'd question those numbers too. 100 logs like you posted in your pics might be stretching a bit to get 25k bf. I don't know how much the "100+" works out to.
That is an average of 250 feet per log. From the firs pic, I'd say the average was less than 100 feet per log. Unless there are a bunch of big 16 footers in another pile.
If you have the skills to convert the bandsaw, then it's worth a shot if it's your only option. I think you will need good guides for the blade. Other than that, it's just your time. It's always a compromise when you have a limited, or no, budget. How many HP is your gas engine? It should produce more lumber, with less waste and fuel, than the chainsaw. You will also have to have enough bands to have some in rotation to a sharpener, or a way to sharpen them.
Thought about rebuilding your mill as a "Car tyre" type band mill? That way you don't mess up a perfectly good bandsaw, and still have that for resawing anyway. If you have the skills and materials to make that chainsaw mill it shouldn't be a big drama to do a band mill?
As for the log volume? Depends on the amount of big logs, like those on the trailer, vs the amount of toothpicks and shorties like in the pile. 100 of those big one would be over 25,000 bd ft for sure.
But I think you want a "real" sawmill for this, even if it's home build car wheeled rig.
Ian
Yes I will get some more pictures of the logs for you guys. That is pictures of 2 of the 3 decks! There is a few short logs at the very front. I hauled those home today. But most of the logs are 24" across up to around 42" across and they average 16ft to 24ft long. Stacked 3 to 4 deep and around 75ft from the front to the back of 3 decks total. 100+ big logs. Not counting the logs that are 24" and down stacked at the front of the pile. I will get some pictures from the side of the stacks. It will blow your mind how much wood is there. At least it is blowing my mind it is going to take several weeks hauling 2 loads a day to get is home.
Oh yes I have 13hp engine to power the band saw. That should be plenty. Should be an easy conversion I will take some pictures as I do it. And of course when it is cutting I will shoot some videos.
Well a 24" x 16 ft log should yield over 400 bdft, and the numbers go up fast as they get bigger. So yeah, the estimate might be pretty correct if there are a decent amount of larger the logs. :)
Ian
To bad you could not just hire a mill in to do all the milling, and then you would just be hualing the lumber home, lot less trips ;)
Quote from: backwoods sawyer on February 22, 2014, 01:40:08 AM
To bad you could not just hire a mill in to do all the milling, and then you would just be hualing the lumber home, lot less trips ;)
You got that right..... But then again logs where free to me so gas in the truck is all they cost. Round trip from my house including loading and unloading is 1 hour total per load as the site is only about 12 minutes from my house. So all in all. Not to bad a deal. I am happy camper either way. Just want to make sure I get it all milled in a decent amount of time.
Welcome to the forum. I think you got a great deal going there and you seem to have the fab skills to make a band mill out of the one you have or fab up another one. A couple of things I would like to share is that the blade on the band mill you have now looks like it is running the teeth on the band wheel. This will take the set out of your blade and make some poor lumber. You will want to get some blade guide rollers that will be able to handle the work load you are looking at putting them through. If you are talking about stretching that mill out I would recommend that you make it to where you use a universal size blade, like 13'2" that the LT40 uses. Best of luck to you, have fun and stay safe.