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Todd Burch
07-20-2015, 11:20 AM
I picked up a couple shorter water oak logs (red oak family) over the weekend. I'm collecting logs, so when I get a mill, I'll be ready. ;)

These two logs are ~36" diameter (one 36 @ small end, one at the big end). They are 6.5' - 7' long. Log was too heavy to even move when a full 13.5' long. After they sat cut for a couple weeks, I could lift them with a skid steer.

If you are familiar with water oaks, you will recognize the tell tale signs of heart rot alive and well in this section. It's worse at the lowest area of the butt section, but still plenty of good wood.

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This piece shown in the picture was the top half of the trunk section.

Danny Hamsley
07-20-2015, 8:42 PM
That is a fine oak log, very little sapwood. Also, that is a nice red cedar log, too!

Todd Burch
07-20-2015, 11:46 PM
Yes, I have 5 cedar logs, the largest being about 20" dia.

And then there's the pecan. 36" @ both ends and 14' long. It's a moose. Storm collateral. When unloading it out of the 16' trailer, I had to use 2 hands. :rolleyes:

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I just missed getting these two white oaks. A day late to get things coordinated in order to get them.

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You can't get 'em all, I suppose.

Scott T Smith
07-21-2015, 5:52 AM
Nice score Todd! The growth rings look pretty tight too. That oak looks like a good candidate for quartersawing....

Danny Hamsley
07-21-2015, 7:48 AM
I will be cutting a big pecan log today. One of the more difficult species to saw. Pecan is a hickory.

Todd Burch
08-11-2015, 8:57 AM
No pictures this time, but scored another red oak (12', about 20" diameter), two 12' cypress logs about 20"-24" and about a 6' hunk of walnut and 22" dia. The walnut is pretty old, with no bark and a lot of the sap wood pretty punky. Not sure what condition the heartwood is in. Might be a candidate for slabbing though.

I have a lot of standing dead cedar elm (an elm tree with little tiny leaves, pretty drought and heat tolerant) in my woods that I'll be gathering later this fall when it cools off. We had a pretty severe drought in this area in 2011-12 and there is still fallout happening from it.

John TenEyck
08-11-2015, 9:36 AM
Nice score. Here is the largest red oak I've ever gotten, though I could have gotten many larger if my mill could handle them. The butt log was nearly 36" dia. at the base.

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We parbuckled it onto my mill:

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Oooh, there was a lot of great wood in that log:

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John

Todd Burch
08-11-2015, 9:56 AM
John, what brand of chain saw mill do you have? What's your powerhead? Capacity?

Cody Colston
08-11-2015, 10:41 AM
Pecan is a hickory.

I thought Pecan was a DevilWood. LOL

Todd, you are getting together a good stash of logs. I would QS that big Water Oak, too. In the Red Oak family, Water Oak is not high on my preferred list but QS, you should get some good lumber from it.

A friend of mine with a trophy deer farm just outside of Brenham gave me a bunch of Cedars off his place a few years ago when he was clearing part of it. They weren't huge but they were the tallest, straightest, most limb-free Cedars I've ever seen.

Where did you score the cypress?

Todd Burch
08-11-2015, 10:58 AM
There's a tree service in Brenham that would rather give me the logs than pay to get rid of them at the local city waste disposal. Works for me! He's got a skid steer and a big prentice log loader, and I just take my trailer to where he's working, or to his shop for logs where he has saved logs over the years, as they were too good to get rid of, but, at 72, he's probably not going to be doing too much with them at this point.

This last load came from his shop. Lucky for me, the new owner of the tree service wants it all cleaned up.

There are tons of cedars around here. Many of the bigs ones are still dying from the drought. A buddy of mine has 3 or more trailer loads of logs to take to a mill. Many are 20"+

Todd

John TenEyck
08-11-2015, 2:33 PM
Todd, I have a John TenEyck chainsaw mill! Built it myself. Building a chainsaw seemed a little daunting though, so I bought a Husqvarna 385XP (85 cc). I use a 42" Oregon bar and full comp. ripping chain on it. I've been millng with this saw for about 10 years now, some where over 4000 BF with it and it still runs strong.


