chainsaw got a good workout today

Ianab · January 06, 2006, 11:00:48 PM

Started felling some mac cypress to saw in the near future...
Not sure how many of them I'm going to be able to get down, both time and just being able to cut them

Started with a small double leader one today...

First leader was leaning heavy into the gully, so I just had to drop it into the scrub. Thats me loooking down and thinking " well.... bulldozer and winch should get that out "

2nd leader leaned out to open ground so I could drop that in the clear. Huge mass of heavy branches up the top. New saw is in front of the mess for scale (Dolmar 7900 - with 28" bar, you get the idea)

Broke out the trusty (and slightly lighter ) Stihl and was able to get the mess of twisted tensioned branches sorted (very carefully)

Left with this mess, lots of firewood and a good sawlog still resting on the stump down on the lower left. I'll trim up as much of the top as I safely can then haul the rest out with the dozer next week.

I'm not going to show you the stumps. Bore cutting from each side of the tree is OK, unless the 2nd side is 8ft of the ground. It wasn't pretty but it was fairly safe and the tree went where it was supposed to go :-\

Cheers

Ian

Frank_Pender · January 06, 2006, 11:04:14 PM

Well done. You do some some mess in limbs to deal with, though. :'(

getoverit · January 06, 2006, 11:53:51 PM

It's amazing how the limbs hold up the trunk off the ground. We cut some cedar trees a few years ago that did the same thing. even after it was "on the ground" the trunk of the tree was still over my head. I was a nervous wreck until it was safely on the ground with all the limbs removed.

Beautiful land too ! Love the mountains

Ianab · January 07, 2006, 01:35:01 AM

Yup... this one is a banana tree :

2 hours of cutting and dragging brush we can see whats happening now.
And yes.. that main trunk is still 8ft in the air.
Bulldozer will drag it over though ;)

Ian

Max sawdust · January 07, 2006, 06:23:54 AM

Is someone standing by the tree in the first pic?

Those look like some good size trees with lots of branches

Thanks for the story.
Max

mike_van · January 07, 2006, 08:15:50 AM

Wow - Really "green" there Ian - Is it summer? On those branches holding up the tree - years ago next to one of our corn fields, a White Oak uprooted in a storm - It rolled up on the crown, 2' dia. branches holding the butt log 4' dia, 12' long + some root ball - 10' in the air! Took a lot of carefull cutting to get it back down - we burned that wood for the following winter - cords of it from one tree.

iain · January 07, 2006, 02:20:59 PM

That bow shaped branch in the last pic would make a nice didg

iain

beenthere · January 07, 2006, 03:16:52 PM

"didg" like in didgeridoo, I'd guess.

getoverit · January 07, 2006, 03:18:18 PM

Quote from: iain on January 07, 2006, 02:20:59 PM
That bow shaped branch in the last pic would make a nice didg

A what??

Is that like a "widjadidja"

used in a sentence: "You didnt bring your knife widjadidja?" :D :D

Ianab · January 07, 2006, 03:26:38 PM

QuoteIs someone standing by the tree in the first pic?

Yup.. zoomed in..

and Yup.. middle of summer here 8)

and I'm not sure how to make a didg either... and not sure if I need one 20ft long and 2 ft in diameter either ??? :P :D

Ian

iain · January 07, 2006, 04:32:00 PM

Ian it looked smaller in the top pic

i get between £110 and £280 for didgies

most made from branch wood, i keep nice bits in the roof space about my pot belly stove, wait about a year then

band saw, arbotech pro, flap sander, pv67, epoxy, gaffer tape, random orbit with neoprene interface, pv67

iain

Gilman · January 07, 2006, 04:37:43 PM

What's PV67?

Larry · January 07, 2006, 05:30:50 PM

Looks like fun to me Ianab...bet it shook the ground when it landed.

iain, think we really need a picture of a didgies...just for a little clarification. ;D

beenthere · January 07, 2006, 05:44:14 PM

Found this site. Turn the sound up.

http://www.ididj.com.au/

iain · January 07, 2006, 08:27:25 PM

No not like that,
i'll sort out some pics, if any one here likes pics

you got hickssticks over there

http://www.hickssticks.com/didgeridoos_aspenrow2col1.html

pv 67 is a very good two part finish

http://www.sadolin.co.uk/professional/products/timbersflooring/pv67/

i use the satin finish on kitchen / table tops or any thing that need to be bomb proof

iain

Ianab · January 07, 2006, 10:07:19 PM

Finished off limbing the tree today, well apart from a couple of limbs that are holding the whole mess up.
Will have digger there next week so will haul the log up onto the flat (well less steep anyway) and tidy things up.

Ian

Burlkraft · January 08, 2006, 08:44:18 AM

Ian,

Now that ya zoomed in on that tree it sure looks a lot bigger.

Be sure to send along some pics of the wood when ya get to sawin' 8) 8) 8) 8)

Ianab · January 20, 2006, 08:30:49 PM

Bulldozer the contractor bought out to do work for friend didn't have the winch that his usual one has >:(
We recovered the log thats out on the open ground but no way it was going to drag the other one out of the gully. Going to see if I can buck the other one down in the scrub and drag it out in bits, but thats gonna be hard work.

Still I got a nice log, and a rougher 'character' log ready to saw up

This is the next tree in the line.. it's pretty ugly.. and HUGE. The stump on the right is from the log above, and it was 1/2 of a double leader. This tree is about 5ft dia at the base :

But without a winch to move the thing there's no point cutting it :(

Ian

Ianab · January 20, 2006, 08:41:02 PM

This is some timber from the last Mac tree that we cut at the farm.
I didn't do the building, just dropped some planed slabs off to a local cabinet maker that did the kitchen of the new house. He made up this computer desk with the same wood and finish as the feature wall and kitchen trim. The desktop and ends are solid 2" slabs. It has some 'character' features in it, but came out very nice.

Ian

Part_Timer · January 21, 2006, 01:58:52 PM

I think that it is the character features that I like the best.

Tom

getoverit · January 21, 2006, 06:25:37 PM

Beautiful Office Ian !!

Keep the pics coming, I'm enjoying every bit of this

Ianab · January 29, 2006, 08:43:15 PM

More progress.

Cut out this 16x2x 16ft plank for... I dunno, because I could. Would make a good bar top, or several coffee tables :D

Ended up with a very thick bottom slab because of the slope and having no way to move the log onto raised bunks. So we cut the bottom slab in 1/2 so we could handle it. I'm resawing some short 16x2 s from it and will leave the live edge on the last board.

Was worth the effort ;D

Loaded up ready to haul the boards home. The truck noticed the weight

Cheers

Ian

DoubleD · January 30, 2006, 06:31:02 PM

Beautiful lumber Ianab 8) 8) 8) very nice pic too. What diameter have those big cipress?

Ianab · January 30, 2006, 06:58:02 PM

Code Select

What diameter have those big cipress?

The biggest one at this site is about 5 ft DBH. They do grow bigger, 9 ft is not unusual and the butt flare can make them even wider at the base. They are one of the main reasons that swingblades and twin blade dimension mills are so popular here in NZ

Ian

getoverit · January 30, 2006, 10:35:19 PM

Here in Florida and south Georgia, the cypress trees grow mainly in the swamps and in very low lying ground. The trees you are cutting seem to be on a mountainside, which is totally backward to what we are used to.

It is beautiful wood though, and looks like you have figured out the tricks of the trade with the Peterson too. I notice that the head on your mill doesnt look anything like the head on the Peterson's that I see on their web site and othr's here on the forum. Is the head on your mill different?