Sawmills and accessorys

[Knucklehead]

Some info about kilns and solar kilns from Oklahoma State University.

Basics of Solar Lumber Drying - Oklahoma State University

Gain a better understanding of solar drying of lumber and its elements from the point of practical applications.

extension.okstate.edu

Fundamental Aspects of Kiln Drying Lumber - Oklahoma State University

An explanation of the basics of kiln drying wood, a list of the most commonly used methods and drying schedules and defects.

extension.okstate.edu

 

[BarG]

Knucks, I will check these out. I used a combination of what I cleaned from A&M ag site and several universities and you tubers . That's what I settled on for my recources. I'm still tweaking on it . I worry about my solar fan conking due to extreme temps.

 

[BarG]

I'll tell you what's really cool is my neighbor has 10 more that are bigger that he wants to give me. Now that's a good neighbor. Lol, we get along great.

 

[BarG]

I'm not jealous of the diameter you can cut because unless you got a self feed it's more than I could handle. Just pushing through 22 in. inches if you're blade is even brand new requires work. A lot easier with 2 people, 1 on each side. An extreme rarity here .

 

[tullius]

Yup. All the work with a mill is moving the logs: the cutting is the easy part

 

[BarG]

My neighbor counted 83 years on growth ring for that tree. We had a couple beers though, give or take.

Yup. All the work with a mill is moving the logs: the cutting is the easy part

Now I'm jealous.

My friend who sold it to had a friend in Corsican Tex. They had thousands acres and heavy equip to move logs. He had access to large dia. Mesquite, aromatic cedar and bodark (orange Osage). He cut that on this mill with help always. My mill also spins to cut from both directions, helps cut down a few moves .

I've got an aquaintance who's dad has a hydraulic control mill, he tells em, no one can have it it's mine .

Some info about kilns and solar kilns from Oklahoma State University.

Basics of Solar Lumber Drying - Oklahoma State University

Gain a better understanding of solar drying of lumber and its elements from the point of practical applications.

extension.okstate.edu

Fundamental Aspects of Kiln Drying Lumber - Oklahoma State University

An explanation of the basics of kiln drying wood, a list of the most commonly used methods and drying schedules and defects.

extension.okstate.edu

They talk plain English, and gave me more insight. Thanks.

 

[BarG]

I still stand by mine !

 

[BarG]

Wood drying is directly related to relative humidity, which is an average here at 10% to 15% which affects air dry time. Been there and done that. I still have a lot of 15 year old lumber. White oak and salted hackberry. All the cedar went into 5 cedar chests. All my new is for sale. Tired of cleaning my shop everytime I make something.

We'll see knucks, I just made a trip for beer and a brand new 9 volt battery for my moisture meter. Lol

Believe me when I say, don't believe anything you hear and half of what you see. I've only been doing for 48 years of what is a centuries old trade .

Very nice work. Even nicer when it's your own wood. At todays prices that about $1000 worth of lumber. No, if its Oak, make it $2000. I'm going to look into those saws. Heard of that make before but didn't know they were made in WA.

A 24 inch cut is pretty big. You don't find many logs that big anymore. I have 3 huge dead Douglas Firs that are about 36 inches across. I figured I would have to use my chain saw mill to cut them down a bit just so my tractor could lift them. Then they would fit on a saw mill that size. It would be a shame to just cut those trees up for firewood. Not worth spending more money for a bigger mill when I only have a few trees that size. But I have lots of trees that will fit on a 24". I want a saw mill. I need a saw mill!

Skychaser, one of the reasons I recommend this mill to my friend 20 years ago was price and the ability to swing around and cut from both directions, I used that swing function yesterday and loved it.

 

[BarG]

My friend Doug, built big rigs for a living so the 2x6 iron trailer is crowned up underneath the tracks. The more weight the straighter. Lol. I can get minor descrepancy from end to end on shorts by spinning the axis.

When I build heirlooms for my local I meet 8-10 on a moisture meter , and always allow for wood movement. I wouldn't ship it Arizona ha ha ha.

The aromatic cedar cut on May 22nd was 33% at time of felling. I'll be checking periodically, however, if I'm not at 8-10 in a month, I'll just have to give it longer.

I think it's affecting my sex life, I'm starting to get my abs back, lol

 

[BarG]

We're gonna have to define the difference between a solar collector and a solar panel.

I want my gas battery back, charge it up with gas. The wind died down and it's cloudy .

My neighbor is rooting for 10.00 a gallon . He says he'll be the only one on the road. Thats nuts. lol

 

[tullius]

That's cool yours swings, don't think mine does that. After wrestling and wrangling the logs up on the deck, and turning and dogging and all that: you can easily push the trolley along with one hand through a 24" log with a sharp blade. The cutting is effortless, compared to everything else ha

 

[BarG]

Wow, sounds incredible to be so effortless, I'm lucky to have what I got.

I found that the swing actually made my cut easier because the engine and clutch pulleys weight difference made it seem easier, saw dust is the drawback

I wish next time you crank it up you'll send me a pic.

I'm a pro at loading it up, ain't no thing. Doing the beams out of all the oak I cut. I wanted a lot on the cants, wasn't try to get the most, wanted the biggest square log I could get.

Still trying to learn edit, my phone puts words I don't say

I do everything from harvest to dry, even clean up the refuse from harvest .

