If you big mill guys are accidently reading this please bear with me - extreme is relative.
My MP32 has 32" between the posts so that is the max, and I have sawn right at that size many times. It is a bear and lots of problems arise but the most consistent is having to slide the log without turning it. It goes like this:
1) with sq arms up roll the monster on the mill and rotate to the face to open. (With my winch turner so far things are easy.)
2) Lower the sq arms because the log is too big to saw with them up. Using blocks to keep the log from rolling slide the log over (without rotating it - yeah, right) so the posts pass over. I can't get my tractor to the mill because I now have rollway preventing access >:( so I use a long hickory pry bar and/or a come-along attached to a nearby tree. Repeat this 3 more times to get a 25" square cant for quartering and I have spent a half a day before I can really start sawing.
I'm crazy enough to do this because I like the challenge more than the money but I'm looking for ideas for making it easier with my mill. Any body else attempt this.
Here's an example from yesterday. Log is 30" x 37" and I am making the first cut at 30" high - as high as the mill will cut
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13036/P1010930.JPG) .
I have been in that situation more times than I care to remember.I keep telling my self ,this is the last one that i'm going to waste so much time on.Well how do you think that's working out?
That's extreme enough! Nothing like pushing the limits of the mill once in awhile!
That was the biggest reason I got a little bigger mill. What I ended up doing with logs that were close to max was spend some time on it with the chainsaw before I put it on the mill. I find it's bunches faster this way and even if I waste the time wrestling it around on the mill, I toss out my outside cuts anyhow.
I guess one advantage of my smaller mill was that ANY log that would fit on it was small enough for me to maneuver around by hand despite the shape.
Yours is a nice example of "rubber meets the road" ingenuity. Sometimes you just do what you gotta do to get-r-done and no apology necessary.
I had to do something very similar with an oversize Willow log Saturday. The point being that whatever size your sawmill is, you will still encounter logs that you have to "manage". Mine are fewer, but they are larger and heavier.
Once you get the hang of it, a winch turner can be your friend! I converted my Norwood winch from hand crank to 12V electric, with a deep cycle battery, and it has saved a lot of effort! I generally trim it as best I can before putting it on the mill, but sometimes I have to stop, back the blade out, and do a little more trimming. By the way, I keep some plastic wedges on hand to open up the kerf to make it easier to back the blade out of a cut. As MM says, no matter what size mill you have, you'll find yourself pushing it to the max. Just be careful-- it is easy to put yourself in a dangers position, telling yourself that "it will be ok, just this once." I've had a few close calls, and am lucky to have learned to stop and think things through.
Quote from: kelLOGg on March 11, 2015, 08:04:31 AM
If you big mill guys are accidently reading this please bear with me - extreme is relative.
I can't get my tractor to the mill because I now have rollway preventing access >:( so I use a long hickory pry bar and/or a come-along attached to a nearby tree. Repeat this 3 more times to get a 25" square cant for quartering and I have spent a half a day before I can really start sawing.
I'm crazy enough to do this because I like the challenge more than the money but I'm looking for ideas for making it easier with my mill. Any body else attempt this?
KelLog: My current milling job requires me to play with 'extreme' big sticks and getting that 7000 lb log placed just right is a big part of the job. (some pictures under "Watcha Sawin'?" thread) I bought a large skidding tong, made by Diixie, to skootch the log over. The tongs and come-along to a tree would be way easier than the hickory pole wouldn't it? If you put a loading strap around the log instead of the tongs, just as a no cost 'try and see', I'll bet you could still move those big boys over nice and easy.
I have an AK mini mill and a ms660 bored out with a 36" ripping chain. When I encounter that I usually just knock it down to a manageable size with that. That said I am pretty green at this so it may not be the best idea out there, but it works for me..
I get some oak butt logs like that. I'll take my big chainsaw and knock off four or five short wedges on that butt. Only takes a couple of minutes and saves a lot of fiddling later on.
It's much easier and safer to Bibby a log before it's loaded onto the sawmill.
That's a real brute Bob. I can sympathize as sawing oversize is better than half my sawing. I only have 26" max between the guides, but 44" between the posts, so I can go up to maybe 38" before I'm busting out the chainsaw. ;)
Someone mentioned breaking down the real big ones with a CSM. good idea as long as you have equipment to move the quarters. if you don't, then you're in for a whole lot of extra work, as quartered logs don't roll. hurt_smiley smiley_whip
It was my understanding that those were the wee toothpicks that you choose to quarter saw starting with the chainsaw.
The log really didn't have a lot (to me) of taper - maybe 4" in 8 feet.
