Buy the Woodland Mills chipper and run all the tailings from the mill through it. You'll have enough wood chips to coat large swathes of ground. Oops spending your money again .....
That spot is already much improved from what it was a month ago, there was just a bunch of crap sitting there. Now it is a usable area, if I move the mill it will still be much improved. I plan on catching the sawdust in a 5 gallon bucket hanging off the side of the mill. I will dump this sawdust in an IBC tote with the top cut off. Then I will dump the IBC when it is full. I have seen the mills with a 2 foot pile of sawdust along one side and that looks like a mess to me. Sawdust will still hit the ground because the bucket will not catch all of it but the volume will be MUCH less, and I plan on blowing that off to the side every so often. As far as wire, I plan on getting a metal detector from Harbor Freight and hitting each log before I put it on the mill. I will have a pallet for the waste boards to go in so at the end of the day I can take the tractor and throw them on the burn pile. Also I have a few neighbors who have stoves or fireplaces. I will offer them my slabs to use as firewood to get rid of it. Seems like the cutoff slabs pile up REALLY quick.
I never had any fancy debarker when I had my mill. I just kept a stiff bristle brush and an axe to peel off bark. Blades will dull from naturally accumulated dust in the trees. That is why having a blade sharpener is a must. Hope you got one with your mill.
Yeah, I really don't have much use for chips. I made the mistake of spreading free chips on an area and it just holds water and stays muddy AND a $3000 wood chipper is not in the budget AND that seems like A LOT of extra work bending over and feeding a chipper to get rid of it. I will probably burn some, try to convert some to firewood and toss some over the edge and let it decay.
I did not get a sharpener. Time is short and projects are many. I will just have to bite the bullet and pay someone to sharpen mine. There are local guys that do it for $10 and a guy a bit further away that does it for $6.
Don't sell yourself short with the cutoff slabs. Firewood is firewood whether it be round, flat, square, triangle, whatever. Post it on Craigs List or FB Mktplace for sale. Give your neighbors the "neighbor discount" but I wouldn't give it away.
Very interesting. I presume due to a different in climate. I want all the wood chips I can get ... especially to keep dust down in summer.
Yeah, I just need to figure out a system so it doesn't get oppressive dealing with it. I have seen some guys keep a battery powered saw right by the mill and cut the good usable sections into firewood lengths right away and toss them into a crate. Not sure exactly how I want to skin that cat. I have seen a pile of slabs, they are a hassle to deal with. It seems like once they are piled up they are a lost cause. Like I mentioned earlier I plan on tossing my slabs into a purpose built pallet that will facilitate the movement of these away from the mill. Maybe I can chunk them up from there and toss them in ICB totes for storage.
Yeah, I am sure wood chips behave a bit better in your drier climate. And I bet they are way less abundant by you. We have LOTS of trees here, a free load of chips from the tree service is very easy to come by.