Lumberjack type question

[Pat Salter]

Ok, I know, this is a turny forum but this question is concerning that too. I have a friend who has some trees he needs cut up and removed and he says I can have whatever I cut. NICE guy. It's mostly Avacodo but still good for practice etc. It makes the shop smell quacamole'y :D . He has about 35 trees.
Now to the lumberjack question, when you guys cut up this stuff how do you figure the length of your pieces? For instance, If the branch or trunk is 12" do you cut them 12 to 14" or what? Another question is concerning some dead trees that he has. Are they worth cutting up? Or would I have to just cut and find out?

[Cecil Arnold]

On a 12" trunk, or any other diameter, I would cut it as long as I could handle. That way you only have to worry about two ends to seal until you start to cut blanks. If I could, I would try for lenghts that are divisable by the diameter plus some. In other words, I would want a 14" lenght for a 12" diameter log, or 28" or 42", etc. As to the dead trees, cut and look. That's my humble opinion.

[Blake McCully]

Pat,
Just my $0.02. When I harvest a tree, and the bole is fairly wide, 18" or more, I cut the logs the length of my chain saw bar. Since I have a 20" bar, that's the longest I cut. This way slabbing is easier, you don't have to cut from both ends. At least when I do it, I can never seem to get the two lined up making for a real messy cut. I usually leave a couple feet of the bottom trunk in the ground, then when I remove it, I kinda slice it at about 6-8" thick. That way I get some nice end grain blanks. I only have a jet mini, so I try not to get blanks larger than 9".

Hope this helps.