iDRY Vacuum Kilns

Sponsors:

Sawing frozen wood

Started by fluidpowerpro, November 26, 2021, 02:10:57 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Bruno of NH

Quote from: thecfarm on November 28, 2021, 08:30:14 AM
I sawed hemlock off and on one winter. Not a problem.
Hemlock is not usually a problem, but half frozen knoty pine , and frozen hard maple can be a treat. 
Red oak easy peasy. 
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

moodnacreek

Hemlock in winter is not so wet inside as to be like ice. It is more like cedar and it's the knots that are so hard like in clusters in the top logs.  Hard maple can be so wet and frozen on the outside, like sap wood freezes on some other species but there is no sap wood [in maple],  that you are sawing ice while sawing into wet heart.  [ Did I say this right?]         This is about the worst sawing situation. It would be better if the logs where frozen solid.  On wood like w.pine only the sap [wood] freezes so the saw may wander on the slab and jacket board cuts and then the log saws fine.  The way the saw  is filed is everything here. It also helps to know your limits or what to expect.  Around here fresh cut logs in freezing weather want to be sawed in 2 weeks or until it warms up. Sometime you can pick the wood you won't have trouble with, like hemlock.

barbender

The red pine I sawed last winter (red pine is high moisture) those boards looked like glass. You almost needed a magnifying glass to see the tooth marks in it. I've never had my feed rate cranked as high as I did sawing that stuff. It made all of the fighting getting and keeping everything running in the cold worth it😊
Too many irons in the fire

Joe Hillmann

Warm up your blade guides.

Last winter I did a bunch of cutting when was well below freezing but the logs were still wet inside.  The wet sawdust would build up a thick layer on the blade guides.  Like 1/2 in thick 4 feet into the first cut.  I couldn't saw with it like that.  I found that if I let the blade run while in contact with the guides to get them spinning for 10 minutes before my first cut and leave it spinning between cuts the guides would warm up and the wet sawdust wouldn't instantly freeze on to them.

Andries

Quote from: Joe Hillmann on November 28, 2021, 12:04:06 PM. . . wet sawdust would build up a thick layer on the blade guides.  .   .
Joe, were you using blade lube at all?
Windshield washer fluid (-40 rated) works well at keeping the blade clean and an added bonus is that the sawdust doesn't freeze up on guides and between boards.
It aggravating to have to pry-bar the boards apart. 

LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

Sawmill Man

Could not help but wonder if you had to be careful handling frozen lumber, do not have that problem here but our pine timber does get brittle when cold.
"I could have sworn I went over that one with the metal detector".

Andries

I haven't noticed lumber becoming brittle when frozen. Not when building or framing with two-by lumber, or fresh frozen offa the mill.
I suspect that if it shatters when frozen then it probably would've done the same when in the Southern tropic of Georgia. 
LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

Southside

If your lumber shatters when frozen then I think your diesel fuel is frozen too and you are now an extra in that movie from the 2000's "The Day After Tomorrow".  :D
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

customsawyer

I have officially gotten old. I used to like the winters in GA. and hated the summers. It has now reversed. This has been one of the cooler Nov. I can remember and I haven't enjoyed it much. I grew up in Colorado at 7600' elevation and can remember splitting firewood with a ax or a maul in a shirt at -20°. Now in GA. I don't enjoy much below 40° and prefer over 70°. I read these stories of fighting frozen logs, sawdust freezing, slow hyd., and hard cranking equipment. Y'all can have it. I might have to research moving south for the winter. :D
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Magicman

Yup, I am not looking forward to sawing logs while "frozen" this morning.  It's in the high 30's...Yikes !!!

