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I have to ask this question

Started by lyle niemi, June 08, 2013, 04:15:28 PM

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lyle niemi

I hope this doesnt get me into any trouble here but I see alot of pics of logs laying in the dirt and gravel. Why dont they put the logs on some skids or some sawdust, its well worth the time to save your blades dont ya think :snowball:

POSTON WIDEHEAD

You can't build skids or get sawdust until you saw the log.  ;D
The older I get I wish my body could Re-Gen.

Peter Drouin

Quote from: lyle niemi on June 08, 2013, 04:15:28 PM
I hope this doesnt get me into any trouble here but I see alot of pics of logs laying in the dirt and gravel. Why dont they put the logs on some skids or some sawdust, its well worth the time to save your blades dont ya think :snowball:

Yes I do. I try to get my customers to do that when Im on the road



  

  

  

  

 
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

beenthere

A good message to address, Lyle. Sometimes easier said than done.  :)
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

Bibbyman

Ain't got time to mess with skids and such. 

We try to minimize the problem by unloading and sorting on an area that is covered with bark and mill cleanout debris.  The backside of the loglot is on dirt.  Dirt is better than sand and small gravel.   Another why to handle the problem is to use large stone for lot paving.   Stone the size of goose eggs will not normally stick in the bark.  The ocasioal one that does is pretty easy to spot.  Otherwise,  hope the debarker clears a clean path.

Besides,  most logs we get have been skidded and roughly handled at the logger's landing and have been contaminated before delivery.
Wood-Mizer LT40HDE25 Super 25hp 3ph with Command Control and Accuset.
Sawing since '94

bandmiller2

Lyle, you can bet when I did my own logging the logs were spotless.When you cut for outhers your stuck with what they have.I try to educate folks as best I can, but spend more  time than I like with an axe and wire brush.Has anyone tried a two price schedule so much for clean logs, more for dirtbag logs.?? Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Magicman

Sometimes us portable guys just have to accept what we get and make the best of it.  Here is a saw job that is waiting for me.  It is ~130 miles away so I will be lodging with the customer.


 


 
Logs scattered everywhere, but I see an 8N in the background.  We will be alright.  This will be all framing lumber.   :)
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

chevytaHOE5674

Also depends on the volume of logs you have on hand. Mill I used to buy for would often have over a million feet of logs in the yard in piles anyplace they would fit, that would require an awful lot of skids to keep that many logs off the ground.

GDinMaine

I just did a small pine job where the customer put "skids" under the logs.  They were 2-3" sticks that were squished into the mud by the weight of the 20+ logs on top of them.  The debarker made clouds of dust as it made it's way through dry patches of dirt. More of the same waiting to be done.
It's the going that counts not the distance!

WM LT-40HD-D42

YellowHammer

I got tired of stockpiling mounds sawdust to sell to people, so I just use my loader to spread it out in the log yard and parking area.  It looks nice, keeps the weeds down, covers any mud, and gives a clean place to dump logs and keep them clean.
Then, when someone wants to buy a load of sawdust and asks where the pile is, I just tell them I have the sawdust spread out to dry, and I'll just be a minute skimming some up for them.  I don't even charge them extra for the drying. :D
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

Wash. Tinner

We debark all of our logs, we use a leaf spring that is sharpened on one end and a "handle" on the other end and a flat hoe. Would a pressure washer work to debark?

Brucer

Had a customer buy a Dougals-Fir log from me to use as a "natural" post in a house reno. He quickly tired of the drawknife and tried an 1800 PSI pressure washer. It "sort of" cleaned the surface of the log. So he tried as 2600 PSI pressure washer. That really cleaned up the log, got into all the cracks and crevices. Finally he rented a 3500 PSI pressure washer. That stripped the bark right off.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Piston

I think some people still skid their logs out of the woods as well, in that case, there isn't much sense in putting them up on bunks if they've just been skidded through the dirt  :D

Unless of course they'll be sitting a long while  ???

MM,
Is that a big stump grinder in the background?  Looks like a monster.
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

YellowHammer

I used a pressure washer before i got a mill with a debarker.  It was messy and wet.  I hated it, especially in the winter.
YH
YellowHammerisms:

Take steps to save steps.

If it won't roll, its not a log; it's still a tree.  Sawmills cut logs, not trees.

Kiln drying wood: When the cookies are burned, they're burned, and you can't fix them.

Sawing is fun for the first couple million boards.

