Scragg mills - short stuff only? How come?

[Bro. Noble]

Nope,  it was at the forestry industry show that is going on at St. Charles Mo. as we speak.  When I went it was in Cape Giredeau Mo.  Before that they had it in Springfield Mo.  and I wish they still did.  I could make it there between milkings

[woodbowl]

They must go to a lot of shows then.....................

As the teeth get worn down you have less kerf and lots more chance of binding.  If the teeth are dull,  sharpened wrong,  a little chunk of wood heats one of the blades, etc, etc.  You are in trouble.

  Knowing all that, is a band scragg more attractive?

[Ron Wenrich]

I've seen Cooper's scragg rated at 35 Mbf/day.  I know one guy who thought about buying one until I pointed out that procurement would be a problem. 

For a scragg that is used on long logs, they generally just take heavy slabs, and those go to a resaw.  Handling isn't a real problem if you have enough mechanization on the take away end.  Conveyors just spit that stuff onto green chains.  Movable saws are a gppd way to go.

End dogging seems to be a better setup than the sharp chain technique.  I've often wondered about how you could keep a log stable. 

The biggest problem I see with long logs is log tension.  How do you compensate for a log springing while in the cut?   I can control spring somewhat with a big carriage.

[woodbowl]

The biggest problem I see with long logs is log tension. How do you compensate for a log springing while in the cut? I can control spring somewhat with a big carriage.

  I didn't want to say it untill I heard someone else say it. Taking two sides off of a long log at the same would seem to releave some radically displaced pressures. It's bad enough sometimes taking one side at the time. I had hoped that there would be an equalization when sawing both sides.

End dogging seems to be a better setup than the sharp chain technique. I've often wondered about how you could keep a log stable.

  The video that replays in my mind while trying to imagine it is, flexing in the middle, putting side pressure on the circle blades and pulling/stretching the bands out of line on the band scragg. I've never heard of a clamp in the middle of the log, top and bottem for an end dog but it seems like it would add a lot of stability. But then again, there's more stuff.

[Bro. Noble]

A band scragg would eliminate a lot of the problems that a circle scragg has,  but it would also be a lot slower unless you went to large bands.  That would be getting into lots of money and an end-dogging machine would  be more practical if you were going to spend big bucks  -----looks to me anyway.

When we decided to get a scragg,  I envisioned being able to use a lot of limbs to put into pallet stock.  That's where you really run into tension wood.  We avoid most problems with tension wood by leaving limbs and small leaning trees in the woods. 

[Cedarman]

We use 1 1/4 .045 blades on our Baker scragg. About the biggest log we can saw is 14".  Our Indiana mill can go to 12 feet, but we keep it set up to do 6 to 10 feet. About the fastest we can make a 4 sided cant is about 20 seconds from one log to another. About 100 per hour is normal. It is an end dogging scragg and we run all slabs with good wood through a resaw.  The accuracy is great.  Since you are sawing both sides at once, it takes the tension out of the log evenly so there is rarely side bow.  Once the wood drops on the belt it is moved by hand to the stack or resaw or onto the belt to the hog.  Once the mill is set up to saw square, it rarely needs adjusted. Centering is more of a problem in Indiana with the bull wheels, but the Alabama mill has a quick centering system that once you get the eye for it takes just a few seconds.  I have watched an 8 foot log go through in 4 seconds, there was about 4 inches of log movement for each band rotation.

My experience says that the ideal long scragg mill would have a scanning device to center the log and get it rotated for best opening cuts and lots of heavy duty conveyors and support equipment to remove all manual labor. Unless you have unlimited log supply and markets, capital costs would be overwhelming. Just MHO.

[robotguy]

woodbowl made mention of using chipper blades to square the sides ,, i found a web site ( hegsaw.com) that has a *one shot does all set-up* for small diameter stems using chipper on the sides and saw blades to dismantle the stem  .
has anyone seen/ used this type of set-up ??.
am working on milling small diamiter stems 8" & smaller, and have considered scragg saws but like the idea of chipping the sides (no handling slabs) and saws to dismantle the cant.
       
cederman, you made mention that the indiana mill can go to 12 feet. can you post a web site or contact info for them.   


 

[Ron Wenrich]

That's none as the Chip-n-Saw mills.  It was new in the '60s.  When they first put it in a mill it tripled their production.  Expensive setup and needs lots of logs.

[Cedarman]

Robotguy, get in touch with Baker, one of the forum sponsers.  They have both band and circle saw scraggs and can build to your needs.  We dealt with Clay Hedrick. Once in a great while I'll see one of their scraggs offered at auction.