Whatcha Sawin' ???

[Busysawyer]

Wv, I felt like I was over compensated for the 5 hours it took to run up and cut those logs. He was wanting to come over here next week and buy a couple walnut slabs for some benches. I sent him a message telling him there would be no charge for the 2 pieces of walnut. 
While I was up milling those yesterday my new tree service friend dropped off this nice little load of walnut. I'm going to have to throw him a extra couple hundred for a tip for this "free" load. Being nice to people and treating them well pays off at times. Generally it more than makes up for all the people that take advantage and screw you over.

 

 

[Southside]

Any idea how many feet you put up in those 5 hours?  

[Magicman]

Thanks Bs for the kinda rundown on your controls.  Lotsa changes/innovations in the 20 years since my sawmill was built.  Head/Bed mode is a neat way to double up.  

Keeping your supplier happy is a good business way of keeping both of you happy. 

[Busysawyer]

Southside,  did about 3000ft. 1 1/2 hours of that 5 was drive and set up time. We had no support equipment so had to roll logs to the mill with a cant hook . Spent a lot of time moving logs and stacking slabs. My back is a little tight today. The logs had been sitting for 19 months and the bottom layer had sank in the ground a few inches. Had to use the loading arm on the mill and a chain to pull some of them up out of the hole they were in. I have the biggest cant hook logrite makes and even with both of us on it we couldn't budge about 6 of the logs. Most of those logs were 16-18ft long and over 24in diameter so once they hit the mill the footage added up quick. If I would of had my bobcat there I think it would have been done in a couple hours at most. A super 70 with the turbo 7s makes quick work of white pine. Cuts like butter. 
Mm, we have a family friend that's had a 40 since the late 80s and he was blown away by how far these mills have come. He couldn't get over how much faster everything is with the new mill. From the setworks, hydraulic speed and cutting speed. He's not a fan of the electronics or joysticks. He says he would never be able to figure out how to run it or fix a problem.  I disagree and think that it is actually very easy to learn.

[Southside]

That is some serious production under those circumstances. 

[Busysawyer]

South side, there were two big logs that scaled over 700bf each. 30in on the small end and 18ft long. The blade roller guides were rubbing on the big end of one of them. Once you get those big and near perfect cylinders on the mill cutting 2 3/8in slabs the footage adds up quick. I wish my mill had the hp to cut big hardwoods at the speed it blows through white pine. All on one blade too. 

[Magicman]

That customer is a logger and he says that the log is "huge".  We shall see.

We want pictures!  When a logger says "huge" it gets your attention.

 
The "huge" log was 36" butt and the calculator says the 12' log was a bit over 4K lbs.  Not the heaviest nor largest diameter that I have sawn but it still was a mouth full.  The Kubota 110 FEL would/could not pick it up.  The other logs are in the background.  


 
Does this Butt make my sawmill look small?


 
It took both the turner and the log clamp working in tandem to turn it.


 
Just a little trick here to raise each end of the cant and lay a 2X6 on the rail to be able to scoot it to the left and clear the outer blade guide.


 
1194 bf of mostly 1X12's with a few 1X4's, 2X4's, 2X6's, 3X3's and 4X4's sawn with two 7° Turbo blades.  The customer musta been satisfied because I got a nice tip.  ;D

[Southside]

Those sure make it nice. What kind of speed are you seeing when you have your support equipment in place?

[WV Sawmiller]

   Okay back in the game today. The kind of job I like. 8.5 miles from home, repeat customer, logs well staged uphill from decent sawing spot, 1185 bf of all 4/4 Norway Spruce with boards up to 16" wide and from 8-16 ft long mostly 10 & 12 footers. Added 4.5 hours to the engine in 6 hours of working. Customer was my helper. About my age and steady worker. Neither of us worked much harder than we wanted and pretty steady. He was pretty swift removing the boards, I'd help him carry heavy slabs. Logs could have been a little cleaner and limb stubs could have been trimmed a little closer but overall better than average.


 Pretty well center stacked uphill from decent sawing site.


 This 12' butt log yielded mostly 1X16 boards.


 Here are the 8' to 14' boards. All flat stacked pending removal to concrete pad under his house.


 These are the 16' boards off the last log we cut.

  I also located a trucker to bring me around 4K-5K (bf of) red oak logs a couple gave me. They expect 2-1X8 boards in return. Trucker wants $250 which I felt was reasonable for him to load and transport approximately 20 miles and we will roll off his flatbed truck/trailer with a cant hook. Not the best deal going but I have made many much worse. We will see how long it takes to realize a return on m investment.

[terrifictimbersllc]

WVS What blade did you use on the Norway spruce and did you have any trouble with waves at all?

