Downed oak I plan to mill

[Joe Petersen]

A friend had this fall in his yard a couple weeks ago. It is about 20" diameter at the base. He does a little woodworking but has the nerve to tell me he wants these cut up into firewood.

I looked into using a sawmill service but can't afford the field cost and can't haul a 500 lb log into my truck.

I am going to make a chainsaw mill and will post my progress here.
Here are the pictures I took. Not the best because taken with the cell camera. I think they're White Oak but I'm not sure with all the species. They are/were about 80-100 feet tall.
The surrounding leaves look to be pointed so maybe they are Red Oak. I am going back tomorrow to get measurements and better pictures.

[Gene Michael]

We've got 2 red oaks about the size of yours that dies during last year's drought. Will be very interested in seeing what you come up with as a way to mill your oaks with a chain saw. Be sure to do a follow up post.
Thanks!:D

[Dan McCallum]

Joe,

Here is a picture of a homemade chainsaw mill I have used quite successfully for several years. I used some 1' square steel tubing to make the frame, and a couple pieces of threaded rod. The wood parts are either locust or cherry. I had to drill and thread the chainbar (used a drillpress) to accept the threaded rod. I have various sized wooden spacers that I use to control the thickness of the cut.

I usually nail a 2 x 6 to the log for the first cut, using enough spacers so as to not hit the nails (voice of experience here!) Then reduce the spacers to the thickness I want for the slabs ( I normally go about 1 1/4"), and cut away. I find it best to have an enthusiast friend with me to do most of the hard work!

There are lots of other ideas around for homebrew Alaska-type mills, check google as well as searching the various woodworking forums.

Good luck!

Dan

[Joe Chritz]

I'm surprised the portable sawmills are expensive. Here they are relatively cheap. Granted there would still be a decent bill since most charge by the board foot.

The Alaskan mills are a lot of work but many people get great service with them.

You will get a lot of lumber from those trees. A few hundred board feet per tree before culls.

Joe

[Kyle Kraft]

Portable sawmill work around here runs about $50/hr + a nominal fee for bobcat assistance. I had a gimongous sugar maple milled up 2 years ago right in my front yard. So far, the lumber from that tree looks awesome...I ran into some birds eye and I only touched the first 2 layers of my stack.

[John Bartley]

I am going to make a chainsaw mill and will post my progress here.


I would like to suggest that you use your chainsaw mill to cut the logs into rectangular cants. The reason for this is that the chainsaw mill will take out a huge kerf, something in the area of 1/4" to 3/8" depending on the chain you use. If you plan your cuts to end up with cants that are primarily vertical grain through the short dimension of the cant, then you can resaw these cants on a band saw to get as much quartersawn wood as possible without without turning the nicest part of the wood into chips. I realise that there are weight issues when it come to handling Oak cants, but in my opinion, I'd sacrifice length (to save weight) in order to be able to handle the cants for resawing so that I could get nicer boards.

just a thought...

cheers

John

[Kevin Godshall]

Portable sawing here is very reasonable and we have plenty of different providers to choose from. Last time I think I paid 25 cents per bf with a minimum of $100 (wasn't an issue....) So sorry to hear you didnt have the option of having someone to skid and bandsaw it for you.

From chainsawing experience...... make sure you are using a rip chain loop. A "regular" one will work, but you will ruin the loop and maybe your bar. I have to agree with the kerf loss... but if it's your only option, I wish you the best.

[Lee Koepke]

i am fixin to cut down an oak at my house next week and was considering looking for a portable mill too. I have never milled nor dried wood but the thought of getting some nice oak out of it is tempting ....

[Joe Petersen]

The prices to mill were not bad. One guy wanted .35 a board foot and $100 field call to cut. The other guy needed me to bring to him, and $60 an hour engine running time. Lifting and positioning and metal detecting did not require the engine. What can I say? I'm a cheapskate. I decided I don't want to try to move these huge logs at current size.

I have a couple of problems today. I went to get better pictures of the tree. It is in fact a Red Oak. It is also cut up into firewood. Well, one of the two is. This old dude (about 60 I guess) was there when I arrived. He was taking a break and had already decimated one of the trees. He had a cant-hook and a Husquavarna.

We had a nice long talk that I thoroughly enjoyed about life and lumber jacking. I never did ask him why he cut it into firewood if he knew how valuable it was. My buddy caught him before he started on the second tree.

This thing has a huge heart in it. It should be a nice wood to have.The short diameter of the cut tree was 20 inches. The crotch has long ago split so I don't know if I can get any of it worthwhile. The center of the cut tree is showing signs of decay but not bad. The large diameter is 30 foot long and about 20 foot of 15 inch or so past the first knot. Straight as a board.

I stayed up all night looking at pictures of chainsaw mills and had an idea of how I wanted to make it. I had the right steel and have come up with a good mill attachment. I think the pictures are self explanatory.

[Joe Petersen]

I can't take the pics on the saw I intend to use (Stihl) because it is loaned out at the moment. It should allow small board cuts up to 24" depending how thick of a guide board I use. Probably a 2x6. I'm gonna try for 3-10 foot sections and will see from there.

