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How might you saw your slabs into firewood?

Started by WoodenHead, June 20, 2015, 12:26:46 PM

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WoodenHead

Generally I sell the mill slabs by the pickup/trailer load.  The customer loads themselves and I'm only involved for about 30 seconds collecting payment.  However, I've toyed with the idea of sawing up the slabs and selling the firewood.  I know others are doing this.

Is there low cost equipment out there for this sort of thing?  I've looked at some of the smaller wood processors, but they are not really built for slabs.  I found a youtube video of a self-built machine. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_zPS-Z1HLM

Seems to work.  Anyone doing something similar?


kelLOGg

My slab rack is 1 chainsaw bar length wide. When full, I saw it to ~20" length and burn it myself.
Bob
Cook's MP-32, 20HP, 20' (modified w/ power feed, up/down, loader/turner)
DH kiln, CatClaw setter and sharpener, tandem trailer, log arch, tractor, thumb tacks

fishfighter

I been just throwing them to the side. Once I get a big pile, I take my chainsaw to them. From there, I throw them in the front loader bucket and bring them to were I stack them on pallets, 4'x4'x4'. When I go to sell them, I know what I'm selling. Oak goes for over $150 a core here. My waste is money in the bank.

gww

wooden
The vidio looks much slower then just knocking it out with a chain saw.  I pile mine against the tree and just cut towards the ground.  It is not perfect consistancy on lenght but I don't find it easy to burn cause it is just to small.  I do it cause I don't like waste but real firewood is easier.  I am going to have to sell, give or have a bond fire cause I am getting more then I need.  I think the mills around here are selling a pickup truck of uncut for $10, so it is not worth what firewood is worth. 
If my wife would let me, I would pile it by the road and get my $10 or give it away but I am not the boss.  I could get $40 or $50 a rank for the tops of the trees cut up if I decide to work that hard.  I would like to put it out there on the honor system then I wouldn't even have to collect money or deal with anyone.  Too messy though.  It is hell to be a slob and live with a neat freak.  I love her though.
gww

drobertson

Not sure just how much you are talking about, for the most part most my slabs are pretty thin, not counting the swelled butt ends.  I just saw them off to lighten the load for me, then throw aside, pick up later, stack and burn in the winter months.  As to production, sounds like you need a feed chain with a saw of whatever type big enough (long) enough to cut in two.  Ok, I stopped typing and watched the video, not a bad set up, missing the off feed unless I missed it, so handling is the issue.   I believe anything is doable, just a matter of cost and profitability when the day is done.   I did a modify, had to because the message someone else has left a message, kinda hate that feature, but it works, that buzz saw was the first thing that came to my mind, chain saws work but not sure at the end of the day it would prove quicker,  you just need a conveyor to move the stock into a handler.
only have a few chain saws I'm not suppose to use, but will at times, one dog Dolly, pretty good dog, just not sure what for yet,  working on getting the gardening back in order, and kinda thinking on maybe a small bbq bizz,  thinking about it,

Brucer

Someone on the Forum (was it DanG? ) made a U-shaped cradle with a couple of wooden rails along the bottom. There were slots cut every 16" so you could throw the slabs in and then buck them with a chainsaw when the cradle was full.
Bruce    LT40HDG28 bandsaw
"Complex problems have simple, easy to understand wrong answers."

Percy

GOLDEN RULE : The guy with the gold, makes the rules.

Brad_bb

I just started miling in the last year.  I have one set of saw horses set up for sticker boards, Another set for slabs for firewood, a pallet with uprights for junk/bark/slabs without enough wood for firewood, and lastly 2 stacks for the good stuff I'm sawing out.  It's sorted as we go.  When the firewood slab is getting full, I use the chainsaw and my partner stacks 4 or so slabs and slides them over as I cut them to firewood length.  Then we stack it all on a pallet right next to where we're cutting it.  Then I take the full pallet out to the shed to dry.  My friends that can use it get free firewood- for their fireplaces bonfire pit.
Anything someone can design, I can sure figure out how to fix!
If I say it\\\\\\\'s going to take so long, multiply that by at least 3!

thecfarm

You said 30 seconds to collect the money,now you want to have another piece of equipment,cost? and then spend time to saw them to a certain length. Some may need 14 inches some may want 2 feet. Kinda like me years ago. I could sell my white birch in log length,8,10,12,14,16 foot lengths,no exact measurement,just needed 6 inch trim.Than I had some guy try to tell me to cut them into bolts,which had to be just about an exact length for $10 more a thousand. I think they wanted 96 inches. So I had to saw more AND I had to measure each one real close. Than if I had a 10 foot log,I had to cut 2 feet off it for 96 inches. What about a 12 foot log,there goes 4 feet. We're making money now!!!!  ::)   as I push that out of the way for my firewood,which I already have plenty of that.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

WoodenHead

Quote from: Percy on June 20, 2015, 10:56:13 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HXOpNU0-pzI

Thanks for that Percy!

Quote from: thecfarm on June 21, 2015, 07:40:38 AM
You said 30 seconds to collect the money,now you want to have another piece of equipment,cost? and then spend time to saw them to a certain length.

Yes, I will have to consider this carefully.  I've been sawing more each year, and it becomes increasingly difficult to get rid of the slabs.  I cut and burned some myself last winter and so did my dad on the top of the usual number of people who buy slabs from me.  And many times it takes more than 30 seconds to collect payment because people love to chat...

Quote from: gww on June 20, 2015, 03:02:33 PM
wooden
The video looks much slower then just knocking it out with a chain saw...