[nativewolf]

South side, there were two big logs that scaled over 700bf each. 30in on the small end and 18ft long. The blade roller guides were rubbing on the big end of one of them. Once you get those big and near perfect cylinders on the mill cutting 2 3/8in slabs the footage adds up quick. I wish my mill had the hp to cut big hardwoods at the speed it blows through white pine. All on one blade too.

Ahhh, slabs.  So no edging or anything.  Just 10 cuts/log or something like that.  That explains it.

[WV Sawmiller]

TT,

   I used WM resharp 4 degree doublehard blades and I did not have any problem at all with waves. I know you go from really soft to really hard knots every 2 feet and the 4's handle that well for me. Thanks for asking.

   I used 3 blades - broke one blade and one got dull and the last one was ready for return for resharpening at the end of the job. The logs were very muddy and debarker earned his amperage and voltage today.

[terrifictimbersllc]

Thanks, I've got 4000bf of Norway spruce to saw next week. A bit nervous about it will take 4s along too.

[Roxie]

Does this Butt make my sawmill look small?

Yes!  Yes it does!  :D

[Busysawyer]

Southside, grade sawing walnut by myself I'm happy to get 1500bf in a day. With the log deck feeding the mill it is capable of keeping two off bearers scrambling to keep up but I rarely have any help.
Native wolf, yes just leveling the log and taking a slab cut off. Then rotate 180 set pattern mode and 5 minutes later the log is done.

[Magicman]

Almost equal to cheating 'cause all you do is "wiggle dem sticks".  8)  Gotta love it !!!

[Treehack]

It's too DanG big!


 
Red oak, 42 incher and 17' long.  Only problem is my mill will only fit 32 between posts.  Oh, and don't have anything that would lift it.  Tractor was weeping just trying to drag it.  So, I got a ripping chain and went to work.  Tried the Yellowhammer sideways cut, but failed miserably.  Will need to go back to school for next time.  Had to mount this pony and cut from top.


 
One 12" slice down(double cut since only have 25" saw)



 
Rolled it and taking another slice.



 
Now I can fit everything on the mill.  Figured I might as well hit the 36" white oak while I was at it.



  

 
I found that Chain sawing these big boys is sure a young man's game and I am certain that in the morning I will have discovered muscles that I forgot I had.

[Magicman]

   You earned the sawing rights on those logs.  8)

[YellowHammer]

I bet your arms are still vibrating from ripping those guys.  It's definately hard work and you got it done, good job.  

Here's the way I do it, taught to me many years ago by Customsawyer.  This keeps the saw at a comfortable angle, and I don't have to use my arms or back much.  The saw is levered against the dogs and walked down the log by pushing it with my hip. All legs.  So no back strain because I'm not bending over, and I can just use my arms to keep the saw going straight.  52" bar with Stihl Skip Chain gets through all but the biggest logs with one pass, relatively quickly.  Here's me splitting a nice 40"+ ish fat end that was just going to be a little too much for the mill. I like to go from big end to small and you can see I missed exiting the center by an inch or so.  Notice how my right hip is leaning against the bottom of the handle of the saw, levering the chainsaw bar forward and my arms are pretty relaxed.  




This one was just a pup, we get some big dogs.  Here's a big oak and a couple decent sycamores.  


 

[terrifictimbersllc]

Tried the Yellowhammer sideways cut,

...Customsawyer....OH i see it is both....sorry

[Jim_Rogers]

Today, a customer called and then came over for me to saw some cookies out of his hollow logs. I guess then we should/could call them donuts. He's going to make them into picture frames or mirrors.



 

Here is his stack in his van:



 

found this just before we started milling:



 

that blade was really jumping around on the mill, so I took it off and found the crack.

Jim Rogers

[Magicman]

Plus those blade teeth look like 0°. 

[Resonator]

Good to see there is a market for ring cookies - I've got a Hemlock log with issues. 

[Resonator]

Highly valuable Black Walnut! 


Although they were only about 3' long, they will be plenty big for what they'll be used for. My friend who custom makes Muskie fishing rods dropped off a couple of Black Walnut and Red Cedar logs for me to saw. I cut them into 5/8" slices, that he will dry and cut into sections to make layered rod handles. (See "Customer's projects pictures thread" reply #257 to see one of his finished fishing rods.)

[WV Sawmiller]

Jim,

   My limited experience with Donuts is they work better than cookies as they are less likely to crack as room for the stress to back into. Good luck with those. Actually since they belong to the customer already and you just sawed them your luck has already hit. Well done. 

    Glad you caught that blade in time. Looks like a good reminder to all of us to do a quick exam when putting a new/replacement blade on the mill.