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I have SketchUp plans for the basic frame of the mill if anyone is interested. The capacity between the frame is about 34".

John

Cody Colston
08-11-2015, 5:53 PM
I have SketchUp plans for the basic frame of the mill if anyone is interested. The capacity between the frame is about 34". John

I am interested. I have the original frame that came with my LM1 mill and it would be perfect to use with a CSM. I might have to tweak the width of your frame to match the rails but that's no big deal.

Gary Price
08-11-2015, 9:52 PM
That's a really huge pile of logs! I have a lot of wood myself, but already sawn. I prefer to buy my Lumber from a Sawyer because the quality is not guaranteed. I'm waiting for about 2000 bord ft of maple, 1000 bord ft of cherry and a few bord ft of walnut to dry. Most likely I live too far away, but I am always looking to buy more wood. I tend to buy faster than I use it! It seems to be my hoby.

Todd Burch
08-27-2015, 5:17 PM
Got my first pine tree the other day. 3 sections at 12.5' each. Sap was oozing ALL OVER my trailer. Never seen one ooze so much.

Also got an nice butt section of American Elm at the same length, about 20" in diameter, and a couple large branches. Not sure how they will work out - but might make good beams or shorter braces for a timber frame. ;)

Danny Hamsley
08-27-2015, 9:24 PM
Good luck with the SPIRAL GRAIN elm branch wood :).

Todd Burch
09-28-2015, 6:33 PM
Finally cut my first boards yesterday! I cut one of my cypress logs. Really pretty figure. I cut 2X material, but I have to admit a couple are a bit scant, as I wasn't paying as much attention to my gauge as I should have been. I think I lowered it a time or two to 1 3/8" instead of 1 5/8". You live, you learn. I cut about 99 bf before it go too dark. The cypress logs are several years old, so the wood was fairly dry. With all that said, it rained this morning and they got sopping wet.

Next chore - sharpen the teeth on my blade!!

Ian Moone
09-28-2015, 7:47 PM
I've always understood that logs deteriorate when stored & not cut... here with hardwoods we run sprinklers on them to slow drying rates so that checking is minimized until cut.

Once cut and strip stacked (stickered) the lumber increases in value as it dries from green sawn to air dried and finally kiln dried to finish off to EMC.

I did some rough 'back of envelope calculations' that a 25 tonne truckload of hardwood logs, when sawn - 'earned' about $100 a week in increased value as the green sawn & stickered lumber, air dried! & I think it probably LOST a similar amount if "stored / stockpiled" and not sawn (or kept under sprinkler).

Logs typically end check when not sawn

http://www.gracesforestryproducts.com/image/54711823_scaled_323x279.jpg

http://www.gracesforestryproducts.com/image/54713196_scaled_318x238.jpg

You see millers coat the end of their logs to slow end checking - but particularly in hardwood logs this same checking occurs along the length of the log under the bark.

Perhaps if you could store the logs under water but avoid water born insect and fungal attack maybe you could get away with stockpiling and storing logs.

My personal experience / suggestion would be to HIRE a portable mill and mill your logs.. strip out your lumber... and if necessary sell the dry lumber at far increased values & use the proceeds to PAY to buy a portable mill for future logs!.

OMMV. (Others Mileage May Vary).

Cody Colston
09-29-2015, 5:58 AM
Looking good, Todd. It's very satisfying to mill one's own lumber, isn't it?

Todd Burch
09-29-2015, 8:56 AM
Yep. It's a lot of work. Right now, I'm still cutting slow and getting the feel of the machine. With time will come more production. Can't wait to get the next cypress log under the blade to cut more. Will cut some 3x3's (or 4x4s) for some legs and some more apron material. I think I can get enough material for 3, maybe 4, long farmhouse tables. If I sold them for $500 each, that would be pretty good folding money.

