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Started by joshua5, April 13, 2003, 09:16:26 AM

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joshua5

newbie here and i must say - wow, this is a great site!!  friend of mine and i have a custom ripsaw band with a 22" throat capacity.  it's slow, but a ton of fun!  unfortunately i've been infected and as soon as the school loans are paid off (many years), i may just wind up buying something a little easier/faster.  done a lot of research on the lt15, norwood, and timberking 1220.  enough history...

i have a question - if you have a manual bandmill with the trailer package, how do you get the log onto the bed of the mill?  it lowers and the wheels come off the trailer?  you have to saw with 47 of your closest friends to get the log up on the bed?  thanks for your replys.

ohsoloco

I just slide the wheels out of the axle on my Norwood.  The rails are now pretty close to the ground...maybe a foot high?  At first I used slabs and 4x4's as ramps, but then found some sign posts lying around on top of an old lumber pile in the yard.  I doubled them up and use two sets of these as my ramps....the angle I roll the log up is very low, and the "ramps" have already supported a two ton log I rolled up.

ohsoloco

Josh, according to your profile you're from PA...what part?

biziedizie

ohsoloco can ya post a pic of your ramp. I'm doing it the hard way and need a better way to do it.

    Steve

ohsoloco

It's not much of a ramp...it's still the hard way  :D   I actually stripped off a few inches of soil where my mill sits, so that it sits a little lower.  When I want to load a log I pick up a pair of the sign posts that are stacked together, set one end on the ground and one end on the rail, then grap the other and do the same.  Log loaded, put the "ramps" aside till the next log.  

These sign posts look like this in cross section:

     _/`````````\_


joshua5

ohsoloco, i live in berks county, about an hour west of philly.  if there are any norwood, timberking 1220, or LT15 users in the area, i'd love to do some free grunt work and observation for a day or two!  

rolling a two ton log up a ramp sounds a little intimidating... ok, a lot intimidating.

Tom

A lot of the non-hydraulic bandmills with trailer packages use ramps.  Sometimes the ramp equates to dragging the logs onto a hill and put the saw at a lower elevation. That way a vehicle can get the log above the mill.  It is a technique used by a lot of coffee pot circle mills too.  They build a mound up higher than their carriage.

Another way is to use a backhoe, front-end loader or chain-fall attached to a strong limb above the mill.

When the ramps are the only thing available then a cable or rope looped under the log and attached to a power source on the other side of the mill will allow the log to be rolled up the ramp without much human intervention.  The power source may be a car, truck, tractor, winch(even manual), or several big fellows pulling on the rope.

Where there's a will, there's a way. :D

Jeff

Dont some of the ramps available have jackdogs built in? As you roll the log up, the dogs pop up to keep the log from rolling back?
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Tom

Yep, That keeps the log from rolling back but it doesn't help too much with the rolling up part. :D

It does let you get another bite with your cant hook though.

Oh!  I forgot!   Welcome to the Forestry Forum, Joshua. :)

Jeff

Here is a picture of Kevins L-15 and ramps

He has more pictures on his sawmill webpage
http://www3.sympatico.ca/kvn.rob/LT-15.html
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Kevin

I've been using a hookaroon on most logs with those ramps and it's not difficult to walk the logs up the ramps.

Tom

I hear tell, if you infuse the log with alcohol, it makes it light headed and easy to lift. :D

Jeff

Tom, You need to stop drinking that hard lemonade.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

joshua5

kevin, when you say it's not too bad with a hookaroon, you mean when working by yourself, correct?  

what's the longest lever arm on a hookaroon you can get?  i could stand to gain a few pounds and would probably need a large lever arm.  

i've never used a saw while drinking hard lemonade but if you say it'll help tom, i guess i've gotta give it a try.

thanks all.

Jeff

A hookaroon does not work on leverage like a peavey or a cant hook. Its a more simple tool that looks kinda like an axe with a hook that can be swung at and hooked into the log end to pull it.
Just call me the midget doctor.
Forestry Forum Founder and Chief Cook and Bottle Washer.

