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Thread: Mobile Milling

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    WNY
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    9,648

    Mobile Milling

    One reason I bought the trailer package for my mill was the thought that I might hire my services to others to mill their logs on site. Yesterday was the first time I took the show on the road, about 25 miles away. The mill weighs about 1600 lbs and towed w/o incident behind my Subaru. Woodand Mills use a torsion bar suspension on their trailer packages and that sure helped it absorb potholes and bumps w/o rocking or swaying. I was impressed with how easy it was to tow, although there was a noticeable decrease in gas mileage. Beyond all expectations, NYS does not require license plates on portable sawmills.



    In less than 45 minutes the mill was set up and we had the first log on it ready to cut. Lower the jack stands, unhook the car, level the mill, unlock the sawhead, and it's ready to mill.



    Loading logs was a snap because the owner has one of these, of which I am incredibly envious:



    I showed the owner how to set up a draying rack and left him to sticker and stack it.



    Normally I get 1/2 the lumber, but because he put the logs on the mill and carried away the lumber I did it for 1/3 share. This was my share which I milled today:



    About 260 bf of really nice red oak. Tomorrow I'll mill two more logs for the owner, then pack up the mill and bring it home. Not having to clean up the slab wood and sawdust is an added benefit of mobile milling.

    John

  2. #2
    Interesting story and nice pics! I'd sure hate to move logs like that without his loader. (Guess you'd have used ramps and gaff hooks or something?) Those slabs look .... enticing. Almost makes me want to buy a mill too. Looks like it was a pretty darn good day!
    Fred
    "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

    “If you want to know what a man's like, take a good look at how he treats his inferiors, not his equals.”

  3. #3
    John,

    Those first mobile jobs give you things to think about that don't come up when milling at home, what tools to take with you, etc. Hopefully, you kept some accurate records and you can analyze the success of your job - mostly you can consider it a learning experience. I remember my first mobile, I learned a lot. I drove 31 miles each way (plus an earlier site visit), was there for 8 hours, milled just over 400 bf, and made $100 total.

    Just a suggested analysis, using your figures and my fees: 25 miles one-way ($75), Setup ($50), Mill 530 bf @ split at 4/4 and 8/4 ($239) = $364+tax (required here, maybe not there). Compensation: 260 bf of red oak logs ($104) less transportation costs (another trip). You added to your education and experience, and he got an extremely good deal.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Quote Originally Posted by Frederick Skelly View Post
    Interesting story and nice pics! I'd sure hate to move logs like that without his loader. (Guess you'd have used ramps and gaff hooks or something?)
    Me too! I've moved logs onto the trailer and then the mill with ramps and come-along or cable, with skidding tongs on the tractor bucket, and with forks on the tractor or skid steer. The excavator with a thumb that I use now is by far the easiest! I still like the tractor with forks best for offloading the lumber.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
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    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    There are lifting tongs, and skidding tongs. I'll use lifting tongs for skidding, but not skidding tongs for lifting. I'm sure skidding tongs are actually stronger than what they're rated for, but I feel better using the lifting tongs for moving logs with the loader.

    It's really nice that they don't require tags for a sawmill there.

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post

    It's really nice that they don't require tags for a sawmill there.
    NC doesn't either. Never seen them on a pig cooker, welder, mortar mixer, or single use trailer (NCGS 20-51 section 3.) What is fun is living in a state doesn't require tags (SC & TN), and going into a state that does. Visiting mill is exempt, while local has to buy tags.
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 07-24-2020 at 9:27 PM.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    WNY
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    It seems that you guys don't know about parbuckling. A pair of ramps and a winch does the trick.



    I took this photo today. The owner left a log on the mill for me last night but had to work late today so he left 3 logs in front of the mill. This was the first one, an ash with some rot in one end. The ramps are from Woodand Mills. I've had logs over 2000 lbs on them. The winch is one I fabricated after I got tired of cranking the manual one and bent the mounting post from Woodland Mills. It's definitely not up to handling big logs, although it was fine for ones like this one. I built a much beefier mounting post with easier installation and use a 3500 lb electric winch now, powered off the battery on the mill. You run the cable over the top of the log and back underneath to the frame of the mill, and the winch just rolls it up the ramps. I use a long remote to control the winch which allows me to help steer the log if it misbehaves. Round ones like this go right up w/o incident.




