PDA

View Full Version : Trunk Handling Questions



Matthew Springer
04-24-2018, 12:25 PM
My neighbor lost a largeish russian olive tree in a recent windstorm. The good news is free 14" reasonably straight tree trunk, the bad news is free ttree trunk about 200 yards away from my driveway up a slight hill across mostly grass.


Any suggestions about how to handle a log that big? I suspect it's north of several hundred pounds. It's straight enough to roll a bit, but not so round I could walk roll it. The trunk is about 5' long with about 15" diameter of which 2" is probably bark. Fell over last week, so wet, but since it's spring, not waterlogged. I just need to get it in my driveway so I can split it. The ultimate destination is spoon blanks and rustic stool/chair parts. Basically I want to practice on a trunk.

My current thinking is make a plywood sled with a cradle/notch 2x4 to center the trunk. Then Peavey/cant hook and roll it onto the sled. Then drag sled across grass with lawn mower tractor. If I can get this one moved, he has a 20" blue spruce that also fell over.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a cant hook?

Bruce Volden
04-24-2018, 2:57 PM
Do you have any neighbors with a 4 wheeler? Chain it and drag it, patch up the divots across the grass.

Bruce

Mark Bolton
04-24-2018, 3:32 PM
If your going to split it and make smaller parts couldnt you just cut it up in place and split it into smaller manageable pieces that you could pack home by hand? When You say split it I assume you mean splitting it along the grain neander-style? Your list of potential projects doesnt seem to require anything too long. Maybe breaking it into lengths you'd like and a sledge and a couple cheap wedges and just bust it where it fell and carry the parts home on your shoulder or in a wheelbarrow? We use to split out miles of locust posts with two steel wedges and a sledge/maul. It wasnt anything to split 8 or 10 posts out of a single tree.

Karl Loeblein
04-24-2018, 5:35 PM
What kind of a saw do you own? If you have at a 70cc or bigger chainsaw then consider getting a portable Alaskan Chainsaw mill. Here's a wide Box Elder slab that I cut recently using my Stihl 460 (76CC) with a 32" Alaskan Mill attached to a 36 inch bar.

384629

Using a chainsaw mill is hard work, but they're handy when it's too expensive or too difficult to transport log(s) to a mill (or vice versa).

John K Jordan
04-24-2018, 8:16 PM
My neighbor lost a largeish russian olive tree in a recent windstorm. The good news is free 14" reasonably straight tree trunk, the bad news is free ttree trunk about 200 yards away from my driveway up a slight hill across mostly grass.


Any suggestions about how to handle a log that big? I suspect it's north of several hundred pounds. It's straight enough to roll a bit, but not so round I could walk roll it. The trunk is about 5' long with about 15" diameter of which 2" is probably bark. Fell over last week, so wet, but since it's spring, not waterlogged. I just need to get it in my driveway so I can split it. The ultimate destination is spoon blanks and rustic stool/chair parts. Basically I want to practice on a trunk.

My current thinking is make a plywood sled with a cradle/notch 2x4 to center the trunk. Then Peavey/cant hook and roll it onto the sled. Then drag sled across grass with lawn mower tractor. If I can get this one moved, he has a 20" blue spruce that also fell over.

Does anyone have a good recommendation for a cant hook?

A 15" russian olive 5' long is likely about 350 lbs. A log that small should be easy to roll up a slight grade with a cant hook, all the way to your house. (keep a chock handy) If you know someone with a sawmill they might loan it to you.

You can roll a log with a rope or chain - pry one end off the ground, tie a rope (or hook a chain) in the middle, wrap the rope around a bunch of times so the end comes over the top in the direction you want to go, then pull the rope with a 4-wheeler or something to roll the log. If you have a long enough rope and a clear path you could even pull with a car and never get it on the grass. I've rolled large very heavy logs up ramps to load on a trailer using that method with a chain, pulling with either a vehicle or a come-along.

But as someone mentioned, if you are going to split it into short pieces why not cut short pieces first then roll them by hand.

I'd be sure to seal any end grain right away.

I'm imagining the friction would be very high with a plywood sled against the ground.

JKJ

Mike Cutler
04-25-2018, 11:41 AM
If you have a garden tractor, or a quad, make a quick "stone boat" out of two pieces of hinged plywood, and haul it out of there.

Matthew Springer
04-25-2018, 1:39 PM
Thanks for all the responses. Second dumb question: What's the actual difference between a peavey and a cant hook? They look pretty similar to me.


If you have a garden tractor, or a quad, make a quick "stone boat" out of two pieces of hinged plywood, and haul it out of there.

