Anybody have a portable log deck?

[Joe Hillmann]

In my own yard I have a pile of logs that are too small to saw that are stacked up log cabin style for my log deck.  When I go to put a log on the mill I use the tractor to put the log on the deck then put 6x4 between the deck and the mill and roll the log onto the mill from the deck.

I do it this way to prevent damaging the mill by bumping into it with the log or tractor.  I can also put two or three logs on the deck which means a lot less starting of the tractor.

I have a portable job coming up.  The guy has equipment to move the logs I just don't trust him to do it gently enough to not risk damaging my mill.  So I am looking for some type of somewhat portable log deck to bring with on portable jobs. 

My ideas are two heavy duty saw horses or just cut a bunch of 5x5 cribbing  and use it to make a log deck.  I don't know if the saw horse idea would be stable and the cribbing idea would add a lot of weight to what I have to bring with when doing portable jobs.

[beenthere]

Make a deck out of the materials the customer has on hand. Either smaller logs that will be sawn last, or a couple pair of firewood blocks on end to act as your "horses" should give you a deck.
A deck just becomes part of the deal.

[AnthonyW]

What mill do you have?

Funny thing was I was thinking the same thing a few weeks back. My father was loading some short (4') but wide (36"+) logs on to the mill with the tractor. Given it was my father who has been around this type of equipment forever. I trust him. Others not so much.

I have a WM with the log ramps. Given I haven't put much thought in this yet, here are my two leading ideas.

(1) Add folding legs to the ends of the ramps so they become level and act as a loading deck. I see two issues with this simpler plan. First, if the ramps get bent I get doublely toasted; no ramps and no deck. Secondly, the ramps/top of deck are/would be firmly attached to my mill at the log bunks. Definitely don't want the bunks getting knocked around or damaged. So option 2.

(2) Build a small collapsible or foldable frame, not using the log ramps. Perhaps just large enough for 2 small or 1 really large log. Include "roll of protection on the side away from the mill. Use the ramp pins on the log bunk for alignment only but don't firmly attach the deck to the mill; using some type of sliding universal joint.

[blade69001]

   Sure do. This is the first one of three I will make. Right now most of my work is with 4-6 ft logs so this does the trick. I use a fork lift to move it around. 

 


 

[Joe Hillmann]

AnthonyW:  It is a homemade mill.

After reading beenthere's suggestions I realized I am over thinking this.  I can just lay down a few logs about 5 feet from the side of the mill then use my ramps with one end resting on the top of the logs and the other end on my mill and use that to put the logs on one at a time.  Then the last few logs just winch up the ramps from the ground.  Normally I would just winch them all up but I figured it would be nice to do as much of the heavy lifting with equipment as possible since it is there.

Although if anyone else has suggestions, post them it is always interesting to see how others handle the same issue.

[Joe Hillmann]

blade69001.  That looks like a set up that work well in a more permanent set up than what I am picturing.

[FarmingSawyer]

I had 8000ft to saw on one job and a tractor to use, so I thought I'd be slick and make a log deck.....I cribbed together a bunch of 6x6 and timberloc'd them together. Made 4x6 rails to swing onto the mill.....spent an hour fixing it all up. Went to load the logs and the first log--a 12ft x 30" maple-- came out of the grapple and rolled....right onto the 4x6s, which didn't land right on the mill side...the log kept going and ended up falling between the mill and the deck, shoving the mill over a couple of inches and sending the deck into chaos.

Took me 2 hours to clear away the mess. I used the grapple to load the mill from then on and it went much smoother......

[Tom the Sawyer]

I agree that letting a client or helper place logs on the mill with equipment may be hazardous to your mill.  It's great if they have equipment with forks.  I just have them raise the log about a foot off of the ground and pull up about 3' short of the mill, over the arms.  I have them stop then I raise the arms which picks the log off of their forks and they back away.  It has worked pretty well, even with unexperienced operators or jerky equipment. 

[mesquite buckeye]

 

  

 

[strunk57]

Yes, I have treated 6x6 spaced 30" apart, about 40" outside to outside, it's 14" long, can load it on the mill with forks, then strap it down for travel. 12-8" concrete block to get it off the ground, this is only used for larger mobile jobs though. It will hold around 12 tie logs.

[bandmiller2]

Joe, I have always used HD saw horses about 8' long, one person can move them around. Their oak, top is 4"x6"x8' legs are 2"x4" oak. Have a couple of removable pieces so you can walk beside the mill. Frank C.

[Brucer]

Mine would fall into the category of "transportable". I built it to handle 30-36' Douglas-Fir logs for a specific job. The logs had 16" to 18" tops.



I used 3 rails because I wanted to saw shorter logs at the same time, without having to dismantle everything. The rails were 14' long so I used 3 supports for each. If I had smaller diameter logs I could have used only 2 supports each.

The blocking was 8"x8"x32" cut from trembling aspen -- very light when dry. Each piece probably weight 25 pounds max. I set them up so the tops were flat and level, but not necessarily level with each other. Small shims on top of the blocking leveled everything up. I also strapped some 1x8's to the top of the rails so they wouldn't get chewed up by the logs.

I didn't fasten anything together. The weight of the rails kept the blocking from shifting. The weight of the logs kept the rails from shifting. I screwed down some 2x6 blocking across the outboard ends of each rail to keep a log from rolling backwards off the ends when I first set it down.

I had no problems of any kind with this setup. When the job was done, the rails became timbers in the customer's house and I cut the blocking to 16" lengths and split it for firewood.

The blocking dimensions were perfect -- long enough to be stable, high enough to require the minimum number of pieces, light enough to handle without much effort.

[YellowHammer]

 

  

  

 

I built a couple simple "L" shaped brackets for my old mill.  They hooked into metal loops welded to the side of the mill, were adjustable height, and could be removed in seconds.  We always staged logs on the deck before rolling them into the mill to protect it from loader operator damage.  They cost almost nothing to build and were light and portable.
YH

[AnthonyW]

 

I built a couple simple "L" shaped brackets for my old mill.  They hooked into metal loops welded to the side of the mill, were adjustable height, and could be removed in seconds.  We always staged logs on the deck before rolling them into the mill to protect it from loader operator damage.  They cost almost nothing to build and were light and portable.
YH

That's what I'm talking about! I'm just not sure if I want them attached hard and fast to the mill.