New Sawmill & Tajfun Winch

[damartin]

I introduced myself here about a month ago and asked if my tractor could handle a 7 ft. finish mower. It does, I got a used 7 ft king cutter and it works well. Thanks for the info.
I have since got a Timber King Sawmill and have cut up a bunch of Hemlock trees for lumber to build an implement shed. The Hemlocks are dying because of the hemlock woolly adelgid, a pest that lives under the bark. It looks to me that I am going to loose all of the Hemlocks on the 92 acres that I have for hunting about 2 hours from my home. There are other people intrested in boards for barn siding and I wont let the trees go to waste. There is also alot of mature hardwood (mostly Red Oak) that I was going to have timbered but now I can cut them up myself and have a hobby that should last serveral years. The sawmill will be a handy thing to have around.
I also got a new model 40A Tajfun winch and am amazed at how much power it has. I needed to remove an old black walnut tree and I wanted to save the root ball to see if I could get some gun stock blanks out of it (the stump needed to come out to make room for the impliment shed anyway). I didnt really think that the winch would pull it down but I hooked the cable up high was suprised to see that it pulled the tree right out of the ground. It wasn't easy and it lifted the front end of the tractor a few times but it did the job.
I am adding a few pictures of the Hemlocks, an oak that I cut and the Black Walnut that I winched out.

 

[ultrarunner]

Nice operation you have there and thanks for posting pictures...

What does a portable mill like that run... ball park?

Must be very satisfying to harvest and mill your own lumber.

On my Grandfather's farm there were remnants of a small mill down by the creek... really nothing left anymore... I can only imaging felling and dragging timber with oxen...

 

[Egon]

It really looks like you are set up to go into the lumbering business.

Is that a screen on the back of the tractor to catch flying objects?

 

[forgeblast]

The hemlock woolly adelgid and emerald ash beetles are big worrys for us here too. A forester said that if all the hemolocks go it will raise the temp of our trout streams and the trout will not make it. Plus we have huge plantations of ash near us that are used in baseball bat production.

 

[ScottAR]

Great shots! Might check out the forestry forum for milling advice.

 

[damartin]

What forestry forum?

 

[ScottAR]

Sent you a PM...

 

[Q-Saw]

Nice mill, it looks like it's in excellent condition. That's a great winch too - I've been wanting a Tajfun for some time now.

The lead in bullets is soft enough that you shouldn't have any problems cutting through them. Nails are a different story, however.

Do you have forks for your loader? They really work well for moving logs and lumber around.

It sounds like you have a lot of fun cutting ahead of you - enjoy!

- Marty

 

[bitternut]

Looks like a nice set up with the winch and mill. I am sure you will get many years of service and enjoyment from them.

I do wonder about the picture of the tree you dropped. The picture does not show any hinge on the butt of the log. Not sure if you did some trimming after dropping or if that is the way it was originally cut. If you are not leaving a hinge you will be an accident waiting to happen and I strongly suggest that you do some searching for proper felling techniques. The Forestry Forum would be a good place to get some good advice on all aspects of your woods work and projects.

Here is the link to it http://www.forestryforum.com/board/index.php

 

[tlbuser]

Neat setup. The pivot point on the mechanical log stops may be a weak point. Some one I know with a model 1600, we had to redo all four of them. We also installed a remote throttle and replaced the crank scissors jack with a 12V DC one. I'm not sure why the log loader is so high off the ground either. Other than that, it seems to be a true workhorse.
Amazon.com: 12V DC Electric Car Jack: Home Improvement

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

good looking setup.......how do you like the tongue jacks for leveling? 3 or 4 on each side??

i recently got a lumbermate2000 and a cooks cat claw sharpener....

norwood industries wanted 1400 for a trailer and almost 200 for 8 leveling feet....

i'm building my own axle and leveling feet......i doubt i have 400 in the axle and leveling feet....

i'm hoping to get it up and running next week and try it out for the first time.....

thanks for sharing your photos.......i'm gonna have to rely on downed trees and people giving me trees because i don't really want to cut that much off of my property.....there are a couple of monster pines and poplars.......there is a large cherry tree that fell on my property.....i think i can get three 8' sections out of it....

when my neighbor cleared some ground, he piled up some cherry, sassafras and some hickory.......can't wait to cut it!