Yes, I'm really enjoying it!! "Satisfying" might just be an understatement!

Todd Burch
09-29-2015, 8:59 AM
@Ian, thanks for your advice. Do you work at a commercial mill?

Ian Moone
09-29-2015, 10:33 AM
I had a commercial mill and kiln for 20 years.
I was also a forester and studied a little, the subject "timber technology" including seasoning and milling etc.

Danny Hamsley
09-29-2015, 9:05 PM
Now you got your feet wet, Todd!

Jim Andrew
10-25-2015, 10:46 AM
Todd, tell us about your mill. This thread went from logs to sawing!

Todd Burch
10-25-2015, 3:12 PM
Yeah, I guess I mentioned it over in my Timber Frame thread, but that too was a drive-by mention.

My mill is a swing blade. A Peterson 10" Winch Production Frame (WPF), 24HP Honda V-twin, and it came with a clip on slabber attachment and the Hi/Lo option for the tracks. My tracks are about 32'10" long, so I can cut a ~26' log. I've cut two cypress logs so far, and managed to break almost all 10 teeth off of one blade when I hit a spike. :( Note to self… use the metal detector you already have.

It's a good mill. I'm ordering a few parts for it to bring it up to snuff. It's a 2001 model and I'm the third owner. It has sat most of its life. The last owner only cut two logs on it and he had it for (I think) around 8 years. The first owner was from Louisiana and he bought it after a hurricane came through. I believe he cut all the pecan that had fallen on his property and then sold it to the guy I bought it from (in SW Kansas).

Todd

Todd Burch
11-23-2015, 9:52 PM
I counted the other day, and I have 37 logs stacked up. I have a whole pecan tree to go get, an Osage orange, a complete ash tree, and what I think is a nice white ash, close to 4' in diameter.

Hopefully, the ground will be dry enough to cut when I am off during the holidays.

Todd Burch
11-23-2015, 9:57 PM
Oh, and I bought a Stihl MS 461 a couple weeks ago. It came with a 25" bar/chain and I bought a 36" setup too. Niiiiiiiice! I know why people use chaps when using that saw... The chips being thrown out by that chain hurt when they hit you!

Cody Colston
11-24-2015, 12:10 PM
I know why people use chaps when using that saw... The chips being thrown out by that chain hurt when they hit you!

Yeah, the chaps are good for padding the chips that get thrown out. I wear mine in the summer when running the string trimmer cause I'm usually in shorts and a t-shirt. Short pants and string trimmers don't gee-haw very well. :eek:

Actually those chainsaw chaps are for fouling the chain so that it will stop if you accidentally contact it with your leg. They don't keep the chain from cutting into them but will pretty quickly jam it up...if they are good ones, like Labonville.

Todd Burch
11-24-2015, 12:23 PM
I bought the Stihl chaps. They any good?

Cody Colston
11-24-2015, 7:50 PM
I bought the Stihl chaps. They any good?

If they are 6-ply they are.

Jerry Olexa
11-30-2015, 11:14 PM
You lucky guys!!! Envy here.

Todd Burch
11-30-2015, 11:32 PM
If they are 6-ply they are.

Seems they are not 6 ply. They are 9 ply. ;)

Cody Colston
12-02-2015, 12:17 AM
That will work. LOL

Kim Gardner
12-23-2015, 9:44 AM
Todd,

How fast can you cut a board with your chainsaw mill, say a 24" wide oak log, ten feet long. I have a Stihl 064 with a 36" bar on a 24" Alaskan Mill. Last time I used it, took forever to cut a 10' long board. I'm wondering if it was just my chain, or does a chainsaw mill just take a long time to cut through large boards.

