Keep it neat

[Tom]

I'm not generally a very neat, put-everything-in-its-place, person but my sawmill has made me appreciate neatness in that environment.

Slabs are the "trash" that result form making the boards.  I have learned that they must me stacked as precisely as the lumber.  If you don't, then you wil have a pick-up-stick mess in a very short while that is almost impossible to clean up or move.  Some of my off-bearers will just throw the slab on a pile at the head of the mill even though I ask them to be neat.  In 3 or 4 hours, they are unable to walk around the mill, there is no more room for slabs,  The tractor can't move them and I have to shut down while the mess is cleaned up.

If the slabs are stacked neatly and tightly on top of a chain, then the chain can be wrapped around the pile, hooked to a tractor or truck and pulled to a remote area on occasion.  Of course, you don't won't it to build to big or there will be too much weight.

If a Slab pile is stacked neatly and tightly, you can run your chainsaw through the pile at a 90 degree angle to the slabs and quickly create piles of fire box sized firewood.

Yes,  there are folks who can make a mess out of the stack of lumber as well.

I've seen it stacked without any regard to width, length or thickness.  Man, talk about a mess to count up at the end of the day !   Not to mention the difficulty in sorting the lumber to sticker it.  Believe it or not I have seen the same folks do this over and over again.  Won't they ever learn?

Lumber is best stacked close to the mill in segregated stacks containing same dimensions.  If placed on 4x4's or the like, then forks can be used to move the stacks.  This makes tallying very easy and the customer and the sawyer can easily see the production and how closely it follows the Saw-bill.

Sometimes, when space is limited, a layer may contain 1x12's,  2-1x6's, 3-1x4's, 1-1x8 and 1=1x4 or any combination of widths as long as the layer is all the same thickness.  

Stacks done this way can be jammed up against the next stack with inventory for billing purposes measuring the board footage in the entire stack(s) of lumber with no requard as to the individual pieces.  W"xH"xL' divided by 12

Have you ever had to stack different lengths together?  Say that you have a stack of 2x4's with lengths of 8', 12' in the same stack.

Count everything from the front of the stack where you have tried to keep it even.  100 pieces?  Well these are all 8' long, so the footage is 533 Board feet.  Now go to the back of the stack.  Hmmm bunch of sticks sticking out beyond the 8' mark.  Count them........36.  Well you could say that you had 36-12 footers but I say I have 36-4 footers.  That's 96 more feet to add to the 533, so, the entire stack has 629 board feet,

Yes it is difficult, but not as difficult as trying to count individual pieces and wondering if you have counted something twice.  

If you are in good control of the off-bearing then this would probably not happen, but sometimes things get out of hand and several different lengths end up in the same stack.  This is a good way to keep from getting confused because you count everything up to a certain length, then everything in the next encrement and then everything in the next encrement, etc, treating each encrement as its own length.

[JoeyLowe]

Hear...Hear Tom!

That is great advice.  I'm a neat freak. (or so says my wife)  Besides, if the lumber is stacked neatly, then the perceived value to the owner increases or so I think.  By the way, I am still very new to custom milling and I appreciate the tip on using the chain.  Makes great sense!

[Frank_Pender]

  I use a jig for the larger pieces of material that are scraps.  Once it is full I will place the forks into  2" x 6" tubing. pick up the jig and move to the woodpile.  The jig is set up so I can cut 16" wood or 32" wood.  I cut at the appropriate location for the lenght I want and end with a 1/4 of a cord.  I then lift the jig and dump.   The tubing is attatched as a hinge on the oposite side from the frok entry point and the whole thing dumps like the bucket for the loader.  The whole process takes about 10 minutes to complete.  The real small pieces go into a small 51 Chev pick-up box trailer and is usually run though my chipper.  That takes about twenty minutes to process and equals approximately a 1/2 yard  which sells for $10 a yard.

[caveman]

I was looking back through some old FF posts and came across this one started by Mr. Tom.  I am typically not incredibly neat but one thing we have done recently that has improved our efficiency is the way we handle slabs.  We now have a dedicated slab rack made of tubing, 2 1/2" pipe and 2" pipe.  If we want to pile slabs higher, we'll put smaller pipes inside the 2 1/2" pipes.  We can either grab the slabs out of the rack with the forks or usually, we just lift the rack with the slabs in it and tote it to the burn pile.  After placing the bottom layer of slabs on the rack, the rest slide right in.