 

[damartin]

ScottAR Thanks for the info.

QSaw No I don't have forks for the loader but I have been thinking of getting or making a set. I can see that they would be a good investment.

bitternut The tree does have a hinge but the picture doesn't show it well. It is just under the holding wood but in the picture it looks flat.

Flatheadyoungin it has 3 jacks on each side and leaveling is easy. Good luck with your Lumbermate, I'm sure you will like it. I did get a "Wright Machine" automatic sharpener and tooth setter with the mill but I want to sell it. I plan on getting the blades sharpened at the shop, just don't have enough time.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

what kind of setter? i'll do an internet search........

i don't have a setter and i'd like to get a roller to roll the blades flat.......

good sharpeners and setters usually sell quickly......i watched the market for a long while before i found the cook's cat claw sharpener.....i haven't tried it yet....

edit: there a sharpener and setter on the sawmill exchange right now....

 

[damartin]

Flatheadyoungin
Sorry I didn't reply sooner I travel alot for work and when I am at the cabin I don't get on the internet much. The tooth setter is a "Dino" made by Dinasaw in Austraila. I signed up on the forestry forum and was reading up on how to cut a walnut with a root ball to get some nice grain. I need to cut up the walnut that I pulled over and see if it has nice grain. Have you used your mill yet? I know what you mean about buying a whole lot of work.

 

[Flatheadyoungin]

no, i keep getting side tracked by new projects......fixing a riding mower, an old freezer (that i put the wrong freon in), starting a dump truck i traded for.....

sad part is, the sawmill was "first" on my to-do list......

be sure to keep us posted....

Flatheadyoungin
Sorry I didn't reply sooner I travel alot for work and when I am at the cabin I don't get on the internet much. The tooth setter is a "Dino" made by Dinasaw in Austraila. I signed up on the forestry forum and was reading up on how to cut a walnut with a root ball to get some nice grain. I need to cut up the walnut that I pulled over and see if it has nice grain. Have you used your mill yet? I know what you mean about buying a whole lot of work.

 

[caver]

Nice mill.

I picked up a lightly used Baker off ebay mid winter.
I had a chance to get serious with it several weeks ago cutting up a large pine that died near my spring. A lot of work but felt rewarding at the end of the day. I got way more lumber out of that log than I would have ever guessed. Lennox blade went right through a nail,,,,I did notice it seemed to be cutting with less vigor early on. Noticed the nail late in the day on one of the cants.

 

[Reg]

I have a swing mill, a Peterson.
Have thought about getting a Farmi winch - any thoughts on how they compare to Tajfun ?

Two tips about nails;
The range of height above the ground that most humans can nail at is very limited.
1) Before you fell the trees walk up to them with an aerosol can of paint, bring a hammer too.
Swing the hammer at the tree as if you were nailing up a yard sale sign - ON THE SIDE CLOSEST TO THE ROAD.
Paint a line 1 ft above there and another 1 ft below, lower if you are unusually tall (-:
2) Get a metal detector and pay SPECIAL attention to that nailing zone.
A cheap one will do, you are only looking for iron/steel, which is magnetic and easy to detect.
Lead doesn't matter, at least not to my carbide blades.

BTW, trees close to a house MIGHT have hooks for clothes line pulleys, these will be higher than most yard sale sign nails and will be thicker metal.
Scope out the area for where clothes lines would PROBABLY have been hung.
Mark obvious tree pairs on the sides that face each other.
10ft is a good height for these.

and yes Virginia, trees grow from ABOVE their existing height, so nails don't move up over time.

 

[caver]

2) Get a metal detector and pay SPECIAL attention to that nailing zone.

A detector was put on the wish list that day. I've wanted one for vacation out west (gold) and now maybe I can justify it in my head.