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What to do with big logs?

Started by rasawing, October 17, 2017, 04:28:17 PM

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rasawing

I am a property owner that will cut trees (once they die) for firewood. However sometimes I will have trees that come down that are just too big for me to want to use as firewood. We are talking 3 feet + in diameter. Hard even to roll into the splitter.

Therefore I was wondering what I can do in these cases. I've contacted tree services/firewood guys before......and I have to pay them just to take these logs off. Aside from just logging the whole place, I'm wondering is there an alternative I'm not thinking of here.

By the way, most of these logs are hardwoods. Any ideas welcome.


rasawing

And by the way, I've given some thought to burning them (at the bottom of brush piles).....but burning logs that big outside violates one of my 7 commandments of outdoor burning. So that's out.

TKehl

That is my favorite size for milling.  If you can use the lumber, I'd say get a portable swing mill.  It can be set up around the log and even most the smallest ones will handle up to 4'.

I have split ones that big for firewood.  Need a powerful splitter and a way to hook a chain to the ram to pull it back off the wedge when it get's hung up.  Usually not worth it to me.

Personally, I'd let it rot before paying someone to haul off a log.  One option there would be to inoculate it with mushrooms as you see the health decline.  Hopefully before it's taken over by other fungus.  Shitake would be a good one for most hardwood, especially Oak.
In the long run, you make your own luck – good, bad, or indifferent. Loretta Lynn

rasawing

I don't need the lumber.....so I'd be back at square one. (Unless I sold it.)

Letting it rot is something I've been toying with. I've got a clearing in the woods to dump it. Getting it there would be the hard part: I don't have a skidder. (Unless you count a tractor and a chain. And I don't want to do it that way because of the ruts it would leave in the ground.)

Ed_K

 Cut it to the width of your skid rd the lag bolt a couple pieces of metal you could hook a chain to each end and to your tractor and use it as a roller to get it to your stump dump.
Ed K

Gary_C

Depending on species, those big rounds are easy to split by hand. You just take thin splits off the sides until you get it down to manageable size on the splitter.

Remember the old saying, he who splits his own wood is twice warmed.
Never take life seriously. Nobody gets out alive anyway.

thecfarm

Those bigs ones kinda makes you wonder,if it's worth it? I had my land logged,lots and lots of cutoffs,some was up to 3 feet across. I found it was easier to cut them in half with a chain saw. Gave it a flat area to get up against the spiltter. But it still made me wonder.
Model 6020-20hp Manual Thomas bandsaw,TC40A 4wd 40 hp New Holland tractor, 450 Norse Winch, Heatmor 400 OWB,YCC 1978-79

rasawing

QuoteI had my land logged,lots and lots of cutoffs,some was up to 3 feet across. I found it was easier to cut them in half with a chain saw. Gave it a flat area to get up against the spiltter.

I've done that myself. In fact wound up cutting the halves in half. (Basically quartering the original log.) But that still is a lot of sawin'. So I still look for a alternative.

I've been toying with the idea of using a low riding wagon to get them to the dump point. (That still means rolling them into the wagon.)

Maine372

consider having some of the big ones harvested and sold. still plenty of tops and smaller wood for you to play with and a cheque to boot! I'm not saying have the whole place logged off, but at 20+ inches it doesn't take to many trees to make it worth while for a logger to come in.

mike_belben

Big diameter trees you say?  Am i the only one who wishes he had that problem?


You could be talking about $500 a tree pretty easily in that diameter, ya know. 

Good pics, species and location will help alot with getting good answers
Praise The Lord

rasawing

QuoteBig diameter trees you say?  Am i the only one who wishes he had that problem?


You could be talking about $500 a tree pretty easily in that diameter, ya know.

Only problem is: they all want them en masse. And my wife isn't real big on logging large tracks of the place. I have to admit I'm not wild about the idea either. But it may be an idea whose time is coming as I am not getting any younger here. 

As far as species go.....we are talking white oak, poplar, water oak, and the occasional pine & sugar maple. I live in the upstate of South Carolina.

OH logger

I'm with the idea of getting rid of those and sell them a few nice trees to sweeten the pot. logging is not a bad thing when done PROPERLY.
john

rasawing

Quotelogging is not a bad thing when done PROPERLY.

