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Sawing 30' beams

Started by Gilman, October 17, 2004, 12:27:01 PM

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Gilman

Slabs are cut to 14' and moved to a slab pile(s) with the forklift.  Beams are moved with the forklift shown in the last picture posted.
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

JD350Cmark

Gilman,

You mentioned keeping your blade below 300 degrees..  How are ya measuring the temp?  ???
2004 Wood-Mizer LT40HDG25

Gilman

I'm guessing on the 300 degrees.  At 212 degrees water boils and you will get steam.  At 300 degrees the boiling would be at a much higher rate.  I can watch the rate the coolant is boiling at the infeed blade guides.  The amount of steam along with the sound and the tension pressure gage are good indicators of how the blade is behaving on wide cuts.

Sawing these long beams has been a great learning experience on blade behavior.  Before, I was mostly sawing 8 to 10' hardwoods. In those you get started cutting, cut for a little bit and then think about returning the board and what your next cut will be.  On these long logs I have a good minute to two minutes to observe the blade and speculate on the blade behavior.

It's nice to be able to kind of sit back and think about what is going on with the saw.
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

HUNTER700

Hey Gilman, Pretty cool job with the beams. The 12x12x30' must really be something to see. Thanks for sharing the pictures. Let us know how the rest of the job goes.     Hunter700

Rookie

Nice work!!  I'm wondering what type of $$ you can get for a good 12X12X30?  And are you focusing on one species or several?  This is a very interesting topic, and I've enjoyed your story and pics!

Bruce_A

Gilman;  Made contact on that garbage loader. Must weigh somewhere between 6000 and 8000 pounds.  About 20' of reach from center of mast.  $2000.00 loaded on a truck. Need more info or want a look, let me know.   Bruce

Duncan

Gillman,

It really looks like you are working the unloader harder than you are.  I think you should let the old man run the mill and you unload the logs.

Just letting you know I'mm here  See ya next week. and keep a few logs for me.

KD
Kelly

woodrat


Y'all got it easy with that big old bed extension!   ;) Its not so much fun cutting 28' timbers on a 21' mill! I did that for a customer in CA who really really REALLY wanted his 28' beams to come from his own trees. It involved cutting part way through and then using the rollers to move the log/cant back and forth. It was probably still cheaper for him than buying hte timber from somewhere else.
1996 Woodmizer LT40HD
Yanmar 3220D and MF 253
Wallenstein FX 65 logging winch
Husky 61, 272XP, 372XP, 346XP, 353
Stihl 036, 046 with Lewis Winch
78 Chevy C30 dump truck, 80 Ford F350 4x4
35 ton firewood splitter
Eastonmade 22-28 splitter and conveyor
and ...lots of other junk...

Gilman

I'm confident I wouldn't want to saw a 28' beam without the extension.  I would have tried it before I got the extension, but not now ;)

Here's a little background on our new member Duncan.  We've been friends since kindergarten.  He's been overseas in Taiwan for about four years (that about right Duncan?) and is now moving back to the states.  He's looking at getting a mill.  I advised him to start reading FF to learn about sawing.  Thanks to you guys, I can't think of a better class on learning to saw lumber.  Thanks FF and welcome Duncan.

Oh, one more thing.  Earlier I gave this long drawn out answer on making sure a blade was sharp enough to go thirty more feet.  I watched what I did and the answer is a lot simpler.  I try to change the blade before it's too late, otherwise, "poor on the water, slow down and grimace."
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

Gilman

Woodrat, I like your web page.  Looks like you've had your mill all over the NW.  You probably need a new set of tires for your mill.

If you're ever in the Vancouver area, give me a call.  My folks have a cabin in Long Beach.  I'll have to drive down on the WA side next time and see your setup (This is my small hint to be invited :))

THIS WEEK'S UPDATE:
Beautiful sunny weather, NO logs :(
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

woodrat

I don't have much of a home setup right now. I was hoping to get a pad and a shed built up by my barn this last summer, and like so many things, it didn't happen. Now I am hoping to get it done this spring. Then I want to set my mill up stationary and focus more on selling nice interesting wood than on running all around doing little custom jobs.

I have been all over with the mill though, and I've get to meet a lot of different kinds of people and see a lot of people's homesteads. That part has been cool. You joke about my tires, but its true! The second to last time I went to CA for work, one of the trailer brake parts wore out, fell off and locked up that wheel at 65 MPH and before I could even think- boom, there goes the tire and fender bouncing down I-5. Luckily no one hit them. I got a used rim and tire at the next stop, saddled back up and went on. The next day, when I got to the end of the paved road, nine miles from the job, some yahoo runs me into the ditch, and blooey! there goes that tire again! and the rim! ...again! At that point, I just decided to keep going, since I had no spare, was waay out in the backcountry and couldn't even get a cell signal to call the customer. Nine miles on the back road riding right on the steel rim, boy was that loud! it was quite a sight too!

just got home again last week or so from another out of town job and this time it was a wheel bearing that had gone out, trashing the spindle too, so now I am idle, waiting for my new axle assembly to come in... you can't really hear or feel a trailer axle bearing the way you can if its on your truck. I never even knew it was going.

