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Thread: Well that was fun

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
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    Well that was fun

    A guy contacted me to mill some ash logs. "What's the average diameter?" I asked. "Oh, about 18". he says. "How many do you have?" "Over 50." Wow, this is going to be a big job. Didn't turn out that way.



    There were 57 logs, so he got that part right. The largest one was barely 18" and lots of them would yield nothing more than a 4 x 4 post. I got tired of milling those 4 x 4's after about 20 of them, and pulled out about a dozen of those toothpicks and sent them back to the firewood pile. Some of the larger logs actually had some really nice wood in them. We shared the wood 50/50. I got a little over 1100 bf from the logs I milled - and enjoyed some really nice late Summer/early Fall weather out in the beautiful farm country of Niagara County.

    The EAB is decimating the ash in NYS; probably everywhere. I've had two guys in the past week ask if I'll mill hundreds of ash logs for shares. One guy has 50 acres of dead ash trees. A LT40 with full hydraulics would be just the ticket for that many logs. I might actually consider it if they were paying me by the BF, but I have no need for that much wood.


    John

  2. #2
    John, glad you can use some of it. That ash heap of history thing really seems to be getting out of control ! But some
    say it's just a bug-a-boo. Your yield would have been better if you had told the seller : "hey, don't send me the 57 variety
    pack ".

  3. #3
    Yeah, Those wee bitty stems are more work than they are worth unless he just wanted you to boule them down and he gets some 1x3's out of them.... This seems like a good situation for "text me some photos of what youve got". That pile strewn out like that (40' from the mill) alone is a nuisance. Sadly it even looks like the larger stems are crook'd and low yield. People think trees are worth gold bars.

    I took a couple of the last monster Ash trees down on my place a while back that were 37-40" at the butt. Buddy is a logger and where they were dead standing he came up and got them down for me as I would have landed them on the ground in splinters or barber-chaired them off, or killed myself. Yin and yang. These monsters are way too big, and those in your photo are way too small.

  4. #4
    John, as an aside,.. Is your wheel/trailer kit fixed onto your mill where you cant pull two pins and lose the wheels? I had my manual mill setup that way to where I could roll in, unhook from the vehicle, roll the head to the tail, then boost it, pull the wheels (sleeved into box tube) and drop the whole mill down on the ground. That way when your on a job with a bunch of logs there is no hoisting them up onto the bunks. You just a have a couple skids/logs infront of the mill and cant-hook your logs onto the mill. Way faster.

    Your setup seems good for sawing a log, or two, or 6-8, but when your above that it would seem dropping the mill dead on the ground and being able to roll your logs on without your cable arrangement would be way faster.

  5. #5
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    Mark, he did send me some photos but his statement that the average diameter was 18" biased how I interpreted the size of the logs to be. I should have driven out to look at them before agreeing to do the job; the first, and last, time I'll ever do that.

    I had no trouble with the way he had the logs staged for me. I like that arrangement better than a pile of logs; I've dealt with that and it's an accident waiting to happen if you are moving the logs manually. He had them all lined up and I could easily roll them down the slight grade to the mill by myself. Most the 12" and larger logs were pretty straight. One had a big crook in it, so I cut it into live edge slabs. He gave me carte blanche as to what to cut which was really helpful in maximizing yield. He was pleased with what I cut for him and sent me a text last night asking if I was interested in cutting some cherry and walnut logs for him in the future that he would drop off to me. Why yes, of course.

    Was your mill trailer a commercial unit or homebuilt? I've never seen a mobile base like that, but it sure sounds like a good arrangement. I bought my mill and trailer from Woodland Mills, a Canadian outfit that sells you an erector set of parts you bolt together. It's a really good value but some of the components could be a little beefier. Parbuckling logs up onto the mill isn't very hard, especially after I replaced the hand winch with a 3500 lb electric winch that runs off the motor starting battery. Even 25 - 30" diameter logs go up the ramps pretty easily. A benefit of the trailer mounted mill is there are only 4 leveling jacks (six if you opt for the 16' length version) to adjust. The trailer frame is very rigid unlike most ground based units which have 10 or 12 or ? leveling screws in order to get them flat and level. Also, the trailer mounted unit makes offloading the cut boards easier than a ground based unit. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. The optimum mill for me would be a trailer mounted mill that can handle a 36" diameter log with hydraulic loading, something like the Woodmizer LT-40.

    John

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    ... He was pleased with what I cut for him and sent me a text last night asking if I was interested in cutting some cherry and walnut logs for him in the future that he would drop off to me. Why yes, of course.
    My Woodmizer is not portable but if it was I don't know if I would agree to saw on shares without charging a transportation/setup fee (unless perhaps it was for a friend). I saw on 50/50 shares if the guy hauls the logs to me AND stays to help unload and stack. If I have to haul the logs or if he doesn't help the share would be different. Fortunately, I don't need the wood and don't want to work that hard.

    The mills I've asked around here saw by the board foot, as calculated by the log diameter and length.

