Two Big Boys

[Magicman]

After finishing the Cypress and ERC, the customer had two big boys to saw.  Sawing two 36" logs back to back is unusual for me.  One is a Cherrybark Oak and the other is a Water Oak both of which are classified as Red Oaks.  (No I do not saw with the guards off of the sawmill.  The customer got the log ready to load before I finished installing the blade.)   


 
The Water Oak decided to go first.  It was 36" on both ends.


 
And the Cherrybark Oak had to wait it's turn.  It was 36" on the butt and 33" on the small end.


 
I lowered the side supports and fudged as far left as I could.


 
I sawed each side down to my targeted 12" cant and then sawed 1X12's.  The side lumber would also be 1X12's with a few 1X10's, 8's, & 6's.


  
This is the typical coloration of Water Oak with the grey streaks.


 
I personally prefer the Cherrybark Oak which is all red in color and without the grey.

It took ~4  hours to saw both logs.  I was sawing hourly rate, but the two logs yield was a bit over 1Mbf.  The sawing cost would have been almost identical whichever way that I had charged.

[downsouth]

That is some big uns for sure!
Looks like you have it down pretty good on your rates.
    I have a big sycamore coming this weekend for someone, I have not seen it yet but he says it's "big". I hope I haven't bit off more than I can chew!

[ddcuning]

Now that is my size of log! Very nice!

Dave C

[brianb88]

I always enjoy seeing pictures along with the narrative.  Nice work Magicman.   

[clww]

Looks great, Lynn! 8) How old do you estimate these two were?

[Chuck White]

I really like logs that size Lynn, but I really don't want a landing full of them! 

[Ga Mtn Man]

Wow Magicman, it seems like you've just about got the hang of this sawmilling thing. :D

I'm guessing that 12" wide cant was pretty tall when you finally got it squared up.  I find that turning tall cants like that can sometimes be challenging.  Do you ever have any trouble with those and have you got any tips you'd like to share?

[SPD748]

I might need Logrite to build me a special 10' hook to turn those bad boys! Nice job Lynn!

-lee

[hackberry jake]

We have a lot of cherrybark around here. I kinda like how that water oak looked!

[Magicman]

How old do you estimate these two were? 

Both of them had ~¼" growth rings so they were gaining about ½" in diameter each year.  That should put them in the 75 year range.

Nothing special Paul, but I did have to use the log clamp and turner together to roll them over.

[goose63]

That's why thy call you the Magicman 8) 8) 8)

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Not bad Lynn....not bad at all. The closeness of the diameters on each is not bad sawing. I hates the big logs where its 33 on one end and 24 on the other. Makes for a lot of sawing with less lumber.

[drobertson]

Not magic, just a lot of work for someone! ;D  those are bigun's  for sure,  they look like picture perfect logs, especially for that size.  Very solid to the core.

[barbender]

Those were such nice logs, they didn't even look that large until I saw the mill dwarfed underneath. Thanks for the pictures, Magic ;)

[scully]

It has to feel darn satisfying to mill something as awesome as that !

[reswire]

How heavy would you say that log was???  Curious what size John Deere loaded that rascal.  I don't think my 5205 could come close to loading that puppy. :

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

How heavy would you say that log was???  Curious what size John Deere loaded that rascal.  I don't think my 5205 could come close to loading that puppy. :

Close to 3500 pounds.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

You saw with your doors off......or was you changing blades?  ;D

[Sixacresand]

Good job Magicman,  I know it was challenging.  That's where experience pays off. 

[Magicman]

You saw with your doors off......or was you changing blades?  ;D

Ah ha, you did not read the OP very closely did you??

I could have loaded the logs, but with a JD 6415 (95 HP) available, then why?   ;D

Thanks to all for the kind words.  Fact is, I love to saw them biguns.   

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

You saw with your doors off......or was you changing blades?  ;D

Ah ha, you did not read the OP very closely did you??

I just look at the pictures.  :D :D :D

[backwoods sawyer]

Fact is, I love to saw them biguns.   

Nice logs
laying the side suports down and easing them big ones over can be tricky, having something handy that can handle the log if you OOOPs is not a bad thing ;)
You know they are big when they are bigger then the tire.

[fat olde elf]

Nice work on nice logs ! Thanks for the birthday greeting.... Now I am only 10% older than you.  My best to Pat.......See you in August..........

[rooster 58]

I likes the contrast of the gray in that water oak. A few weeks ago, I sawed a big hemlock that was 16' long. 27" on the small end and 34" on the butt. It had some sweep also, which gave me fits trying to turn that rascal ;)

[dboyt]

For boards like that, I bet your customer would have been thrilled at any price!  Good thing he didn't want live edge slabs.  Nice job.  What pitch/hook angle did you use?