How low can you go?

[wisconsitom]

Very (very very) basic question here-how small-diameter is it reasonable to attempt to saw say, 1-inch material from?  I've got about 400 sticks of hybrid larch I thinned out last winter-still laying in piles waiting for action.  Thinking-do I want to try to sell or do I want to try to make some nice interior paneling for the cabin....or floor material?

I am in process of trying to interest Amish guys in taking stuff off my hands, especially given I can probably thin out a similar number this winter.  But I don't know if anything will come of that.  Would go cheap.  Not even limbed up yet.

So, given I have no saw, but do know such exists in the area-Woodmizers etc.-can say 6-inch material, straight and true, be made into such items?

[Magicman]

Clamping small stuff can be a serious issue.  Small stuff can also be very difficult to dry without being twisty.  Handling a 6" stem to get 3-4 marginal 1X4's would be very nonproductive.

Of course I have never sawn Larch, but my first response would be to pass.

[Jeff]

Eastern Larch can be unruly in even decent sized logs to dry. Decent Id call 12" dbh minimum. Anything smaller that aint perfectly straight timber, get ready to chase it around the room.

[GAB]

Yes, I'd saw your firewood for you with the following caveats:
* No garantee on the results
* Strictly by the hour
* You need to be the tail gunner (that way you will be well aware of what took place and why it took so long)
* Foreign metal strikes are $36.00 each.  Arrow heads are foreign objects.
And that is to start.
GAB

[barbender]

I would only saw that by the hour, and you would likely be disappointed with how much lumber you got for the cost. The only way to efficiently process logs that size is running them through a scragg mill and a resaw line.

[wisconsitom]

Hmmm hmmm....

[SawyerTed]

I agree that it would be too expensive for the yield to saw many 6-8" logs into lumber.  

If it is a large quantity, you might be better off chipping them. Is there a market for wood chips in your area?  We have buyers that buy pickup loads of chips, shavings and sawdust.

Fence posts may be a viable option for larch in that diameter.

[wisconsitom]

Heh, posts is or was my goal....until I looks and sees all the other projects waiting for my hands.  That is also why I have my non-productive "Wanted" post on this very board for a PTO-driven post peeler.  But that ain't coming any time soon!

I've got a limbing saw, I've got a couple draw shaves for peeling bark.  That is what I'd like to be doing with these things.  But I'm on to Plan B or possibly C.  No time.

[moodnacreek]

Cut a year ago and not limbed?  Push it up on the burn pile.

[wisconsitom]

Yeah I know.  Don't need that much fire though.  There might be 400 of those things laying there.

What specific issue do you see with limbs still on?  These are numerous, but small limbs, less stout than on spruce or pine.

[Iwawoodwork]

4 to 6 inch ? have a good table saw 10" to 12" and 3 to 5 HP? then limb and cut into the lengths you want and can handle. set a support roller on each side of the table and a sliding jig to hold the logs, could have screw holes in the jig to secure the log for the first cuts on each side and start sawing, slow but low cost.

[barbender]

Honestly, just leaving them to return their nutrients to the soil is probably your best option at this point. And you don't have to lift a finger for it to happen😊 I know this is a different circumstance than what you are trying to achieve, but a lot of foresters I've been working with lately are looking for more of a "messy" job. Specifically in hardwood sites, instead of the "slash max 2' high, lopped and scattered is switching to just leave that massive bushy oak top alone. It gives a sheltered environment to seedlings and most importantly helps to keep the deer from browsing them. Making things look like a park is not what is best for regen.

[Jeff]

You aint going to cut knotty dry tamarack with a table saw very easy. It's harder than many hardwoods.

[jmouton]

if  it fits on the mill,,,,we will mill it ,,,we charge by the hr so i dont usually care,

[Stephen1]

I hate sawing Larch to begin with and then you want to clamp and saw something 6".
I would put the %50 PITA rate on that sawing job. $180 hr instead of $120 an hr.  :D

[newoodguy78]

I dare say that pile would get quite low if you put a match to it. ;D

[Southside]

You get $160 / hour to saw? 

[SawyerTed]

I hate sawing Larch to begin with and then you want to clamp and saw something 6".
I would put the %50 PITA rate on that sawing job. $180 hr instead of $160 an hr.  :D

I'm mathematically clueless but 50% of $160 is $80 so my feeble mind says the formula would result in a $240 per hour PITA rate. 
Either way the juice isn't worth the squeeze at a fourth of the PITA rate.

[Old Greenhorn]

Fence posts, grape arbors, stuff like that there. Maybe I am old, lazy, too busy, or preoccupied (take your pick) but anything that hits the mill deck at 10" or under is a total waste of time. I get paid by the BF, not the hour so you can see my point of view. Also I am of an age that every day and hour is a gift and I try to do useful things with my time. Fighting to get 3 1x4's out of a 'log' is not one of those things. ;D :D Sorry. (of course, if it were black walnut for my own use, I might make an exception but the straight length would need to be there.)

[Southside]

Firewood processor, sell it to campers.  

[Stephen1]

You get $160 / hour to saw?

I actually charge $120 when i am mobile and $160 in my yard with a forklift and helper. Rates are going up next spring also if my bookings keep coming like they are. 
I fixed that post. 

[GAB]

You get $160 / hour to saw?

I actually charge $120 when i am mobile and $160 in my yard with a forklift and helper. Rates are going up next spring also if my bookings keep coming like they are.
I fixed that post.

Folks:
You need to consider the fact that Stephen1 is Canadian eh and currently the Canadian eh dollar is roughly 80 cents of a US$.  So his $120 Canadian eh is roughly $96 US which is close to what I charge.
GAB

[wisconsitom]

Thanks all.  I've certainly got my answer to the actual question I've asked.  Not feasible to saw.  Now it's my own fault for never posting pics, but situation is a little different than you might imagine.  Plantation is not primarily economic operation but we've learned we can thin our stuff.   Already have advance regen happening under these 8 year old larch blocks, mostly white-cedar.  We remove lower branches and leave all stuff lay.  But when so many 20 ft or longer stems got cut, all was pulled out and assembled in piles.  Laying outside of stand, in few remaining tall grassy areas.  Way too much material to leave where it was felled, and of course at that time, I still harbored thoughts of doing something with the sticks.  Ideal material for rustic furniture, another thing I don't have time for 😆.

[wisconsitom]

Finally got to my piles of small-dimension logs.  After sitting since last winter, they are now stuck to the ground by all the brome grass, goldenrods, etc. that grew through them all summer.  A hard job made harder.  But....but...but...I have a tractor!  I can lift up the ends of the piles at the butt end and brake stuff lose.

Then I fold my tractor bucket all the way back in crowd position and this leaves two channels on the bucket top where the logs' butt ends can rest.  Then, using a small splitting wedge, I find I can chop/pop the limbs off quite readily.  Faster than sawing I think.  Each is then thrown in a pile to be trimmed to length later.  I'm not going to tell you guys this isn't a butt-ton of work, but it is feasible to do.  In a couple hours, I had a pile of a dozen or so completed, and had just gotten going on my technique.  Maybe I can sell some up by the road.

This is not ideal material-I am after all taking out the worst stems-the crooked, the suppressed, but there are still some perfect ones in there too.  See what happens, I like doing the work, but am aware, once these piles freeze down to the ground, I will not be able to continue.

One nice touch-having sat for a while, the bark is starting to fall off.

[SawyerTed]

I wonder if a short brush axe or a hatchet would be easier to wield than the splitting wedge?