Whatcha Sawin' 2021 ??

[nativewolf]

Great log LL!  Question why leave them so long?  Is that being sawn for grade lumber or is it one of those tough to process Aussi Eucs that is better off as a rough long lumber?  

[WDH]

Olcow,

The board is about 12" wide.  The wood is older, natural southern yellow pine. 

[nativewolf]

 


Playing truck drivers because neither of my haulage contractors likes dealing with them at that size.... about 9 tonne in the head end of the log and when you start shunting them over the side with a dozer its hard on the gear and things get broken. 20' x 50"... 2645 BF Doyle... butt log will go somewhere up around the 4000 BF mark.

They'll bring the weekly average back up anyway.

Is that a Hino or ?

[Crossroads]

Talk about a double edged sword, we hate to find nails in the wood we saw, but use nails to secure the wood we saw 🤔

[Patrick NC]

 
Some big white oak logs that we are going to send off to get slabbed. The big one on my right will probably get quartersawn.
 For size reference, I'm 6'3" tall. 

[WDH]

DanG!

[longtime lurker]

Great log LL!  Question why leave them so long?  Is that being sawn for grade lumber or is it one of those tough to process Aussi Eucs that is better off as a rough long lumber?  

Neah I had an order for 20' gunbarrel straight 4 x 4's. Whole lot easier when you're carving them out of big stable old growth logs... no need to oversaw and edge just carve them off and feed them into the moulder the right way and they came out about as straight as you'd ever get over that length.

My truck is an ACCO... "day cab" International COE, about the same half bunk area as a Hino. It does a job I guess, really only there for my convenience.... deliveries, pick up short loads of logs, shift my own skidder around etc etc. Need to put a crane back on it by rights but truth is I've either got to upgrade to more axles or get away from trucks altogether. It's really convenient but it's expensive convenience too.

Whole heap of thoughts there about carts and horses and the need to upgrade the mill capacity rather than the support equipment but without better support equipment then more mill is futile, and capital outlay vs returns, time costs, core business vs essential support services and where you draw lines around vertical integration and... and... and. Thats a whole topic by itself yeah?

[Greyhound]

DanG!

Awesome!!!  I love white oak, especially quarter sawing the big clear ones!

[Patrick NC]

Another 500' of cedar going out in the morning.  

I started sawing cedar when I bought my first mill because it was easy to saw. It's turning into a pretty good money maker now. I'm averaging 2000' a month. I was just buying 1000' of logs at a time, but I bought my first tractor trailer load this week. It sells as fast as I can get it off the mill. Yellow pine is selling good right now too.  Just not enough hours in a day to get it all done!

[btulloh]

Any idea what that ERC is being used for?  Was there a lot of demand for it before you started supplying it or did the demand develop because you made it available. Just curious 'cause it seems like a lot of demand for green rough sawn erc and it sounds like you're the main source. Good for you no matter what. 

[Patrick NC]

This load is going to a customer who builds raised bed gardens and greenhouses out of it. He sells and installs them in higher end neighborhoods in and around Charlotte NC. He is by far my biggest customer. He buys 1000'+ every month. He had a couple other suppliers, but now buys exclusively from me. The rest is in smaller size orders but the demand seems to be steady right now. I think I got lucky and started offering a product that people want but not many mills supply. 

[firefighter ontheside]

I haven't cut a lot of cedar, but I may start if I can keep up a supply of logs.  I bought 13 logs a few weeks ago with the intent to cut them and sell them.  I sold the first load as soon as I posted it.  Today i cut the rest of the logs and messaged a guy who wanted my first load, but was too late.  He wants to come and get it all tomorrow.  It may not be high priced like walnut, but it sure seems to sell fast.  My problem with milling it is all the slab waste.  Can't give it to may parents as firewood, so I will have to spend time burning it.  Maybe there is someone out there who wants the stuff though.

Milling this morning was not without its trials.  Lube jug was frozen, so I put another one up there.  Still had ice somewhere in the line.  Finally I just started milling with the valve open and within a few minutes it started flowing.  I was using a mix of water and RV anitfreeze, because thats what I had.  When done today I brought the jugs into the garage.  Then as usual, I hit a nail on the last log.  At least it was snowing a little to add to the ambiance. 

[Patrick NC]

I haven't cut a lot of cedar, but I may start if I can keep up a supply of logs.  I bought 13 logs a few weeks ago with the intent to cut them and sell them.  I sold the first load as soon as I posted it.  Today i cut the rest of the logs and messaged a guy who wanted my first load, but was too late.  He wants to come and get it all tomorrow.  It may not be high priced like walnut, but it sure seems to sell fast.  My problem with milling it is all the slab waste.  Can't give it to may parents as firewood, so I will have to spend time burning it.  Maybe there is someone out there who wants the stuff though.

