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General Forestry => Forestry and Logging => Topic started by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 04:28:17 PM

Title: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 04:28:17 PM
I am a property owner that will cut trees (once they die) for firewood. However sometimes I will have trees that come down that are just too big for me to want to use as firewood. We are talking 3 feet + in diameter. Hard even to roll into the splitter.

Therefore I was wondering what I can do in these cases. I've contacted tree services/firewood guys before......and I have to pay them just to take these logs off. Aside from just logging the whole place, I'm wondering is there an alternative I'm not thinking of here.

By the way, most of these logs are hardwoods. Any ideas welcome.

Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 04:34:58 PM
And by the way, I've given some thought to burning them (at the bottom of brush piles).....but burning logs that big outside violates one of my 7 commandments of outdoor burning. So that's out.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: TKehl on October 17, 2017, 04:41:23 PM
That is my favorite size for milling.  If you can use the lumber, I'd say get a portable swing mill.  It can be set up around the log and even most the smallest ones will handle up to 4'.

I have split ones that big for firewood.  Need a powerful splitter and a way to hook a chain to the ram to pull it back off the wedge when it get's hung up.  Usually not worth it to me.

Personally, I'd let it rot before paying someone to haul off a log.  One option there would be to inoculate it with mushrooms as you see the health decline.  Hopefully before it's taken over by other fungus.  Shitake would be a good one for most hardwood, especially Oak.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 04:45:07 PM
I don't need the lumber.....so I'd be back at square one. (Unless I sold it.)

Letting it rot is something I've been toying with. I've got a clearing in the woods to dump it. Getting it there would be the hard part: I don't have a skidder. (Unless you count a tractor and a chain. And I don't want to do it that way because of the ruts it would leave in the ground.)
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Ed_K on October 17, 2017, 05:03:23 PM
 Cut it to the width of your skid rd the lag bolt a couple pieces of metal you could hook a chain to each end and to your tractor and use it as a roller to get it to your stump dump.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Gary_C on October 17, 2017, 05:11:45 PM
Depending on species, those big rounds are easy to split by hand. You just take thin splits off the sides until you get it down to manageable size on the splitter.

Remember the old saying, he who splits his own wood is twice warmed.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: thecfarm on October 17, 2017, 06:46:00 PM
Those bigs ones kinda makes you wonder,if it's worth it? I had my land logged,lots and lots of cutoffs,some was up to 3 feet across. I found it was easier to cut them in half with a chain saw. Gave it a flat area to get up against the spiltter. But it still made me wonder.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 06:51:35 PM
QuoteI had my land logged,lots and lots of cutoffs,some was up to 3 feet across. I found it was easier to cut them in half with a chain saw. Gave it a flat area to get up against the spiltter.

I've done that myself. In fact wound up cutting the halves in half. (Basically quartering the original log.) But that still is a lot of sawin'. So I still look for a alternative.

I've been toying with the idea of using a low riding wagon to get them to the dump point. (That still means rolling them into the wagon.)
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Maine372 on October 17, 2017, 07:11:48 PM
consider having some of the big ones harvested and sold. still plenty of tops and smaller wood for you to play with and a cheque to boot! I'm not saying have the whole place logged off, but at 20+ inches it doesn't take to many trees to make it worth while for a logger to come in.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: mike_belben on October 17, 2017, 08:22:21 PM
Big diameter trees you say?  Am i the only one who wishes he had that problem?


You could be talking about $500 a tree pretty easily in that diameter, ya know. 

Good pics, species and location will help alot with getting good answers
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 08:51:22 PM
QuoteBig diameter trees you say?  Am i the only one who wishes he had that problem?


You could be talking about $500 a tree pretty easily in that diameter, ya know.

Only problem is: they all want them en masse. And my wife isn't real big on logging large tracks of the place. I have to admit I'm not wild about the idea either. But it may be an idea whose time is coming as I am not getting any younger here. 

As far as species go.....we are talking white oak, poplar, water oak, and the occasional pine & sugar maple. I live in the upstate of South Carolina.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: OH logger on October 17, 2017, 09:56:56 PM
I'm with the idea of getting rid of those and sell them a few nice trees to sweeten the pot. logging is not a bad thing when done PROPERLY.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 17, 2017, 10:53:18 PM
Quotelogging is not a bad thing when done PROPERLY.

That's the hard part: finding some good ones. I've dealt with a few in the past that just screwed everything up. (No matter how many times you explained things to them.)
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: mike_belben on October 18, 2017, 06:42:34 PM
I take it you are not able to log the place yourself?  Ive not yey encountered a single mill who would refuse good timber from a new guy.. Even just a few stems.  I mean you arent gonna negotiate the rates as a little guy, but a clean sawlog is a clean sawlog and theres a diameter crisis building up in the upper hardwood grades of appalachia.  Global demand for a regional supply.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 18, 2017, 08:21:47 PM
QuoteI take it you are not able to log the place yourself?

:D Call that a big: no.

QuoteIve not yey encountered a single mill who would refuse good timber from a new guy..

