Whatcha Sawin' ???

[WDH]

Mainly due to the size restriction from their ring debarkers.  You cannot put a 30" log through a 24" ring. 

[Magicman]

I chuckle telling customers that most commercial sawmills will not take anything over 24", but I can saw them up to 36".  Loggers have to routinely "jump butt" logs to 24" and leave that butt in the woods.

[goose63]

That old truck is a International it just sits there for looks now.

But I was told the guy might sell it well now you all know what the wife had to say about that don't you 

[Magicman]

 

 
Well DanG.  I wanted to buy it so that I could take a load off of my old wagon.   :   :D

[LeeB]

That's a big chunk of cypress.

[caveman]

Is that a big old cypress MM?

John and I have not run the mill since before Irma's visit.  Yesterday we "petted the rattlesnake(the live oak that split near the mill shed and kiln)-with a 10' pole saw" and some idiot standing on the tractor forks (John was not the idiot).  The area in front of the mill is now mud instead of under water.

We have a very small pine job to do sometime soon and have been getting a lot of calls from people with trees left in the wake of Irma but most are bigger than we want to fool with.  This week I stopped and looked a gnarly laurel oak log that some rich fellow had in town, it was 46" dbh and 31' long-he wanted it slabbed 3" thick to have a conference table built.  We declined.

There are some very good logs getting sawn into firewood length and placed on the curb.  We have had two fires burning here disposing of downed trees and debris-day 11 on one and day nine on the other. 

Hopefully we can salvage some of what Irma left-just too many irons in the fire (old saying) right now.


  

[Magicman]

That old Cypress log could have some amazing figure within it.  The butt is toward the right and it had three major limbs sprouting from the left side. 


 
Using this log as a comparison


 
I can only imagine what could be inside.

[Ga Mtn Man]

Wow! 

[DRB]

Okay now here is what logging in the Northwest was like a few years ago. Not many mills aroudn that saw them this big anymore. 

 

[50 Acre Jim]

My Mother-in-law hadn't seen the sawmill yet so today we took her down to the barn for a demo.  I didn't have anything worth milling so I grabbed a limb that came off a large Red Oak that the wind blew down a month or so ago.  I explained how we wouldn't get much "good" lumber out of it and that this was just going to be a demo of how the saw worked.

So away I went and when the first cut came off she squealed "I want it!  Make me a table out of that!"  Actually surprised me too as I hadn't expected to get much out of this.  And then suddenly, there was something cool! 

I haven't told her it will be a year or so before she can have it, why ruin her day, right? 

[Bruno of NH]

I sold the oak that I post about yesterday
I still have 6 more oak logs to mill.
Hopefully it will sell just as fast.
I can't keep a pine board around right now .
I told the condos I contract to that next year I'm only working 3 days a week doing carpentry. Next year 4 days a week milling and selling wood

[fishfighter]

That's a big chunk of cypress.

Got a few on my place that are easy 14' across the butt. My grandpaw never sawed the cypress on his place way back in the day. When we tree our place, cypress and pecan trees are off limit and we only select cut about every 30 years. A hunting cub I use to be in had one that is a state record that is 17+' at the base.

[WDH]

Bruno,

3 days per week plus 4 days a week = 7 days a week  .

[Magicman]

It's my understanding that there are folks harvesting those old swell butt Cypress stumps such as is being done with some of the old Redwood stumps.  The price would be sky high on the lumber because of where it came from.

[Bruno of NH]

WDH
I have worked 7 days a week spring - fall most of my adult life.
I try to stop but can't do it :(
My wife doesn't like it much
It's the only thing I've ever been good at

[scleigh]

Like the Beatles around here, 8 days a week  :D

[Darrel]

Okay now here is what logging in the Northwest was like a few years ago. Not many mills aroudn that saw them this big anymore. 

 

Reminds me of the early sixties after my parents moved to the California coast. Pacific Lumber could only load 1 tree on a train and it wasn't a little train.

[KirkD]

There is still a mill in Eugene that can cut old growth fir and they sell a lot of large beams.

[WV Sawmiller]

Darrel,

  Glad you can even remember the 60's. Some of us can't. :D :D :D

   I did not get any sawing done today but I did haul 2 trailer loads of mostly walnut and 4 Norway spruce logs. Took my little JD750 with small FEL over. Had to pull the walnut up from a hollow where it had dropped. Broke a fitting/hose on the FEL and we rolled the last 2 walnut logs down the hill with cant hooks and up over the side on 4 locust poles brought for that purpose. I bucked, anchorsealed the small logs left and pulled them up to the yard and will go back and get them with my small utility trailer instead of my son's  6 X 14 dual axle trailer. The last cut my chain came off and I found the chain stretcher had broken and my spare was for an old Makita I used to have. Had another Sthil on strike so swapped the parts to get the job finished. I started loading about 0800 and got home about 2000 so pretty log day but my log pile is happier.

[Rob in NC]

Cut some black walnut slabs over the weekend. This has to be the hardest thing I have ever sawed - they have been on the ground about a year now which didn't help but I could only get 2 trunk sections out of a 4 degree blade. We cut everything 7/4 and stickered it up to dry.

I used white oak stickers because it was all I had - do I need to worry about staining with these? ive been told to match sticker species to your boards to prevent staining but common sense told me that the darker wood may stain the lighter sticker but not the other way around.

[WDH]

As long as the stickers are dry, you are good to go. 

[scleigh]

Just finished 1140 bf of cherry


 
Got to band lumber together and get 2000 bf of walnut for same customer


 

[Magicman]

Those walnut slabs are plenty nice Rob.  I think that they are worthy of a blade or two.   ;D

Nice scleigh!   

My customer said that my Tuesday's logs will be nice.  I have sawn many tens of thousands of bf for him so he should know.  I am anxious.

There was no need for me to be anxious except to saw these beauties.


 
Twelve 16' logs.  The largest butt is 33" and the smallest top is 15".


 
Set up and sawing before 9:00.


 
My tailgunners loved the 60" Logrites.   


 
But for safety reasons I pulled the "heavies" out with the log clamp, chain, and end tong.


 
A sample of red clay gravel imbedded in the bark on every log.   :-\


 
We sawed 7 logs in 6½ hours.  I used 10°, 4°, and 7° Turbo blades.  I got the best sawing with the Turbos.


 
The 5 remaining logs are in the background.  The cut list was for only "factory" 2X6's.  No 2X4's nor 1" (flat) lumber.  I do not scale nor charge for sawing stickers which were sawn from the edgings many of which would have easily made a 2X4.  I scaled/billed for 3078 bf.  Those are actually four 48" wide stacks that will be hauled to his barn/shed for proper stickering.

The customer has two more trees to fell which will make another 9 logs so at this time I do not know whether I will leave the sawmill tomorrow or go back when he gets the logs staged.   

[4x4American]

I hate that when logs come in packed with gravel/sand...

[Chuck White]

The debarker is your savior!

But the gravel/mud on the "out" side will still dull your blades some!

I sawed some Hemlock a few years back that (from a distance) looked like Beech!