The Forestry Forum

Hello all,

You guys were right about milling work finding you.  Two jobs found me last week and was not even looking.  One guy is bringing me cants and I am cutting beams.  So far they are only 10 & 12 footers, but they are going to get longer and heavier.  RIght now I when I finish a beam I raise the rollers and two of us can roll them off the end of the mill onto metal saw horses I made.  Then when I get 3 or 4 finished I move them with the forks.  Any ideas for dealing with the beams after they are done? ???  I am trying to avoid getting into the skidsteer everytime I need to move one beam off the mill.

Any thoughts, ideas, pictures of what you may have done would be great.  Thanks :)

You have great timeing.  I just sent an email to another member with pictures attached describing how I handle 8X8 cants up to 32 feet long by myself, stacking them in bundles of 10, 5 on the bottom, then stickers and 5 more on top of them.  It will take a big forklift to handle them 10 at a time.  We accidently stood a super 8 Pettibone on end with a stack this past winter.  Send me an Instant Message with your email and I'll send you a copy of the email I just sent.

I've been cutting 4x12x22' beams and usually manage them the same as you.  We roll them off of the mill onto a trailer or directly onto the forks of a backhoe or forklift.   We stack them on 2x2 stickers and separate occassionally with 4 inch stock.  That is to make it easier to pick them up with forks.  Two inch stickers insures a good air flow.

We roll RR ties off the side of the mill using rails that have legs on one end like sawhorses.  They are rolled off onto runners and then carried on forks to the tie stacks at the end of the day.  The runners are made out of rectangular tubing and are light enough to easily move out of the way between ties.

SMwoody and I got to talkin bout this , heres his pic

I drew a quick side viewe of my tie ramp.  Build 2 of the 6X6 frames and set them about six feet apart build legs on a 10 foot section of mill rolls and set this on top of the 2 6X6 frames.  push the tie out the rolls then when you are centered on the ramps just roll the tie off the back side.  Drill  a few holes in the bottem 6X6's and stake them down real good  
 
When you get a full bundle band them where they sit and lift them out with your fork lift.
(https://forestryforum.com/images/03_21_04/tie%20loader.gif)