Best Logging Log Cut Lengths

[Steve in IL]

Folks - Looking to pull some downed nice logs out of the woods. Mostly white pine, cherry and smooth bark hickory. Winter storm blew them over including the root ball. Thinking to cut the larger straight parts out, and drag them out of the woods for a mobile saw mill. Any suggestions on the best rough lengths to saw them to in the woods? I'm thinking just over 20 feet. Then we can later cut them into various standard board lengths.

Your thoughts?

 

[teddy52food]

Folks - Looking to pull some downed nice logs out of the woods. Mostly white pine, cherry and smooth bark hickory. Winter storm blew them over including the root ball. Thinking to cut the larger straight parts out, and drag them out of the woods for a mobile saw mill. Any suggestions on the best rough lengths to saw them to in the woods? I'm thinking just over 20 feet. Then we can later cut them into various standard board lengths.

Your thoughts?

Who are you going to get to saw them if you get them full of dirt by dragging them? Cut at 8foot 4, 10 foot 5, 12foot 6 etc.

 

[moresmoke]

You have to look at the trees and see where the logs will be cut and what lengths. Especially on hardwoods if you want quality. Say you start at the butt and there is 11’ to a big branch. You can take a 10’6” log then skip the section with the branch and cut the next log at the best length before a defect. The guy bucking the loga is the one that determines the quality of the lumber coming off the mill.
Pine is generally easier as it is usually straight and the knots don’t matter as much. Then it comes down to the intended use of the lumber. Doesn’t do much good to have a bunch of 20’ lengths if you want to have studs for a 12’ wall.
6” trim is normal on log lengths, but best to check with the buyer if looking to sell them.

 

[mjsnodgrass]

Folks - Looking to pull some downed nice logs out of the woods. Mostly white pine, cherry and smooth bark hickory. Winter storm blew them over including the root ball. Thinking to cut the larger straight parts out, and drag them out of the woods for a mobile saw mill. Any suggestions on the best rough lengths to saw them to in the woods? I'm thinking just over 20 feet. Then we can later cut them into various standard board lengths.

Your thoughts?

making firewood out of the logs may be a option. my woodmizer blades are too expensive to risk making lumber out of trees that have been dragged across the ground. good luck

 

[JimB2]

Be very careful when making the first cut next to the root ball, the root ball can flip backwards or forwards but usually backwards flopping back into the hole in the ground.

 

[Steve in IL]

Wow… A lot of negativity on skidding the logs out of the woods (but interestingly that is how the commercial loggers did it here, and absolutely no positive alternatives offered).

Guess I’ll just ask the guy with the portable sawmill, and give up on getting alternative opinions here.

Thanks.

 

[Tgrasher]

I usually cut mine 8 foot 6 inches or 10 foot 6 inches depending on tree. To keep them clean, even the ones for firewood, I carry them out on the forked three point lift behind my tractor. Dirt dulls a chain saw real quick.

 

[Brown Dirt Cowboy]

Wow… A lot of negativity on skidding the logs out of the woods (but interestingly that is how the commercial loggers did it here, and absolutely no positive alternatives offered).

Guess I’ll just ask the guy with the portable sawmill, and give up on getting alternative opinions here.

Thanks.

Go to the University of Youtube and search for logging arches.

 

[rustred]

Who are you going to get to saw them if you get them full of dirt by dragging them? Cut at 8foot 4, 10 foot 5, 12foot 6 etc.

exactly they have to be a bit longer in the rough cut than the actual footage.

 

[Jim.ME]

Wow… A lot of negativity on skidding the logs out of the woods (but interestingly that is how the commercial loggers did it here, and absolutely no positive alternatives offered).

Guess I’ll just ask the guy with the portable sawmill, and give up on getting alternative opinions here.

Thanks.

