Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[Hilbilly]

Question for all those that skid trees before using the sawmill. How do you clean the logs off before milling. I usually try not to skid logs, in an effort to keep them clean but today I had to skid one and it is covered in gravel and dirt. No way I want to run that through my mill.

 

[Jstpssng]

Question for all those that skid trees before using the sawmill. How do you clean the logs off before milling. I usually try not to skid logs, in an effort to keep them clean but today I had to skid one and it is covered in gravel and dirt. No way I want to run that through my mill.

I plan to buy a chainsaw debarker.

https://www.hud-son.com/product/log-debarker-wizard-tool/ I’ll probably take an old chain and finish grinding the teeth off, to make it a bit more user friendly.

Cedar seems to have a lot of grit in it anyways, it didn’t take me long to ruin a blade.

Edit; this was a recent comment in another thread...

[IMG alt="Rustyiron"]https://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/data/avatars/m/109/109054.jpg?1614405194[/IMG]

Rustyiron​

Super Member​

Jstpssng said:
That looks really good! I've finally started sawing a bit and worked up a couple of hundred feet of logs...and my "Battery ran down a while ago also. That's when I make stupid mistakes. I'm going to get a chainsaw debarker, as hard as I tried to keep the logs clean I still am finding dirt the hard way.

I think that cedar might collect grit in the bark anyways.

It doesn't take much mud to take the edge off your blade. Just today I took a little angle grinder with a wire brush to a hemlock log that was moved around on a muddy landing a few times by the look of it. My friend was cutting it and it was directly across the road from my place. They were pretty nice 16'6" and he gave them to me so no complaints from me.

 

[Hilbilly]

I've thought about getting one of those Log Wizards but I may have found a better way. I found an old post in the Norwood forums where "Bill", one of our members here, said he takes his chainsaw and runs a line down the length of the log and then uses a spud or drawknife (I think) to peel the bark off the log. I tried it yesterday and it worked great, using a steel blade. I think a spud would be better but I don't have one and used what was available. This fir log was dropped a year or 2 ago and that may have made it easier to peel than one that is freshly dropped and I'm sure it depends on the time of year too. There were also a lot of white worms under the bark and that may have had something to do with it too. I will try this again, if I skid another log but hope I don't have to.

 

[Hoobie]

I have used a spud many years ago for peeling pulp. Also for log cabins. The thing is a log peels easily only in the growing season while the bark slips. Later in summer it will tighten up and peeling is over. Then it is draw knife time.

 

[Hilbilly]

I finally built a log loading deck for the mill. It makes storing and loading logs so much more efficient and convenient. No more placing logs on a separate deck then picking them up one at a time, with the tractor and then gently lowering them onto the mill. Now I just load them onto the log deck and roll them on with ease and no more concern about knocking the mill out of alignment by accidentally hitting the mill or dropping a log, when using the tractor.

I should have done this years ago.

 

[Jstpssng]

I've thought about getting one of those Log Wizards but I may have found a better way. I found an old post in the Norwood forums where "Bill", one of our members here, said he takes his chainsaw and runs a line down the length of the log and then uses a spud or drawknife (I think) to peel the bark off the log. I tried it yesterday and it worked great, using a steel blade. I think a spud would be better but I don't have one and used what was available. This fir log was dropped a year or 2 ago and that may have made it easier to peel than one that is freshly dropped and I'm sure it depends on the time of year too. There were also a lot of white worms under the bark and that may have had something to do with it too. I will try this again, if I skid another log but hope I don't have to.

The cedar I sawed was cut last summer so was already starting to slip. I pulled some of it off but not all of it.

All that you really need to remove is where the blade will be cutting it. The debarker option on the higher end Wood-mizers does that, just removing a strip in front of the blade. I believe it wasTBN member Sawyer Rob who told of using a pressure washer to clean logs. Anything, to keep from trashing a blade.
Another thing which really wrecks a blade fast is bouncing it off the log stop... not that I have any experience doing THAT!!!!

 

[hunt4570]

While we're on this topic, I actually did some arborist work of my own this past fall. I don't know much about the technical skill of true arbor work, but I used to log commercially and got to be pretty good with a chainsaw. Later on I spent a couple years assembling cranes for a living, and got comfortable working out of a manlift assembling boom sections.

So when I decided that we needed to remove the three large oak trees hanging over our house and yard, I decided to give it a try on my own. I rented a tow-behind 35' manlift from a local equipment rental company and got to work with my trusty Husqvarna 562. I hitched it to my Mahindra which made for easy maneuvering and repositioning.

The trees leaned heavily over the house and yard, with powerlines on the uphill (right) side of the yard. This prevented me from being able to drop them whole. I went up in the man basket and just started with the lowest branches and worked my way in towards the trunk cutting off ~3-4' sections at a time. I worked my way up the trees until just the stem was remaining, then cut them down in 4' sections until they were short enough (10-15') for me to cut them at the stump.

I was very cautious about dropping limbs and trunk sections well away from the base and boom of the manlift. I worked by myself that day, as I usually do, so I didn't get any pictures of the work being done unfortunately. However, these are some pictures of the trees and yard before, compared to just after I finished cutting them.

Interesting deck construction.

 

[hunt4570]

I finally built a log loading deck for the mill. It makes storing and loading logs so much more efficient and convenient. No more placing logs on a separate deck then picking them up one at a time, with the tractor and then gently lowering them onto the mill. Now I just load them onto the log deck and roll them on with ease and no more concern about knocking the mill out of alignment by accidentally hitting the mill or dropping a log, when using the tractor.

I should have done this years ago.

View attachment 744761View attachment 744762

Nice, I have a similar set up on mine, It looks uphill but its dead level, the ground slopes downhill.

 

[Hilbilly]

Interesting deck construction.

I know it looks unstable but there's more to it than meets the eye. The vertical supports extend into the ground 18" and the soil around them has been hand packed but after a few rain / dry cycles, the ground will be like concrete. The tops of the vertical supports have a "V" cut into them to help stabilize the longitudinal logs which are pinned to the supports with 2' long rebar. Time will tell if this will be good enough or if I need to stiffen it up. So far I've only loaded about 10 logs onto it and it seemed fine. Worst case scenario, I have to redo it . Not really a big deal though, as it wasn't a big project and only took a few hours to complete.

Now all I need is some logs to mill. Pretty hard to find around here. My property was logged before we got it and I'm not allowed to take from the crown land around us.

 

[hunt4570]

I know it looks unstable but there's more to it than meets the eye. The vertical supports extend into the ground 18" and the soil around them has been hand packed but after a few rain / dry cycles, the ground will be like concrete. The tops of the vertical supports have a "V" cut into them to help stabilize the longitudinal logs which are pinned to the supports with 2' long rebar. Time will tell if this will be good enough or if I need to stiffen it up. So far I've only loaded about 10 logs onto it and it seemed fine. Worst case scenario, I have to redo it . Not really a big deal though, as it wasn't a big project and only took a few hours to complete.

Now all I need is some logs to mill. Pretty hard to find around here. My property was logged before we got it and I'm not allowed to take from the crown land around us.

I was talking about the deck on the house. The log deck looks fine.