A friend indeed

[nas]

Sometimes a log shows up that is a little bigger than I can handle.  When that is the case it is nice to have an uncle down the road who owns a landscape company and has a couple of these.



That is a 10' by 40" white oak log weighing close to 6000lbs
Hoping to do a DonK on it and quarter it with the chainsaw.  Hey fishpharmer, you looking to use that big saw of yours again? :D

Nick

[WDH]

Maybe the Fishpharmer can do a road trip ;D.

[Left Coast Chris]

WOW!   That is a nice log.  I had a Calif valley oak (type of white oak) that was similar (48" at the big end) from some land clearing and had my brother come over with his Lucas chain saw slabber.  He gave me three slabs, took a couple for himself and half of the log was still left.   The slabber worked great.   I quartered that half then put it on my LT30 homemade clone and got alot of quarter sawn boards out of it.  Amazing how much wood is in a log that size!  8) 8)

I do see why most mills don't want to tackle big logs simply because they slow you down so much.  The slabs are beautiful though and I made a coffee table out some of the quarter sawn boards.  Beautiful tiger striping.

[Don K]

Nick, You have your work cut out for you. I would love to get a white oak that big. It looks bigger than 40". Is that the small end measurement? I wouldn't hesitate to tackle a 48" or smaller with my 20" bar. The tip I learned from Arkansawyer about the bottle jack to pop one open makes all the difference. ;D

Slow sawing on the mill and you have to get inventive sometimes but worth it in the end. Hate I'm to far away to help. I like a challenge. :D :D

Don

[SwampDonkey]

What he meant to say Nas, is he's feels a lot safer at a distance. :D

And I might add, if that bad butt log got the best of me, it would at least keep me warm. :D

That's a nice big stick Nas. Quartering? Yeah, I know the intention with the chainsaw, but quartering the lumber?

I ain't seen a red oak that big let alone a white variety (all we have is bur in NB). Well yeah, in towns, but a but log and then the rest is firewood or limby material.

[nas]

Yes Don the 40" is the small end.  The end you see is more like 50".  Around here I can fetch a huge premium for wide QS planks, so that is the plan.  I have a 28" bar on my 066 with which I will do the Quartering.  SD this log came from a logger so I'm assuming there were more above that one.

Nick

[SwampDonkey]

Yeah, no doubt there were more logs in the tree. I was just trying to relate to the size we see locally and what the rest of a local tree is likely to look like. Wouldn't be an oak out in the woods in NB that size, and because oak is so restricted to the better growing areas, the big stuff was all cut a long time ago. Even the big maples are mostly in the protected water supplies of towns or on a crown lot that was hard to reach. Some fellas save a few to stand, but they cut the stand so hard that those old brutes die a slow death and the regrowth is so thick you can't even look up to search for one still standing, 12 years after the fact. :D

I remember being on a lot with an old timer looking for his big maples he left. It was so darn thick, couldn't see them until you practically was arms length away and they all leaned real hard, every one. Crowns were half dead and usually a seem up the tree or hollow.

[barbender]

LeftCoastChris, did you build your mill?

[Left Coast Chris]

Yes I did.  My dad (age 83) did the machine work for the head regarding the shaft keyways and wheel adjustment.   It is similar to an LT30 with some upgrades and modifications.   The head travel is a manual crank and the up and down is manual with heavy spring assists to lighten the weight.  I can saw 28" wide and the engine is a 24 HP Honda twin.   It has good power.   I saw Claro Walnut stumps mostly for hobby wood and other personal use logs so all manual is o.k..   See my gallery for pics.