Exciting trip to wellington

[KiwiJake]

It was supposed to take around 6 hours to get there, instead it took us nearer three days. New Zealand was hit with some wicked floods (made it on the BBC news). Every road that we tried was blocked due to flooding. We basicly zig zagged down the north island trying different routes, one was called the "forgotten world high way" the name suited it to a T. Heres sme pics of the trip down, the poor people that lost there houses.




Just some pics of the floods, also spotted some funny looking locals on the way too.

When we finally got there we got straight into it, the guys that were getting our big mill didn't have much space to work with but we worked it out (our mills are better suited for lots of space as the timber can be off beared from both ends, also sawdusts builds to the left of it and loading can be done from the right of it). We were quite squeezed as it was, however they are putting a concrete slab in and extending the space at a later date.

The main reason for getting one of our mills was for recovery, the reason being they are one of the very few that have milling rights for a select amount of Rimu native logs. The logs are helicoptered out of the bush.

Every log gets blasted down to remove any grit and any obstical that may damage the blade or disrupt the sawyers decision making, 4 guys on staff one for sawing, one for offbearing, one for measuring each face determining the quality and size of board to be sawn and one grader/sorter.

The timber that we were getting out of the logs was amazing, no questions on why the timber is so valuable. We stayed down there for two days showing them different combo's and techniques of milling with our mill (as the operator I was sort of edgy on showing them what our mill could do in the production since, they were not interested, besides I had to wait until the face was measured for each board). Recovery at the end of the day was where the money is when milling this type of wood. Some amazing colour in the wood.

The trip back took about 5 hours 8).









The last pic is of some heart wood and colour.

[rbarshaw]

That's some beautiful wood ;D ;D Sorry to hear of the flooding.

[KiwiJake]

Heres the "Forgotten World Highway" :.

[Tom]

Looks like some of the roads in North Carolina. ;D

Flooding is a terrible thing.  Unlike wind which puts everything in disarray, floods destroy everything the water touches.  It not only looks bad to see someone's home under water but gets worse when you picture all the family photos, legal documents, geneology records, books, clothes and furniture churning inside the house as if in a washing machine.

I'm interested in hearing more detail about why it takes so many people to saw a board.

[Jeff]

I want a drum stick ;D

[KiwiJake]

They were trying to get at least a level of production, the aim is to achieve around 3200 bf of grade timber at the end of the day.

When I said I would have liked to have shown them what the mill could do I was suggesting to go hard out non stop sawing where 1200bf per hour would have been possible cutting that dimension and length.

Every board that was sawn was 53mm thick stock ranging from 10"-2" wide. Logs averaged around 5-7m long.

The grader had a real job docking the ends and desifering "shake"(cracked regions) that appears in these logs, also he would have to sort to various classified stacks of grade (6 different grades), secondly he is also the skid driver for loading the logs on the deck.

The Sawyer would basicly try and keep the mill running as consistantly as he can (the easy job). He's the one that gets in trouble if bad boards come of the machine though.

One of the offbearers would be putting a ruler to the log face to measure off the exact size board to get the best value wood out of it, he would then give signals to the sawyer the dimension needed to cut. I have been told to price up a single phase motivation pack with a joystick so the sawyer would then be able to measure the slab while sawing (allows him to walk around while carrying the setworks to inspect the log being sawn).
 
The final off bearer basicly is in charge of carrying the 6 metre long 2x10s off the mill, this is where the second off bearer is usefull. Rimu is some heavy wood.

Most of that timber in the photo was cut in the first hour when I was told to slow down, I was mostly cutting the wide boards in vertical, this restricted the visable face. I then changed my sawing technique to take the wide boards out of the horizontal which gave the abillity to see the complete slab. I only cut two logs while I was there, the rest of the two days was spent training.

Tom, Hope this explains it (I guess its getting that level of production from this type of intense grading, not much Rimu is allowed to be milled this day and age).

[woodbeard]

Jeff, I believe they are cutting up the Rimu, not the Emu. :D

[Tom]

I'm glad I don't punch their clock.

I don't think I have the apptitude for working like that.