I'm modifying my pull system from the come-along & chain to a come-along and a hook that grabs only at the bottom of the log so it less prone to roll. I'm adding a small snatch block so I can pull the opposite direction too. Pics to follow when complete.
Bob
I like to hear how folks handle the big ones. Good idea with the hook Bob! I usually trim with the saw as needed but once on the mill that can be tricky. Good luck and cant wait to see more pictures,Brian
Bob,I have done that often enough to make me feel like a real slow learner,now I rip them down the middle with a 48" bar on the 066.Takes about 1/2 hour to do the actual rip cut but then i have half the weight to deal with and the battery doent get dragged down with the grunt required to turn the monster.I do have to be careful sitting the big D up to the stops and have made up slip on extensions for the stops so as not to loose it over the side. Its still a bit of work but a doddle compared to the whole log process
Well done! You gotta do what you gotta do to make stuff work!
Quote from: woodyone.john on March 17, 2015, 03:14:40 PM
I do have to be careful sitting the big D up to the stops and have made up slip on extensions for the stops so as not to loose it over the side. Its still a bit of work but a doddle compared to the whole log process
I just made slipover extensions to my sq arms. Wish I had done it earlier.
Bob
Quote from: slider on March 11, 2015, 08:25:50 AM
I have been in that situation more times than I care to remember.I keep telling my self ,this is the last one that i'm going to waste so much time on.Well how do you think that's working out?
X2
You do get some real nice lumber out of logs like that...Life is short, I say saw em' all!
Well, I got some fresh pine logs in yesterday. When to pick them up with my 580C backhoe. First cut was 32" on the butt end and at 16.5' it was 31". I was able to lift it, but just about blew the steering out. Well the tree serves that fell the tree, brought it to the house. ;D the second cut was 31" down to 29" at 16.5' and the third cut was 29" down to 27" at 12'. The rest of the tree had way to many branches after that. The tree was 57 years old. As old as me and I hope it doesn't kill me to mill it up. :D
The problem is that my little mill is only able to cut to 26". I will stake cut it with the chainsaw to start with it.
Quote from: taylorsmissbeehaven on March 17, 2015, 12:49:15 PM
I like to hear how folks handle the big ones. Good idea with the hook Bob! I usually trim with the saw as needed but once on the mill that can be tricky. Good luck and cant wait to see more pictures,Brian
My hook and snatch block idea didn't work very well. It is a tight space to work in - the big log overhanging the main rail and having to reach to slip the cable into the snatch block - the hook has to be small to fit and the hook I had available was a meat hook 1/2" diameter. I got it in place, cranked the come-along and promptly straightened the hook. It takes a lot of force to slide a 25" x 25" x 8' cant. Rather than get a hardened hook that will fit, I will continue with the pry bar and blocking.
Here's a pic of the quartered cant being lowered to the loading ramps.
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13036/P1010945.JPG)
Fishfighter, is that a 26" log or 26" board? If the latter that should be doable.
Sounds like NICE logs. Show pics.
Bob
The logs are way bigger them what my mill can cut. Suppose to cut up to 26". I haven't put it to the test on big logs yet. ;D
The biggest log, I had to buck it down to 8.5' just to be able to move it. :o Infusion day today. So I will be laying in a hospital bed all day.
Hey Bob sorry the hook didn't work out for ya. You'll never know if you don't try!. Any chance of a picture of your slip over extensions. Had that on my mind for a while but haven't gotten around to it yet. thanks, Brian
I used a 2.5" square tube with 3/16" wall. It slips over the permanent arms and allows about a 6" extension - more if I wedge it higher. I overlooked putting a rounded top (or roller) so it really gouges badly; its an easy fix, I just haven't gotten to it yet. You can see that the one the left has welds; it had a wall thickness of 1/8" so I beefed it up.
Bob
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/13036/sq_arm_ext.JPG)
So in order to be a bit helpful,here some pics of my side stop sleeve extensions.[I just cant remember a better name for them] These are pit of my mill kit now
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21049/2015-03-20_12_55_21.jpg)
In side stop sleeve mode,for large and/or ugly[convoluted] logs
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21049/2015-03-20_12_56_04.jpg)
Close up view of top end detail
(https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/21049/2015-03-20_12_57_27.jpg)
In wide cant mode,with this I can almost saw 720mm but I can saw 717mm
John, being in the states, My brain translates your post automatically to read, : In wide cant mode, with this I can almost saw blah, blah. but I can saw less than blah blah. ;)
5 quarter,yeah if I rub the guide assemblys down both sides of a cant.Its easier to have an 1/8" clearance cause sometime the cuts aren't perfect and the its --- [anything we not allowed to record here]
cheers john