Whatcha Sawin' 2021 ??

[richhiway]

 

 
I will be sawing some decent Hemlock and Pine but I have to get them out first.
So far I knocked a front tire off the rim and if you look close there is only one fork on the tractor. Caught it under a root and ripped it off. Needed a new tire anyway the one that was on there was dry checked bad, I had slime in it but it probably was low on air when the bead broke. Spent Saturday morning welding the fork back on. No one said logging was easy. Ha!
I have 17 acres to log near the house,it was one of the reasons I started sawing. A lot of the trees are beyond mature and started to be blown over. The woodlot definitely needs some cleaning up. The area in the photo is going to be a new 100 yard + rifle range so I am killing to birds with one stone.

[grweldon]

Just today I finished sawing up this Red Maple that was a blow-over from hurricane Sally.  It was the first ever Maple I have sawn.



 

 

 

The yield wasn't as much as I was expecting, lots of irregularity in the shape of the log.  I got about (7)1x9s, (3)1x6s and a handful of 1x4s.  There was ambrosia spotting throughout the log and it had a rotten spot on the trunk end.  I still have a few 1x3s to cut from the piece still on the mill after I cut off the rotten end.  It will be interesting to see what it looks like after drying!

[Magicman]

Well it's good to see your smiling face my friend.  Looks like that Maple is also smiling. 

I started a ~200 log 74 mile road trip today. The SYP logs are staged at two different locations about 5 miles apart.  I stopped and looked at this site before proceeding to the second.  After I finish it I will move the sawmill here and the customer will bring the backhoe to handle the logs.


 


 
Not bad at all so now on to the second location where I will begin.


  
What??


 
Oh no!!  And it gets worse....


 
Nothing but a mud hole and the logs are in the background toward the yellow backhoe on the left.  No place to set the sawmill up.


 
So backhoe to the rescue.


 
Ready for the sawmill.


 
Bringing the first log to the sawmill.


 
Yup, the first log makes 2X10's and we are doing fine.


 
My customer bringing another log.  I did not begin sawing until ~10am and sawed 1236bf of framing lumber (2X12's, 2X10's & 2X8's) before stopping at 4:30.

My customer plans to market and sell the lumber and should do quite well.  All of the logs are bucked 16' and were no cost to him. 

I should do quite well too. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Lynn,

  How old are those logs? (How long cut?) If I had a stack of pine like that up here I would not need any lube because I'd be cutting a big pine borer every foot or so. Might be okay for sheeting but not for framing which I assume is what you are cutting. I'm about decided SYP is less subject to borer damage than our EWP. Am I right?

[Magicman]

They were felled/bucked in the Spring but there are very few borer holes.  Probably because this is in a swampy location?  I will have to be dodging borer holes at the other much higher and drier location.  Also I guess because of the haphazard way the logs are, there is not any signs of rot, etc.  Also the haphazardness is not a problem because the customer is having no problem fetching and bringing logs to the sawmill.  No down/lost time for me.  I don't know if I mentioned it, but this is a repeat customer.

Grandson, Ben will accompany me today so we should be very productive.  The customer will pay him.  All sawing at this location will be framing lumber and we will probably saw some 1" stuff at the other location but I have no idea how much.  I justa sawin'. 

[WV Sawmiller]

Lynn,

   So are you saying tightly stacked logs on a hilltop are more likely to have borer damage than loose pine logs laying around a swamp?

    The worst borer damage I ever saw was a tightly stacked pile of EWP on the edge of a hay field and the logs had been cut over 18 months. I sawed one log from the ground level and had a 3/8" hole every 18-24 inches so we tried one off the top and it was just as bad. We called the job at that point. You could stand there and listen to the chewing as they ate those logs. I was thinking/hoping SYP was less appetizing to the borers. These logs would have made some great holey siding if someone was in to that but the customer wanted 2X framing and this would never have had the strength he needed because of the borer damage.

[richhiway]

I find the borers are random. I have cut logs here in Monticello and 200 miles north at camp. Some get the borers, some do not from the same woodlot. Of course they only go to work in warmer weather. Here it is best to cut pine in the winter and saw it before it gets to warm in the spring.

[WV Sawmiller]

   Thx Rich. Looking at those MM logs looks like they may have been beat up enough the bark is gone and if I remember correctly debarking the logs prevents the borers from damaging them.

[Magicman]

So are you saying tightly stacked logs on a hilltop are more likely to have borer damage than loose pine logs laying around a swamp?

