Whatcha Sawin' 2025 ??

[Resonator]

Yup, I've used a drawknife before too. I had one years ago, on my list of tools to buy.

[SawyerTed]

There's much to be said for standing up and "skinning' logs."  Some call it an ice chopper, some call it a flat hoe, floor scraper, roofers tool and more.  It's a long handled scrapper so a person can stand and peel logs.

Of course a spud is the hardwood log peeling tool of choice, especially poplar for siding. 

[TimW]

What holds the log up when you stand it up?

[red]

In 2006 I helped peel logs for a log cabin . . the logs were hemlock and pine . . some other guys had tried peeling the logs and gave up . . I figured how hard could it be ?  So I tried for two days and I gave up 

We had all kinds of tools and I remember the bark spud did very well . . I also remember the cabin turning black while being built and it needed power washing to remove all of the cambium layer 

[Magicman]

Mine look like straightened out garden hoes:


The shorter one on the right got a new handle below.


Here a wooden handle had finally rotted and needed replacing so I bought a rake and used the handle.  This one is my favorite.  They are sharpened on only one side so "red side up" does not cut into the log.

I would hate to think about bending over and using a draw knife.

[Old Greenhorn]

North of the grits belt we call those 'ice choppers' for breaking up ice on walkways, driveways, etc. They work fine. But for me, the real secret to easy peeling is when the logs are cut. If you take them after the weather warms and the trees leaf out and they are moving a lot of water, that bark comes off real easy on most species. If you cut them in February (up this way), then the bark is tighter than a knat's butthole and you really have to work at it.... HARD until the logs begin to decay.
 I do use a draw knife when peeling slabs to make benches. Again, summer cut is easy and I can do a 4' section of slab in under a minute, but I did some Hemlock recently that was winter cut and it took quite a while and a lot of sweat to clean up a 4' slab.

[TimW]

Mine look like straightened out garden hoes:


The shorter one on the right got a new handle below.


Here a wooden handle had finally rotted and needed replacing so I bought a rake and used the handle.  This one is my favorite.  They are sharpened on only one side so "red side up" does not cut into the log.

I would hate to think about bending over and using a draw knife.

Dad taught me to straddle the log.  They were propped up just enough to kneel on the ground while straddling the log.  I guess with the right height heavy duty saw horses, one could stand without bending over.

[Magicman]

Sorta depends upon age and the back.  

When I was the age that my Dad was teaching me stuff, my back was in a different time zone.  At that time I could shoulder a 100# sack of nitrate and go.  Now it is only packaged in 50# and I would hate to have to do now what I did then.  Maybe "then" had something to do with "now"?  Of course that was also 65 years ago.

[jpassardi]

We use an ice chipper also. Sometimes a small, light crow bar works better as it won't cut into the bark and you can keep under at the cambium.

[doc henderson]

I have been trying to do the 20-year shop reorganization for the past 3 days with the help of my buddy Dallas.  I have been sore, like when I was 14 and started doing all the lifting, carrying and climbing.  I think sports and hard work also allows me to work harder than most my age.  Dallas is younger and stronger at this point, but I learned how to lift and carry at that age so can keep up with him some.

[nopoint]

My go to for a bark spud is a chunk of leaf spring welded to a socket that excepts a wooden handle. The end is ground a bit. The curve of the spring is helpful. Watched some log cabin guys do the same. Pretty much indistructable. Guess could go all steel if your helpers break alot of things, I prefer the wooden handle. 

[TimW]

Sorta depends upon age and the back. 

When I was the age that my Dad was teaching me stuff, my back was in a different time zone.  At that time I could shoulder a 100# sack of nitrate and go.  Now it is only packaged in 50# and I would hate to have to do now what I did then.  Maybe "then" had something to do with "now"?  Of course that was also 65 years ago.

I see your point.  Each morning more new aches pop up now.  I remember trying to move 100 pound burlap sacks of horse feed when I was little.  I couldn't by myself.  My brother and I finally devised a plan to put the riding lawnmower at the bumper of the mattress truck and push, roll the sack off of the truck onto the seat.  Those sacks wear so bulky, we would drag them up into the grainery.  Then pour the feed into a storage barrel.  It would take a while!  Today, just glad they are 50# sacks.

[SawyerTed]

As far as standing up and peeling logs, IF I have to peel logs I put the logs on top of other logs perpendicular and chocked in place, peel as much as possible then roll them to peel the rest.  It's easier on the back and rolling logs is easier.  

I have used a floor scraper and a flat shovel among various other scrapers.   

[beenthere]

TimW
At 14 yr old, I hired on to work at a neighboring dairy/pig/sheep/chicken farm when not in school. The 100 lb sacks of feed were the norm and could carry them, but not easily. Would try to find ways to avoid carrying them. That 72 years went by in a hurry. 
But at 86, now the 40 lb bags are preferred over even the 50 lb ones. 