Kim

Todd Burch
12-24-2015, 10:47 PM
I have a swing blade mill, made by Peterson. I'll be using the slabber attachment (not a chainsaw mill) in the next couple weeks on some oak and a lot of big walnut. I'll report back.

Todd

paul cottingham
12-25-2015, 1:40 PM
There must be something wrong with me. I look at those logs and think "chair parts." Wedging hem apart would be a challenge, though!

Todd Burch
12-25-2015, 7:45 PM
Kim, what chain are you running? I will run an Oregon 27RX (extended skip) ripping chain in mine.

Todd

Jamie Buxton
12-25-2015, 8:49 PM
There must be something wrong with me. I look at those logs and think "chair parts." Wedging hem apart would be a challenge, though!

I know, I know. I hike in old-growth redwood forests, where each giant tree contains thousands of board feet, and guiltily think "furniture".

Todd Burch
12-30-2015, 5:03 PM
This walnut log isn't mine, but I loaded it (with help) and will be milling it for a guy. Almost killed my trailer loading it.


https://youtu.be/Qg9xgR1a3gg

Ian Moone
12-31-2015, 1:04 AM
Kudos to you - it worked & no one died!. You can't ask for much more than that!

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a70/troutylow/TiltLogTrailer_zps6975d02c.jpg

This is another method if you convert your trailer to a hydraulic tipping version and use a electric 4wd recovery winch!

Might be worth all the trouble, if you have more logs to recover and transport. It eliminates the need for a tractor to roll the log - the trailer and tow vehicle is all you need!.

Saw this with an old farmer and his 12 tonne tip truck... his gantry arrangement was old railway line!

Todd Burch
12-31-2015, 9:42 AM
Ian, thanks. Your drawing looks like a good solution for a one-log effort, unless two could be chained together and retrieved at once.

Todd

Todd Burch
01-20-2016, 7:20 AM
Picked up a red cedar log last weekend. I was hopping to get a 6X6 x 16' post out of it, but there's some dry rot at the base, so we'll see. It's been dead for some time. Storm blow over. 18' long, 26" at base, 15" at top. An estimated 2132 lbs. Pretty much maxed out the log arch. Drove it about 1.5 miles home at about 20 mph. The tail end bumped the road a few times.

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Picked up a storm blow over Post Oak last night. 25" at the base, 18" at the top, 19' long. An estimated 3228 lbs. I've advertised in the local bulletin board that I'm looking for post oak logs. This log came from that. I have 8-9 more to go get at another location. All standing dead. Pictures later.

Todd Burch
01-20-2016, 9:58 AM
Here's the post oak I got. I dug around the bottom of the base and cut it about 1' from the root ball. At the top, I cut the two limbs off at the Y. 19' long. Just moved it with the skid steer and could only pick it up barely enough to lift it over the sides of the trailer. Water was still oozing out when I was cutting it.

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Cody Colston
01-20-2016, 1:39 PM
The bottom 7-8 feet of that Post Oak looks like some fine lumber waiting to be sawed.

Todd Burch
01-20-2016, 3:03 PM
My objective is to get a 6X6 post out of it, and whatever is left, is lumber.

Cody Colston
01-20-2016, 8:53 PM
I sawed 6 x 6 corner posts out of Post Oak for my veggie garden fence with 4 x 4 braces. I'm hoping to get 10+ years out of them. I coated the ends in the ground with roofing asphalt. I don't know if it will help but it can't hurt.

Todd Burch
01-20-2016, 10:18 PM
Me thinks you'll get a whole bunch more years than 6.

Todd Burch
01-22-2016, 4:20 PM
My load of post oaks is being put together. This will be my first time to buy logs from a logger. Logger said that there should be anywhere from 26-30 tons in a load. There's a good chance the wife is going to mess her pants when she sees these delivered… Say a little prayer for me please.