Nope, I'm not saying anything.  The customer told me that the logs at the other location had much more borer damage and that he had sprayed them trying to kill them.  They were all felled at the same time.  I have been to the other location and I did not examine the logs but the bark slipping/gone appeared to be about the same.  They are certainly much more exposed to an open air environment in the woods compared to the swampy area.

What I do know is that I am seeing a very minimum amount of borer damage in these logs.  I did not tally today's sawing (probably between 2-3Mbf) but I have not discarded/rejected the first board due to borer holes which is very unusual since the logs are ~ 10 months old.

It looks like rain/wet tomorrow so I may not go back until Friday.

[WV Sawmiller]

MM,

   BTW - how did the customer happen to come up with the logs which were already bucked to 16 at no cost to him? Was it a pipeline or powerline or something coming through his property or something along those lines? 

   I had a customer call today wanting about 6 mbf of poplar to build a 30X50 building. I called another previous customer who agreed to cut and stage the logs then he and his helper will off-bear while I saw. I called another neighbor who gave me a price on hauling/delivering the cut lumber to the customer. The customer agreed to the price and will bring me a deposit and we will all start the work. The landowner gets the lumber price for his wood, I get a sawing fee, my neighbor gets a hauling fee and the customer gets his lumber at a price he is happy with. This looks to be a very promising relationship as we all contribute something we already had to the mix and utilize equipment we each had on hand without exceeding or straining our capabilities. Its not a partnership per se in the legal terminology - we are each just selling a material or service we had available.

[Magicman]

I have no idea but they did not come from his property because his is all hardwood.  I could have asked but that would not be my nature.  The sawing contract states that "he owns the logs" which is good enough for me.  All that I am interested in is "what is the cut list".  

I have not even tried to estimate how long this job could last but I see several weeks and it could be 20Mbf.  ??  I'll just saw until he runs out of logs or $$. 

[Bruno of NH]

Sawing ash boards 1x8x10
For an order of 100
Sunny and windy 26° with a 5 to 7° wind chill factor.
The wind is what gets ya.
One more day closer to spring.
WM silvertips 1.25 x .042 t7°

 

 

[WV Sawmiller]

Bruno,

   Awful pretty boards there. I love sawing ash and hate to see it getting harder and harder to find with the borers killing it all off.

Lynn,

   Understood. I just thought you might be sawing on an obvious freshly built pipeline or powerline.

    We had a new electric line installed about 30 miles from here and one of the landowners talked to me about sawing some of his pine off it but it never panned out. He was hauling his poplar and I guess maybe his oaks to a mill and selling them for sawlogs. 

[richhiway]

Nice looking lumber,Bruno. I always say the same thing, every decent day is one day closer to Spring. 

[firefighter ontheside]

If you saw my post about butternut, you know I'm working on buying a big log.  It is gonna be way too big for my mill and will need to be trimmed.  I've done a little trimming to get logs thru, but I've never cut off a foot of thickness.  How have you guys done this.  Would you recommend taking the same off both sides or would you take all off of one side and then mill slabs with one straight side and one live edge.?  I guess if I take it all off one side I can mill the piece I take off into some boards.  I'll know more when I go and look at it tomorrow.  He says it is 4' at the base, but it look like they cut it pretty low and it will taper pretty quickly to about 36".  Still too big for the mill, but a lot less trimming.

[Magicman]

The whole log doesn't have to fit.  Utilize the cantilever design to your advantage and hang the oversize portion out and then you can turn and nibble with the sawmill.  I use the clamp and turner together to turn the big'uns. 

[firefighter ontheside]

I have an LT15 which has an idle side mast, so that won't work for me.

[richhiway]

I have an LT15 which has an idle side mast, so that won't work for me.

Are you familiar with a lumber maker? It clamps on the bar and rides along a 2x6. You screw a board on each end then attach the long board to them. You can square up a big log in no time. You don't need a very long bar to just take off the sides. 
http://www.haddontools.com/Chainsaw-Attachment.html
Here is a video, this is how I started sawing.

[firefighter ontheside]

Thanks @richhiway I have one.  I used it a lot when I built my house.  All my loft railing was cut from ERC using the lumbermaker, plus a big timber I made for the staircase.  I will use it to get a nice straight cut on the logs.  I was just undecided whether to take some off of both sides or all off of one side.  I'm leaning toward taking some off of each side to make the log fit.  My mill can fit a log about 28" thru the uprights, but only cut a board a max of about 25" between the guides.

 

[Magicman]

I have an LT15

Oops, Obviously I was thinking LT35.