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Started by Sarah Duval, March 16, 2012, 11:41:56 PM

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Sarah Duval

 

  

  

  

 

Okrafarmer

Nice pictures. To answer your question, usually it is hard to find logs more than about 20' long that are worthy of milling, unless they are also very large diameter. There are some applications where the long boards or beams are used, but I would not worry about going longer than your 21' right now, as I would say, in the US, at least, that would be less than 1% of the lumber milled is over 16'. I can only do about 16-17' and any time I get a 16' log on the mill I am already wishing it was a hydraulic mill.  :-\
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

eastberkshirecustoms

Nice pic.'s. I see that you have the typical NH rocks boulders jutting out of the ground.  ;)

dgdrls

Pile in Duval clan!!

I'm as new to this as you are, everyone on the board is great!
Use the search function and keep reading here.

see if this helps http://extension.unh.edu/

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DGDrls

Sarah Duval

If I use the search bar one more time my wife is going to shoot me. LOL I have spent alot of time here lately but it has been well worth it. We put that one 28 inch log on there and it was only 8 feet long but it made me wish I didn't till we were looking at the boards we got out of it. As for the rocks I'm about to loose my mind, we can't dig anywhere with out hitting a dozen of them. I am really excited tonight I got a call for an order to redeck a trailer, going to look at it tommorow afternoon.

POSTON WIDEHEAD

Quote from: Sarah Duval on March 19, 2012, 10:39:29 PM
I am really excited tonight I got a call for an order to redeck a trailer, going to look at it tommorow afternoon.

This is how it all starts Robert. 1 call.....next week 2 calls....etc. and before you know it......you'll be  8) 8)
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Ron Wenrich

We had a guy that used to make stakes and hubs for a living.  He used to stop buy and pick up 10' pallet boards, then cut and ripped them into stakes.  Other times he would take pallet cants and cut them down into stock. 

Its a lot cheaper, and you don't have to saw up good logs into a relatively low grade product.  Clear boards are worth a whole lot more than stakes, and you don't have to cut them up.
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Okrafarmer

My cousin buys pallet logs and mills grade stakes among other things. Even pallet logs will get you some decent boards now and again. Any good boards he gets out he uses or sells separately.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

Holmes

  Welcome to the Forestry Forum..  I hope your new adventure goes well..   Holmes
Think like a farmer.

Bogue Chitto

Welcome you two.  ;D

Jim_Rogers

In your first post you asked about learning more about making lumber.
You said you made grade stakes and trailer decking.

I make both trailer decking and grade stakes, too.

Why don't you tell us how you make grade stakes and we can see if there are any tips we can pass on to you to make it easier.

The first thing that I did see was that you're using the plastic wrap for your bundles. I think you'll find it you leave that out in the sun, the bundles all wrapped up, you find the plastic wrap will break down and you'll loose the strength of it.

I started out with that was well and soon learned it doesn't stand up well.

I went to narrow black plastic strap with a buckle to hold it. I have used that for many years now and I am very happy with it.

I don't have any pictures of it in my computer but I could take one and show you what it looks like.
I used to get it (the strapping) in small boxes where a roll was about 300 ft or so. The last time I tried to get some, I couldn't get the small box anymore. So I got a big box. I think it's 3000 ft, but I'd have to go outside and look at the box to see.

I think the small box came with 300 buckles in it. I get a 1000 buckles at a time when I order them. It has been a while since I ordered any and the last box I got I haven't even opened yet.

With the construction business being down I haven't sold a lot over the last two years.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Sarah Duval

We are concerned about the same thing Jim, we figured it wouldn't hold up so well either but my father has about 40 rolls of it that he got for nothing. We just got a quote for the banding and buckles last week. Thank you for the heads up about the pallet boards that is a great idea seeing as my father gets tons of those for free. The way we are cutting the grade stakes now works ok, I cut the logs into boards then we cut them at 4 feet. Next we move the boards to the tablesaw and cut them into the blank stakes then we sharpen them and bundle them. We put out about 2500 a week on average. We started cutting the stakes on the tablesaw to cut down on the amount of board footage we are putting through the mill.

Okrafarmer

See, you already have a resaw. You're ahead of me.
He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Operating a 2020 Woodmizer LT35 hydraulic for Upcountry Sawmill, Dacusville, SC

Now selling Logrite tools!

Writing fiction and nonfiction! Check my website.

captain_crunch

need to see stake could not it be done with P/s before milling?
Best money around is selling whole log that gives cabnit makers qt sawn riff and flat sawn and facebook boards at 150 per thousand you cant saw common lumber out west Spectialty lumber is only click  got fellow who buys all qtr sawn white oak i can saw but that is only 1.00 per ft
M-14 Belsaw circle mill,HD-11 Log Loader,TD-14 Crawler,TD-9 Crawler and Ford 2910 Loader Tractor

Sarah Duval

The stakes are just common grade stakes captain so I'm not sure what your asking. They are 1'' by 1'' by 4 foot long, the one thing we have gotten a good response on are the 6 foot long ones for gardening.

