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General Forestry => Sawmills and Milling => Topic started by: Qweaver on March 16, 2017, 08:07:10 PM

Title: What size to buck?
Post by: Qweaver on March 16, 2017, 08:07:10 PM
We are felling 5 acres of a clear cut that will become a food plot.  Lots of poplar, 16" Virginia pine, oak and various other size and types.  We do not have an immediate use for the logs and are unsure how long to buck the logs.  I'm thinking 10' and 16' or just what the log will best give us.  Terrain is a little rough/hilly and it may be scary with a fully loaded TLB 110 trying to turn over. I regularly carry 5000 lb logs around the level saw yard---whole different thing up on those hill sides. :o  Suggestions?  I know we could skid them and we will have a dozer on site to help but I just hate the thought of muddy logs on the WM.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Magicman on March 16, 2017, 08:42:48 PM
My recommendation is 12's & 16's and as you reach the top, you probably will have some 8's and maybe some 10's.

Reason; a 12' can be shortened to 10' and a 16" will always make two 8'.  Buck everything 6" over length.

I personally would not buck anything over 16' unless there was a known need.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: cuznguido on March 16, 2017, 08:47:52 PM
Can you rig up a water hose to wash your logs before loading them on the mill?  It would pay for itself in blades pretty quickly.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: WV Sawmiller on March 16, 2017, 08:52:09 PM
Quint,

   If you can handle them 21' gives you lots of flexibility. Can cut 8 & 12 or 2-10's. If you have to cut some 16's out of them you can either saw the 4' leftover for short boards or stickers. JMHO. Good luck.

   Kind of like cutting 2X12's for stock where the log permits. Can always rip them to 2X4s, 2X6 or a 2X8 & a 2X4.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Brucer on March 16, 2017, 10:04:37 PM
When I was sawing for a timber frame business, they had a couple of loads of logs come in that had to be dropped in an inconvenient location. These were in the 44' to 52' range. The owner sent his guys out to buck them into lengths that his forklift could manage -- he told them to try for 20 footers, figuring they could be cut down later. That was a mistake.

First off, it didn't seem to occur to his workers that cutting two 20 footers out of a 44 foot log was kind of wasteful.

Second, it seems that a 20 foot log doesn't give you as many options for bucking into short lengths as, say, a 24 foot log.

So, having said all that, if you can handle the longer logs, you might want to start with longer lengths that you can still handle, and buck them up to shorter lengths later.

I hate skidding logs through the mud, too, but if I have to I try to lift one end as high in the air as I can so just a short length is getting dirty.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Qweaver on March 16, 2017, 10:29:40 PM
Washing logs adds a lot of time to the processing and we work off of rainwater in tanks.  My saw yard does set right beside a river but with a 20' lift from water to saw yard level.  These logs are being cut an hour and a half from my saw yard...so we will probably  move the saw to the site if we saw and they use a spring as their water supply.  Again a river is handy.   But adds a lot of time to the process.  He will also have another 10 acres of right away logs shortly.  Good logs...I hate to lose them.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Kbeitz on March 16, 2017, 10:59:08 PM
Sounds like you need a cable crane and a mobile yarder.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: kensfarm on March 17, 2017, 01:18:29 AM
Do you have a trailer you can pull w/ the tractor?  Terrain too ruff, steep? 



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Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Treehack on March 17, 2017, 01:58:19 AM
If there are any smaller, less desirable trees you are taking down, could you cut a couple of them up and build a skidding sled?  That way it would keep the log up off the mud and the sled would do all the skidding.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: WV Sawmiller on March 17, 2017, 08:37:01 AM
   I amend my suggestion to follow Brucer's 24' (I'd think 25 for trim on each) as even more options to buck to smaller lengths as needed if you can handle them that size. I have blinders on as even a 20' log is hard for me to handle with my limited and undersized equipment and forget have bigger and better MHE for such. Good luck.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Magicman on March 17, 2017, 09:14:09 AM
Remembering also that (unless bucked shorter) a log will only saw out what the top end yields.  I love logs that have only a 1" and sometimes 0" taper.   ;D

I have a Cherry job scheduled for Monday and the customer sent me pictures.  He had them bucked to 16'+.  After talking about taper, he went back and bucked them to 8'.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Rougespear on March 17, 2017, 10:14:58 AM
We bucked at 29'... made real nice for 2x 14', a 12' and 16', etc.  It was a little on the long side, and our terrain was solid but close quarters, with good loading equipment.  29' was about all I could fit on the 20' flat deck for the 1/5 mile trip home.  It all depends what you want from the logs: 12-14' is a real nice length to saw, but as others have mentioned, be wary of sawing a 16' only to cut the boards in half after... lots is wasted to taper (depending if there is much).
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Ron Wenrich on March 17, 2017, 11:17:31 AM
We bucked to 24' plus trim on logs we didn't have a ready home.  It gave us lots of options, especially from a grade standpoint.  The log truck handled them just fine.
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Qweaver on March 18, 2017, 07:36:24 PM
We are working in very rough WV hill sides.  OK yesterday when the ground was mainly frozen...impossible today when  the ground was slick red clay.  We just had to give up and wait until we have some dry or frozen ground.  The right of way fellers just felled it all over the roads and we are going to have to use the dozer to get most of them clear of the mess.  Why would they do that?  Lots of good saw logs in there tho'  We have the TLB hung up several times and finally had to just give up.   Maybe better next week. We decided to get them as long as we could handle. 
Title: Re: What size to buck?
Post by: Bert on March 18, 2017, 07:48:39 PM
X2 on 24'. You cant go wrong. Thats my go to on big trees til I have a home for them. Not much to lose.