...It is hell to be a slob and live with a neat freak.  I love her though.
gww

Even if it is slower than a chainsaw, when automated and inline with my process, it will save.  As to your last comments, that is probably the bigger reason why I need something like this.  ;)  :D


dustyhat

Now i want to build one just for the heck of it, seeings how my wife likes to mess with firewood i can keep her real busy now :D :D :D :D 8)

Ox

3 people on a buzzsaw with a sliding table is fast and relatively easy.  One picking and guiding slabs, one running the table and one taking cut pieces away.  Running with a Lister 6/1 at 500 rpm you can run for over 4 hours on a gallon of fuel.  If you're by yourself a simple rack and a chainsaw is best.
K.I.S.S. - Keep It Simple Stupid
Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without
1989 GMC 3500 4x4 diesel dump and plow truck, 1964 Oliver 1600 Industrial with Parsons loader and backhoe, 1986 Zetor 5211, Cat's Claw sharpener, single tooth setter, homemade Linn Lumber 1900 style mill, old tools

North River Energy

 
Sooner or later this beastie will come back to life.
The minimal initial cost will be offset by time spent repowering etc.
I suspect the blade path and direction of tooth engagement relative to the slab(s) eliminates the need for any type of clamp or overhead guide roll?


 

Ron Wenrich

It depends on your setup.  If you're producing a bunch, then it might be time to look at a chipper or a hog.  A hog would be used for making mulch.  Depends on your markets.

I did work in a mill that had a swing saw.  Similar to the above, except it wasn't automated.  We took the big chunks and cut them into firewood size.  Also used it for trimming board ends.  The chunks fell onto a conveyor, and out into a pile.  You can get a pretty uniform size, and charge a bit more than slabs in a bundle. 
Never under estimate the power of stupid people in large groups.

Dave Shepard

I cut my slabs 42" for my OWB. I put them on my jig and cut through with a longer bar. Backstops are spaced 42" apart.



 
Wood-Mizer LT40HDD51-WR Wireless, Kubota L48, Honda Rincon 650, TJ208 G-S, and a 60"LogRite!

Peter Drouin

I thought of cutting the slabs , But I went with Morbark.
Sell chips for landscaping. At the end of the year when customers  are done landscaping I sell them to the wholesaler.


  

  

 
Then pay all the land taxes.
A&P saw Mill LLC.
45' of Wood Mizer, cutting since 1987.
License NH softwood grader.

red oaks lumber

we use to cut slabs to firewood length but, now the slabs get bundled after the rack is full.pile them with the skidsteer and sell them by the bundle $35 for hardwood $20 for softwood. can't keep them on hand :) that generates around $60,000 -$75.000 extra per year. not bad for waste material  ;D
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

cutterboy

I built a slab rack with uprights every 16".


 


 


 
I heat my house with them and the surplus I sell easily.


 
To underestimate old men and old machines is the folly of youth. Frank C.

WoodenHead

Thanks for your input!  I have some research and thinking to do.   :P

AnthonyW

Since mine are cut to fit in an OWB, 32" long. I was toying with the idea of using half width pallets to make a stand to put them on. I think I will need three or four of these stands. The stand would just be a box made from pallets. Since we already have the slab in our hands, place the slab on the "cutting table". When the table gets full, cut them to length with the chainsaw then stack them on the tractor forks to haul to the stacks. We can use the tractor to move the pallet stands around if need be. Never having to bend down other than to pick up and put down the chainsaw. All this bend to lift heavy things from the ground is getting real old real fast.
'97 Wood-Mizer LT25 All Manual with 15HP Kohler

YellowHammer

Quote from: red oaks lumber on June 21, 2015, 03:57:39 PM
we use to cut slabs to firewood length but, now the slabs get bundled after the rack is full.pile them with the skidsteer and sell them by the bundle $35 for hardwood $20 for softwood. can't keep them on hand :) that generates around $60,000 -$75.000 extra per year. not bad for waste material  ;D
I'd like the idea of selling slabs to cut my waste streams down. What size and weight are the finished selling bundles?   Can a customer load the bundles by themselves or do they need assistance with a loader?  Do you band then?
Thanks
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

red oaks lumber

yes the bundles are banded (2) size is about 3 1/2 ft. by 3 1/2 ft. length is 8 ft.or 10ft or 12 ft. the customer either can load by hand or we'll load for them. we have some customers that hire semi's with flat beds to haul full loads.
the experts think i do things wrong
over 18 million b.f. processed and 7341 happy customers i disagree

Jmccann1349

Quote from: WoodenHead on June 20, 2015, 12:26:46 PM
Generally I sell the mill slabs by the pickup/trailer load.  The customer loads themselves and I'm only involved for about 30 seconds collecting payment.  However, I've toyed with the idea of sawing up the slabs and selling the firewood.  I know others are doing this.

Is there low cost equipment out there for this sort of thing?  I've looked at some of the smaller wood processors, but they are not really built for slabs.  I found a youtube video of a self-built machine.  

Firewood Processor and slab saw - YouTube

Seems to work.  Anyone doing something similar?

Jmccann1349

I buy slabs to cut for firewood  I would like to build a saw like this. I would like to know how the saw carriage was activated and returned. Looks like a hydraulic system, but I'm not sure. Also the conveyor stop system is very interesting. I'm guessing the flap that the slabs hit and stop at the correct length activates the saw carriage, conveyor. This is a simple
System. I almost own as much stuff as Surplus Center trying to make other projects. I think it is best and cheaper just to ask than just buy and throw parts on it until it works. All suggestions are appreciated 

redbeard

One thing too think about is debarked slabs vs slabs with bark on with dirt n rocks.
A hydraulic run chainsaw bar maybe 24" would be more economical in the long haul.
Whidbey Woodworks and Custom Milling  2019 Cooks AC 3662T High production band mill and a Hud-son 60 Diesel wide cut bandmill  JD 2240 50hp Tractor with 145 loader IR 1044 all terrain fork lift  Cooks sharp

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