Milled my first Oak on the LT15.....and I'll never do it again!

[nas]

Nas,
That's a nice machine you have there!  That log looks like a beast!  8)

I wish that was my machine   I am fortunate enough to have an uncle that has a landscaping company around the corner from me.  He has a couple of these machines that I can borrow when I have logs I can't lift with my own machines. 8) 8)

Nick

[Piston]

Nas,
I know what you mean, the backhoe I'm using actually belongs to my father, but we have an agreement that what's his is mine and whats mine is his  ;D
I can use the backhoe whenever I want and he can use my tractor whenever he wants. 

Plus if (when) either one of us break something we don't hold a grudge against the other guy  ;)

[Sprucegum]

 8) Great story and a good job, thanks for sharing

[zopi]

Oh...you will mill big logs again...wide boards are as irresistable as baby ducks and redheaded twins...

[Piston]

..........as irresistable as baby ducks and redheaded twins...

Hopefully for different reasons Zopi!  ;D

[Norm]

My sons have a different saying, goes like this.

What's mine is mine and what's Dad's is also.  :D

[Piston]

 :D

My wife says just about the same thing to me.....

"Whats yours is mine and whats mine is mine"

[zopi]

I did not make the saying up...I have a little "niece," as one winds up with with all the brothers and sisters in the service....oh I wish she were twins...she is almost as fun to spoil as grandkids...

[WDH]

Love those wide boards. 

[bushhog920]

my noorwood is 24in max. I snap a chalk line down the middle of the log and 2 tanks of gas in the chainsaw later i split it down the middle takes about 20min. cut alittle at a time and keep the saw moving. just bought a 36in bar to replace the 20in on my saw can't wait to try it should be easyer on my back less bending over.

[fat olde elf]

Live and learn.  Just keep on keeping on,,,,,It gets better...

[Piston]

I'll throw in a few bonus pics from earlier in that day  ;D

These were all small logs but gave some nice looking lumber. 



  

  

  

  

  

  

 

[Kansas]

Concerning cutting the log in half and quartersawing. We prefer to quartersaw shorter logs for a number of reasons. The first is that qs lumber moves down the length of the board as it dries. Straight edging a 7 or 8 ft board will yield more lumber than a long board, sometimes by quite a bit in qs lumber. My guess is when you go to use it, a lot of those boards will be cut in half anyway just for better recovery. Most qs we do are 7-10 ft long, with 8 the preferred length. Sometimes I think you can read a log a little better for the best qs on a shorter log. Also, I noticed a few knots on the tree, which would be expected on 14 ft. Seems like a lot of times knots and qs don't go well together. The board kind of ripples around the knots worse than flat sawn.

[Ianab]

This thread reminds me of that scene in Jaws - "You're going to need a bigger boat"  :D

Or a sawmill that you set up around the log right where it's sitting  ;)

Ian

[kelLOGg]

I think you got a decent yield out of that log. Fat Olde elf is right - it does get better the more big one you do.
Bob

[Al_Smith]

FWIW I have a bunch of red oak a guy sawed for me on a trailer mounted LT 15 .He didn't have any problems with it .One log was 36" on the butt end .

Fact I've got some 1 by 12's 16 feet long from it .Talk about heavy

I have no idea what engine they use now but that model had a 12 HP Briggs IC engine and walked right  through that hard old log .

Now those heavy logs .You can side load a big log with just a little tractor if you know how which is pretty simple .Fact they did it with horses and mules long before tractors were even thought of .

Just a set of ramps with a couple of chains ,just roll the thing right up the ramps ,easy as pie .You'd have to crib up above the fenders on that type trailer with ties or something but it's better than trying to drag a two ton log up on the thing .Geeze you could raise the rear end of the truck off the ground if you didn't bend the trailer frame .

[YellowHammer]

 

 

The first bigun is the hardest and we were happy just to get this storm damaged white oak on my LT-15 without breaking anything or anybody.  Took us a looong time to get the wood out of this one, but after a few more, it started to get almost routine.  As they say, you start to learn tricks and after awhile the normal sized trees look small.  I had to rip a full length slab off this one with the chainsaw to get the head to clear.  Main trick is to not get frustrated, hurried, or herniated! 
YellowHammer

[Magicman]

MM, What do you have stacked in the background of that pic? 

Just some SYP slabs from some beetle killed trees.  I had to slab them heavy to get away from the grub damaged sapwood.

[Qweaver]

I milled several 30" white and red oaks on the LT15 and it was tough.  But it sure made some nice woodwork for the cabin.  But I've had to pass up some really nice logs that were just too big to handle.  Buy or make friends with a swinger owner!  :D

[sawguy21]

This thread brings back some memories. I always tried to find something else to do when dad needed to cut large pieces of oak on the table saw, that stuff is heavy and the smell less than appetizing.

[WDH]

It is amazing that no matter what kind of sawmill that you have, you have to have support equipment to handle logs, especially big logs.  There is a lot more to it than the cost of the sawmill.  I have a LT15 that costs $6800 new today, but I am feeding it with a $30,000 tractor  .

Quarter sawing a big log like Yellowhammer's white oak requires cutting the log into at least three cants, none of which can be easily handled by hand. 

[Piston]

WDH,
That is actually the reason I don't have a hydraulic mill.  I would love have one and hope to someday, but I looked at it like I would rather have a manual mill, and some equipment, than just a hydraulic mill.  I use the tractor a lot more than the mill so it only makes sense for me.  Of course, the big difference is I'm doing this as a hobby only, and not making any money off anything I do.  If that were the case I'd invest in a hydraulic mill. 

When I come across a log that is tough to handle, or I start drooling over pictures of all you guys with the hydraulic mill setups, I try to look at it like this:  If I were using an Alaskan Mill or something similar, it would take me twice as long as the LT15, or for instance, I'll sit back and try to think of how they did things in the good old days, and appreciate how nice I have it now.  It helps me look at the positive features of the equipment I have, rather than what it can't do.   ;)

[Piston]

or I start drooling over pictures of all you guys with the hydraulic mill setups

I just re read my post and it sounded wrong.....

Just to clarify, I'm drooling over the pictures of the mills...not the guys with the mills  :D

[Sixacresand]

It is amazing that no matter what kind of sawmill that you have, you have to have support equipment to handle logs, especially big logs.  There is a lot more to it than the cost of the sawmill.  I have a LT15 that costs $6800 new today, but I am feeding it with a $30,000 tractor  .

Quarter sawing a big log like Yellowhammer's white oak requires cutting the log into at least three cants, none of which can be easily handled by hand.

I like how you compared support equipment to cost of  the mill. I have a old farm tractor to move logs, but hope get a log arch built soon.  I can then pull logs to the mill  with a lawn tractor or pickup. At least there will be options when tractor eventually bombs. 

[Qweaver]

Keeping the logs clean is much easier when you can pick-up the logs and carry them to your saw.  Trying to clean muddy logs in the winter is tough.  So far I've been able to lift all the logs that I've had to saw.  It's been close a few times.