Log larger than mill wants

[Escavader]

    Ever saw one bigger than you should
Trying to saw a 33 on an lt 15  I think it's capacity is 28.
A lot of turning and chainsawing 
26 footer and not straight either,
It took me an hour to open 2 faces,I couldn't complete the second until I do some of the 3rd
 I got it up to do the third face .saw is on wrong end.i have to remove blade to get it to other.lesson learned there.i. trying for 4 by 10s.

[shelbycharger400]

I here that.  I bought an Alaskan 48 and 84 , and a 2155 deere this year. I'm done trying to do big stuff on the bandmill. 

[Brad_bb]

Yep, I have an LT15 also.  Done that many times.  Logs that big take a day to do.  I'm assuming since you are milling that length you must be making a beam?  Otherwise you'd have cut it to shorter lengths.

So when you are opening a face, you are often taking some boards to get down to the beam dimension.  So If I'm taking some 5/4 boards, I'll but down the length of the log, then measure and mark 8'2", or 6'2", or 4'2" etc.  And shove a wedge under the board to lift it up enough to then cut off the board with a cordless circ saw.  I found that with boards, unless I know I have a specific need for something longer, I'll cut to those standard lengths as I have lumber pallets made to those standard lengths to stack and sticker the boards on.  I just did a 26ft beam the other day.  I hope you have a machine to lift the log.  On the big ones, I lift them off the mill and onto the ground to roll them on bunks to the orientation I want for my next opening cut.  Then lift it back onto the mill.

I've cut a number of Ash in the 36 inch range that had taper.  I rip them down on the ground with the chainsaw first until I can get them on the mill.  Then you have to cut it down to a 24" cant before you can saw any boards as the throat opening is about 24.5".

[woodmills1]

Using a single post woodmizer you can always render a larger than life piece of tree.

[nopoint]

Yes, but it's not smart. Cut one on the lt40 when I first got it that had to be cut in half with the chainsaw, then loaded on edge on the mill. Mill still wouldn't clear with head all the way up. Trimmed the edge a bit and then it cleared. First piece was fairly heavy had to be removed with forklift and then whittled down later. Don't remember the diameter less than 50" but still too big. Next time I might just haul back to the woods unless it's something really nice...

[Woodpecker52]

If it don't fit on the mill it ain't fit to fool with.  If it looks to small too fool with, It usually is.  I have wasted more time an effort on trying to make a mountain out of a mole hill and trying to turn a mole hill into a mountain!  Some logs are just meant to compost!

[Woodpecker52]

I also found out that a 24 inch cypress board is nice to look at but majority of people do not want anything over 12 inches wide.

[richhiway]

If I have learned anything so far it is nice timber makes nice lumber. 

It is nice to be able to cut large and small logs that are free and make them into something worthwhile, but it's a lot of effort for little gain.

I have a Haddon lumber maker for the chainsaw. You can trim the big ones down with some accuracy for a small investment.

[John Bartley]

I have not gone this route myself, but this is an application for a chainsaw mill.

In my case, I used the handheld chainsaw (no mill) to notch out the log enough to allow the power head to travel down the log .... the first slabs were a *$%&#^@!!  Once it was reduced in size I was able to produce nice wide boards.

Using a chainsaw mill at the beginning would let a miller reduce the log to a workable cant size with minimal waste and would also open the log up to see where the best place to start milling is.

EDIT : this is my sawing buddy.  We learned on the trees he had to remove after one branch fell off an Eastern White Pine and almost destroyed his house....
This is the spring of 2008.  I had never sawed before and we did 42 logs (out of fourteen trees) ranging from 8' to 20' and from 12"dia up to .... trimming with the chainsaw to get them onto a mill that would take 30" logs.  We did 5500 board feet in the snow ... never again!!

[DPatton]

Yes, guilty as charged.

[Escavader]

I found in addition to cutting with a saw the butt flare .you end up turning alot to make it manageable.and where my company only does 12 inch ,alot of my boards I will take up the big mill and edge will end up being two boards .after the first two opposite faces getting oneflat side up against  the knees and squaring it is a two person job on them big ones.i had to go find a helper each big one I had.i have no Turner just a forklift

[Jim H]

If the log is more than about 40" I just rip it into quarters with the chainsaw. If the customer wants it done I'm up for it.

[offrink]

I cut up a few 44-48" logs, mostly oak.  First I used a chainsaw mill and slabbed them down to 34" wide. Then used a skidsteer to load it onto the bunks of the sawmill and started milling. First had to mill a 8" slab off of it because  the bunk to the top of the LT-15 wide blade is 35" and it is 8" to the top of the guide above sawblade. Took another few 8" chunks to make it more manageable. Rotated it so that the log laid down flat. Worked great. 

[fishfighter]

With a manual mill, I did three times and now I will never put a over sized log on the mill again. ;D Will burn it first. ;D