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Todd Burch
01-27-2016, 5:26 AM
I sawed 6 x 6 corner posts out of Post Oak for my veggie garden fence with 4 x 4 braces. I'm hoping to get 10+ years out of them. I coated the ends in the ground with roofing asphalt. I don't know if it will help but it can't hurt.


Me thinks you'll get a whole bunch more years than 6.

I meant to say 10.

Cody, I've read of different solutions for extending life of a white oak post. What you did, plus tar on the sides, and also soaking in used motor oil and soaking in diesel.

A lot of what I have read is also hearsay, so it makes it difficult to get the actual facts on expected life span in the ground.

One thing that I had read, that sounds like it might have merit, would be to char, to the point of it really being burnt on the surface, the portion of the post that goes in the ground.

The no-no's I have read are setting any post in a concrete casing, don't leave any sap wood, and don't use red oak.

For my situation, my biggest fear is termites. But, they have these things now called Pest Control companies, so I reckon I could call one out to treat my holes before setting the posts.

Cody Colston
01-27-2016, 12:37 PM
Charring the wood (Shou Sugi Ban) seems to be the rage on ww forums these days. I think people just like to say or write the words cause it sounds cooler than charring.

I'm hoping that roofing tar will keep the termites away, for a while at least. I boxed the heart of the Post Oaks and removed the sap wood so it has a chance of lasting a while. Ten more years and I'll be too old to work a garden or dead so my kids can replace them if they want. ;)

FYI - The nearly new 13 hp Honda engine on my sawmill cratered in November. A bolt backed out of the block, contacted the flywheel and trashed everything in there, including the block. It was repaired under warranty but I just now got it back due to a back-ordered part. I put it back on the mill yesterday and am sawing ERC today! :cool:

Chris Padilla
01-27-2016, 5:50 PM
Pile foundations may not apply to you, Todd, but they must treat those timber pile logs with something so they'll last. Those suckers can be pile driven 50-100' into the ground. I watched a show where they used pile driven logs as a foundation to a building in the soft mud of Louisiana. Drove 'em all in and then cut them level and off to the races building.

Todd Burch
01-30-2016, 8:05 AM
Charring the wood (Shou Sugi Ban) …

FYI - The nearly new 13 hp Honda engine on my sawmill cratered in November. A bolt backed out of the block, contacted the flywheel and trashed everything in there, including the block. It was repaired under warranty but I just now got it back due to a back-ordered part. I put it back on the mill yesterday and am sawing ERC today! :cool:

Thanks. I had not seen that term.

Good deal you can still get warranty on your mill. Was it from Logmaster or from Honda?



Pile foundations may not apply to you, Todd, but they must treat those timber pile logs with something so they'll last. Those suckers can be pile driven 50-100' into the ground. I watched a show where they used pile driven logs as a foundation to a building in the soft mud of Louisiana. Drove 'em all in and then cut them level and off to the races building.

I won't use piles. My plan is dig a ~4' 4" to 4' 6" holes, 18-24" diameter, pour a round pad about 4" thick and the diameter of the hole, and set the poles on the pads. This will greatly reduce chances of the poles sinking. And then, as I backfill, tamp the dirt tight as I go.

Cody Colston
01-31-2016, 1:23 PM
Good deal you can still get warranty on your mill. Was it from Logmaster or from Honda?






My mill came with a 13 hp Chinese-made, Honda clone engine..Jiang-Dong. I eventually replaced it with a Honda electric start from Northern Tool. It was only about 9 months old when it self-destructed and hadn't been used that much, either. Honda honored the warranty.

Chris, when I worked onshore drilling wells, it was pretty standard practice in South Louisiana to drive pilings for a base over which a board location would be built. In Louisiana, south of I-10, the ground is mostly crawfish poop...not very stable at all. :D

Todd Burch
02-08-2016, 9:12 AM
I received my post oak logs a bit over a week ago. Two days later, I was off to get a fallen Ash tree.

I brought the tractor with me to get this log. It had fallen up the bank from a dry creek bed and need to be pulled out.

