1/2'ing big ole logs with a chainsaw

[dad2nine]

I know a lot of you guys have done this before so I would like to open up a discussion about  sawing a log in half or splitting the pith with a chainsaw. I've got a few under my belt but, I'm sure there is a better way, something I have not thought of yet.

First thing is to regrind the chain I get pretty flat on the angle about 8 on the grinder scale, normal chain is around 30. Be careful not to burn the chain while grinding. What angle these numbers really mean I really don't know, I just go by the grinder scale. Someone told me a rip chain would be better so I bought a loop and that's how I got the angle for the grinder.

marking the log... take a couple of old 2x4's and lay them on top of log, lining them up end to end and making sure you your lining up just on either side of the pith. Sometimes the pith is not in the center of the log - well most of the time it isn't. Leave about a 1/2" wide gap between the 2x4's and spray paint the 1/2" gap. Remove 2x4's and you have a painted line to follow while cutting.

Cutting the log... Make sure oiler adjuster is set to full (husky) and the bar oiler is working right. Fire up chainsaw, go to each end of the log and line the saw up on the line, start cutting straight down to the bottom of the log, as far as you can without getting the chain into the dirt (flat nicely trimmed log ends help a lot here and watch out for kickback!). Drive some thin peices of wood in the kerfs you just cut one each end. Wedges would also work but there always seems to be scrap wood laying around and the thought of using steel wedges and a chainsaw never really set will with me and why buy plastic ones when scrap wood works just as good?.

Now finish cutting on the line... make sure your bar is lined up on the line and about 1/2 way in from the end of one of the two kerfs (log ends). Lay the bar on the line and just tilt the saw forward (watch out for kickback!) till it's deep enough without tip hitting the dirt. Once that cut is done, move the saw up the line about 1/2 ~ 3/4 a bar length forward and cut again. Repeat till the other end of the log is reached. Pound in some old pieces of wood into the kerf as you go to keep the kerf open so the bar don't get pinched.

Once your at the other end, roll the log over (big yard lift comes in handy here) paint your line again and repeat cutting. Watch for kick back and when the log splits in half, make sure your out of the way. I take the last bit of cutting from the end of the log so I'm not beside the log or on top of it when it falls apart.

What else could I do differently to make easier / better / safer?

Thanks


 

[cantcutter]

blow them then pick up the pieces

[gharlan]

Well that is about the same thing I do. I use a level to lay out the ends so that I know both ends are straight and plumb. I then debark the cutting area on top and use a chalk line with lots of chalk instead of the paint. I have been using a 24 inch bar on mine with just regular chain. I always put on a fresh loop to start and have not had any trouble making straight cuts. I have tried to pick em up and drop them from the tractor after getting one side cut hopping they would split the rest of the way. But that has always proved to be a waste of time. Maybe I need to learn the black powder trick! good luck--gary 

[footer]

I will have to get some more pics uploaded but here is a 48" diameter red oak after it was cut in half.



I do as gharlan does with the level and chaulk line, but on this one i screwed a 2x4 along the line and used a Beam Machine attatched to my chainsaw, Stihl 084 with 60" bar and Ripping chain from Balies. I blocked the log up off the ground to keep the chain out of the dirt.

[ErikC]

  I have done this a couple of times only, for milling with a friend who had a woodmizer. One thing we didn't think about the first time was how much harder it is to move 1/2 without a loader there. It won't roll! We just cut down from the top and used wedges to split the last few inches that we couldn't reach. It wasn't all that hard suprisingly, just get a sharp saw. I think we snapped a stringline, and put marking paint over that.

Erik

[dad2nine]

blow them then pick up the pieces

(Big Grin) yep did that it's fun to play with dynamite, but it does not work so well with logs really ruins them....

Level and chalk line got it - didn't think of that - thanks

[Daren]

I do the spraypaint trick, with just one board. Lay the board down, spray the edge and cut right beside it. I usually have a sledge and wedges involved too. 

[Kcwoodbutcher]

How did that beam machine work? I got one for Christmas last year and I still haven't used it. I have a 39" white oak to split that I've been putting off because of all the mud around here.

