My timber frame build

[Ljohnsaw]

Late update 7/7-7/9/2020:

I had 5 logs left to mill.  Three nice, but short, firs and what I thought were two Aspen.  I wanted to see how they behave, both cutting and drying.  On Tuesday, from the firs I was able to get nine 2x10x10' out of each.



Wednesday, the Aspen were just some really young firs that had some smooth bark.  As soon as I put them on the mill, I saw the branch whorls and knew I made a mistake.  The larger of the two made three 2x7's.  The smaller I just cut into firewood lengths.  In the afternoon, I did some cleaning up and made a 5' wide x 7' long permanent ramp to get in and out of my truck body storage box.

Thursday I spent the morning hauling 4 pallet loads of slab cuts (2 at a time) down to the campground for their community fire pit.  They started out as 40" wide x 48" deep but got wider as I piled them up to 6' high.  I had cut them into 24-30" lengths.  They got free "split" firewood and I got rid of 2+ cords of burn pile material.

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 7/21-23/2020:

Last week, I met up with another FF member, Billy (can't remember his handle here) and picked up 6 trailer loads of cedar logs.  Well, it was loads that consisted of 2 big (20-24"x12') or 3 smaller logs.  My trailer is a single 3,500# axle converted boat trailer.  So, slightly overloaded and had to climb nearly 2,000' of elevation in 15 miles.  Quite the workout for my truck.  The first 3 loads, Billy used his skid-steer so it was a quick 3 hour morning for 3 loads.  The next three were manual parbucking.  Didn't saw anything up.

This week I sawed up 6 cedar logs.  One was troublesome and wanted to make waves.  I found it interesting that on adjoining faces, the blade would dive in the same spots.  Anyhow, made this pile of lumber.  Thirteen 4x10x12' somewhere around 54 1x8x10', 17 or so 1x10x12' and a few 1x8x12':

[Sedgehammer]

Bit by bit. Log by log. Post by post. Board by board. Darn that's a lotta work!!  ;D
Looking good though. 

[Magicman]

I was beginning to wonder where you were.  You've been kinda quiet.  ???

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 7/28-30/2020:

Back to slicing up cedar.  My sister joined me on Tuesday to help out.   First thing to tackle was the huge pile of sawdust.  I have a DR PowerWagon that I fitted with a much bigger dump bed.  It is narrow enough to get behind the mill and we shoveled a lot of sawdust - quite a bit was wet.  After 9 trips of about 3/4-1 yard each:


 
I'll have to get a better picture.  The black loader bucket on the right was buried and the sawdust was higher than the rails so bark kept landing on it and stopping the head movement.  Now it is about a foot below but there is still another 6" or so left but makes a smooth pathway.

Milled up another butt log:


 
Looks like it was either fire damaged or lightening strike.  I was able to flat saw a 4x10 from each side and some 1x10s from the bottom area.  It left me with a 12' wedge that went from about 10" down to 2".

Another big log:


 
It yielded four 4x10s and several 1x10s and 1x8s.  I got 3 of the 4x10s from the middle and one from one side with the 1x from the other side.  I kiss the blade to the end to mark where my pattern is to change.  I removed two 1x10s with one more to go.  Then I'll take two 4x10s, adjust the clamps and get one more.  Just noticed you can see the loader bucket that was previously buried in sawdust.

This week's tally was 7 - 4x10x12' and 33 - 1x10s and 1x8s at 10' and 12'.  Really only a day and a half of actual cutting.

So now the bad news.  Started on Tuesday that one tire on the powerwagon developed a slow leak.  Tried to get it off (keyed shaft with a cir-clip) but I think its been on since the factory assembled it back in the 90's.  Gave it a shot of diesel as I didn't have my BlueCreeper up there.  At least I have a generator and compressor so aired it up for each trip.  Picked up a bottle of Slime today.

Tuesday afternoon I had some issues with the blade diving.  I also noticed the blade was fluttering quite a bit like not enough tension.  When I tighten my blade, a sliding tube protrudes about 1/4" and all is normally good.  That was in the right position so I kept cutting.  Then I was getting a weird vibration off the idle side wheel.  When I was moving boards, I looked at the wheel and thought it looked different - not much crown to the tire.  It was flat :(  I tried to air it up but it was leaking from everywhere.  I pulled it off the mill, laid it down and poured water on it as I aired it up.  It was bubbling around the entire bead. :( :( I got it to seat after pouring water on both sides and then discovered the problem.  The valve stem was cracked :( :( :(

So I had dinner and drove back down the hill to home.  Walmart had closed 5 minutes before I got there.  Who closes a store at 8:30?  Really, not 8 or 9, but 8:30.  I had a spare metal valve stem at home so I installed it and went back up the hill Wednesday morning.  I cut all day with no issues other than a little diving in some stressed wood.  