 

[slider]

I agree with Mr Toms thoughts on keeping things in order. Even the sabs . We use the skid steer with forks next to the off feed table the slabs must be straight or you will have a mess. Then the boards go next to it on saw horses . I tally each layer as i go ,then i don't have to fight the whole pack that has different boards in it. It is easier for me that way.

[mudfarmer]

I agree with Mr Toms thoughts on keeping things in order. Even the sabs . We use the skid steer with forks next to the off feed table the slabs must be straight or you will have a mess.

Yes! Even with 8ft forks on a big wheel loader, you can be dumping slabs a lot sooner than you need to be if you don't keep them neat when you are stacking. Even worse, spending time getting them restacked just so you can go dump them.
There is a balance though One tail gunner would spend all day getting the slabs stacked just right on the machine forks and be slowing the sawyer down the whole time ;D It is the tailgunners job to keep the saw in the wood, straighten the slabs on your own time  :D

On species with much taper it is nice when the logs are alternating small end first then big end first, rinse/repeat, you can REALLY get some slabs packed tight without wearing yourself out helicoptering. Doesn't always happen but nice when you get a good lineup by accident.

[WV Sawmiller]

   I do pretty good stacking the slabs neatly stacked on the forks of my FEL as I cut them but when I dump them on my pile they do go the winds as Tom originally described. I only put the slabs and edgings from 1-2 trees on my undersized equipment.

   As usual, Mr. Tom was spot on with his observations and suggestions.

[Wlmedley]

When I first got my sawmill setup I had no idea how much scrap material would be produced so I started sawing and just threw slabs on the ground.Being I hadn't joined this forum yet and had no idea what I was doing I produced a lot of scrap wood.When I finally decided to get rid of the slabs they were wet and frozen and covered with sawdust.It was a major job picking it all up and loading on my trailer.Lesson learned. I now put hardwood on rack to cut into firewood and softwood into trailer directly off the mill.I've got a gulley that I dump in that will hold all I'll ever produce.Picture of my first load  :laugh:

 

[Wattwood]

.Pic


Satlight deesh...

Always nice to see the West Virginia state flower in bloom.

Montani semper liberi!

[OlJarhead]

Having nearly hurt myself recently due to being 'not neat' I agree!

I'm going to have to make a bucksaw or whatever you call them for my slabs so I can turn them into firewood once they get built up.  But I did finally start making a sawmill yard so at least I'm working on it ;)

[JoshNZ]

I get my guy to load the slabs and edgings into a frame and once it's full (about as much as the forklift can lift) we strap them and sell them as is. It's actually the easiest thing to sell from the mill sometimes.



 

[thecfarm]

I just a chainsaw to cut mine up wherever I pile them.
Speaking of a pile!!!
We drive by an Amish sawmill. I bet their slab pile is 30 feet tall. All piled by hand. 

[SawyerTed]

An ugly slab pile is an aggravation to clean up.  I've made enough to know I hate  cleaning up a messy pile of slabs.

On portable jobs that is something I go over with customers and their help.  It's one of those things they where 
say "I'm glad you mentioned that."  

[Old Greenhorn]

I was thinking about this thread today as I was milling. One thing I know is that having slabs, or anything really, pile up is just pushing work down the road, and it's usually worse to deal with later. We burn all slabs for heat year round feeding the OWB. I used to cut them in 5' foot lengths and drop them right in the OWB off the forks (top loader). But 3 weeks ago, the boss changed units and the new one likes 36" slabs front loaded (by hand now). We tried 40", but just too long to make fit right.
 So I have to rethink. The 5' slabs were easy to handle a session's worth of work in one load. but in 3' lengths, I overfill the forks nearly every session. SO I leave some down at the mill each session and the boss can go grab them when he gets short at the boiler on top of the hill. But they take space there and I like a clean deck. SO my new plan is to make a rack based on a skid type design with 4x4 uprights so I can stack the slabs a bit over 4' high and 4'wide. I'll make one and see how it works, that will handle more than a fork load I think. After testing I will make a second one with the modifications I expect to learn from the first one. Then when I come to work and grab the Toolcat, I can take the empty down to the mill and at the end of the session, bring a fully loaded one back up.
 I may have to make several of these because the new boiler has computer controls and is a LOT more efficient. Initial results indicate we may be using a lot less wood. This, as it turns out, may be a real problem. We have a lot of wood to get rid of. The boss might need to turn on the OWB loop that heats the pool through the winter. ;D
 I cut and clear all my slabs at the end of every session because I hate a cluttered deck and it's a big hazard for an old guy that is fairly easy to avoid. I also take a snow shovel and clear all the bark, dirt, gravel, and junk off the cement deck between log loads for the same reason. It's more about my safety than being a 'clean nut'. Especially when things freeze up and get slick.

