The tree that I took out yesterday had a pretty good looking trunk and I was planning on getting it milled. However, after cutting it I could see that it had a pretty good sized check right in the middle, so I made an executive decision to cut it up for firewood because it would be a lot easier to load. My tractor will lift about 2000 lbs and so I would have to get something else in to load a good sized trunk. I think that these checks are quite common and so my question is did I make the right decision? Do you just have some waste in the center of these logs or do these cracks detract substantially from the value of the log?
Oak log
- Thread starter stehansen
- Start date
- Replies 22
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Al Smith
Mac Daddy
sotc
Dormant hero!!
White oak isn't to hard to get rid of as lumber. Especially if you kiln it. Doesnt look to bad to me
Cobleskill
Treehouser
Is that dark stain on the split purplish-bluish, or is it indented from a whack? Looks like it could be a stain from steel in the trunk. It is hard to be sure from the picture.
darkstar
Rockclimber/ treeclimber
Would have been awesome man your miller would just need to cut around it.
Very little waste in the log, pretty well none to speak of .Its about the best spot for a split you could ask for.
Very little waste in the log, pretty well none to speak of .Its about the best spot for a split you could ask for.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
I've sawn a lot of split logs like that. I plan my cuts to minimize it, and you will have to rip a couple of the boards into narrower widths. The best part of the log comes off the outside, usually, and it you are going to quarter it, you take the split into account. Using a WoodMizer makes recovering logs like that much easier and economical. I recover a lot of logs that don't fit into the commercial mills specs. They have to move a lot more lumber at consistent rates.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Sweep or not there is some salvageable lumber in it .
Different part of the country for sure .I'm used to seeing 100 plus footers straight ones .
I aways looked at a salvagable log as a chance to get some fairly decent lumber cheap .The cull is just higher priced firewood .
Different part of the country for sure .I'm used to seeing 100 plus footers straight ones .
I aways looked at a salvagable log as a chance to get some fairly decent lumber cheap .The cull is just higher priced firewood .
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
That check in the stump didn't really look to bad. That sweep will probably give you a lot of reaction wood. That means as you saw the log, the boards coming off will move around a lot on you. Typically, but not always. If you tried to saw that up into large section timbers, they will move around on you. 4/4, 6/4 etc. will be a safer bet, but you won't know until you start cutting.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
That appears to be just a "heart check", going through the pith. You would have most likely gotten that anyway, through the wood that was milled, if done so green and then dried. The stress in the drying log does that, or drying slabs.
Bummer that you cut it up, as it would not have affected the surrounding wood whatsoever, and with the wood having lost enough moisture to get the crack while still in log form, likely the material would have been very stable.
Bummer that you cut it up, as it would not have affected the surrounding wood whatsoever, and with the wood having lost enough moisture to get the crack while still in log form, likely the material would have been very stable.
N
Newfie
Guest
Everything that Dave Shepard said.
That was an easy post.
That was an easy post.
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
I guess if you're hiring out a mill, then you've got to be more thoughtful, but here, my biggest worry is hardware. I've tossed more'n one log off the mill for being a piece of junk. My old boss had one log that had a huge hole in it. I told him to get his log and the possum living in it off the log deck.
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
I think he said possums.
Steve I've loaded some big logs with my mini. I'm sure with a sling you could have got her loaded onto your trailer.
Steve I've loaded some big logs with my mini. I'm sure with a sling you could have got her loaded onto your trailer.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
Salvage logs are where a small bandmill shines .It you bust a band it only costs 25-30 bucks .You ruin the inserts on a circle mill you could have a couple of grand repairing it .Which is why most circle mills won't custom cut .
Dave Shepard
Square peg, round world.
Yes, nails, eye bolts, dog chains, jacketed bullets, porcelain insulators, horseshoes, and mean possums.
There is not only a monetary risk on a circle mill, but a human risk as well, those big saws can break apart, but not that often. They will throw teeth and shanks, however.
There is not only a monetary risk on a circle mill, but a human risk as well, those big saws can break apart, but not that often. They will throw teeth and shanks, however.
darkstar
Rockclimber/ treeclimber
We went by and old mill where the big circle saw blew apart , the owner left all the holes in the metal building as a reminder.It pretty much looked like a grenade went off in there.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
The little podunk town I grew up in had a small circle mill .The saw shed roof looked like it had taken a strafing run from a fighter plane .
I have never seen a blade hit metal and I really don't ever care to either .
Good old Bitler Rumer,the tough old bird that owned the mill could sure tell storys .Bending arbors etc from hitting metal .One time breaking the arbor and the big blade jumped the log ,went completely though the end of the saw shed .Scares me and I'm fearless .
I have never seen a blade hit metal and I really don't ever care to either .
Good old Bitler Rumer,the tough old bird that owned the mill could sure tell storys .Bending arbors etc from hitting metal .One time breaking the arbor and the big blade jumped the log ,went completely though the end of the saw shed .Scares me and I'm fearless .
Cobleskill
Treehouser
When I was 12 or 13 my Dad and I had some logs at a local sawmill. He was old and without any help. My Dad was rolling the logs on the carriage and I was pulling the boards off the saw. I had one that was stuck on the rollers that I was trying to yank loose. It made contact with the back of the sawblade and the sawyer/ old man danced a jig waving his finger at me. After I thought about it I understood what the danger was. They probably should have instructed me a little beforehand.
He had an old switch locomotive engine for a power source. Quite an operation.
He had an old switch locomotive engine for a power source. Quite an operation.
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
I have seen some of the most weird sources of power you could ever dream of. The old mill my grandad had used a straight 8 Buick ,circa 1948 complete with tranny and rear end driving a jack shaft pulley.
One old mill used a D2 Cat with a tail end pulley .That was the only thing that old crawler ever did ,no blade . Fact is that old cat is now sitting in a woods since they scraped the mill and the tracks look brand new because it was never used to pull anything .
Al Smith
Mac Daddy
A rear mount pulley is an absolute beech to line up on the belt with,especially one that has little crown in it . I had an Oliver/ Clectrac HG with a rear pulley I ran a buzz saw with at one time .
I sold the crawler but still have the belt plus a rear pulley for my Fergueson 20 .I seriously doubt I ever use that buzz saw again unless it might be to cut down the flitche wood coming off my mill . To do that I have to finish the mill .Kind of like the chicken and the egg .
I sold the crawler but still have the belt plus a rear pulley for my Fergueson 20 .I seriously doubt I ever use that buzz saw again unless it might be to cut down the flitche wood coming off my mill . To do that I have to finish the mill .Kind of like the chicken and the egg .
