Lively Ash

[Rhodemont]

I have started logging out the dozens of my ash trees killed by EAB.  Noticed them dying a year ago fall.  They have already started to drop limbs so need to come down to salvage the wood and before they get really dangerous to be around.   With the temps up near 60 today I decided to mill some logs.         I have someone who wants all the 4x4x10' I can mill for resaw  and the balance I guess I will mill 1 x live edge for I do not know what, there is going to be a lot of it.

The logs are very straight with little taper.  The first two were butt logs about 16 inch.  I took a couple 1x  from each side leaving a cant in the middle for (4) 4x4s. They milled beautifully and easily, I really enjoyed working them.  Then I moved onto the second and third 10 foot logs coming from each of the butts just milled.  That is when things started getting sporty.  These logs were not much smaller in diameter, straight and knot free also.  Figured they were going to be fun also.  Well, each 1x I took off the sides curled up like Pringles as I was milling through them.  I mean front ends lifted more than an inch before I finished the pass.  Then, even the 4x4s bowed as I milled them out of the center cant, the top one up and bottom one down (yep, the bottom ones came up off the bunks in the center.  About 1/2 way through one of the cants while milling it in half to make (2) 4 x 8 to turn and finish the 4x4, the stress was so great  the cant split several feet out in front of the blade. Lost all four of these to fire wood.  I stickered everything with the center bowed up and then loaded several oak 6x6 on top.  That flattened everything...maybe they will be OK upon drying?

I am going to sit hear and have a few cocktails trying to sort out how things could change from the butt to the next two logs so drastically.  What the heck??

[Don P]

Support the straight butt 4x4's on a block at each end and put your truck in the middle, in other words bend a butt 4x4 hard. See if it breaks short grained and brash with white fungus inside. I'm guessing the the butt is full of incipient decay.

[Southside]

The problem with EAB killed ash is by the time you "notice" they died, and the limbs drop, they have been dead for a while and have really begun to decay.  Those will break off 20' in the air on you, that stage of dead ash is extremely dangerous.  

Not sure splitting the cant four ways on the butt log will ultimately give you the results you desire.  

[moodnacreek]

Ash and hickory are often called handle wood in the smaller diameter logs. Handles are short and after the sawed blanks are turned who knew they where once bowed when sawed. Handle wood is strong and springy and hard to make lumber from. If you saw short fat logs for handles those handles will not be strong.

[Rhodemont]

With the cant that split I went out and pulled up the 1 inch cut I made trying to eliminate the crack and salvage a 3x4 from the 4x4 (that did not work out great because with the bow I got 3 inch on one end and 2.5 on the other).The attached photo shows where the crack occurred.  I also found that right at that point there was in fact a knot which did not show out to the OD of the log.

Don P, I cut the 4x4s to length.  They seem very sound with no signs of fungus that I can see.  I did not drive over them.  I cut the trees about 2 feet from the ground (bending over lower is tough).  Then I cut about 2 feet for fire wood before start of the butt log.  I am going to split those in the next couple days and see how sound they look.

South Side, you are probably correct.  Trying to get (4) 4x4 from a 8x8 center cant is probably not going to work to well.  I was trying to get a good yield from the smaller diameter logs.  I am going to see if he will take 4x8 for resaw.  That way I can leave the pith in the center and get the equivalent of (2) 4x4 rather than just 1.  I will be getting to some much bigger logs.  Do you think anything off center will be a problem?

Thinking about this a lot I did check to make sure my bunks are level (why, I had to do something).  I set the blade at 1.5 inch to the mast scale and used my vernier caliper to measure the height to  the blade over each bunk front/center/ back.  The fronts (mast side) all measure 1.500 while the back side (loader side) all measured about 1.450.  I am not going to mess with that

 .

[GAB]

South Side, you are probably correct.  Trying to get (4) 4x4 from a 8x8 center cant is probably not going to work to well.  I was trying to get a good yield from the smaller diameter logs.  I am going to see if he will take 4x8 for resaw.  That way I can leave the pith in the center and get the equivalent of (2) 4x4 rather than just 1.  I will be getting to some much bigger logs.  Do you think anything off center will be a problem?

