36 ft on an LT40 remote, by turning it around lengthwise?

[terrifictimbersllc]

Customer asking for two 36 ft locust 8x8s for a bridge span for his ATVs.  Wonders if I can cut one end then turn it around lengthwise, line it up,  and cut the other.  Says it doesn't have to be perfect. 

My mill is an LT40 Super front Remote.  No bed extensions.  I've cut 26 ft before by flipping 180 and scooting forward, and can imagine repeating this process back and forth 180 to get a 36 footer. 

But wondering if anyone has done the end to end thing.  I'd be worried about whether the mill can take the weight off the end of an unsupported 16' length.  But he has a big tractor with forks and can pick up the whole log.

I cant answer the question of whether he really has two locust logs that are big enough and straight enough.

Always dull blades but never a dull moment. 

[WV Sawmiller]

TT,

   Never tried such. Will be interested in what you find. I think I'd try cutting the butt end first just to make sure I did not overbalance the weight as I trimmed off the sides.

   By the way - does he really need 8X8 or just 8" thick? Might be able to leave live edge on 2 sides like old time hand hewn cross ties were made. Would be just as strong or more likely stronger.

[customsawyer]

Any time you get towards 30' + you will need to support the far end as it will make the middle bow up like it has stress in it. I found it best to use a small hyd. bottle jack on a block or two as this gave more precision than forks on a tractor. I doubt if I would try flipping it form end to end.

[beenthere]

Just slab one face flat... will be better for strength and flex.  36' and he'll be lucky that it will support its own weight as a bridge beam, let alone trying to drive anything across.
But maybe the plan is for center support too.

[Magicman]

I cant answer the question of whether he really has two locust logs that are big enough and straight enough.

In my country you would never fine Locust trees that would make those timbers.  Also, even for ATV's, stretching two 8X8's 36' is pushing thing a bit far.   

[47sawdust]

From a construction perspective,why bother with a 36' beam.There must be another way to go about this project using shorter stock.It would save a lot of work and eliminate the risk of damaging your mill,to say nothing of all the head scratching.

[slider]

I did some 32 footers a while back on a 20 ft mill.I started using a bottle jack to start with then moved my roller table to the end of the mill for support which worked much better.I called Jake for help before messing up some nice cypress and he suggested making a cut almost to the end then hit the up lever while sawing.Give your self room and just saw right up and out of the cut.Then rotate and repeat until you can move the log back and do the same on the other end.This worked well for me.Hope this will help.I saw from the back most of the time so I moved the support table to the back where my remote is.

[deadfall]

I can just imagine the sag in any square timber that long.  Like the man sez, support in the center (or a couple of places along the way -- posts, or a truss), and then, why not build it with shorter timbers? 

If you have some good buttresses in place, you can build one of these:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1DC0qg_C3Sc

[Brucer]

You can do it. As custom sawyer said, you will need extra support to prevent sagging. I routinely saw 5' overlength and it works OK as long as I support the log at several points down its length.

You might suggest to your customer that he use 6x10s instead of 8x8s. Set on edge they will be 17% stronger, 46% stiffer, and 6% lighter.

I often see people using raw logs for bridge beams. The problem is the extra wood on the sides contributes nothing to the strength or stiffness. All it does is add to the weight and that reduces the bridge capacity.

[terrifictimbersllc]

thanks for your advice I'll let you know how it turns out.

Might end up using the Peterson with 39' rails have to scoot the rails lengthwise 3 ft, to get to 36',  but that would work.