[footer]

How did that beam machine work? I got one for Christmas last year and I still haven't used it. I have a 39" white oak to split that I've been putting off because of all the mud around here.

Supprisingly well for as chinsy as it looks

Just dont let the setscrews come loose or it will raise havoc with your chain. As you can see from the pic, the cut was pretty darn good, and split the pith directly in half. Not bad for being 48" across.

[stonebroke]

About 25 years ago I sold a woodlot with seven very large ( smallest was 44 inches smallend the largest the logger could not pickup off the ground with the arch on a jd skidder, also had to push on the log truck cause the picker would not pick it up) anyway I asked the logger how the saw mill was going to cut them and he said that they put them straight up and down like they were growing and got in a bucket loader and just cut from the top to the bottom. No wedging necessary but I would not like to be cutting the last few inches. He said they stayed upright. He also comment the sawmill liked those logs cause you could cut on them for quite a while.

Stonebroke

[ely]

i do just like you except i just use a chalk line , the rest is pretty much the same. i do also put the log up on some poles or small trees to keep the bar out of the dirt. biggest so far is 44 inches on the small end. if it is less than 30 i just saw them on the mill.

[ARKANSAWYER]

 


  I use a chalk line and often paint over it when snapped and use it like a blumbob to do the ends.  Some times I can not get the bar to hit in the middle so I use a 20 ton jack to cut into the butt flare to split the halves off.

[Slabs]

We've done that too.  Wiggle the halves up on the mill and split them down the middle and you're set up for some great quartersawing.  Watch the rings until the angle approaches the limit of quarter and roll the cant 90 degrees.

[ely]

if i half one with a chainsaw i also quarter it with the chainsaw. i meant if the log is less than 30 inches, we just do all the sawing on the mill. if its my mill i roll it around and take slabs off until i can saw it, but on dads mill we can quarter it alot quicker without all the rolling,.

[scsmith42]

Jeff, you need to stop fooling around with those big logs and drop them by my place instead!

Scott

[Dan_Shade]

But he can cut a 21" wide quartersawn board from a big log, Scott

I'm waiting on another whopper to show up at my door, I made a jig to quarter a log that I want to try out.

[zopi]

When you are splitting with the chainsaw put the log up on some square timbers and chock 'em in good and tight...and high enough to keep the bar out of the dirt however deep you go...

I have split logs like this, but it is a pain to guide the saw through the second cut...i generally get close and split it with wedges...depends what you are sawing for i guess...

[New Inn Wood Man]

Hi,

I get quite a bit of my business from larger logs .

I have some piccies on my website of me chainsaw milling with my little aluminum frame. Anything above 30 inches I usually breakdown before band milling. I half it if there is a machine to lift it or quarter it if we have to manually move it or quartersaw it. When halfing we cut from either side which usually meets within a sixteenth of an inch. Usually

Richard

[New Inn Wood Man]

Right I think I've mastered the photo thing! Well very nearly!

 

[gharlan]

New Inn Wood Man I thank you for the pics. I also loved your web site. i am curious though how long it takes to get the chainsaw mill attached and set up for quartering a log.

[scrout]

New Inn Wood Man,
Great website.
I see your saw has an Oregon bar, their plant is just down the way from me here is the USA.
Love the rock buildings in the pics, which is older, the tree or the buildings?
Dont see much of that here on the west coast.

What brand of chainsaw mill is that?  How long is the beam?

Thx.

[CALSAW]

That chainsaw milling rig looks like one of Will Malloff's designs.

[New Inn Wood Man]

Hi Guys,

Thanks for the kind words on the website. I get quite bit of business through the site so I always try to keep some reasonable pictures on it.

The mill frame is Swedish supplied courtesy of Logosol. The one in the pictures is the version 1 which I find much better for reducing larger timbers. The track length supplied with each kit is 7.5m. You can keep buying the track to mill as long as you wish. The challenge there is keeping it straight  . I once milled some bridge supports that were 9m and used wooden right angled brackets screwed to the side of the log. That seemed to work ok.