I noticed there were a few oil spots where the SkyTrac had been sitting.  One of the main boom lift rams weeps a little (I rebuilt the other one last year).  Wednesday evening, I went to move a stack of 4x10s off the mill when I turned the wheel hard left and a fine mist of hydraulic fluid shot out the front. :( :  A short connecting line between the dual steering rams split.

Today (Thursday) was a short day of stacking Wednesday's cuts, cleaning up slabwood and removing the hydraulic line.  $55 later, I have a new hose to put back on when I go up next week to finish all the short logs I have left.

[firefighter ontheside]

Sounds like the good outweighed the bad, so Id call that a successful couple of days.

[Ljohnsaw]

I finally remembered to bring home my tally sheets from last week and this week.  I plugged in the numbers in my spreadsheet's "cedar area".  I did a rough estimate of cedar boards needed to do the outside of the frame (no subtraction for windows, etc) as well as the wall partitions.  As of today, I have 90% of exterior walls or 72% of the overall project.  Need another 900 bd-ft of 1x material.  I am currently over on my deck boards (4x10s & 4x8s) by 4 boards.  That should be enough to allow for splits and warps - though the cedar does not seem to misbehave.

If the fir I milled up into 2x8s and 2x10s has only a little degrade, I am sitting at 110% of what I need for the roof planking.

Working on some log leads for some ponderosa pine.  I need to find and mill up another 32 rafters along with the 5 big cross beams for the bents and the 5 main beams running the length of the cabin.  My spread sheet show those to be about 30% of the total bd-ft for the cabin - 30k bd-ft.

[Iwawoodwork]

really enjoy your posts and watching your progress, miss it when you don't post

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 8/5/2020:

A while back, I posted I was looking for logs.  I called forester, loggers, truckers.  Pretty much no one would call back.  On a whim, I asked my old real estate agent if he had any contacts.  Next day he sent me the name and number of a previous client that is a RPF.  Called him, he said he would track down some names of loggers with self loaders.  Next day I have three names.  One I had called before so I called the other two.  First one calls back and has some logs.  I told him I needed 22" SED minimum but could handle bigger.  Loading up, he calls and asks if I could handle 34".  I said sure.  So here is the first load today.


  When I saw the middle log, I was worried!  Fortunately it turned out to be two 16½' logs.  Whew!

 I tried to use the toolbox to scale these but it only goes up to 20' length (33' logs).  So I used two 16' as a proxy for a 33' and estimated the mid-point diameter.  I'm thinking this is an under estimate - 5,048 international.  So it calcs out at 30¢/bdft.

After unloading the logs, I milled up 4 of the remaining cedar logs.  Three more to go then I will go after the ponderosa.

My EZTankless propane water heater was not working anymore so I came up with a backup plan.  I had a collection of scrap ½" copper pipe and a handful of fittings.  So I soldered up a solar collector attached to a piece of galvi sheet metal.


 I ran RV hose down the other side of the roof to the fittings where the water heater was located.  On my way out today, I ran the hot water to wash up.  It was actually uncomfortably hot!  I think it will work just fine for military showers.

[btulloh]

Looks like you made a good connection.  Nice logs.  Maybe your log problem is finally solved.

[Old Greenhorn]

If you list your log sizes, I can run them through my calculator for the numbers, Let me know what scale system you are using.

[Ljohnsaw]

If you list your log sizes, I can run them through my calculator for the numbers, Let me know what scale system you are using.

Four at 33' long - 24/33, 24/28, 24/28 & 23/26; Two at 16.5' long - 29/34 & 30/33.  I have a band mill so I was using International.

Looks like you made a good connection.  Nice logs.  Maybe your log problem is finally solved.

I think so!