    JKJ

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by John K Jordan View Post
    My Woodmizer is not portable but if it was I don't know if I would agree to saw on shares without charging a transportation/setup fee (unless perhaps it was for a friend). I saw on 50/50 shares if the guy hauls the logs to me AND stays to help unload and stack. If I have to haul the logs or if he doesn't help the share would be different. Fortunately, I don't need the wood and don't want to work that hard.

    The mills I've asked around here saw by the board foot, as calculated by the log diameter and length.

    JKJ
    I either saw for shares or by the board foot if the owner wants all the wood. It's easy to say you will only saw for shares if you get something more than 50%, and/or you want money for transportation, broken blades, gas, etc., but I've found it's hard to get many takers if I ask for those things; in fact, none so far. They are supplying the logs; I'm supplying the mill. Both parties have something invested in the bargain. I would much prefer to saw for money but most folks around me have wanted to do shares. I either do it or I don't. For walnut, cherry, and white oak I'd take less than 50%, honestly.


    John

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Mark, he did send me some photos but his statement that the average diameter was 18" biased how I interpreted the size of the logs to be. I should have driven out to look at them before agreeing to do the job; the first, and last, time I'll ever do that.

    I had no trouble with the way he had the logs staged for me. I like that arrangement better than a pile of logs; I've dealt with that and it's an accident waiting to happen if you are moving the logs manually. He had them all lined up and I could easily roll them down the slight grade to the mill by myself. Most the 12" and larger logs were pretty straight. One had a big crook in it, so I cut it into live edge slabs. He gave me carte blanche as to what to cut which was really helpful in maximizing yield. He was pleased with what I cut for him and sent me a text last night asking if I was interested in cutting some cherry and walnut logs for him in the future that he would drop off to me. Why yes, of course.

    Was your mill trailer a commercial unit or homebuilt? I've never seen a mobile base like that, but it sure sounds like a good arrangement. I bought my mill and trailer from Woodland Mills, a Canadian outfit that sells you an erector set of parts you bolt together. It's a really good value but some of the components could be a little beefier. Parbuckling logs up onto the mill isn't very hard, especially after I replaced the hand winch with a 3500 lb electric winch that runs off the motor starting battery. Even 25 - 30" diameter logs go up the ramps pretty easily. A benefit of the trailer mounted mill is there are only 4 leveling jacks (six if you opt for the 16' length version) to adjust. The trailer frame is very rigid unlike most ground based units which have 10 or 12 or ? leveling screws in order to get them flat and level. Also, the trailer mounted unit makes offloading the cut boards easier than a ground based unit. Each has their advantages and disadvantages. The optimum mill for me would be a trailer mounted mill that can handle a 36" diameter log with hydraulic loading, something like the Woodmizer LT-40.

    John
    Sorry for the late response. Mine is an older norwood bought new. I didnt buy the trailer kit as we always have had a shop and fab capacity and just made a box tube receiver for the axles (similar to a receiver hitch on your trailer) and then welded up to stub spindles for the wheels. And then of course a tongue which remains attached.

    I wasnt saying the cabling (you call it parbuckling or something) them onto the mill is hard, its just slow (in my opinion). We always stacked our logs as high as the loader would reach on skids (small junk logs) and then you just stage your mill a reasonable distance away and have a small skidway between the pile and the mill. You just canthook some log on the front face of the pile towards the mill and hopefully the skidway is pretty level with the bunks and you just roll them straight on to the mill and away you go.

    I agree a fully hydraulic machine would be handy but more so speaking to being as productive as possible with a small machine. Getting dooped on a pile of twigs is what it is.. you take your licks.

  9. #9
    Join Date
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mark Bolton View Post
    Sorry for the late response. Mine is an older norwood bought new. I didnt buy the trailer kit as we always have had a shop and fab capacity and just made a box tube receiver for the axles (similar to a receiver hitch on your trailer) and then welded up to stub spindles for the wheels. And then of course a tongue which remains attached.

    I wasnt saying the cabling (you call it parbuckling or something) them onto the mill is hard, its just slow (in my opinion). We always stacked our logs as high as the loader would reach on skids (small junk logs) and then you just stage your mill a reasonable distance away and have a small skidway between the pile and the mill. You just canthook some log on the front face of the pile towards the mill and hopefully the skidway is pretty level with the bunks and you just roll them straight on to the mill and away you go.

    I agree a fully hydraulic machine would be handy but more so speaking to being as productive as possible with a small machine. Getting dooped on a pile of twigs is what it is.. you take your licks.

    Loader. What loader? I don't even own a pickup truck.

    John

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by John TenEyck View Post
    Loader. What loader? I don't even own a pickup truck.

    John
    I was referring to your customer lol. Or even the logs being pretting much laid out flat like your photo but being able to cant hook them onto the mill instead of cabling them on. Was just a comment that setting the mill on the ground is pretty quick and eliminates all that winching. I think Norwood even had some boat winch type of affair that let you get the trailer wheels off the ground to pull them with no equipment and lower the mill to the ground. Then your sawing even faster by eliminating getting them on the bunks in the first place.

    Understood though, your average sawing job is lucrative in the material you get to keep.

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