Buck

Welcome Duvals! round here we call those 6 ft ones "mater stakes" ;)
Respect is earned. Honesty is appreciated. Trust is gained. Loyalty is returned.

Live....like someone left the gate open

Jim_Rogers

When I first started sawing lumber back in '4 we sawed oak the same as pine, that is 4/4 as on the WM scale.
I met the buyer from a large hardwood lumber company and asked him if he'd buy some oak lumber from me in small lots.
He asked me what thickness was my lumber, and I told him 4/4 as the scale on the woodmizer put out boards that were roughly 1 1/16" thick.
He told me that these boards were too thin and that the industry standard was 1 1/8" thick for hardwood lumber and that he won't buy any of my lumber this thickness.
I therefore changed my milling thickness and made my hardwood lumber 1 1/8" thick.

What I do is set aside board I cut as I'm making trailer planks and other hardwood lumber products and use these extra boards to make up my grade stakes.

When I had a regular helper, who came over after his regular job as a carpenters helper, he would take the lumber and cut them to 3' and 4' lengths, stacking them onto skid/pallets that I would move with my backhoe mounted fork lift to the "stake" area. There he would rip them on a table saw so that I could keep milling other lumber for customers and not be tying up the mill.

As he was ripping the blanks he'd push the pieces off the table saw into a bin, a pallet with sides up and strips over the top to hold the sides from spreading out.
The bin sat on blocks next to the pointer, behind the contractor table saw.
I got one of those pencil type pointers from Hud-Son in NY, after seeing them at the logging equipment show in Bangor Maine. It will point stakes up to 2" square.

Now adays, I don't use the table saw any more. I mill them on the sawmill. But what I do is I gang up a stack of 5 or 6 boards and stand them up on edge and clamp them up. As you rip down you make 5 or 6 stakes at a time. And you can grab up three in each hand as you scoop them up off the mill after each pass and toss them into a nearby bin without walking away from the mill. On the other side of the mill within tossing reach I have another bin that I can toss all the rejected ones into to but cut up for stove kindling.
After the bin is full or has enough to fill the order, I move it over to the stake pointing area and point the stakes. I have setup two racks to hold 25 stakes each so that I can point 50 then shut off the pointer and bind them up with my straps and buckles.
I use two straps and two buckles on each bundle one at each end about 6 to 8" back from the end.
I then carry them off and stack these bundles up on another pallet or right onto my trailer for delivery. When I stack onto a pallet, I switch ends where the points are so that you can just look at the row and see how many bundles are in each row, which I usually do 5 per row. And you can easily count up how many bundles you have on the pallet.

I hold out 4' stakes from milling or pointing that can be cut back to make 3' stakes and trim them off and re-point them.

I don't have any pictures of doing this. Sorry about that.

I also make a tree stake for a local nursery supply house and landscaping company. They are 1 1/2" square, and 8' long; to be use to secure newly planted trees, so that they don't blow over in the wind until they take root. Sometimes they use two per tree sometimes three.

They usually order 100 at a time but have in the past ordered as many as 300 or 500 at a time, when times were good. I did a batch for them last fall and delivered them right to there site which was half way between them and me. They came out nice and they were happy with that delivery service. It saved them an extra trip with their truck.
I don't bundle the tree stakes I deliver them loose.

I hope this has helped you some.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

Woodchuck53

Welcome guys and gals ya'll like it here. I see from your pictures you started off right and have a good foundation of iron under your Hudson. Nice set up. keep your ears open and do good work and soon you'll have all you and her can handle. Good luck and remember to stay safe. These toys are fun but are still machinery in motion. A clean mill is a safe mill. Chuck
Case 1030 w/ Ford FEL, NH 3930 w/Ford FEL, Ford 801 backhoe/loader, TMC 4000# forklift, Stihl 090G-60" bar, 039AV, and 038, Corley 52" circle saw, 15" AMT planer Corley edger, F-350 1 ton, Ford 8000, 20' deck for loader and hauling, F-800 40' bucket truck, C60 Chevy 6 yd. dump truck.

Sarah Duval

Jim all the info you have given us so far has made a major difference and so has all the other ideas that everyone has kicked in. Thank you all very much. I have 2 landscaping companies that have called for the heavier stakes you are talking about Jim, I will be cutting those this week. Woodchuck that is my major concern and reason for being here, I want to make sure we are cutting the best products possible. I have yet to see a forum with even a quarter of the knowledge or willingness of it's members to be so helpfull to one another. Thank you everyone and some day I hope to be able to return the favors by being able to answer questions for you. Robert

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