[Old Greenhorn]

Species?
Here is my output for those logs using the int. 1/4" scale. I didn't know the species so I picked EWP. The diameters listed are the SED's and I cannot enter and SED and an LED (the scaling standards don't allow for that way, taper is assumed) so in the chart below "Diam" is the SED and 'D2" is the estimated LED according to the scaling standard, I can't change that. If you want me to change anything else and re-run it, just let me know. Looks like your estimate was pretty close. Also, check my numbers for typos. ;D

*** SawlogCalc Tally ***
# 21    41300 lbs     5110 Bd Ft    Int'l 1/4   $1533.00   Tally #21     08/06/2020

          SN   lbs    Bd Ft   Diam    Length   D2         p/bf Price   Species                 Note
         126  7200     960    24"     33'0"   ~38 7/8"    .30  288.00  Pine, Eastern White
         127  11800    960    24"     33'0"   ~38 7/8"    .30  288.00  Oak(R), Northern Red
         128  7200     960    24"     33'0"   ~38 7/8"    .30  288.00  Pine, Eastern White
         129  6700     885    23"     33'0"   ~37 1/4"    .30  265.50  Pine, Eastern White
         130  4100     650    29"     16.5'   ~38"        .30  195.00  Pine, Eastern White
         131  4300     695    30"     16.5'   ~39 1/4"    .30  208.50  Pine, Eastern White

[Ljohnsaw]

Interesting.  The EWP has a bit of taper to them.  These are Ponderosa (you have one oak in there - default species?).  So I'm guessing that the calculator does not take into account what you might be able to get from the sides at the big end.  I would think with that amount of taper, you could get a little more.

[Old Greenhorn]

the red oak was just a typo. The taper is not set by the calculator, it is in the scaling standard, whether you work off a chart or use the calculator, the results should be the same. Yes, you might get more out of a log with less taper, but with scaling it is based on the average. The taper on each log is never figured in. I re-did your numbers to correct the species, the only thing changed, as you can see is the weight.
*** SawlogCalc Tally ***
# 21    33100 lbs     5110 Bd Ft    Int'l 1/4   $1533.00   ltjohnsawTalley     08/06/2020

          SN   lbs    Bd Ft   Diam    Length   D2         p/bf Price   Species                 Note
         126  6500     960    24"     33'0"   ~38 7/8"    .30  288.00  Pine, Ponderosa
         127  6500     960    24"     33'0"   ~38 7/8"    .30  288.00  Pine, Ponderosa
         128  6500     960    24"     33'0"   ~38 7/8"    .30  288.00  Pine, Ponderosa
         129  6000     885    23"     33'0"   ~37 1/4"    .30  265.50  Pine, Ponderosa
         130  3700     650    29"     16.5'   ~38"        .30  195.00  Pine, Ponderosa
         131  3900     695    30"     16.5'   ~39 1/4"    .30  208.50  Pine, Ponderosa

[Ljohnsaw]

Interesting - the ponderosa is about 10% lighter than the EWP, and a whole lot lighter than the oak!  Thanks for running the numbers.

[fishfighter]

Know one thing, them logs are big ones. :D Keep up the work.

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 8/25/2020:

Went up for the day with big plans but got about half of it done.  I milled up a huge stack of 2x10s out of white fir back the end of June beginning of July.  I just received my Mini-Lingo DX moisture meter and checked them for dryness.  So I got reading from 7.4 up to 11 (where it got wet from a passing thunder shower).  Most were in the 8.6-8.9 range and correcting for the air temperature, down to 7.8-8.2 or so.  I'm assuming that is dry enough to flat stack, so I did.  I took the boards on the right and way back under the tin.  I was hoping to get to the cedar on the left (MUCH higher than this old picture) as well but ran out of time.


 
So the above fir was moved with my handy lumber cart:


 
and ended up with this stack of 102 2x10s between 8' and 16' long (mostly 14s & 16s) and 8 2x8s at 16'.  A total of 2,134bd-ft after trimming some bad ends.  Forgot to take a picture before the temporary tin cover.  I have to go back and strap it and move it over to the big stack.


 
This is most of the bad stuff.  The fir behaved remarkably well.  Every single bad board were the ones with the pith centered.  They all twisted and a few checked pretty much through and through.  I only had two boards with pith centered that were "ok", not great.  The remaining board stayed very flat and no crook.

[Don P]

Quite a pile of wood you're accumulating.
I'm always scrounging for temporary bracing and hate to use my good stuff, I imagine those low grades have one more life to live.

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 9/1/2020:

I spent all day yesterday and part of this morning cleaning and organizing my wood stash.  I had an assortment of loose 2x8s & 2x10s laying at the base of my drystack pile.  I sorted them out and banded up everything as well as ratchet strapped so I could move them around.  Between these two stacks I should have enough (after sending out to T&G) to plank my roof.


 
I call this stack my porch package ;)  There are 44 4x10s (mostly) deck boards and quite a few 6x6 posts all cedar that will complete the deck.


 
The stack behind is 1x cedar and almost enough to complete the exterior walls.


 
I had one 8' cedar left and was able to get 22 1x10s from it.


 
The two piles are covered up to protect them from thunder showers.