[SawyerTed]

The hardware store guy asked why only would buy 2-4 80 pound bags of concrete but buy them every few days.  Why don't you just buy a dozen at a time?  he asked.  

I told him I'm 62 and he's 35, he will understand one day.  I only want lift and mix so many at a time and they will keep better in his warehouse than my shed.  

[beenthere]

Reminds me of my father-in-law who retired from his farm at 75 and moved to town. To keep busy, he worked at the local feed mill where he moved a lot of sacked feed. He watched several young boys hire on but not last very long. FIL told the owner that he didn't want to be in their way and take any work away from the young boys they could keep their jobs. 
The mill owner said when the day comes that two of these boys could/would do the work that the FIL would do in a day, might be the day he'd consider that, but not until. 

[KWood255]

1500+bf of white spruce 2x4 and 4x4's yesterday morning. About 3 hours of work including log sorting, sawing, edging and piling. My sons and I gave the LT70 and EG200 a good run. I was sure impressed with the help !

[WV Sawmiller]

I went out this afternoon to saw these 5 - 8'  Tulip poplar logs into 4/4 boards for an order for 1000 bf. On the log on the loader is my new to me hookaroon or equivalent. I bought it at my favorite flea market a couple of weeks ago bit have not tried it out yet.

The first log up the hill from the one on the arms was where the top forked and it did not yield much towards this order.

I park my old JD 750 next to the sawdust pile and throw the waste slabs and edgings on it. Here is the last load of the day. When I get a load, normally after every log, I take it to my waste pile where customers see it and come buy it. I get $10/pick up load or $25 a trailer load and they load. I don't care how much they load. If for a church or community or someone who can't afford that it is free. I used to haul it off and burn it but now I get others to remove it.

I got about 510 bf out of the logs shown which, with the second stack beside the new one completes my order. I cut 2 poplar trees to get this order and have a few hundred bf to cut from a couple of short logs and the crooked one in the background in the first picture.

I also got about 40-50 bf of short boards for my own use off that fork log I mentioned. I'll run these through the RAS and stack and sticker. Most are 6' long 1X12's and will make nice birdhouse tops if some customer doesn't buy them first.

BTW - the hookaroon worked great and now I can reach the flitches on my loading arms to drag them to the mill and I can put the handle between flitches I am edging to separate them when I need to pull one out or flip individual flitches.

[Magicman]

I don't use my Logrite Hookaroon as much as I should.  


It's a back saver.  Seen here with it's big brothers.  BTW, it's the only Green Hookaroon ever produced by Logrite.  

[WV Sawmiller]

  No picture because I had not planned to saw this afternoon. I spent the middle part of the day driving to Blacksburg VA and bought 2 - 10' rollers for some slab cutting (kindling type) project. Took the wife and we ate at a mediocre Indian place there near VA Tech. The roller owner had a big yard full of cut off log ends with 2 WM sawmills owned by others parked there. He has a big firewood business and every kind of junk imaginable.

  Late afternoon I went out and trimmed the short boards I cut yesterday using my RAS to trim them to length. I rode up the hill and dragged down a 6' poplar log I'd cut out of the middle due to a curve. Decided to throw it on the mill and got 114 bf of mostly 1X12's out of it. All the boards are stacked and stickered in the shed, yesterday's order is covered by old metal roofing and the cut off sticker ends are bagged for fire starter.

  The little short log actually made some pretty boards.

[Magicman]

I sawed a small job this morning that kept getting smaller.  


The timing was perfect because the bark had slipped and the sawyers were only about an inch long and had not penetrated the logs.


He originally had 5 logs but here we had already culled one log so now it is 4.  After we rolled the 3rd log away from the 4th we saw that the 4th had big limb stubs and big limbs make big knots.  I dislike sawing bad lumber so I said no.  He needed lumber and I don't think that he really liked me saying "no" but he did not argue.


He got 640bf of really nice 1X10's, so he was happy about that.

My next job should be next week sawing framing lumber I think.  He did not say but that is his usual cut list.  

[Wlmedley]

Sawed the largest Chestnut Oak log that I had on my log deck. Used pig pole on my tractor to turn it as it was to heavy to turn with a cant hook plus I'm trying to be easy with my mill by not letting log slam down when turning.Took quite a while to get it sawed up but I got some nice lumber. Sawed most of it 1 1/4" thick to possibly used as stair tread's in the future. Got 13" wide boards which is the max for my planer. 

[Wlmedley]

Glad I decided to saw this one up instead of using it for firewood.

[Resonator]

That'll make good grade lumber!

[Magicman]

Glad I decided to saw this one

Absolutely, that one is a real beauty.