 

[tullius]

These were just little bitty baby logs to test right after we assembled it: I think the bed length here is only 12'. We added one of the deck sections to be able to cut 16 footers now. I have more pics around here somewhere. Will get video next time we fire it up




We get some really pretty hardwood logs around here




Couldn't get the equipment in to process this little poplar, so we had to firewood it up. Shame

 

[BarG]

BadAss what can I say. I love it keep doing , I would.

Your right, don't be like me . Lol , not far . Hey , embrace what you believe in. That's what I do. Serves me well.

What's your hp for that

When I push mine I'm putting it all lol

What's really fine is I have 10 more like this. I am ecstatic about it.

I love it

Big stack no worms

Bad ass corn this year. I'm a telling ya. Lumber is good also.

My first real picking,

Margarita, that's where I'm at while I'm waiting on wood to dry.

Heh heh you saw mill friends I tell ya, your gonna love my solar kiln. I used everything from available info. You'd love it.

 

[tullius]

Nice haul on the corn, and very nice solar kiln. I don't remember how many HP, have to check: want to say I didn't buy the smallest one for sure. It doesn't bog down at all

 

[skychaser]

I just planted my corn yesterday. It finally got warm enough to do it. I always plant way more than I can use and give it away to family and friends. And fill my freezer for winter. I love fresh sweet corn! I eat it raw right out of the garden. Then I sell the rest for 1990 prices. It doesn't last long. I make a few bucks and share the bounty with the neighborhood. Win win.

Nice stack of wood tullius. I'll take it and two more like it. And maybe another cord or two of good hardwood for mid winter. I burn about 6 cords per year. Mostly Ponderosa Pine and Douglas Fir here. I get some good hardwoods from yard trees people take out. You can always tell the real wood cutters from the amateurs by the color of their saw. Orange & White. Nothing beats a Stihl! I have three. MS250, an 034 and an 048. One for every sized job. Some SOB stole my 044 three years ago. I hope he cuts his damn foot off with it. But most likely he just traded it off for drugs.

 

[tullius]

That's an 041 AV Super with I think a 32" bar in the picture. Great saw, not too heavy, will pull a 36 skip no problem. 04 series are great saws.. sorry to hear about your 044.

The old Huskies are great too, my dad has an original Pro he bought brand new in 1978. It's a heavy beast, but that thing will pull a 48 all day long through anything. Funny story: he was complaining a few years ago how it would never start right and I didn't know what present to get him one year, so I talked to Ma and snuck it out of his shop when he wasn't looking, fixed it and wrapped it up for Christmas. He took the paper off and said "Hey this looks just like my old saw... hey, this IS my old saw!" It fired up on the first pull when we took it outside, you should have seen his face. We still use it today.

Somewhere around here I have video of it idling: it has a very distinctive rumble ping rumble rumble ping ping. It is the sound of our childhood, helping Dad cut firewood

 

[skychaser]

Husky makes some damn good saws too. Always has. If you go up in the mountains where the big boys are working timber sales all you will see are Huskies and Stihls.

It is the sound of our childhood, helping Dad cut firewood

My Dad taught me how to fall trees. He could put a stick or rock where he was going to land a tree and drop it right on top of it almost every time. Didn't take long before I was almost as good as he was. Back in the 80's times were tough and jobs were scarce so we cut firewood and sold it. We had an old International truck with a hoist that could haul 4 cords. We would head off to the hills early in the morning and get home after dark with it fully loaded with wood that was split and ready to deliver the next day. We did 3 loads a week in summers for a couple of years. Most days went well enough but there were others that you were just glad to have lived to make it home. Sometimes we would hit a tree that was rotten in the center and it would barber chair or twist the wrong way and send you running for your life. Or a cable or hook would snap pulling some huge log out of the woods. Didn't take long to learn to stand way back when pulling big logs. A snapped cable can cut you in half like a weed wacker string cuts grass. It was some of the hardest work I ever did in my life. I would be dead tired at the end of the day and I couldn't wait to get out of those logging boots and chaps. Didn't seem like it at the time, but looking back now those were some of the best days of my life cutting wood with my Pa.

Years later we had to go haul some stuff back into town for a relative who lived up north a few miles from one of our favorite wood cutting spots. So we took his truck and mine so we could get a load of wood too. We found a really nice Tamarack that filled my truck to the top of the racks. Pa was pushing 70 then and that ended up being the last tree we ever cut together. A few years ago I went back to that spot and found the stump from that tree. It was half rotten by then but still there. I sat there for a long time just looking over the mountains where we spent so much of our time working our asses off together. Very bitter sweet day.

 

[BarG]

These were just little bitty baby logs to test right after we assembled it: I think the bed length here is only 12'. We added one of the deck sections to be able to cut 16 footers now. I have more pics around here somewhere. Will get video next time we fire it up

View attachment 41915


We get some really pretty hardwood logs around here



View attachment 41916


Couldn't get the equipment in to process this little poplar, so we had to firewood it up. Shame

View attachment 41917

That looks like a nice new mill. Nice looking hdwd too.

 

[BarG]

I unloaded my cedar after 5 weeks and 1 day. It's been under my carport since Monday. I sent my moisture meter the lignomat dx/c to be rebuilt ,it needed a new circuit board and battery cable, it's 23 yrs. Old and got a corroded battery from sitting due to nonuse. Anyway, I just checked several boards and they average 6.8 to 7 % . I'm extremely happy with the kiln. Now I just need to sell it or end up making a lot of cedar chests lol.