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It was a decent sized tree. A friend went with me who wanted the top of the tree for firewood.

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Down by the root ball, I could see there was a ton of embedded fence wire. Alas, I left the bottom 6 feet of trunk - what would have normally been pretty prime wood.

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After cutting above the top fence wire, I could see some pretty wood. In this picture, the log did not lower after the cut - the root ball started trying to stand back up! I figured that would happen and positioned myself to be out of the way.

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We propped the tree up with a couple branches, prior to taking the above cut and photo. You can see the higher root-ball end at the other end of this 18' section of log. I didn't want to barber-chair the log and have it break while I was cutting. It was laying on the ground where I cut it and I didn't feel like digging a hole underneath it for my initial cut. It worked like a charm! Just as we planned. The log ended up being about 21" at the base and 15" at the top.

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Before we left of the day, the home owner asked if I would fell his leaning pecan. so I did. Didn't take any pictures of it down though. If anyone wants any pecan firewood - it's free for the taking.

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Todd Burch
07-20-2016, 5:47 PM
Todd,

How fast can you cut a board with your chainsaw mill, say a 24" wide oak log, ten feet long. I have a Stihl 064 with a 36" bar on a 24" Alaskan Mill. Last time I used it, took forever to cut a 10' long board. I'm wondering if it was just my chain, or does a chainsaw mill just take a long time to cut through large boards.

Kim

Kim (if you are still following this thread…)

I've used my slabber multiple times now. To cut a 24" wide oak slab 10' long would take about 10 minutes, give or take depending on if I just sharpened the chain.

Todd Burch
07-21-2016, 10:20 AM
Got my first osage orange logs last night. I'll probably slab the trunk for tops and legs, and then make posts out of the two primary limbs. I think I can get a 36" x 66" table top by gluing two slabs together. The two primary limbs are about 8' long and the trunk about 6'. I've never seen slabbed osage before, but I plan on approaching it like walnut as far as orienting the cut to see the crotch figure.

Bodark has some sticky gooey sap! This was a storm fall.

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Todd Burch
07-26-2016, 2:36 PM
I went to go fell and pick up 3 post oaks from a land owner near me, and he told me that 4 more post oaks had died and I could take them too. Well, it was really 7 more, plus a couple cedars that had flowed into his property from the rains back in April/May. I ended up dropping 8 trees and delimbing one of the cedars. The 9 trees will make either 15 or 16 saw logs (and I'm counting the 26' 9" cedar as one saw log!).

I took my nephew with me to help and paid him for his labor. He's 18 and I wore him out. I've hauled 8 logs back to the house so far. Will go get more later this week. I still have two more trees to drop too.

My nephew Brian "holding up" the left of 3 standing dead post oaks in a cluster. It was the first one to fall.
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The second tree down, with Brian sitting pretty. I hit metal (old fence wire) while cutting it down. Had to go to a new chain after that.
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We took two trailers to fetch 8 logs. That's one long cedar tree with the red flag on it! 12" at the bottom and 10" across about 21' up. I couldn't get a grip the top middle log in my skinny, 5' wide trailer - it was somewhat wedged between the other two. I wrapped a chain around it and the grapple and lifted it out. Picture was taken from the seat of the skid steer. I love having access to heavy equipment for moving logs! Later in the day, I got all the ends sealed up.
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Here's a video of the twisted post oak falling. This is the middle tree from the first picture above. Watch how the upper limbs disintegrate when it lands. It had a hollow in the middle of that big bulge, and I realized later that while I was cutting it down, I was getting stung by red wasps on my left elbow who had a nest in the hollow.


https://youtu.be/wFrJZf46X6I

Todd Burch
07-26-2016, 2:37 PM
Here's a better picture of the twisted, bulgy post oak. I got 3 saw logs out of it, but I'm not sure what kind of yield I will get from the bottom piece with the bulge. Might be junk, might be awesome.