I talked to a firewood guy once.....I've got to get it to him first (before I get any $$). If he has to come get unsplit logs....then I pay.

Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Satamax on October 19, 2017, 07:28:13 AM
Am i the only one to think

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XG8y5sPOFGM
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Don P on October 19, 2017, 09:41:55 AM
 :D  There's more than one way to clear out the place.
You just haven't met the right chainsaw mill or swingblade guy locally yet. I think if you beat the bushes around there somebody will be interested if they are good logs. This is for the little niche/hobby guy.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: gspren on October 20, 2017, 07:55:58 AM
  I like those biguns for firewood. If you have a good, decent sized chainsaw it doesn't take too long to get some premium wood. I use an 044 Stihl with a 24" bar and buck to 18" length, if the round is still on it's side I roll it out and noodle in half, sometimes in quarters then split normally. If the rounds fall over I still have some old splitting wedges that with a sledge will usually bust them apart, a bit of work but a bunch of wood.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: mike_belben on October 20, 2017, 10:11:36 AM
Cut a "phillips head" slot into the top of the big rounds with the saw.  I go until the top of the bar is flush with top of log.

Pound wedge into far side of the slot until you hear wood groaning.  Then wacka-maul the slot on the side closest to you a few times and itll pop in two.  Rotate to the other slot and its quartered.  Works excellent.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: MbfVA on October 23, 2017, 01:50:12 AM
This is a frustrating case of matching wants with those that have.  Some cabinet maker, boutique flooring guy (remember I'm in an area where people pay an excess of $75-$100,000 for weddings) or similar would probably just love to have boards from those trees.

It's definitely a job for...

Swing Blade Man!

He never Saw a log he couldn't Cut.

Cuts no edging needed boards with a single swing!
Laughs at minor bits of metal where his bandsaw colleagues shrink back in horror & fear of blade breakage!
Quartersawn? Half the trouble!

Just make sure there's a phone booth nearby so he can change from his secret identity.  He will definitely want to look as Sharp as he can.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Ianab on October 23, 2017, 02:30:07 AM
Yeah, you need the semi-mythical Swing Blade Man.  8)

Swoops to the rescue with a sawmill that you can drag into the woods and mill the logs where they are sitting. Now it depends on what they are as to what money changes hands. If it's something desirable, then I'd pay for the privilege of buying your walnut etc logs where they sit, and hauling the boards away. (or split the sawn boards with you). You get left with a small patch of saw chips and some edgings that will make good kindling. If it's less valuable, but still worth milling? I'll offer to "make it go away" for no charge.

Yes the big players want a whole semi-truck load of logs delivered, and sounds like the local firewood guys are used to dealing with Tree Service companies. "Sure you drop your random yard logs off at our place, and save $$ on the dump fees". With that sort of deal going, there is no market for firewood logs, they get them delivered free.

That leaves the smaller portable operators, and if the logs are big and still in the woods, then it narrows things down to the ultra-portable guys.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Nobody on October 23, 2017, 05:44:22 AM
(https://forestryforum.com/board/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fpitermografi.no%2Ftransportbilder%2Fbilde04.jpg&hash=1c14ce6ecb7cd04126ff237d04675987369a1f62)

https://youtu.be/G4UOHwfUo-Y (https://youtu.be/G4UOHwfUo-Y)
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Ianab on October 23, 2017, 06:14:06 AM
Too be fair. that's how you handle small logs. And yes those little hand skidders are cool.

Big logs are more like this.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/10460/000_0710s.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1192060523)

Thats a 12 ton excavator, and best if could do was drag and roll the log. We got it milled though, and part of it is now my dining table
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Nobody on October 23, 2017, 07:23:53 AM
True, not very suitable for big logs. But if it's a matter of moving out a couple of big trees a year, bucking them into moveable pieces and winching them up on the platform might not be too bad, especially considering the low investment and maintenance cost. All depends on how much of it you gotta move.. If your into low impact forestry, their perfect for thinning and the like.

Edit: how much you recon that log weighs?
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: mike_belben on October 23, 2017, 09:14:48 AM
About 18 lbs per board foot doyle scale
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: Weekend_Sawyer on October 23, 2017, 09:41:50 AM
I'm thinkin this is a good job for a chainsawmill!
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: BigBurOak on October 27, 2017, 11:09:21 AM
If you have a truck load consider contacting www.berkshireproducts.com
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: rasawing on October 29, 2017, 09:49:23 PM
Thanks for the info BigBur.
Title: Re: What to do with big logs?
Post by: maple flats on October 31, 2017, 09:11:43 PM
Another good method could just be to put out a call on this forum for Swing blade millers or chainsaw millers in your area who might be interested.
I've milled 50" diameter  (at butt end) logs on my swingblade. My old set up could do 60". You just need to find a miller in your area.
In fact, some larger band saws can handle 36".
If you do want to cut it down to size for firewood, after bucking it to length, put a ripping chain on your chainsaw, it will cut much faster, a regular chain does poorly ripping (cutting with the grain).