Tractors and wood! Show your pics

CalG · May 31, 2025

spruce Deere said:
Our western hemlock is purdy high in the moisture content compared to other species

This Eastern stuff will squirt you when you drive a nail into it, even after a month off the mill. But those nails sure do hold tight.

shooterdon · May 31, 2025

Anyone have feedback on the Mech Maxx stump grinder?

Thanks

John_Mc · May 31, 2025

shooterdon said:
Anyone have feedback on the Mech Maxx stump grinder?

Thanks

There is a whole thread on it in the attachments section:

Anyone have a MechMaxx 3-pt stump grinder?

Hey y'all, Anyone purchased one of these basic stump grinders from MechMaxx? https://mechmaxx.com/products/mechmaxx-24-cutting-wheel-stump-grinder-for-tractor-3pt-hitch-540-rpm-pto They look a LOT like the woodland mills WG24 (even use the same number, 24 in the product name) but are a...

www.tractorbynet.com

Beware of the scam website that looks just like their real one.
mechmaxusa is the scam site currently listing it at $990

mechmaxx.com is the real site (currently on sale for $1399, or a hydraulic swinging grinder for $2899).

Hoobie · Jun 1, 2025

Gordon Gould said:
Hope you do. I love to get your feedback on it. I though the same about an Alaskan mill and have even made some short free hand planks but never quite got to making or buying one.

View attachment 3539732

gg

I have had one for 35 years or so. Don't use it much anymore. I built a rustic log cabin and used it to make carrying beams and planks and stuff. Also flattened two sides of the logs. Re-built the ramp to my barn with Tamarac beams and planks. Good for odd jobs if you have the wood and time.
I used two types of ripping chains. The Grandburg has two sets of teeth. One is narrow [half width], filed different than the others, and set to cut deeper than the others.These sets are alternated along the chain. A real pain to maintain and sharpen.
The other type was a regular chain with a coarser angle. I never really saw any difference in the two.
The first slice off the log is critical as you need a straight edge , like a good plank, to run the first cut. If the log isn't straight and even there will be sags in the plank which need to be shimmed. Short cuts with short planks are easier. Once this first cut is done you are on your way.
I think it is good for specialty jobs and bigger wood like beams. Making boards not so much.
Requires a bigger saw. Lots of hot burn up time here!!
Logs must not be dirty.
Saw must be sharp.
Air filter plugs faster.
Log should be positioned off the ground like on saw horses or something as you need space underneath for the mill to run. And trying to saw all day pushing that mill crawling on your knees gets really old fast!
I have a guy handy now with a small mill so don't use it anymore.

Gordon Gould · Jun 1, 2025

Hoobie said:
I have had one for 35 years or so. Don't use it much anymore. I built a rustic log cabin and used it to make carrying beams and planks and stuff. Also flattened two sides of the logs. Re-built the ramp to my barn with Tamarac beams and planks. Good for odd jobs if you have the wood and time.
I used two types of ripping chains. The Grandburg has two sets of teeth. One is narrow [half width], filed different than the others, and set to cut deeper than the others.These sets are alternated along the chain. A real pain to maintain and sharpen.
The other type was a regular chain with a coarser angle. I never really saw any difference in the two.
The first slice off the log is critical as you need a straight edge , like a good plank, to run the first cut. If the log isn't straight and even there will be sags in the plank which need to be shimmed. Short cuts with short planks are easier. Once this first cut is done you are on your way.
I think it is good for specialty jobs and bigger wood like beams. Making boards not so much.
Requires a bigger saw. Lots of hot burn up time here!!
Logs must not be dirty.
Saw must be sharp.
Air filter plugs faster.
Log should be positioned off the ground like on saw horses or something as you need space underneath for the mill to run. And trying to saw all day pushing that mill crawling on your knees gets really old fast!
I have a guy handy now with a small mill so don't use it anymore.

Thanks Hoobie - that's just the kind of info I was looking for. I would only use it for small rough projects. Things I do now by snapping a line and going totally free hand.

gg

CalG · Jun 1, 2025

CalG said:
100 feet of hemlock doesn't look like much when the limbs are chipped.View attachment 3539806

Sort of like a wet cat.

More pieces, more work. Three ten footers worth sawing. A bunch of shorts to split for "camp wood" ;-)

119 rings by my count. Some really skimpy growth about 90 years back. I wonder what that was all about?
There is more than 100 sq. ft of sound bark peeled off the three bolts. To bad I don't have a dog house that needs to be shingled.

wolc123 · Jun 1, 2025

I only had time to cut one 1/2 face cord carryall load of dead ash over at my parents Saturday. Two of them had fallen across their yard, from the neighbors. I gave them a couple weeks to do something about it, but I’ve got sick of mowing around them so they had to go.

Now, I’ve got about 2 face cords stacked up in my splitter shed, waiting on the next rainy day, for me to split. Or maybe I’ll do it on a hot muggy day, so I can see how the new ceiling fan that I put in there works.

I got a nice cant hook in a “bundle” deal at a garage sale last weekend. That did a good job of rolling those ash logs. I’m glad I had two saws with me because I got the smaller one pinched on the first log. The only reason I brought the bigger one along was because I messed up the angle on my last file sharpen job, and I wanted to see how it worked. It didnt work too good but good enough to get the little one out.

CalG · Jun 1, 2025

wolc123 said:
I only had time to cut one 1/2 face cord carryall load of dead ash over at my parents Saturday. Two of them had fallen across their yard, from the neighbors. I gave them a couple weeks to do something about it, but I’ve got sick of mowing around them so they had to go.

Now, I’ve got about 2 face cords stacked up in my splitter shed, waiting on the next rainy day, for me to split. Or maybe I’ll do it on a hot muggy day, so I can see how the new ceiling fan that I put in there works.

I got a nice cant hook in a “bundle” deal at a garage sale last weekend. That did a good job of rolling those ash logs. I’m glad I had two saws with me because I got the smaller one pinched on the first log. The only reason I brought the bigger one along was because I messed up the angle on my last file sharpen job, and I wanted to see how it worked. It didnt work too good but good enough to get the little one out.
View attachment 3540046
View attachment 3540047

I nearly always bring a heavy hammer and a wedge when sawing logs on the ground. Seems like the blade always gets bound up sometime. I suppose I push the cut a bit ;-)

Driving a wedge into the kerf takes 30 seconds, and the saw pulls right out !

John_Mc · Jun 1, 2025

CalG said:
I nearly always bring a heavy hammer and a wedge when sawing logs on the ground. Seems like the blade always gets bound up sometime. I suppose I push the cut a bit ;-)

Driving a wedge into the kerf takes 30 seconds, and the saw pulls right out !

I carry an axe in a holster on my tool belt for pounding wedges. The longer handle allows for easier pounding than a shorter, heavier hammer. Axe head sits in the holster on the back of the belt, with the handle pointing up. (I can't stand the handle dangling down by my legs.)

You can actually use the wedge to lift the log up off the ground: Cut down in to the log, once you have room, insert the wedge to hold the kerf open and prevent binding. Once you have cut most of the way through, pound the wedge in. As the kerf widens, it will bend the log, lifting the area you are cutting up off the ground, keeping your chain out of the dirt as you finish the cut. Handy when you can't just roll the log.