[Corley5]

What's Rimu used for and why is it protected to such an extent?  Beautiful wood 8) 8)

[AtLast]

WOW....quite a site Kiwi. That was one of the things I really remember when I was in NZ. do they still call some of the roads " metal roads"?

[KiwiJake]

Rimu trees grow massive, they are one of the giants of New Zealand (Hard wood). The reason they are so protected is that in the early 1900's most of the giants were plundered and loged to such an extent. These trees take 100's of years to grow.

These days only windblown(natural causes) natives are aloud to be milled, even then you have to send away for consent as milling the tree may interfere with seedlings around it. I've been half way through this process and givin up, you also have to get your milled registered to cut native aswell.

I guess there are ways around it, like clearings for new roads to be put in or growing native on your land soley for harvest.

The worst thing about our laws are that if you come across an unlicenced Native log your allowed to cut it up into firwood but if you mill it your in big trouble. They would rather see it's inner history and beauty burned rather than preserved.

Rimu's used for all sorts, mostly for uses where it shows it's beauty off, cabinetry, panelling, flooring, turning etc..

Tom, the money you'ld make off the heartwood may tempt your aptitude.  

[Ianab]

Hey Jake
 The Forgotten World Highway is a treat to drive over eh? Especially in bad weather   And I bet you were eyeing up some of those big rimu that are growing beside it  ;) I live in Stratford now, just near the end of that 'highway'.

On another note I've just come back from visiting a friend who lives near the main flood zone, what a mess   Most of the water is receded now, just mud, landslides and blown down trees everywhere. More wind and rain last night bought down more trees and lots of people still dont have power or have lost it again. Some of the hill country farmers are going to be relying on helicopters for months yet untill the roads are rebuilt. Some of the low lying farms have been totally flooded and are now covered in 10-20" of silt. Seen pictures of farmers herding hundreds of cows (they are swimming) with Jetskis or lifting them out of the flood slung under helicopters. I think most of the dairy cattle were saved although hundreds were probably lost or drowned  :( Still going to take years for some of the guys to recover.
Worst thing is.. it's still Summer, and this is usually our best month weather wise. : oh well
Maybe this week will be  fine enough to go do some milling  :-/
  
PS.. In Jakes first picture.. there is actually a car parked in that puddle, he probably never saw it as the water has only dropped to the bonnet today  

[KiwiJake]

Hi Ian, yea I remember that car, it was to the right of the pic wasn't it. We came back to Rotorua another way, the camera's battery ran out so I didn't get the real bad parts. Some parts of that side country was just straight water with the odd house peerin out.

Some real devistating damage alright. What do you think of that dark mud tunnel on the Forgotten highway? Felt a bit scary driving through it with the high trailer.

[Ianab]

yeah.. gotta love those tunnels
dont remember if that one has the wooden roof inside, the chicken wire to stop the falling rocks.. or the waterfall in the middle...  
But if you think the state highway thru there is good... check out some of the back roads  8) 8) 8)

ohh... and to be picky.. Rimu is a softwood, but one of the best ones around. In NZ all the best furniture is Rimu, either new or recycled. 50 to 100 years ago it was THE wood for general construction so a lot is being reclaimed from old buildings.
latin name Dacrydium cupressinum and also called Red Pine, although it's not related to a pine at all. I guess the main reason it's protected is that 90% of it has been clearcut cut in the last 100 years  :(
As Jake says it is possible to mill limited amounts from private land.. if you can get thru the paperwork. But you are probably working on a 400 year rotation  :

[crtreedude]

Nice wood Kiwi,

I rummaged around the internet and found information on the tree ast http://www.botanik.uni-bonn.de/conifers/po/da_m/cupressinum.htm

Pretty interesting.  It has pictures of slice of one that they counted 815 rings on.  

In Costa Rica, we periodicly run across trees that are huge.  You are not allowed to cut near waterways (15 meters) because of the floods it causes so you can often find some huge trees in the ravines.  

Too bad about the flooding.  The last time I was in Costa Rica we had a lot of rain and a slope gave way.  (I do mean a lot - this section of Costa Rica is a rain forest!) It took out the water supply (which was pretty useless anyway).  It has been replaced now with a well and storage tank setup.

You learn real fast in Costa Rica not to build when the slope above you is steep and has no trees.  

Fred