[Ljohnsaw]

There is a campground 2 miles down the road from my mill. Thinking about bundling up some camp wood and see if it sells. In the meantime, I cut to about 32" and stack on pallets to dry.


 
One neighbor that lets me use their cabin gets all the wood they can use, and then some.  ;)

[Ianab]

Depending on your local markets turning your waste problem into some extra cash flow makes sense. The bigger commercial mills just feed their slabs into a boiler and heat kilns or run a co-gen plant. On a smaller scale the local guys send slabs through an automated chop saw, cutting it into 12" lengths, and dumping into either a bin or truck.

Now they can go and dump their "waste" problem on someone's lawn, and charge them a couple of hundred dollars. Customer knows its green and needs to be stacked up to dry for 6 months, so the smart ones order a load in the Spring, and it's good to burn by the Winter. 

It's no so much about making a "profit" on the waste, but if someone pays you $$ to remove your waste problem, it's probably a good thing. Vs having to pay to dispose of it. 

If the market isn't there for that, you could even put it out front with a "Firewood for sale - $20" sign. Someone will then steal it, again waste problem is solved.  :D

[Ljohnsaw]

I took a picture of this silk purse candidate but you can see how I keep the area in front of the mill cleaned up.


 

[Peter Drouin]

 

 

 

Kinda neat ;)

[Peter Drouin]

To keep it neat I run the edger this way.


 

I put a handle on it. ;D
Wood goes in. and comes out in pieces. then the table flips up the wood slides off, conveyor brings it back to me.


 Lumber gets stacked right off.


All the junk gets put in a rack I made, All the slabs too .
then all goes into the chipper.

 

 

I still have MUD.  :

[longtime lurker]

I



A picture is worth a thousand words and that one is pretty much self explanatory.

I dunno, I try and keep some semblance of order. But sawmilling is a messy business - bark falls off logs everywhere, sawdust, shavings, slab wood, unprocessed firewood material, piles of stuff that need something done with it to get it out the way, mud everywhere in season - as I am wont to tell my customers anytime you drive into a mill yard and it's clean then they aren't busy.

We've been busy too long, the place looks like a mess.

[customsawyer]

We take some time to clean up every day. Try to spend a couple of hours doing a deeper clean on Friday afternoon. To me it is easier to keep it clean then to clean it up. I get lots of comments from customers about how clean my place is. Yet it could always be cleaner. If I'm dealing with a customer and the help is slow on work, he knows to start cleaning. I tell him when I catch him leaning on a piece of equipment, "if you're leaning you could be cleaning".

[doc henderson]

great topic.  just off work and too tired to read it all, so this way i will get notified and be able to follow along!     8)   

[slider]

This post prompted me to clean most of yesterday ,i am just getting started.My skid steer is in the shop so it was a good time to start.

My problem is that i keep too much stuff. Heck i have more pvc fittings in 3 big boxes than tractor supply has on the whole isle .

I was at nappa the other day looking for a brass hydraulic fitting ,they have many fittings but not that one,i came home and went through my brass stash and found one. I feel somewhat justified ,just need to organize more.

Vick calls me a dang hoarder . I bet i am not alone here.

[SawyerTed]

My wife is a special education professional.  They have labels for everything! :

She has said the only thing worse than my Sanford and Son (junk collecting) disability is my MPD - Multiple Projects Disorder!   :

The last couple of years I've been trying to clean up, organize, get rid of stuff AND finish unfinished projects but my FISHING POX keeps interfering!   :D :D

[thecfarm]

I like a clean wood yard too. I say wood yard, this is behind the house where I bring all the firewood up. Sometimes a limb will be missed and make it up to the yard. It's gets picked up and burned.
When my Father and me was cutting wood on this land, I would walk out of the woods until we got down the hill. I would pick up any limbs that made it into the trails. But we logged with a tractor too.
Now my garage...     Well it does have a cow path through it.  :