[Lee Koepke]

The prices to mill were not bad. One guy wanted .35 a board foot and $100 field call to cut. The other guy needed me to bring to him, and $60 an hour engine running time. Lifting and positioning and metal detecting did not require the engine. What can I say? I'm a cheapskate. I decided I don't want to try to move these huge logs at current size.

I have a couple of problems today. I went to get better pictures of the tree. It is in fact a Red Oak. It is also cut up into firewood. Well, one of the two is. This old dude (about 60 I guess) was there when I arrived. He was taking a break and had already decimated one of the trees. He had a cant-hook and a Husquavarna.

We had a nice long talk that I thoroughly enjoyed about life and lumber jacking. I never did ask him why he cut it into firewood if he knew how valuable it was. My buddy caught him before he started on the second tree.

This thing has a huge heart in it. It should be a nice wood to have.The short diameter of the cut tree was 20 inches. The crotch has long ago split so I don't know if I can get any of it worthwhile. The center of the cut tree is showing signs of decay but not bad. The large diameter is 30 foot long and about 20 foot of 15 inch or so past the first knot. Straight as a board.

I stayed up all night looking at pictures of chainsaw mills and had an idea of how I wanted to make it. I had the right steel and have come up with a good mill attachment. I think the pictures are self explanatory.Joe, if you dont mind .. how West of ATL are you ???? I am just outside of Carrollton, and may be interested in your milling source ...

[Joe Petersen]

Hey Lee.

You're my neighbor so maybe we can work out a day of sawing. Give me a holler if you're interested.

Joe

[Grant Vanbokklen]

If you don't mind me asking, why was this guy turning the wood into firewood? I thought your friend, who's property the trees fell on, had already told you that it was ok for you to do your thing with the trees.

[Joe Petersen]

why was this guy turning the wood into firewood?

I stopped by the house yesterday on the way home from work do work on his truck and we discussed the trees. The firewood man had already started cutting up the day before but hadn't made much progress. He arrived early this morning and got busy. Buddy told him to hold the one tree.

Not really a problem though. One tree is more than I need for a while. If it was my tree and could do it on my timeline it would be different. Since I have never milled lumber, strictly speaking, I may have been a bit over my head work wise. We burned wood as a kid and I helped haul several tons of firewood but this will be a new experience I am honestly looking forward to. Plus, I don't have a lot of storage space and these will be stacked in the back yard covered with corrugated roofing or something.

[Paul Downes]

You will want to use a fairly large saw. I use a 385xp Husky with a home made mill. That's a 6.3 hp. saw. Right now the mill is on loan to a guy building a log cabin in Canada. I use 8020 aluminum rails for the first cut. This is a bit overkill but they are very percision. I can cut 18' with both sections together. You will also want to grind a chain into a ripping chain. The angle of the cutters varies from 0 to 10 degrees.

The kerf really is relative- free wood is free wood. The only time I justify taking a log to a mill is when the wood is high value such as figured maple. The cost of loseing a few boards is justified when you can saw up a log for the cost of a gallon or 2 of saw gas.

I milled one of several walnut logs last summer and also milled cedar poles into beams for a lean-to I plan on adding to the pole barn this coming summer. The cedar poles were free after a tornado knocked them down a few years ago. They were 80' before the storm shortened them up.

Someday I'm goin to get a real mill.....someday........:D

[matt dumney]

I've got a need to use this type of mill. How easy is it to rip one slap? How long per slap?

[Paul Downes]

It all depends on the type of wood, how big a diameter the tree, and how many hp the saw. I was averaging 8-11 min. per slab on a 38" dia. white oak, 9' long. This is with a 42" bar. The shorter the bar the more effeciant the saw. Got to keep the chain sharp also.

[Joe Petersen]

My son and I went yesterday to try the mill out. I replaced the bar on the saw with a 20" and got bolted up. I started with a 10' log and took the top bark slice off. Made a 3 1/2" slab that cut through a limb. It has a nice look and I am tempted to use it as a mantle in my house. Once I do a little research whether it is actually feasible.

The only problem I had with the Stihl 028 (46cc-on the small side) was a fuel tank leak that flooded the saw every time I had to refuel (3X) making for some hard starts. It ran very well and didn't give me any other problems.

A couple notes:
1 - The standard chain bogs down a lot and I need to grind it to a ripping chain.
2 - I also need to put more weight on the mill side to keep solid to the rail/slab. It kept raising up on me and made a very rough cut with bar shaped gouges.
3 - It was a lot more difficult hogging through all that wood and I should have ate my Weeties.

Here are some pictures. I also got a stand for my cheap anvil to pound on.

[Greg Crawford]

To me, milling by the board foot has never made sense. If I want beams from a log that take only 4 cuts a piece, I'd still pay the same amount as if I'd had the log sliced in 4/4 boards. Of course, if I wanted 2/4, the BF method would be to my advantage. To me, an hourly rate or a price per cut, taking length and width into account (with a minimum, of course), would be a better system for both parties.