Looking for advise converting fallen silver maple to lumber ??

I am looking for advise on several subjects related to a first time milling project. Let me set the stage and then ask the questions, thanks for taking the time to absorb this.
We lost a tree on our property in a storm several weeks back, there was a lot of damage but we want to look for a silver lining in the event and salvage some wood for future sentimental projects.
The arborist has cleaned up the sad mess and I had him leave several sections for me to get milled into lumber, I picked out anything that looked interesting. Now I may end up with a bunch of plain looking maple in the end but will take the risk, and I have no idea what I will make the lumber.

Let me set the stage for my resources.
- The logs consist of 2 pcs 10ft x 20", 5 pcs 2 1/2ft x 14", 1 piece 5ft x 14", 1 pc 10ft x 10", 1pc 10ft by 8". By Doyes method I may have 500-580 bd/ft but I'm not betting a nickel on the calculation.
- I'm considering milling live edge slabs (2" finish thickness) from some of the larger logs and perhaps 3/4" or 1" finish from the shorts and thinner pieces, see my questions on what size to cut to end up with these sizes.
- The Sawyer has a portable bandsaw type mill, said it is a minimum size 4hr job with travel plus $50 for blades if he hits steel. I do not know if the sawyer will even cut the shorts
- I have a backup plan to use a Granberg mark iii sawmill along with my Echo CS590 Timber wolf 20" although I will need a larger 28" bar and chain for some of the pieces. I plan to first cut one or two shorts with the granberg system just for personal experience and also to get an ide of what the lumber might look like. I am not sure if I want to try chainsaw milling the 10ft pieces.
- getting some personal experience is a big plus to me, I like to try new things but I don't want to bite off too much.
- I have no means to graceful move the 5-10 ft pieces so I would saw them in-place or rely on ingenuous mechanics to move them; in my later years my back looks to my brain to do lifting ;-) The Sawyer does have the means to handle the material.
- My ultimate backup plan is to cut it all into firewood lengths and give it away, but that would be sad.
- One last thing, I am in Canada, spring weather is late with maple sap running late this year.



So onto the various sawmilling questions, your comments/suggestions/experience
on any of the following would be greatly appreciated

1) Using the Granberg chainsaw mill for this project, ripping vs regular chain,
best ladder setup for first cut, using the echo 59cc saw, etc.

2) Should I debark before or after, if I go the chainsaw route, methods of
debarking?

3) Using a sawyer for the job, my biggest concern is my cost getting out of
hand, there is a limit to sentimental value :-)

4) What thickness do I rip at? i.e. if I want to end up with finish planed 3/4
should I cut at 4/4 or 5/4 or? same question if I want a finish planed 8/4?

5) Times for drying, air vs kiln, vs combination, the process, etc.,

6) Methods to dry, sticker, etc.

7) any ingenious methods to manhandle the logs with less muscle?

8) safety suggestions (should be the first question)

9) and the fun question, what would you make with this wood?



Thanks

Progress so far.
I milled my first short log today (30" x 16") with the chainsaw and got seven pieces of 13" wide by 5/4. I am very pleased with the wood color. I am not so pleased with my first attempt, the boards came out twisted. Using winding sticks I checked my jig which is critical for the first cut to be straight, the jig was great but when I put the stick on the first cut piece it was badly twisted. I flipped the log and tried again, same result. I will now go back and check the Granberg setup, perhaps I got something sloppy there. Darn can this rig make a lot of sawdust in as hurry, wow!!
So I got about 14-18 bd/ft of nice looking maple from the piece, it depends on how much I will have to plane it down to get the twist out.
:rolleyes:

How much of it is from branches? That's where the real twisting will come from.

If you have or can borrow a trailer to haul the logs, could save quite a bit of money on the sawing. I would only load and haul the straight logs with centered pith. Off-center pith is an indication of stress in the log and you can expect the lumber from those to warp and / or twist. Silver maple is an attractive wood but not particularly strong or stable. Careful stacking and stickering will be necessary for drying success. Any boards that dry straight would be fine for most woodworking projects.

Good luck. Seal the ends.

Invest in a peavy or cant hook and some way to buck the logs with leverage. I hurt my back and was in pain for about 5 years (miraculously went away; hope Murphy or Irony-Man aren't reading this as I write) from trying to heave and roll logs myself.