Logs cut commercially around here pretty much go to mills with debarkers, so the bark, with dirt, gets removed before reaching the saws, so you can't compare those operations to small bandsaw mills. Some with band saw mills have small debarkers mounted on chainsaw engines to clear strips of bark and dirt for the saw blade. I know of some with bandsaw mills that refuse dirty logs or charge extra for blade damage.

If you have an arch, fairlead, or winch and are able to lift the end of a log high enough you minimize the contact area collecting dirt. Another way to minimize dirt on logs is to use a wagon running gear to load the logs onto, minimize the distance they get dragged.

If you want best yield the best length to cut a log of determined by the tree and it's defects. It you only want a couple lengths for your own use, cut to the length (or multiples of the length you want). Cutting logs 6" longer than finished length is common. Such as 8'6" for 8 foot. If you want 10 foot lumber from your 20 foot logs the log should be 21 feet. YMMV

 

[495man]

I always skidded out on the snow or frozen ground...kept the logs clean.

I would skid out tree length if I had a reasonable straight trail to follow. I cut logs to length once out in the clear.

I use band mill, not cutting dirty logs. I'm not a logger or sawyer, just know enough to cut a log and make it into lumber.

 

[BarnyardEngineering]

Wow… A lot of negativity on skidding the logs out of the woods (but interestingly that is how the commercial loggers did it here, and absolutely no positive alternatives offered).

Guess I’ll just ask the guy with the portable sawmill, and give up on getting alternative opinions here.

Thanks.

What're you, stupid? You're supposed to float them out of the woods with your hot air dirigible! Everybody knows that!

 

[NY 986]

Unless the snow was several feet deep here the loggers for mill quality ran the rest of the time. I would take it they dragged through the mud and paid on cleanliness or the lack there of.

 

[redtom]

If you're just cutting them for your own project use, especially the hardwood, and not for structural use, it doesn't really matter what length they are. Just cut out the choicest logs.

 

[DanielW]

We ran a pretty reasonable hardwood milling outfit for years, and still run a few circular mills - mostly for fun and our own use. If you're not scaling and cutting by grade, the old standard was: If in doubt, bring everything out of the bush at 16' (plus a few inches over length for trimback). 16' is a nice common size if it's straight and clear enough to mill (anything over isn't too common/desired/transportable). Or you can break in half once they're at the mill to get two 8's (the most common size, and bringing it out in 16's saves half the handling). Or if you get them to the mill yard and find there's a section of sweep or crook you can carve it off to get a 10 or 12 grade log and also get a drop that can be either milled up and sold to a hobby furniture maker or bucked up for firewood.

Coosing to skid them out in 16's rather than cutting by grade is not necessarily a universal or consistently-true rule, but it's kind of like taking a shot on net in hockey: It may not always be the best decision, but it's never a bad decision.

 

[Buckhammer]

Wow… A lot of negativity on skidding the logs out of the woods (but interestingly that is how the commercial loggers did it here, and absolutely no positive alternatives offered).

Guess I’ll just ask the guy with the portable sawmill, and give up on getting alternative opinions here.

Thanks.

That's because the commercial guys have a debarker at the mill.

 

[rustred]

Go to the University of Youtube and search for logging arches.

there is skidders for that job. , not dragging one log at a time. then once on the landing they are cut to length according to the trees size.

 

[rustred]

Wow… A lot of negativity on skidding the logs out of the woods (but interestingly that is how the commercial loggers did it here, and absolutely no positive alternatives offered).

Guess I’ll just ask the guy with the portable sawmill, and give up on getting alternative opinions here.

Thanks.

this is the comedy club. you never will get an intelligent answer.

 

[Brownie450]

The wood mizer mill we have is limited to 16 feet of cut.
I forget the model number. Does a nice job.
Jim

 

[Wdj]

I skid them out for my brothers woodmizer but my ground has no rock or noticeable sand. He sometimes peels the bark and hits them with a pressure washer if muddy, but that is a chore. Sometimes he grumbles a little but he does that anyway.