Here is about the limit (in diameter) my mill can do.  The butt end is a bit square.  It measured 34" across the flats and 38" on the diagonal.  The small end was 31" and round.  I did the opening cuts on the top and bottom but ran out of time to finish it up. 


 

 
I ended up trimming about 18" off this end since I didn't need the full length and I was curious how far that ring/shake went in.  Not very far - all solid after the cut.

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 9/3/2020:

I went up the hill with high hopes.  When I left on Tuesday, this is how far I got on the log:


 Back on Tuesday afternoon, I put on a factory new blade.  For a while, I thought they sent me the wrong size.  I must have taken a good 15 or 20 minutes to get it mounted on my saw.  It was like it was too short.  Very frustrating.  Anyhow, it cut pretty well.  I sliced up that cedar with very little wave despite some nasty hard knots.  Then I put the above log on and sliced top and bottom (now the sides).  I did get a little diving (1/8"), so at the end of the day took it off thinking it was dull.  I was slabbing off about 20 to 28", dumping lots of water on the blade to keep it cool.  This Ponderosa is pretty hard.  I just remembered that my belt tensioner had flipped loose so that was probably the culprit.

So, Thursday morning I marked up the log to show what I was planning to get.  A 8x12 from the middle with two 8x10s and four 6x6s.  I was dreading putting the next sharp band on but to my surprise, it went on in 30 seconds!  A good sign, so I thought. :-\

As I was razing the head and lining up the band for the first (top) cut, it stopped about 1/4" from the line.  Hmmm, press the button again.  It groans and move 1/8".  Hmmm, press the button again and POP!  Not a good sound.  I lower the head a little and it falls about 1/2" like the chain skipped a tooth.  Try to raise and it goes up and drops 1/2" repeatedly.  After looking around, it seems I hit the top end limit (hard frame) and sheared off a tooth in my right angle gearbox.  So I have one on order.  Hopefully it comes in next week and I can get back to work!

In the meantime, I jacked up each end of the log in turn and busted off about 1.5" of bark and set it back down.  So when the new gearbox is installed, I'm ready to cut.

[Weekend_Sawyer]

My brother Chris and I have old tractors, dozers and loaders.
We use the term seat time vs wrench time.
The older the machine the more the latter.

Jon

[firefighter ontheside]

I guess now you know how big of a log you can saw.  My saw has been sitting idle for almost 2 weeks because I broke my tractor loader cylinders trying to move a log that was too big for me to lift.  Gonna be next week before I get the repaired cylinders back.  

[Ljohnsaw]

Update 9/20/20:

Got my new/replacement gear box and finally a nearly smokeless day so I headed up to install as well as receive a load of cedar.

I finished up the log I started above with a new blade (you can guess what happened...).  I had to take off a 6" extra cut for the first cut since I could not get high enough.  Ignore the wavy cut on the right - that was a previous problem noted above.  The new cut is absolutely flat with no waves in a 24" wide cut!


   From here, I flipped the log over to make the opening cut - another perfect cut about 16" wide.  I also pushed the saw faster to bog the engine down a bit to see how well it tracked and no ill effects.  So, my guides are working as they should and diving is either dull blades or belt tension.

Next cut 6" down (third cut with this new band) and that sickening sound of cutting metal - left the stop up too high :  But, I continued that cut (after lowering the stops) and the parting of three 8x12 from the center cant and freeing the four 6x6 railing posts.  Just a slight wave/dives that shows the effect of a dulled blade.

Over on another thread about how do you store your cant/peavy, I thought this up:


 
I have a few "junk" umbrella holders laying around and thought "simple, portable and quick!"  That cheap looking peavy is a Timber Tough ($67 on Amazon) I picked up on BidRL for $5 so I won't feel back if it breaks or doesn't work well.  But it is nice and short for the mill.

My RE agent got me in touch with another logger.  I got a load of "old growth" cedar that should give me what I need to complete the porch.  He snuck this in the load.  Something like 36" and weighs a LOT.  It took my SkyTrac for a little ride when I pulled it off the logging truck.


 
It is 16½' long.  I could probably get 5 of my 5x18 beams out of it but it would also be neat to get a big slab for my dining table and/or counter top/island.  I need to go back and check my max width (and height) again.  It makes the other good-sized logs look like toothpicks. ;)

I put the 6x6's on stickers - almost couldn't lift one end on these - very green wood.  The 8x12s will need to go another day - I was pooped.

I'll return later in the week to start sawing!

[fishfighter]

Good to see you getting things done. Hope none of those fires are close to you.

That big one would make me run. ;D