Milling this morning was not without its trials.  Lube jug was frozen, so I put another one up there.  Still had ice somewhere in the line.  Finally I just started milling with the valve open and within a few minutes it started flowing.  I was using a mix of water and RV anitfreeze, because thats what I had.  When done today I brought the jugs into the garage.  Then as usual, I hit a nail on the last log.  At least it was snowing a little to add to the ambiance.

I tried giving the slab waste away to anyone who wanted it but it became a nuisance with people showing up and digging through the whole pile just to get a couple pieces and leaving a mess. Now I just burn it. Keep a fire burning while I'm sawing and every time I get a load on the forks I add it to the fire. Luckily cedar burns pretty fast. Even green. Just be sure to keep the fire a couple hundred feet away from the mill!

[doc henderson]

it is not good for heat in a stove, but ok for chimenea, firepit ect.  you could package up and put it on a pallet by the road with an honor system.  it smells nice when it burns.  I have made some quarter inch thick 12 inch long planks for grilling.  

[btulloh]

Makes good firepit wood too. Burns quick with a nice flame. Crowd pleaser. Any way it gets gone is a good way though.

Interesting how these local demands emerge when there's a source of lumber. 

[firefighter ontheside]

That could be a good idea.  If I get any amount of money and don't spend much more time turning it into firewood size than transporting it to a spot to burn and tending it, it would be worth it.  

[doc henderson]

put a 5 dollar price tag on a bundle, and maybe then folks will steal it.   :D :D :D.  still get rid of it.  or call and text your friends with firepits and such.  I had an old partner from Wichita drive up with a trailer and I gave him what I call junk wood.  I have it in crates, and also give it to the boy scouts for campfires.  tell them the cedar smoke kills covid 19 .

[WV Sawmiller]

  Could you chip up the cedar slabs and sell them for animal bedding?

[Southside]

Doc - you might want to check but I am pretty sure that ERC is not the cedar you want to use for grilling, it kills more than the Covid.  

[donbj]

Doc - you might want to check but I am pretty sure that ERC is not the cedar you want to use for grilling, it kills more than the Covid.  

As far as toxicity goes is ERC different from WRC? WRC sold for grilling planks around here. Have used it for some bbq'd trout. Pretty tasty! Need to soak the wood though or else it go up in flames

[olcowhand]

I haven't cut a lot of cedar, but I may start if I can keep up a supply of logs.  I bought 13 logs a few weeks ago with the intent to cut them and sell them.  I sold the first load as soon as I posted it.  Today i cut the rest of the logs and messaged a guy who wanted my first load, but was too late.  He wants to come and get it all tomorrow.  It may not be high priced like walnut, but it sure seems to sell fast.  My problem with milling it is all the slab waste.  Can't give it to may parents as firewood, so I will have to spend time burning it.  Maybe there is someone out there who wants the stuff though.

Milling this morning was not without its trials.  Lube jug was frozen, so I put another one up there.  Still had ice somewhere in the line.  Finally I just started milling with the valve open and within a few minutes it started flowing.  I was using a mix of water and RV anitfreeze, because thats what I had.  When done today I brought the jugs into the garage.  Then as usual, I hit a nail on the last log.  At least it was snowing a little to add to the ambiance.

FFOTS,
There are guys on the Internet getting pretty good money for Deer Blinds constructed out of Cedar Slabs. I had often thought they would be effective for that purpose due to their aroma. Being on the "softer" side, I would think they nail or screw pretty easily. Maybe something like that?
Steve

[doc henderson]

the slabs can be put up on the side and sliced into "mountain siding"  thin and live edge to make the deer blinds.  no strait lines and natural camo.



 

 

[firefighter ontheside]

All great ideas if I were to do a volume of cedar.  My dad had mentioned the deer blind siding idea.  Right now I don't have enough to do even a small blind.  I may cut it up into firewood size and try to sell.

[dchiapin]

funny how people are.
My burn pile slabs and junk get burned on a regular basis but lately it has been too dry to burn always had people come by wanting a few junk slabs for fire wood, couldn't hardly give it away. Decided to do a little reverse psychology and put a hefty price on the waste of $25.00 per truck load, all you can load and haul.
What came next was an explosion of people wanting to get this "great deal".
Have several campgrounds around here and they send a truck about 3 times a week for their "great deal"
Not going to get rich on it but sure helps with the beverage bill

[Patrick NC]

Well, it looks like I'll have no shortage of slabs. When my wife delivered the load this morning the customer ordered another 600'. And I got an email for 400' of random width.