Anyway, you're welcome to come by anytime, hopefully by then I will have my gravelled mill site set up, and be sawing some nice locust or something. I'm right on hwy 4 just west of skamokawa proper.

 :)
Mark
1996 Woodmizer LT40HD
Yanmar 3220D and MF 253
Wallenstein FX 65 logging winch
Husky 61, 272XP, 372XP, 346XP, 353
Stihl 036, 046 with Lewis Winch
78 Chevy C30 dump truck, 80 Ford F350 4x4
35 ton firewood splitter
Eastonmade 22-28 splitter and conveyor
and ...lots of other junk...

Gilman

WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

woodrat

1996 Woodmizer LT40HD
Yanmar 3220D and MF 253
Wallenstein FX 65 logging winch
Husky 61, 272XP, 372XP, 346XP, 353
Stihl 036, 046 with Lewis Winch
78 Chevy C30 dump truck, 80 Ford F350 4x4
35 ton firewood splitter
Eastonmade 22-28 splitter and conveyor
and ...lots of other junk...

Gilman

WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

woodrat

 :o   yeah, that's what my client looked like when I rolled in ...
1996 Woodmizer LT40HD
Yanmar 3220D and MF 253
Wallenstein FX 65 logging winch
Husky 61, 272XP, 372XP, 346XP, 353
Stihl 036, 046 with Lewis Winch
78 Chevy C30 dump truck, 80 Ford F350 4x4
35 ton firewood splitter
Eastonmade 22-28 splitter and conveyor
and ...lots of other junk...

Gilman

Sawed a 9 x 13 x 30' beam w/ a 6' extension the other day (26' of bed).  I didn't use my 24' extension because it's 24' long, would require 2 more trips to deliver the extension and return it and wouldn't be fun to setup in someones field.  The photos were taken at the customer's field while sawing the beam.  See, there really is such a thing as a perfectly round and straight log.   :D

I mostly used Bibby's method but added one feature (Thanks Bibby for your detailed explaination on how to cut a beam over 20').  The beam was full sawn Free of Heart so the slabs were pretty thick, one over 12" thick.  Using wedges to lift the thick slabs for backing the blade out didn't appeal to me.  Below is shown the same method used but with a Boxed Heart beam.

On the first cut I raised the blade 1/2" - 3/4" higher than I wanted the finish cut.  Once I got to the end of the first cut ~24' down the log, peaveys were used to raise the slab.  Using the peaveys to raise the slab to back the blade up is quicker and easier than using wedges.  With the slab pried up, the blade was backed up ~4' and then a chainsaw was used to cut the slab off at the end of the cut.


Slab cut off with a chainsaw


Starting your cut 1/2" - 3/4" above your finish cut lets you cut the slab off with a chainsaw without worring about making a perfect cut and stopping prior to nicking the finished beam.



The log was then turned 90 degrees and the above process was repeated.  Once two 24' flat faces were done the 3'rd face was cut with the same process. 




The saw head was then backed up and the toe boards were fully raised.  The cant was cut at the finished height down 24' creating a 1/2" thick slab that the blade could easily back out of.  This 1/2" thick slab was cut off with a chainsaw and a scrap spacer under to make sure the beam didn't get damaged.  Kind of hard to see, but there is a finish cut ~20' long.


Once cut, the cant was pushed back far enough to finish the cut


On the 4th face, the 1/2" slab wasn't needed.  The slab was flexible enough to pry up with peaveys, add a scrap spacer, and cut with a chainsaw.

Back to the 1st face.  With the toe boards DOWN and the cant hanging over the far end of the mill a 1/2" thick slab cut was cut to 20'.  Then the 1/2" thick slab was cut off with a spacer.  The head was returned and raised, toe boards raised, can pushed back and then lowered to the bed.  Then the 1/2" slab cut was finished.  The last face was cut with the same method.





WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

Gilman

The above beam was cut with the assistance of a front end bucket on a tractor.  Unfortunately the center of gravity was just past the second toe board. If there was a 3rd toe board on the extension, it would have been much easier.  Being able to cut 1 long beam with this method saved about 6 hours of work verses using the 24' extension.
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

Fla._Deadheader


Gilman
That's exactly how we sawed the 24' Beams for the loggin Boat, on our 16' mill bed.  Gotta be careful cuttin them slabs off with that chainsaw.

  We could'a sold them 24' long 2 X 8's for BIG bucks the very next day, If we hadda left 'em long.  ::) ::) :D :D
All truth passes through three stages:
   First, it is ridiculed;
   Second, it is violently opposed; and
   Third, it is accepted as self-evident.

-- Arthur Schopenhauer (1788-1860)

Gilman

Strange how it seems to work that way.   :-\
WM LT70, WM 40 Super, WM  '89 40HD
Cat throwing champion 1996, 1997, 1999. (retired)

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