To give you some idea of the timings; to half a 3 foot diameter, 6 foot long butt will take 40 mins from driving up to driving off again. To quarter the same butt will be about an hour. I am pleased with the system as it means the cuts are neat and usually  fully separate the quadrants. The whole operation is made slicker by organising the kit in the truck. The track lives in boxes on the roof rack and I just pull out the bits I need from the trunk when I get there.

The stone building was Haddon Hall in Derbyshire. A lovely old stately home. I usually only see the working yard. Haddon Hall is a fortified medieval manor house dating from the 12th Century, and is the home of the Manners whose family have owned it since 1567.

I like using the Oregon bar as it is quite rigid. When the saw is on its side the bar/chain tend to droop under its own weight. This obviously gets worse the longer the bar you use. If the bar is not stiff enough this becomes a problem as the cuts do not meet in the middle . If you have a machine present to finish off the job that is ok but if not it can present you with some problems I find that 42inch droops so much it is only of used for cutting all the way through a timber in one pass. The 36 inch is the max I would use to go in from both sides. If the log is larger than this I would be looking to take sections of it out at a time.

NIWM

[Jason]

       They're not lying about your website. Looks very professional. I'm going to have my personal web designer, aka: wife, take a look at that before she does up our web page. I like all the info on it.

[hazard]

New Inn Wood Man

I like your site and what you can do with a huge log.  I was curious if you have problems with not enough oil on the bar?

Before I had gotten a oil tank for the end of my bar on my granberg rig I was short on oil at the tip of the bar and the chain and bar were getting way to hot.

thanks
Chris

[New Inn Wood Man]

Jason,
Glad you like the website. Have you got one running at the moment?

Hazard,
I use 3120's with stellite tipped bars . Even though they are tensioned a little higher I have never had a problem with overheating and I run on the std oil feed setting. As they do not rely on a sprocket to lift the chain off they get pretty hot anyway. No blueing though.

If I have any problem it is likely to be a sawdust jam but even this is V. rare . It is probably caused when I do not get the wedging right

Richard

[Jason]

Wood Man,
       I do not have the site up and running yet but I do own what I think is called the domain.
Personally, I am computer illiterate. I know how to find what I need to in the internet but as far as building anything other than what I can do with my own two hands I am lost. Soon enough me and the wife will sit down and work on it.       

[rebocardo]

The most kickback I have ever gotten was splitting logs with ripping chain. How I did it was propping the logs to make sure the halves did not roll, on my side of the log I used the bumper of my truck against the side to keep it from rolling towards me. Then standing on the second step of a wide step ladder, saw off to the right, and splitting straight down. Then roll the log and repeat. If the kerf did not meet I split it with my hi-lift jack.

I saw some pictures on here of "Rosie" standing on the log to do it, but, I was too afraid of kickback killing me, plus, I am not that sure on my feet to do it on a log with a running saw.

[New Inn Wood Man]

Rebocardo

Benefit of the little frame system is that no kick back can be transmitted back to the operator. Nice 'n safe. The saw is bolted to the sawmill. I've never had any misbehaviour of the chain or the logs when I have been doin' this I am thankful to say. I'm still carefull and considered, treating each log with great respect. As you say in your post propping the log safely is key to this operation but that is true whenever you deal with a large timber. If you trap the chain due to weight shift when you complete the cut it means you have not got your wedges in the right places in my experience  .If you get hem in the right place it anticpates the movement.

 In the case where you saw me millling the log from the top I decided it was safer to above the log than to the side of it which was actually beneath it!

If your making advances to me by callin' me Rosie it wont work You need another type of forum! You can by all means call me Wood Man though and I will respectfully address you by your name.

[Oregon_Sawyer]

Here is an old post showing an old-timer cutting some big logs for me.  This tree was over 60 in on the butt.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,4484.0.html

Loren

[New Inn Wood Man]

Loren

Thanks for the link. If there is the wrong end of a stick to grab I'll grab it!!

Rebocardo,

Apologies, I hope no offence taken. Looking at the pictures in the link I understand your point!

Richard