Commercial circle sawmill sawyer in a past life for 25yrs.
Ezekiel 22:30

Kevin

If you purchase a hookaroon for the first time make sure of your footing, you can take a pretty good staggering , stumbling , uncalculated backwards header.

Moulder

Josh, I also have a Lumbermate,I broke down and bought the log rolling package,I did'nt want to spend the money but I have to admint I'm totally happy with it.Did [3] 18" 12' cherry tree logs yesterday yes it is slow but I was bacially able to load them by myself and had enough energy left to eat dinner that night. If I had to do over again I would . RP
RANDY

chet

I attached a boat winch to a 5' section of 31/2 x 31/2, and loaded the winch with light cable. I made pockets out of 4 x  4 tube and attached them to the rails, spaced so they would be in the center of 8', 12' & 16' logs. I made 2 temporary  5' ramps from 4x4 elm, with small notches cut in the end so they won't slide up the mill when winching. The ramps work so well i havn't bothered to come up with anything else.  
Small logs we will just roll up the ramps. Larger ones I put the winch in the aproprite pocket, run the cable over the center of the log, under it, and back attaching the cable back to the winch post. This way the log will roll, rather than be pulled up the ramps. I have loaded 36" whitepine very easily myself with this setup,      the tuff part is flipping the big cants.       For me working with the mill up off the ground is a lot more comfortable.  
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

biziedizie

I've rolled a 16' log that was 26" in dia using the peavy and it was a breaze, I just used two 8' 4x4s to roll it up on the mill. Now the big danger is if the thing was to roll back on me I would be dead!
  After seeing the pic of Kevin's  ramp with the spring loaded fingers I now have an idea as to what I'm going to build now. I'm sure glad to see that pic as I've been banging my head against the wall trying to think of an idea. I do have a tractor but when it rains the seat gets wet and I always forget and sit in a puddle :D So on rainy days I do it with the peavy and I don't mind it one bit.
  
  Moulder if you have a pic or two of your log loader I'm sure there's a few people here that would like to see them. :)

     Steve

Tom

I've rolled some big logs up to my mill and didn't even break a sweat.  Used a couple of cant hooks and two young farm boys that were taught not to challenge an elder. :D :D

ohsoloco

Josh, I have a Norwood here in Centre County.  Feel free to stop by sometime to check things out.   I'll have to put in an order with the tree service for another two ton log so you can see how it's loaded  :D

Moulder

Steve, I'm doing good to get this internet thing figured out,so I will tackle pictures later.That said the description that Chet has given of his loader sounds alot like what Norwood has with the difference on the ramps which go from the bed rails to the ground. About 2/3rds of the way up the ramps have rollers which allow to postion the logs length wise along the bunks. Chet's way was probably a lot cheaper than the way I went.RP
RANDY

chet

I probably have about $150.00 into my loading system. I don't have the rollers on my ramps though. After the log is started up the ramps I simply use my canthook as a lever and lift one end of the log to better aim it to where I want it, if needed.  With the cable supporting the log in the middle it is rather easy to reposition the log.
I am a true TREE HUGGER, if I didnt I would fall out!  chet the RETIRED arborist

SW_IOWA_SAWYER

I have a Norwood I built what sounds like the same thing. I have a manual winch mounted to a sq tube the fits into a square tube underneath the saw. I built ramps that have a flat section that acts as a table for holding big slabs that I kick off while qtr sawing. My ramps have two 1" bolts that fit into the hole in the side of the tracks I can tighten them but I have never needed to do so. I will try and post a picture soon. I have rolled on some 30" white oak logs with no trouble. I make sure I never get between the log and anything else just in case something breaks. I am working on a floating bunk to cut short logs now. Norwood makes it real hard to cut anything shorter then 4' but I think I just about have that solved.
I owe I owe so its off to work I go....

ohsoloco

When I cut crotches that are less than 4 ft. long, I usually put down a couple of spare 4x4's across the bunks to set the crotch on.  Clamping it becomes the hard part  ???

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