Be smarter than the sawdust

bandmiller2

Dragging logs in the woods a short distance is almost unavoidable, a logging arch is the best answer.When I logged I would cut,prop off the ground and wait for snow to skid them out with a small crawler.Better solution was a heavy trailer with a jib crane.Now I take them as they come stripping bark when I can.I don't depend on the mill for a living so I can take a few minutes to clear the bands path.Dirty logs I tell them they will be slabed heavy. Frank C.
A man armed with common sense is packing a big piece

Peter Drouin

With the logs on a skids the rain will wash the dirt off  some  till you get to them. with the logs on the dirt the rain will splash the dirt on them.
for me when I go to saw them they role well to the mill, without skids you role dirt all the way around the log getting to the mill
thats how I do it, I mean no disrespect to no one  :)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

Magicman

Quote from: Piston on June 09, 2013, 04:19:08 AMMM, Is that a big stump grinder in the background?  Looks like a monster.
Yup, He actually sent me 3 pictures.  One showed the stump grinder, one the 8N, and one a closeup of a chocolate Lab.  I plan to be on that site after next week.  I have another saw job almost as large to do this week.
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

Piston

Quote from: Magicman on June 09, 2013, 07:47:12 AM
Quote from: Piston on June 09, 2013, 04:19:08 AMMM, Is that a big stump grinder in the background?  Looks like a monster.
Yup, He actually sent me 3 pictures.  One showed the stump grinder, one the 8N, and one a closeup of a chocolate Lab.  I plan to be on that site after next week.  I have another saw job almost as large to do this week.

You sure are staying busy in "retirement"  :D
If that grinder is still there, would you mind taking some pictures of it and posting them?  I'm also curious what the diameter of the grinding wheel is.   :o
-Matt
"What the Lion is to the Cat the Mastiff is to the Dog, the noblest of the family; he stands alone, and all others sink before him. His courage does not exceed his temper and generosity, and in attachment he equals the kindest of his race."

dboyt

Never underestimate an 8N.  Mine is a '53, just one year older than I am.  His name in "Henry".


 


 
Norwood MX34 Pro portable sawmill, 8N Ford, Lewis Winch

Jim_Rogers

Quote from: bandmiller2 on June 08, 2013, 08:21:50 PM
Has anyone tried a two price schedule so much for clean logs, more for dirtbag logs.?? Frank C.

From my printed rate sheet:

In the section about additional charges for damage to blades:

e. Debarking logs to remove dirt and rocks whether frozen or not is $75 per hour.

I usually carry two stop watches with me. One is for the time the blade has been sawing. One is for additional charges such as cleaning logs and scanning for nails.

Jim Rogers
Whatever you do, have fun doing it!
Woodmizer 1994 LT30HDG24 with 6' Bed Extension

danreed76

I bought a chipper a couple years ago (when I learned that pine tops and limbs pile up really quickly).  We use it to chip limbs, tops, and pine slabs.  before I stack logs in an area, I spread out a good bed of chips and sawdust.  The area around the mill stays pretty well full of bark and sawdust.  when I clean up around the mill, I'll bring a load of chips in to cover the bare spots.

Many of the tree companies in our area give wood chips away for free; that's a good option if you don't have enough sawdust to cover an area.
Woodmizer LT40 Hydraulic with resaw attachment |  Kubota MX5200  | (late)1947 8N that I can't seem to let go.

customsawyer

A lot of the logs that I cut are logged similar to the way Bobby Goodson does it on swamp loggers. So keep in mind that they have used my logs for a road to drive on and push them in to the mud. A debarker is your friend.
Two LT70s, Nyle L200 kiln, 4 head Pinheiro planer, 30" double surface Cantek planer, Lucas dedicated slabber, Slabmizer, and enough rolling stock and chainsaws to keep it all running.
www.thecustomsawyer.com

Peter Drouin

Quote from: customsawyer on June 09, 2013, 08:47:51 PM
A lot of the logs that I cut are logged similar to the way Bobby Goodson does it on swamp loggers. So keep in mind that they have used my logs for a road to drive on and push them in to the mud. A debarker is your friend.


Now I know why you have 2 sharpeners. have you tried the new debarker blade WM came out with :)
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

ddcuning

Local electric company here will give you older telephone poles for free. I am thinking I will layout three to set logs on for staging. May even double stack to keep down any soil and chance for bugs from getting into the logs. On the old mill I used to woork on I had a few logs that got in the dirt and had some gravel. Always kept a hatchet handy to chip the dirt and rocks off when we noticed them. Would still hit one every once in a while and have to shut down the mill and sharpen teeth.

Dave C
We're debt free!!! - Dave C, Nov 2015

Magicman

Quote from: ddcuning on June 09, 2013, 10:45:47 PM
Local electric company here will give you older telephone poles for free.

Wonder why they don't give older power poles  ???  :D
Knothole Sawmill, LLC     '98 Wood-Mizer LT40SuperHydraulic   WM Million BF Club Member   WM Pro Sawyer Network

It's Weird being the Same Age as Old People

Never allow your "need" to make money to exceed your "desire" to provide quality service.....The Magicman

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