Building my inventory of logs

[Todd Burch]

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]

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





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]

Looking good, Todd. It's very satisfying to mill one's own lumber, isn't it?

[Todd Burch]

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]

@Ian, thanks for your advice. Do you work at a commercial mill?

[Ian Moone]

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]

Now you got your feet wet, Todd!

[Jim Andrew]

Todd, tell us about your mill. This thread went from logs to sawing!

[Todd Burch]

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]

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]

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]

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.

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]

I bought the Stihl chaps. They any good?

[Cody Colston]

I bought the Stihl chaps. They any good?

If they are 6-ply they are.

[Jerry Olexa]

You lucky guys!!! Envy here.