cantcutter wrote:What some of us would do to save one log is nuts when you sit back and think about it. I found this one sub par walnut log on a power line clearing here in town yesterday.
It was only about 2 miles from the house so instead of getting the trailer and going to pick it up I decided to wait until dark when there would be less traffic and I was going to wrap a chain around it and drag it through the city streets back to the house.
So that is what I attepted and about half way my chain broke leaving a 14 ft walnut log with vines all over it sitting in a parking lot I decided to cut through.
So now I am thinking do I run and leave it or go home, get the trailer and come back after it......of course I choose the latter option. When I get back with the trailer there was a guy standing there looking at my log. I pulled up next to it and hopped out. The guy says "is this your log" I say yup, I lost it...... he says "do you need help getting it back on your trailer"..... I say sure. So I laid my ramps on the side of the trailer and we where going to role it up the ramps and over the side of the trailer, but I hadn't noticed the remainder of a 3 inch limb sticking out of the end of the log and I did not want to fire up a chainsaw in the middle of the night in town......
So we are reassesing the situation when another guy pulls up and askes if we need help.....so I get the idea to have him back the trailer up as the other guy and I lift the end of the log and walk it into the trailer. Once we had it half way we set if down and I chained it to the side of the trailer and drug it the rest of the way home.
Now to decide what I am going to mill it into....
Tree Bones wrote:Cantcutter, guess I am a nut also (nut: the fruit of a tree). Something I think most of us urban sawyers share is the passion for saving every piece of wood we can. I have had people look at me like I'm crazy and shake there head and ask why I am putting forth so much effort to drag home a log or mill something that would be left for fire wood by a logging company or tree service. Out west here we have gold that can be easily found in the streams. Finding your first piece infects you with gold fever. If you have never experienced this before it may be hard to understand. Once you see that shinny, glittering piece of gold just laying there on the ground or river bed a feeling sweeps over you that just wont go away. All you can think about is working nonstop to find and gather as much as you can. It is a driving passion that just wont go away. Once you have discovered the treasure that can be found beneath the bark of a tree any log becomes a real find.
For me no matter where I am I cant help looking at all the trees. If there is a standing dead one or logs laying on the ground I cant pass it by without sizing it up for it's potential and the best way for me to secure it for milling. A tree service working anywhere prompts me to pull over and give them my card and ask about where there logs go after the clean up. I once found a standing dead Black Walnut tree that I spent six years corresponding with the owner before I finally was able to work out a deal and mill it up. This tree yielded over 3,000 bdft of real nice material. The trunk was five feet by seven feet around! I still dream about this tree. Salvaging logs and lumber from the forest and urban environment is a passion shared by many of us here.
Backwoods Sawyer wrote:I try not to be quite so riss-kay as to drag logs down the road, chains are expensive……
I was finishing a removal job on a large Douglas fir yard tree that was 70 miles from home. I had the lumber truck and trailer fully loaded with lumber and tailings. The truck towing the mill was tarped, and piled high with sawdust and log moving tools. That is when a neighbor asked if I would like to haul off a Myrtle wood tree as well. The tree had a nice 18’ log in it so we piled the rest of the tree on the lumber truck and trailer until it was over flowing and then loaded the log onto the mill and strapped it in place. Then set the head down over it. Loading the log on the mill, with the mill sitting on the tires is not the same as loading a log on with the mill set up.
I have unloaded a trailer like yours that hauled in three large heavy Myrtle wood logs. They had spent 8 hours making the 100-mile trip. Along the way, they had a flat tire. After putting the spare on, they lost another tire and rim. It was lost in the dark. When they arrived, one axel was chained up and all the tires were bulging way beyond safe limits. They were relieved that there adventure was over.
cantcutter wrote:I have thought about putting a log on the mill for transport, but I am not sure that my mills frame can handle the pressure. I would hate to put a bow in that frame.
I just won a gas powered windlass winch on ebay that I am planning on using to winch logs onto the trailer as well as turn them on the mill. I may also be doing a little submerged tree recovery this summer with it. I was going to get a chain turner, but am glad I thought of a multi-tasker. :D
Backwoods Sawyer wrote:I do not recommend using the mill to haul logs with, not only because of frame damage, but also because of the extra weight on the axle that is rated to haul the mill, stabilizing the mill to get the log on, and if that log shifts, it can cause a lot of damage in short order. That was a one time only thing.
Is that one of those rope winches where the spindle turns all the time and you pull on the rope and it tightens up and aids in pulling the log? If it is, they work real nicely. A tree trimmer had one on a job where five redwood trees were removed between two houses. It pulled four logs out that were 16’ and over 48” on the small end, and several others that were smaller, with the aid of pipes for rollers. Any tool that makes moving logs easier is well worth it. Get some good strong rope with lots of stretch to it. That is where the pulling power comes in.
Tree Bones wrote:I am working on a trailer and it will need something to help load logs. My come along wears out your arm after just one log.
Papa1stuff wrote:I just put a 12 volt electric winch on my trailer and the other day I had a chanch to use it .
I picked up a 42 ft power pole, First I winched it on to the trailer as far as I could ,cut it off at 15 ft ,then another 15 ft ,last one was twelve ft .
It pulled it right on with no problem.
It sure is better than a comealong!!
Backwoods Sawyer wrote:I only got one trailer and it has an 8' x 24' deck on it. The whole thing is above the tires so even getting one end of a log started up onto the trailer is a lot of work. I have 2 spare 12 volt hydraulic pumps from when I had a fire in the hydraulic box. Thinking they would run a loading arm like is on the mill with minimal work and expense.
Papa1stuff wrote:I put a ramp from back of trailer to the ground and the log will slide right up the ramp,at least that worked for me.
cantcutter wrote:My gas winch came in.... I will get some pitures up as soon as possible. can't just take pictures of the winch, need one of it in action
Backwoods Sawyer wrote:I would be so happy to get it, the first picture that I would post would be of the box as the UPS man is handing it to me.
Papa1stuff wrote:This first picture is a pile of plywood and 2x4s that will be burned,While I wait to have logs loaded ,I salvaged a few 2x4s & 2x6s.
there is probably enough plywood in this pile to panel a small house!!
This is where all that plywood will be burned!
This pile is mostly pieces of logs that are too small to mill.
Because of the downturn in building these piles are very small,when I first started hauling logs from here , I was here a couple times a week ,now it is once a week and sometimes once in a couple weeks.