When home milling, I've had the best luck milling small, narrow, and 'as-quarter-sawn-as-possible'.

And avoid pieces thru the pith.

Thanks for the advise. I am playing with a few shorts and hoping to get the sawyer in to do the large ones. I considered transporting them top a mill for full service, saw, dry, plane but I don't think I can get the logs out of the yard.

Question, who wants to take a stab at guessing the weight of a green 20" x 10ft piece of silver maple?

62.5 pounds per inch of thickness

When I milled with a Granberg mill I used a 10 ft section of aluminum extension ladder as my reference surface for the first cut.

Attachment 335837

I put a couple of pieces of two by four between the ladder uprights and screwed through them into the log, putting shims where needed so the ladder was firmly attached with no twist. A pair of winding sticks tells you if there is any twist.

I milled some silver maple a year ago. It turned out to be ambrosia, so I milled a couple of 8/4 live edge slabs:

Attachment 335838

The rest I milled into dimensional stock.

Attachment 335839

I cut the dimensional lumber at 1-1/16" to 1-1/8", which will give me 3/4" to 7/8" after planing. I sticker it on bunks made of cinder blocks and 4 x 4's using 3/4" square dry wood stickers about 18" apart. The bunk sits in a semi shaded area, is covered on top to keep rain off, but open on the sides so the breezes can flow through the stack. I leave it outside for about a year before bringing it into my shop for final drying.

You can move really heavy logs with just a little ingenuity. Here we moved a 3000 lb log with a rope hooked to my neighbors pickup. The other end was tied to a handy tree. With very little effort the log rolled up those ramps onto my rolling chainsaw mill.

Attachment 335840

With logs that won't roll you sometimes have to get a little more creative.

Attachment 335841

But in all cases, very little physical effort was required. I'm getting smarter as I get older - out of necessity.

Personally, I don't bother milling anything shorter than 4 or 5 feet and about 14" minimum diameter. You typically get 2 or 3" end checks, sometimes longer. If the piece is only 2' long to start with that doesn't leave you with much. When the log gets smaller than about 14" diameter you don't end up with much usable wood for all the effort. For those short pieces I would cut them into bowl blanks for turning. The 10" and 8" diameter pieces would be firewood.

John

Thanks John, good info, and great pictures.
I have almost prepare the stacking area and just got my 28" ripping blade so I'm hope to start some cutting soon.
Its been almost four week since the tree came down and was cut so it may be too late but,.... should I paint the ends with latex paint now?

Best to end seal immediately after felling, but even though it has been a week, I would still do it. Latex paint makes a poor end sealer. Maybe better than nothing, but not much better. Better to get some paraffin wax from the canning section of the grocery store, melt it and apply that or use a commercial end sealer like anchorseal.

Attachment 339934Attachment 339935Attachment 339936Attachment 339939Attachment 339937

The best laid plans ..... in the end I painted the ends of the logs because I had latex paint and could not find the other better products quickly. I ended up paying a portable sawmill to cut the logs for me $400. Most of the warnings you all provided me (much appreciated) have come to past, (some of the nice boards are checking already), a little disappointing but hopefully a year to two from now some good lumber for some fun projects will be yielded. My hope is the massive weight on the stickers will reduce the checking lower part of the pile where the 2" larger pieces are. On the good side, we (my wife and I) had fun got really excited with the wood patterns and colours in the wood as we sorted and catalogued the top half of the pile. The bottom half of the pile required the assistance of the sawyer to stack so that part got done quickly with no time to catalogue, those are full length boards so we can go back and measure/catalogue later. We have some great live edge 2" and a lot of 5/4 that is live edge but will most likely cut the 5/4 into dimensional, hopefully for a few blanket boxes I owe family. The attached pictures are really just a Gloat ;-)

Oh yes, most important, Thanks to all for your input and advise, very much appreciated.

Benjamin,

Getting your logs coated with something (latex is at the low end of effectiveness) is better than nothing. Another factor in reducing checking is to make sure there are stickers at the end of the boards. It seems that the pressure of the sticker reduces checking past that point. If you leave more than an inch or two unsupported, it may sag and check up to the sticker.

Nice level stack that you made there. Good job.