    It doesn't take long to load logs this way IF they are already staged in front of the mill. I don't have a tractor at home so I have to move logs with a log arch hooked up to an ATV to bring logs to the mill.

    John

  8. #8
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    I worked 3 half days, about 14 hours I think. I milled a total of 10 logs for 1024 bf. My take was 314 BF, mostly red oak, but a few really nice ambrosia maple, too, that will sell easily and for good money. .



    Red oak around me costs over $3/bf, 8/4 substantially more. If I lose 25% during drying I'll have 225 BF for a value of $675. My expenses were 150 miles on my car, 3 gals of fuel for the mill, and no lost blades. I dulled 3 blades but sharpen my own. I get at least 2 sharpenings before they break, so the cost was the equivalent of one blade, $25. Sum total, it was a win in my book.

    Next week I have another job to mill about 8 logs, probably around 1500 bf at $0.40/bf. Selling lumber from free logs people give me is the best, but this is fun and pretty easy money, too.

    John

  9. #9
    Judging from the pile of logs in background of last photo, is this guy into feed termites? Why is the winch mounted on such a long post?
    Last edited by Bruce Wrenn; 07-25-2020 at 9:09 AM.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
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    E TN, near Knoxville
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    Quote Originally Posted by Tom M King View Post
    There are lifting tongs, and skidding tongs. I'll use lifting tongs for skidding, but not skidding tongs for lifting. I'm sure skidding tongs are actually stronger than what they're rated for, but I feel better using the lifting tongs for moving logs with the loader.
    I researched this carefully and decided to buy skidding tongs at 1/3 the price. Three important things: 1) I never lift a log over about 2' from the ground, 2) there is NEVER a person anywhere near the log even withing rolling distance, and 3) OSHA doesn't inspect my farm. The advice I read was if lifting logs over someone's head, lifting tongs should be used to avoid lawsuits and fines when someone gets hurt. What? My take on that is to NEVER EVER lift anything over someone's head or even near a person and never even position a log within rolling distance of a person or animal. When I worked for a steel piping fabrication company overhead lifts of any type were strictly forbidden.

    For those who haven't lifted with tongs, if they won't grab easily on a larger diameter log just use a small sledge hammer to pound the points into the wood. I keep such a hammer on the tractor at all times.

    I bought the largest skidding tongs I could find, 25" or something like that. When skidding logs out of the woods the easiest method I found is to connect a single skidding tong with a short chain to one of the grab hooks welded to the tractor bucket, grab one end of the log, and drive backwards. I lift the leading edge of the log slightly off the ground as needed to avoid digging into the dirt and catching on roots and such. When using skidding tongs for loading logs on a trailer or sawmill, I use two tongs and lift the log horizontally. Using forks takes more care and a delicate balance since otherwise the log can easily roll off the forks - I try to keep single logs on the tips of the forks to avoid the need to roll it when unloading. By far, the excavator with a thumb makes moving, loading, and unloading simple and safe!

    BTW, I use the excavator to pile logs in the woods and load and unload trailers but never for skidding - it moves way too slowly!

    One hint for sawmilling or preparing to cut turning blanks from logs - if you have water nearby hose the dirt and rocks off the log first (pressure washer is better) to keep the saw blades sharp longer.

    JKJ

  11. #11
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Wrenn View Post
    Judging from the pile of logs in background of last photo, is this guy into feed termites? Why is the winch mounted on such a long post?
    I don't think termites can survive in NYS. I've never seen one anyway. Ants, we have plenty of that get into partially rotted logs and some of them bite like crazy, which I learned again with one of the oak logs. In any case, I've never had any real trouble with insect damage in wood, the dreaded PPB, etc. I try to keep my own milling area reasonably clean and don't leave logs like this guy did lying around. FWIW, he got all those logs for $200 to use for firewood, and then realized how nice some of them looked and decided to contact me to cut lumber from some of them. While I was working yesterday, the UPS man drives up to deliver a package, looks at a couple of the gnarly maple logs and asks if the owner would sell them to him. I took his name and number and passed it to the owner when he got home. "Absolutely." is what he said. He's going to end up on the plus side of the ledger and still have a bunch of firewood.