That's the hard part: finding some good ones. I've dealt with a few in the past that just screwed everything up. (No matter how many times you explained things to them.)

mike_belben

I take it you are not able to log the place yourself?  Ive not yey encountered a single mill who would refuse good timber from a new guy.. Even just a few stems.  I mean you arent gonna negotiate the rates as a little guy, but a clean sawlog is a clean sawlog and theres a diameter crisis building up in the upper hardwood grades of appalachia.  Global demand for a regional supply.
Praise The Lord

rasawing

QuoteI take it you are not able to log the place yourself?

:D Call that a big: no.

QuoteIve not yey encountered a single mill who would refuse good timber from a new guy..

I talked to a firewood guy once.....I've got to get it to him first (before I get any $$). If he has to come get unsplit logs....then I pay.


Satamax

French CD4 sawmill. Latil TL 73. Self moving hydraulic crane. Iveco daily 4x4 lwb dead as of 06/2020. Replaced by a Brimont TL80 CSA.

Don P

 :D  There's more than one way to clear out the place.
You just haven't met the right chainsaw mill or swingblade guy locally yet. I think if you beat the bushes around there somebody will be interested if they are good logs. This is for the little niche/hobby guy.

gspren

  I like those biguns for firewood. If you have a good, decent sized chainsaw it doesn't take too long to get some premium wood. I use an 044 Stihl with a 24" bar and buck to 18" length, if the round is still on it's side I roll it out and noodle in half, sometimes in quarters then split normally. If the rounds fall over I still have some old splitting wedges that with a sledge will usually bust them apart, a bit of work but a bunch of wood.
Stihl 041, 044 & 261, Kubota 400 RTV, Kubota BX 2670, Ferris Zero turn

mike_belben

Cut a "phillips head" slot into the top of the big rounds with the saw.  I go until the top of the bar is flush with top of log.

Pound wedge into far side of the slot until you hear wood groaning.  Then wacka-maul the slot on the side closest to you a few times and itll pop in two.  Rotate to the other slot and its quartered.  Works excellent.
Praise The Lord

MbfVA

This is a frustrating case of matching wants with those that have.  Some cabinet maker, boutique flooring guy (remember I'm in an area where people pay an excess of $75-$100,000 for weddings) or similar would probably just love to have boards from those trees.

It's definitely a job for...

Swing Blade Man!

He never Saw a log he couldn't Cut.

Cuts no edging needed boards with a single swing!
Laughs at minor bits of metal where his bandsaw colleagues shrink back in horror & fear of blade breakage!
Quartersawn? Half the trouble!

Just make sure there's a phone booth nearby so he can change from his secret identity.  He will definitely want to look as Sharp as he can.
www.ordinary.com (really)

Ianab

Yeah, you need the semi-mythical Swing Blade Man.  8)

Swoops to the rescue with a sawmill that you can drag into the woods and mill the logs where they are sitting. Now it depends on what they are as to what money changes hands. If it's something desirable, then I'd pay for the privilege of buying your walnut etc logs where they sit, and hauling the boards away. (or split the sawn boards with you). You get left with a small patch of saw chips and some edgings that will make good kindling. If it's less valuable, but still worth milling? I'll offer to "make it go away" for no charge.

Yes the big players want a whole semi-truck load of logs delivered, and sounds like the local firewood guys are used to dealing with Tree Service companies. "Sure you drop your random yard logs off at our place, and save $$ on the dump fees". With that sort of deal going, there is no market for firewood logs, they get them delivered free.

That leaves the smaller portable operators, and if the logs are big and still in the woods, then it narrows things down to the ultra-portable guys.
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)


Ianab

Too be fair. that's how you handle small logs. And yes those little hand skidders are cool.

Big logs are more like this.


Thats a 12 ton excavator, and best if could do was drag and roll the log. We got it milled though, and part of it is now my dining table
Weekend warrior, Peterson JP test pilot, Dolmar 7900 and Stihl MS310 saws and  the usual collection of power tools :)

Nobody

True, not very suitable for big logs. But if it's a matter of moving out a couple of big trees a year, bucking them into moveable pieces and winching them up on the platform might not be too bad, especially considering the low investment and maintenance cost. All depends on how much of it you gotta move.. If your into low impact forestry, their perfect for thinning and the like.

Edit: how much you recon that log weighs?

mike_belben

About 18 lbs per board foot doyle scale
Praise The Lord

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