Thinking about this a lot I did check to make sure my bunks are level (why, I had to do something).  I set the blade at 1.5 inch to the mast scale and used my vernier caliper to measure the height to  the blade over each bunk front/center/ back.  The fronts (mast side) all measure 1.500 while the back side (loader side) all measured about 1.450.  I am not going to mess with that.

Rhodemont:
I would be talking to the customer and try and get an idea what he is resawing to size wise.
If he is resawing to 7/8" thick with an 1/8" kerf he may be able to use 4" wide x up to 12" thick based on his resawing equipment.  
Concerning your last paragraph:  NOTE: I am not knowledgeable on LT35's at all so the following may be wrong for your mill.  
On my LT40 the outer most blade height (side towards the log loader) is supposed to be 1/16" higher than the inner most blade height (mast side), to compensate for the head torqueing when the mill is in use.
GAB

[moosehunter]

Do I understand that you cut an 8x8 cant (pith centered) then cut 4, 4x4s thereby splitting the pith? If so, that Ash did exactly what I would expect it to. 
mh

[Rhodemont]

GAB, I pulled out my operator manual.  The LT35 is the same as LT40.  Saw Head Tilt calls for bunk to be 1/16 lower at outer blade guide with arm extended 1/2 way.  I need adjusting. Also, I spike to customer.  He is resaw for back slats of benchs.  said he would go 4x6 but wants to try 4x8 to see if he can handle it by himself.

Moosehunter, that is what I did...no more.  

[Ron Wenrich]

I've sawed plenty of ash.  When I was sawing there were no EAB trees.  Ash has tension wood in it.  Not every log will react the same, as in all species.  But, ash will split a lot easier than most species.  Splitting ash for 4x6s will give you the same results.  I've had ash boards split when they came off the saw, due to tension.  

Splitting nearly any wood at the heart will give you rainbow lumber.  Go to your local lumber store and look at 2x4s.  The ones that look the worst will have a split heart.  Its due to all the juvenile wood in this area of the tree.  

[Magicman]

When I am sawing timbers/posts on the "sand box" job I produce one pith centered  timber per log.  Since he wants no side lumber, it's quite simple because he wants timbers ranging from 4X6 to 16X16.  I can saw the log to produce the largest timber that it will yield.


 Here is a very small example of the thousands of timbers that I have sawn on this job since 2017.

[69bronco]

 
 

[Don P]

We've knocked that part of the question out of the park.

Why did the butt log not do that?

[ButchC]

I too cut a lot of Ash when the EAB went through here about 8 years ago. Its the reason I bought my mill. Tension warping was worse with Ash than anything I have cut since. I did notice that the fence row leaners, no matter how little,  were much worse than straight growing trees in the woods. Some of the leaners that would not make 4/4 lumber could be sawn into 4x6 and be useful, some not. Forget branch wood no matter how large, can't make a thing out of It except firewood.  It all burned real nice in the wood stove, .

Mind what the earlier poster said cautioning you about felling dead trees!!
 I was felling a very solid looking 30" dead ash. When it started to fall I moved to my left on the planned escape route. Unknown to be the trunck broke in two about 20 feet up and the upper part came straight down on the other side of the stump, had it been on my side I would not be here today to caution you. Please use great care felling dead Ash!!!!!

[Stephen1]

Ash is always lively, especially when you mix the heart and sap wood, or as you are doing in sawing half live edge. Lots of wood I can saw a straight edge for the homeowner, turn the log 90 and saw through to create live edge on 1 side and a straight edge for the table saw for the home owner. Ash always moves, the best ash is outside the heart, and inside the bark/sap wood. 

[Rhodemont]

MM, with the timbers going for resaw to make the bench slats I do not think anything near the pith is going to work.  Sounds like the outer most boards will be best for him.  The centers may all end up as firewood. 

69Bronco, you got the pic of what I encountered.