I had to figure out the right Google-fu, but basically a sled with a lip on the front. The hinge bit then gets attached to a chain to the tractor. This is pretty close to what I was thinking with the addition of wedges to keep the log from rolling off the sled sideways. Cant hook and roll the log onto the sled then haul with lawn tractor.

The main reason not to split it onsite is I just don't have time. I need to get it over to my yard quickly and having small children and no freetime means I have maybe an hour to dedicate to it that's not seriously after hours. So haul first, then get around to splitting it when I can.

If it works, they have a 24" wide blue spruce trunk that also blew over.

It's across two neighbors yards who are not overly particular about their grass, but I'd still like to minimize, umm friction. Unfortunately slabbing it up insitu is likely not an option (although it would be awesome) as I own neither a large chainsaw or an Alaska mill.

Tom Hogard
04-25-2018, 1:52 PM
The primary difference between a cant hook and a peavey is the tip on the bottom of the handle. On a cant hook there is a wide area with a lip (designed to catch the squared edge of a cant), whereas a peavey has a pointed tip. The point allows you to insert the tip between logs that are piled up and get some leverage for moving the log a short distance. I have seen peaveys used to move cants, and the point can dig into a cut face. All of the ones I have are cant hooks and they are quite versatile, moving logs from piles, across an open area, or while on the mill.

Mark Bolton
04-25-2018, 2:08 PM
Spot on with Tom. A peavey is a log yard tool. Its used for rolling logs around with bark and sapwood where the spike on the tip isnt really going to matter. Rolling a cant (when a log has been milled into a square or rectangle) with a peavey is also a bear because the spiked tip will constantly want to slide off the edge of the cant. The end jaw on the cant hook grabs hold of the top face of the cant. You still have the damage from the hook.

Mark Bolton
04-25-2018, 2:11 PM
If it works, they have a 24" wide blue spruce trunk that also blew over.

Unless your project allows for it or you plan on having it kiln dried I'd forget about the spruce. If you have no way to set the pitch in soft woods (heat) they are pretty much a waste of time.

Matthew Springer
04-25-2018, 5:09 PM
Unless your project allows for it or you plan on having it kiln dried I'd forget about the spruce. If you have no way to set the pitch in soft woods (heat) they are pretty much a waste of time.

Hmm, good to know.

It'd be for outdoor use or possibly shop use, so it wouldn't be that big a deal. Reading more I think I can probably bake them under a black sheet in the full sun. We're in Colorado, so it's stupid dry and we get a pretty big solar load out here.

Mike Cutler
04-26-2018, 8:59 AM
I had to figure out the right Google-fu, but basically a sled with a lip on the front. The hinge bit then gets attached to a chain to the tractor. This is pretty close to what I was thinking with the addition of wedges to keep the log from rolling off the sled sideways. Cant hook and roll the log onto the sled then haul with lawn tractor..

Matthew

That is one type of stone boat.
A second design hinges from the back. The sled is two halves that are hinged. The sled is placed behind the load, with the two halves forming a "V", like a pair of scissors. The front has eye bolts attached, and chains of ropes that cross each other, in such a manner as that when the tractor, or Oxen, begin to pull, the two halves scissor under the load and the sled is formed. There is not rolling, or lifting the load onto the boat. The scissor action lifts the load onto the sled with very little effort.
The bottom of the sled is flat, and smooth, so any damage to the surrounding area is minimized. It was actually to reduce the amount of resistance the Oxen had to pull against, but the effect is the same. I moved two concrete "balls, out of my yard many years ago that were each about 2 1/2' in diameter, using this type of device.
One of the fun things about living is New England is that there are a lot of small fairs where this type of stuff is presented as fun, and competition, that demonstrates how land was actually cleared prior to mechanized machines.
Oxen are totally cool.:cool: I'd have a pair if I could, and knew anything about them.:D

Matthew Springer
04-27-2018, 4:52 PM
I got em moved, thanks for all the help. The winning technique turned out to be a harbor freight dolly and a lot of stupidity^wpersistance. The smaller of the two was about ~250 lbs the larger one about 300. More of a workout than I was expecting, I had no idea how uneven my lawn was.

I really really need to buy a cant hook. There are some bad bark inclusions in both, but I split a short upper section of the trunk and it split dead straight, so yeah. For those not familiar, Russian Olive looks almost exactly like Ash, but it's dark drown. I'll be sawing up another log to make some gluts and practice my bandsaw technique.

https://photos.app.goo.gl/VdrrY46p22zAyyZC9