Sawing longer than carriage.

[brendonv]

Im not a sawyer but always wondered. How do you saw logs longer than your carriage?  Anyone have pics?

[Dave Shepard]

I've got some somewhere. Let me get on the PC and I'll try to load some.

[Dave Shepard]

 Gratuitous long log pic:



 

An LT40 cuts 21', so you only need to saw about 4' longer than the mill, so that will be easy. Some people have cut 40' with no extension. That gets tricky. I saw as far as I can and cut the slabs and boards off with a chainsaw. I do this on both sides, and it leaves what I call a "hammerhead" on the end. With the top and bottom sawn flat, you can easily slide the log on the bed rails and cut the last little bit off on each side. Then you stand it up on edge and repeat.

You can see the hammerhead in this pic. Sawing white pine, you might be able to just let the end hang out there. If you feel like it is sagging, use your mini loader to take some of the load on the end of the log. 



 

[Dave Shepard]

Another option is to saw as far as you can, and slide the log back on the rollers and try to get the log leveled up again by running the band back and forth to make sure it is sawing parallel. That can be really tricky, which is why I prefer to have a sawn side down on the bed rails.

[brendonv]

Thats pretty cool. Thanks!

[bandmiller2]

Brendon, if your talking about a circular mill it is accepted to hang the log/cant two feet beyond the carriage both ends. If your cutting timbers you can stretch that. Frank C.

[Bibbyman]

https://forestryforum.com/cgi-bin/tips/tips.cgi?display:1061208316-32360.txt

The above link is to the method we use to saw logs longer than the mill.

While the principal is the same - saw, move the log or cant, than complete the cut - we approach it a bit different.   We place the log on the mill with small end sticking out over the hitch end and the butt end placed so the blade will saw out the end.  Four faces are made like sawing any other log.  Once four faces are made,  the cant can be rolled forward and back to get cuts all the way.

[slider]

 

  

  I do it by dropping into the cut with the saw running.Take a few boards and flip.The roller table helps for support.Here is some 32 footers we cut.I learned this from Customsawyer so the credit goes to him.

[Cedarman]

Another way is to place a wide 2" by 12 or 14" as long as the mill on the bed.  Set the log on the board.  Saw down.  Cut off slab.   Raise rollers, move slab and then lower rollers.  If the log is extra long, we use a pallet jack with enough pallets and bolsters to help stabalize the log and keep the end of the mill from sagging. Once you have flat sides, take out the board.  Having the board keeps the log level when moving. The pallet jack helps move the log also.
We are on concrete, so it makes using the pallet jack easy.

[prittgers]

You can cut a 40 ft tree on a 20 ft mill.  Here is an illustration on a 27 ft log.  If you are luck enough to be using a hydraulic mill like my Woodmizer, support the long end of the log and make your first cut.  Remove the slab, rotate 90 deg, and do it until you have a squared up cant ending at a round. 

lift the cant up with the hydraulic towboards, swing the tail-support out of the way, roll the log across the rollers and set it down with the round in position to cut the next 6 ft.

Support the cant as it exits the mill and repeat as necessary.