    The post for the winch is mounted that high to make it easier to roll logs on the mill. I can't turn big logs by hand working alone, even with a long cant hook. A 65 year old guy weighing 165 lbs is no match for a 2000 lb log. So I use the winch with a cant hook on the end to roll logs once they are on the mill and I need to turn them. Norwood has a similar setup with their winch system, which is what I basically copied. Theirs mounts into the side of the trailer and can be left in place while milling. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to mount mine that way so I have to remove it after each use. Not a big deal but it would be more convenient if I didn't have to.

    If you look at the last photo of the ash log up on the mill you'll see two pieces of square tubing painted green leaning against the lumber pile on the right. Those fit over top of the stock back supports on the mill, which you can see in the first photo with the ash log part way up the ramps. Those tubes are as high as the winch and keep the log from trying to roll up over the stock supports and force it to roll. I haven't had a really large log on the mill since I added the new winch and back supports but with the 22" ones I've had it has worked very well.

    John

  12. #12
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    Feb 2008
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    trailer plates

    Quote Originally Posted by Bruce Wrenn View Post
    NC doesn't either. Never seen them on a pig cooker, welder, mortar mixer, or single use trailer (NCGS 20-51 section 3.) What is fun is living in a state doesn't require tags (SC & TN), and going into a state that does. Visiting mill is exempt, while local has to buy tags.
    I was told that taking a trailer out of TN to some states would require tags but I don't know which. I put a tag on my small horse trailer since I have used it to transport rescue llamas as far as Florida.

    In TN, the law is "The State of Tennessee does not require individuals to title and license utility trailers for private use, as long as you are pulling the trailer behind a Tennessee-licensed vehicle." So maybe don't loan the trailer to the brother-in-law visiting from Indiana!

    BTW, just picked up another rescue llama this week.

    llama_bambie.jpg

    The owners became afraid of this pretty boy and with good reason. Seems like he knocked an 11-year-old boy down then knocked his very large father down and grabbed him by the neck with his mouth. Thing is, the llama has intact fighting teeth which are very sharp fangs, three on either side of his jaw - could have ripped the guy's neck open if he got a good grip. The owner seemed to be a wonderful person but unfortunately wasn't educated on raising (llamas are very social herd animals and need to be around other animals.)

    This picture shows the fighting teeth on a llama skull which are normally removed on domestic llamas:

    llama_fighting_teeth.jpg


    He'll be gelded in a couple of days and after he's checked for parasites I'll put three of my males in with him to see if they can teach him some manners. If he turns out to be a hopeless case of berserker syndrome his future will unfortunately be fertilizer or llama burgers.

    Llama berserker syndrome is described here if anyone is interested.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berserk_llama_syndrome

    JKJ

  13. #13
    Join Date
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    WNY
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    Interesting stuff about llamas, John. I had no clue they had fighting teeth. I'll keep my distance if I meet one in the wilds of South America, if I ever get there. Still on my bucket list.

    Keeping logs out of the mud is the best approach if at all possible. I spend a lot of time digging gravel out of logs that people bring me before they go on the mill. I use a log arch to transport logs around my own property and that keeps them out of the dirt. This is a 22 - 24" hard maple about 10' long under the arch.



    I transport logs that I buy or people give me with an lifting arch on my trailer.




    I don't have any pictures with the log being picked up, but you can see plenty of videos on YouTube of how they work. I use skidding tongs to pick them up. Like you, I don't see a danger as long as you don't stand near the log. This trailer has a 3500 lb axle and is rated at 2200 lbs load; I had a big maple log on it last weekend that sure pushed that limit. The winch is rated at 5000 lb. I use a 4 line system to increase the mechanical advantage and it has no trouble picking up logs of that size.

    Sawing is the easy part. Getting logs to the mill is often the greater challenge.

    John

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Lake Gaston, Henrico, NC
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    I almost always have guys helping, so no way will I lift a log around them with skidding tongs. I've had these for around 30 years. I don't remember what they cost, but I'm sure they were a lot cheaper then, than now. They are really robust, made from forged steel.

    When I was building new houses, we'd start with a wooded lot. I'd load the logs we wanted to get out of the way in a dump truck, and take them to my helpers' houses, for them to use for firewood.
    Attached Images Attached Images

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Oct 2010
    Location
    Mountain City, TN
    Posts
    573
    Thanks for all of the posts. I always wondered how y'all moved your logs.

    Just one question. What do llama burgers taste like?😉

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