I built a fire in the insert so that PatD will be warm when she gets up.  fire_smiley
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Old Greenhorn

Well Lynn, we al have our crosses to bear. We are projected to have a high today of 30, which it hit just after midnight and now it is about 28°. That would be great if it was sunny, but solid overcast again. I should be sawing, but I have to clean the shop chimney, seems to be restricted with little draft. As long as your lube don't freeze, you will be fine.
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

firefighter ontheside

When I got my mill it came with all 10 deg blades from the previous owner.  I was given the advice to use 4 deg blades for hard hardwoods and for frozen logs, since they seem to saw like harder logs than they are.  That being said, I don't saw a lot when its really cold.  I have plenty of above freezing days in the winter here, so...
Woodmizer LT15
Kubota Grand L4200
Stihl 025, MS261 and MS362
2017 F350 Diesel 4WD
Kawasaki Mule 4010
1998 Dodge 3500 Flatbed

Bruno of NH

We got 5.5 inches of snow Friday night.
I had shop work Saturday and Sunday.
Was cold all weekend
Went out this morning to mill skid steer started but wouldn't move , cam bearing on mill frozen with ice .
Had to clean off sawn wood piles and other stuff.
Cold enough for the blower to clean everything off.
Did I tell you I like winter  :D
Not
It's just starting
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

Southside

How bad were the black flies this morning Bruno? 
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Magicman

Quote from: Magicman on November 29, 2021, 06:43:17 AMYup, I am not looking forward to sawing logs while "frozen" this morning. It's in the high 30's...Yikes !!!



 
Well, did the early morning fog make my sawmill look cold this morning??  It was 31°  Yikes !!!
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Andries

Woodmizer will probably contact you to use that photo in their promotional material.
You take a great photo MM, thanks for thawing out your hands long enough to capture the moment!
LT40G25
Ford 545D loader
Stihl chainsaws

Bruno of NH

Quote from: Southside on November 29, 2021, 07:57:12 PM
How bad were the black flies this morning Bruno?
7° this morning it will keep the black flies down  :D
Lt 40 wide with 38hp gas and command controls , F350 4x4 dump and lot of contracting tools

Southside

We'll see, now that's an improvement and something to look forward to in winter.  :D  :D  :D
Franklin buncher and skidder
JD Processor
Woodmizer LT Super 70 and LT35 sawmill, KD250 kiln, BMS 250 sharpener and setter
Riehl Edger
Woodmaster 725 and 4000 planner and moulder
Enough cows to ensure there is no spare time.
White Oak Meadows

Joe Hillmann

Quote from: Andries on November 28, 2021, 12:46:13 PM
Quote from: Joe Hillmann on November 28, 2021, 12:04:06 PM. . . wet sawdust would build up a thick layer on the blade guides.  .   .
Joe, were you using blade lube at all?
Windshield washer fluid (-40 rated) works well at keeping the blade clean and an added bonus is that the sawdust doesn't freeze up on guides and between boards.
It aggravating to have to pry-bar the boards apart.
I was using diesel.  However with my mill if I flood the blade with too much lube the blade likes to come off the wheels.

Quebecnewf

I don't saw in the winter months . Just too much trouble dealing with snow and ice on the logs . Plus the mess you make  with the slabs covered in ice , naw not doing it .

Now that being said I log in the winter . Best time ever in the woods is about -15C and a sunny day .too cold to sweat so your just good as you work

Quebecnewf  



Why is this wrong way up I don't know . Adm will fix I'm sure 

Tacotodd

Q, I'd guess that your Yammy skidder works well. Rails, skids, or...?
Trying harder everyday.

fluidpowerpro

Quote from: barbender on November 27, 2021, 05:29:57 PM
Now Fluidpower, what part of MN are you in that they are calling Jack Pine, Red Pine? I won't have it!😊
Sorry, been away so not able to visit the forum as often as I would like.
Forgive my ignorance. I thought they were the same. I hang out most of the time near Holyoke, 30 miles south of Duluth.
A few years ago I bought 20 acres down the road that was former Potlatch land, so whatever pine they planted, thats it....
Change is hard....
Especially when a jar full of it falls off the top shelf and hits your head!

Thank You Sponsors!