Sawbuck project

[SeanKroll]

I built a sawbuck from scratch. My converted (long) pallet sawbuck is on its last legs.

I have been thinking of how do build it for working height, sawing, loading and unloading.

I'd been lazily trying to figure a design that would allow wood to fall directly into a wheelbarrow.

This one holds 95% in the rack... minimal bending to pick it up again.

Ideally, I'd offload directly onto the ( to be improved) splitter table.

Ideally, it would fold. I've seen some folding pallet sawbuck design, I think.





Buck from either side.







Skid from here to there. I could carry it. Easier to skid. Two people could easily carry it.







Load logs starting on any pre-marked 16" black line.







Sacrificial 2x2ish piece in the bottom of the cradle to preserve the frame from too much follow through.

Each picket is spaced for 16"s and easily replaceable, along with the two support legs.






Holds any size, but untending it for sawmill slabs and smaller diameter firewood.
I'm supplying 3 stoves.
Mine is the smallest. 4-6" limbs max it out, especially dense madrona, holly and oak, given time to season.

Hoping kids will use the sawbuck, in time.

My neighbor stays busy sharpening when his family is bucking his brother's mill slabs and firewood on the ground.
Terrible technique.

I'm trying to inspire them to make a sawbuck and get tongs to hang from the tractor bucket for loading, going right to a downhill splitter table. Smarter not harder.

 

[flushcut]

Nice! May it serve your sawing needs for many years to come.

 

[lxskllr]

I look at sawbucks and think "Hmm...". Having the wood up high and off the ground is really appealing, but it seems like a lot of work before the work starts, you blast through everything, then a bunch more work to reset. I opt to cut on the ground, and do lots of sharpening. Can't seem to keep the bar out of the dirt when I'm doing any real bucking :^/

 

[flushcut]

Machine pick up log, no back muscles needed.

 

[davidwyby]

Sean, I like that it seems the wood you cut goes to use. Same here….I have a lot to cut this winter.

@lxskllr 32” bar…no bending…watch the color of the chips change when you hit bark, and you can work the tip back and forth and “feel” the uncut wood at the bottom with practice.


I will never forget being told a story that I think happened on arbsite. Guy claimed chains were coming from the factory dull. Big long thread. Finally posts pics. Bucking on CONCRETE…scars on concrete were pointed out… “oh, that little bit doesn’t hurt”. 🤣


You didn’t notice it cut real good the first cut and not the second?!!!

 

[lxskllr]

On the subject of sharpening, how do you make out in the desert Dave? I guess this is also a question for anyone else that cuts in dirty conditions; do you always strip the bark on trees you're felling? I ask, cause I don't know how anyone uses full chisel chain otherwise. On the big oak I did at the farm I opted to use the full chisel loop I had(I pretty much always use semi chisel). Figured I had good "clean" standing wood, and it would be nice to have full performance.

Sparks coming out of the kerf... What I didn't account for was the tree was next to a dirt farm path, so all the dust. dirt, and grit settled into the heavy bark. I'm always resistant to "setting up" cuts, where I'm doing work just to setup to do work, but I think it's biting me in the ass. Is stripping bark just something you do, and if you don't, you're an idiot?

 

[davidwyby]

Short answer - less aggressive, more edge supporting angles, and sharpen more often. Sometimes twice in a tank of gas in dry hard dirty Euc. Stihl Chain is the best. I like square ground with durable angles. Square corner is more supported than full chisel round, and faster than semi chisel.

Well...sharpening is one of those things I really got into. When I first started playing with saws here it took me a bit to get the hang of sharpening and I thought I wasn't good at it until I finally got to cut wood that wasn't dead and desert hardened. Even Aleppo pine once dead gets hard, the pitch becomes resin. Also the dust and dirt gets in the cracks in the wood. If the log sits long enough, the bark self-peels. Euc bark is smooth so it's not bad. Salt cedar bark has major dirt retention grooves and tends to be planted at the edge of the desert for wind breaks.

I started out with some different file guides, stihl 2n1, husky roller guide. Both have pros and cons. I scored a stihl USG sharpener (grinder) for cheap and that with a CBN is the bee's knees. Shorter chains I'd sharpen in the field, longer I'd swap out and grind at home. I like chilling in my little shop listening to music and grinding. Fast and consistent, repeatable angles. More recently I tried felling conifers with square ground and liked the side cutting etc., so I sprung for a used square grinder. Still learning but man square is nice. I started a group on FB for sharpening. I should have just started and info page. It has 255k members now. @huskihl and others help me try to manage it.

John Adler mentioned cutting with the chain pulling out of the wood. Huge difference in chain sharpness retention.




Square in softwood is a blast.

 

[davidwyby]

Pressure washing helps a lot.

 

[SeanKroll]

Cut to keep from pulling junk into the kerf.

 

[davidwyby]

I cut up a dry dirty Euc log today with a shortish bar. Plunged in the top, cut down one side and then the other so chain pulling out both sides. 👍🏻