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Todd Burch
08-02-2016, 10:15 AM
More logs hauled in. I've a couple more trips to make to this post oak mecca before I'm done.

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At another location I travelled to get 3 post oaks. I forgot my parbuckling ramps and cable… so I just dropped & prepared one log for loading later. Hit some metal. Aaaaaargghh.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxUMyc_nMz0

Todd Burch
08-05-2016, 11:17 AM
Got me a new log hauler on Wednesday. Took yesterday off from work to give it a test drive. Hauled the skid steer about 20 minutes to where the logs were. Total time from entering the pasture to leaving with 6 logs loaded was 1 hour, which included positioning trailer, unloading skid steer, rounding up 6 logs from all over the pasture, loading/stacking, tying them down and heading out the gate. Parbuckling would have taken 3 hours+ and required 2 people. But, it did require a second round-trip to fetch the skid steer. Still much faster. 3 big logs and 3 smaller logs. The long log is 18'. All post oaks. I needed a couple more chains - will be getting them this weekend.

Getting the logs off the trailer, however, without the skid steer, required some careful planning. And a tractor. I hadn't planned on the second log to come off at the same time as the first, (so much for careful planning), but I got lucky and a branch nub on the closest log to me (hidden from view) carried the second log around and over. I was pleased. I got the small logs off via a cant hook. They rolled off the other side. I don't like rolling them off like this though. I'll configure some ramps they can roll down.

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https://youtu.be/VqRe0sVnKc4

Cody Colston
08-06-2016, 11:52 AM
Congrats on the new log hauler. That should keep the GVW police at bay. :D

Todd Burch
01-05-2017, 5:30 PM
Well I'm still collecting (and cutting) logs.


3 post oaks waiting for me to go pick up. The one I am measuring is 18' long.

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4 post oaks from storm damage.

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More free pecan from storm damage back in the spring. I got 96 boards out of 3 logs. 5/4 x 6" x 8.5 to 10.5' long. (See next post)

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Picked up 10 logs and 5 nice crotch sections (pecan) for my neighbor last week. That elm sticking out the back of the trailer is about 32' long.

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The biggest pecan in that batch of 10 logs.

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This pecan with root ball being carried by the skid steer will most likely end up being a post for my upcoming timber frame project. Will probably use it upside down. 17" at the small end.

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Todd Burch
01-05-2017, 5:34 PM
Here's the stack of lumber I got out of the 3 pecan logs.

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This is a 10"x10"x12.5' oak beam. Not sure what I'll do with it yet. Cut it as a exercise in getting the max out of a log. About 450 lbs.

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These is a bodark tree section I'll be getting. This tree fell down 40 years ago. There is another section, even larger, that I'll be getting as well. Sparks might fly when I'm cutting these.

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Danny Hamsley
01-08-2017, 8:43 AM
Did you spray the pecan to prevent powderpost beetle infestation? If I don't, the risk is high that I will get them as they love pecan.

Todd Burch
01-08-2017, 9:38 AM
I have not yet. I'll be cutting more soon and I need to restack this stack when I do. I'll treat both stacks then.

Danny Hamsley
01-10-2017, 8:21 AM
That would be the safe thing to do in Texas. PPB's are no fun in the finished product. I built a kitchen island top for a lady out of quartersawn white oak that had been air dried but not heat treated to kill any PPB larvae and eggs. Two years later, I get a call from the lady about little holes in the countertop and little piles of sawdust. I went and removed the top and put it in the kiln at 150 degrees for 24 hours to sterilize it. It warped very slightly but enough that I was not satisfied with it, so I had to cut it apart and basically re-make it. Not something that I will ever have to do again, I hope. I spray all ring porous hardwood boards, like pecan, with disodium octaborate tetrahydrate to prevent any infestation, then heat the kiln at the end of the drying cycle to 150 degrees and hold it there for 24 hours. Kinda like belt and suspenders.