Slabwood to kindling maker

[WV Sawmiller]

  I debated where to put this. Here, General, Firewood (Probably where it should have gone) but decided it might get more visibility here.

  For a long time I have been thinking about buying a roller rack/table/assembly and making a table to cut waste slabwood and edgings into kindling and small firewood pieces. I drove to Blacksburg VA a week or so back and bought 2-10' aluminum rollers from a Craigslist vendor there,

    Today I got out and took a couple of measurements then made 2 rough sawhorses out of some short tulip poplar 2X4s I cut out out of a short butt log a while back. I cut the legs at 36" and made the I-beam top 48" long.

Nothing fancy just functional. Then I placed one of the rollers on it, centered it, and lag screwed into place with 2" X 3/8" lag screws I had in stock.

Basically I am thinking to just add some sides and make a trough, load it with scrap slabwood, push to the end and cut to length with a chainsaw. The wood will be loaded in and I will push the load to the end and cut in about 15-18 inch lengths for personal use. The rack is tall enough I can back my trailer or cart under it and let the wood fall in.

I was thinking I could lift the rig with my FEL and small tractor and move it but I suspect I'd bend the aluminum frame it I lifted it as it is. I am considering adding a couple of small wheels and tow or push it around the lot.

I noticed the aluminum frame of slightly over 4" wide and I tried putting a rough, full cut 8' 2X4  in the frame and see it is a near perfect fit.

Right now I am inclined to just cut 2- 2X4s to length, nail a 1X12 or such to both of them, then place the 2X4 in the slot and attach with 2-3 bolts on each side through existing holes already there. I guess I could add a couple of short 2X4's on the other side of 1X's for stiffeners and extra support. The 2X4's should stiffen the frame so I could move it with my FEL and tractor. I will have to keep thinking about whether to add the wheel to one end. I think I can get a pair of wheels for about $20 each at HF if I don't see something cheaper at the flea market.

    If it doesn't hold up and replace ever piece easily and cheaply as long as I don't damage the roller frame.

    I sell most of my slabwood at a dirt cheap rate and the customer loads. I could put the rig out by the slab pile and they could sut their own right on site if the want to. I am thinking mostly about my own use and 2 brothers who come buy and cut slabwood into 10-12 inch lengths.

[doc henderson]

The real question,... did you cut the legs on the sawmill?       I am about to do the same for my 2-foot-wide roller tables, but I will leave the rollers and sawhorses separated to make it easier to move and get into place.  the stock legs on the rollers are too flimsy for the way I roll.  I will leave the top end braces off so I can nest and stack the sawhorses.

[WV Sawmiller]

Doc,

   The sawhorses exceed the 32" max height on my mill so I precut them on my RAS and assembled them at my outdoor work site there. 

    I considered keeping the roller and stands separate and will do that if necessary. I can always permanently install some long boats with wing nuts if I need to. Right now I only have the 4 lag screws to remove but will have probably 6 more bolts through the frames and sides as currently planned.

[WV Sawmiller]

  I got back on this project yesterday and cut 2- 10' poplar 2X4 and a low grade 1X12 and 1X14. I marked and bored 3 holes in each 2X4 and 1X then placed the 2X4 in the slots on the roller, ran the bolts through the 2X then the 1X then tightened the nuts. That made pretty stable sides with a trough to hold the wood to be cut.

    To reinforce the sides I cut 2- 1' long 2X12's into triangles, nailed a 1' long 1X4 to one of the short sides of each triangle, placed the other short side of the triangle against the vertical 1X sides and nailed the 1X4 bases into the sawhorses. Then I nailed one 2.5" nail through the sides near the top into each triangle. This made a very secure brace on each side of the 1X sides.

Side view of finished roller "machine" You cn just see the 3 bolts through each side.


Finished view of the braces.
Open end view. Wood will be dumped into the trough and pushed to one end and cut off.

The weight and stiffness of the 2X4s and 1X side make i look like it will be easy to move with my FEL. Testing is the next step.

I went and sprayed some weeds and when I returned a local resident was inspecting  and reviewing my work.

[WV Sawmiller]

     I did not take pictures but ran a quick test run on my slabwood cutting table/roller. As expected a couple of issues I encountered were degree of slope and hold down issues.

    The table has to be pretty dang level or the slabs quickly roll right out the low end. No real surprise there so a quick fix is to shim up the low end.

   When I loaded a decent load of slabs and long edgings I could easily roll the load forward and cut it off to fall into the waiting cart below.  

    The issue came when I got near the end and the slabwood and edgings and the section to be cut was heavier than the end still on the table and did not have enough counterweight to hold them in place.

   If I had a second person one could keep piling more slabs on to keep more weight on the back end. Lacking that I need to come up with some sort of hold down system. It may just end up being a bungee strap or a ratchet strap arrangement. It needs to be simple to use, very quick to open and close and dirt cheap. (That just kicked it out of the design committee's hands. ) I will have to play with that more later.

[Digger Don]

Perhaps a six inch board across the rollers, hinged so that slabs push it up and pass under? Similar to what we call a flood gate across a stream or creek. When the slabs are short, they would tend to push up on it, more than forward.

[melezefarmer]

[WV Sawmiller]

Meleze,

   You definitely understand the design committee charter to spend other people's money.

    Right now I have no powered components to the table and can move it with a tractor as needed. My plans have always been to use a chainsaw to cut the slabs to length and I doubt that plan changes.

Digger,

   I understand part of your concept but don't see how that allows me to stop the load at particular points, saw, move forward, stop, saw, repeat.

[barbender]

My slabs tend to be thin enough that a skil saw or a RAS would have enough cutting depth to get through them. That would be a lot less maintenance, and SAWDUST, than a chainsaw. My firewood processor, that uses a bar saw, generates really large piles of sawdust.

[WV Sawmiller]

My slabwood pile is out in the open in the field. I often do take a piece or two over to my RAS to cut it into kindling so it is certainly thick enough, it is just in the wrong place.

     I suspect most of the use out of this roller will be by customers/friends who come buy a pick up load of slabwood at a time and they load and cut it. Some take long lengths. Two brothers cut it into 10-12 inch lengths and bicker so much I go help them just for the entertainment value. I can see the 2 of them getting most of the use out of this.

[barbender]

You'd enjoy spending time with my folks then, Howard😂

[Digger Don]

I liked the idea behind Meleze's video. Those tires might work better than my six inch board. It's just anything heavy enough to hold down the short end of the slab. It's hinged so the slabs can go under it, without stopping it. Perhaps a small piece of plywood, with a cinder block on top? Somehow, hold the front edge up so the slab can get under it. A short chain on each side, maybe?