Cutting beams on the Lucas

[brdmkr]

We have been cutting 6x12x20s on the Lucas.   The actual cutting is not that tough, but handling those logs and beams is a chore.  I thought I would post some pics to show how we were doing it.  Any ideas for improvement on the process would be appreciated as we still have a few large beams yet to cut.

We open un the frame to remove slabs and load logs.




To remove the beam, we use the FEL to push the beam off one end a foot or so and then pull the beam with a chain.
 



When the beam is pulled far enough out to rest one end of a section of 2x4 on the ground we get under it with the FEL.
 



My wife (er boss) and owner of the tractor (long story) then swings the other end out of the mill.



Loading a new log is then easy with the FEL and the rail out of the way.  With shorter logs, it is still much faster to have a deck feeding the bunks, but with the long logs, the FEL with open frame seems to work best for us.  With some of the larger logs, the little tractor will not pick them up, so we have some ramps rigged up to sort of push the logs up.

The actual cutting is pretty fast.  Really even rotating the head is no big deal in the overall scheme of thing, but I would not want to cut 1x12's with this mill.  For the big stuff, it is really pretty profitable.  Here are some picks of 3, 6x12x20s and one 4x12x20s.  One of the 6x12s is cypress and will be a non-structural beam to visually separate the living room from the dining room of our new home.  The other 6x12s will serve as exposed headers in various places.  The 4x12s will be floor joists for a loft. 

 

[ErikC]

 I do it similarly on the Peterson. The main thing is not to move the rest of the log if there is more cutting to do, or everything is out of alignment and the log will need resurfaced.  I have the low tracks, so I load over the rails, and take big beams out the same way. Just pull up right next to the cut beam, move one end over on the loader, then the other, and back on out.

[Meadows Miller]

Gday

Brdmkr Hows things going Mate Looking good you have some nice timber comming off the saw there Mate 

 The way i do it is i use a pair off lifting tongs and take the tie rod out off the light end of the winch assembly (W/o the head unit weight on it  and keep the H/U shifted back to the lh winch side ) then just lift it strait off    (you might have to go Lh down on you loader steering a little to clear the Hu end tho  wo much if any movment in the bottom slab  then you can just put the tierod back in and keep sawing ive used two mill tracks to cut beams upto 40' this way in the past  I just had too take more tierods out tho 

Keep up the good work Mate

Reguards Chris

[nas]

My wife (er boss) and owner of the tractor (long story) then swings the other end out of the mill.

All my equipment is my wife's.
wait till she sees what she's getting for mothers day

[Meadows Miller]

  Thas a good one Nas  Maby thats what i shoulda told the first Missus  Im geting all this stuff Just for You     

Reguards Chris

[okie]

Looks good Maybe I'll try that one day.

[KnotBB]

bdrmkr
How do you spin the saw to cut 12"s?  What's your process?

[Chico]

Nice job Bdmkr good clean looking beams
Chico

[brdmkr]

bdrmkr
How do you spin the saw to cut 12"s?  What's your process?

It depends.  If the carriage is not too high and we are not tired the wife boss helps me pick up and spin the carriage.  If we are tired, or the carriage is high, we use the FEL on the tractor to pick up the carriage on one end and take it to the other.  If I am working by myself, I put the wheels on the carriage and take the carriage off just as if I were moving the mill.  I dislike the last method the most as it can be tough to get the rails back to the exact same spot.  It really doesn't matter how many pains I take with the setworks, I still seem to be off just a little.   

[KnotBB]

The times I've done it (always by myself) I've raised the saw, centered the carriage, lowered the saw back onto the log, balanced on the blade and guards and the walked it around.  Doesn't work real well on small logs, like not at all,  and the log pretty much needs to be centered in the frame.

I like the idea of using the wheels, hadn't thought of that.  Duh for me!

Have heard of using a 4 legged sling attached to the four frame corners and then lifting that and spinning.  No up and down with the rails at all.  If I had a front end loader I'd build the sling and drill some holes to put a snap hooks on the end of the sling and try it.  I'd think really small cable would work and be handy
Have you tried anything like that?

[bandmiller2]

Have any of you swingers ever mounted your logs on a carriage to travel under the saw head.??A flat carriage with end clamps,long logs could be rolled up a low dead deck.Logs longer than the mill frame could be cut.Power feed could be used.Frank C.

[brdmkr]

Have heard of using a 4 legged sling attached to the four frame corners and then lifting that and spinning.  No up and down with the rails at all.  If I had a front end loader I'd build the sling and drill some holes to put a snap hooks on the end of the sling and try it.  I'd think really small cable would work and be handy
Have you tried anything like that?

When I get a saw shed, that is exactly  what I hope to do.  Really, I ought to go ahead and rig a sling and use the FEL to do the llifting.

[KnotBB]

Let me know how it works, please.

[Dakota]

I rigged this up a few years ago.  It works pretty slick for swinging the head around. The little winch was $50 at costco.




 


Dakota

[woodsteach]

I've never looked closely enough at a Lucas to know but, can't you take off the splitter and just slide the saw to the right side of the log and cut?  That is the way my Brand X is.

woodsteach

[brdmkr]

I've never looked closely enough at a Lucas to know but, can't you take off the splitter and just slide the saw to the right side of the log and cut?  That is the way my Brand X is.

woodsteach

I wish I could.  There are guards (other than the riving knife) underneath that prohibit this.  You could cut off the guards and make it so that you could cut a 1x12 with a 6" mill or a 2 x 12 with an 8" mill.  The engine sits too low in the carriage to cut wider than this with the guards removed.

[Captain]

Nice work brdmkr.  My wife "owns" the sawmill business as well, it is a "division" of her Horse Stable operation.  She wanted a barn for the horses.  I got a sawmill out of it.     Then another...then another....

[brdmkr]

Nice work brdmkr.  My wife "owns" the sawmill business as well, it is a "division" of her Horse Stable operation.  She wanted a barn for the horses.  I got a sawmill out of it.     Then another...then another....

It really doesn't bother me.  I actually kind of like the fact that she is interested in that sort of stuff.  I hope she would like another mill soon

[Firebass]

Looks like fun bdmkr.  I made a 8 x 14 x20' beam the other day and I went to move it   I had to check to see if it was sawed all the way thru.    Maybe you could take a crowbar and lift the beam then put some short pipe rollers under it to aid in sliding it off the log. 

Firebass

[brdmkr]

Looks like fun bdmkr.  I made a 8 x 14 x20' beam the other day and I went to move it   I had to check to see if it was sawed all the way thru.   
Firebass

I tried to scooch the first one of those I cut   We use the tractor for everything on those beams.