# Chainsaw millers Dream!



## billstuewe (Sep 14, 2010)

A while back a guy heard through the grapevine that I had a big chainsaw--at the time 52" bar--and he said he had a big pecan tree that had eroded into the river. He had a guy with a bulldozer that was going to pull it across and out and he wanted me to cut a slab from it so that he could take it to Baylor University and have it aged. Anyway, The bulldozer guy cut off a 6' section of the trunk and pulled it across the river and loaded it on a flatbed trailer, took it to a car wash and hosed the mud off (thank Heaven), then deliverd itto the guy. About 3 weeks ago I bought a 6' bar for another job and today I got to try the new bar out--------------






The log was 6' long (now high) and 79" by 65"--I cut it across the short diameter of course.















And, yes BobL, I am cranking--Once the saw was up there and in the wood--piece of cake!




Sorry about the show-off:greenchainsaw:
I have one more picture so will do a follow up post--


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## billstuewe (Sep 14, 2010)

This one is for effect--





There were several of these little guys around the peremeter of the tree. I told the forklift operator that they were asteroid like shooting stars that had come through the atmosphere and embedded in the tree. He acted like he believed me---anybody out there have a better idea what they are?? They do look like hollywood's portrail of an asteroid burning through the atmosphere.


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## discounthunter (Sep 14, 2010)

man!thats a big chunk of wood! going to slab it up any more.looks like table top material. how about the rest of the tree? any pieces worth milling .

good job.


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## billstuewe (Sep 14, 2010)

For now that is all he wanted done to it. He may want some more slabs taken from it later. I am hoping for a couple for myself. Time will tell. I anchorsealed it just in case.


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## NeoTree (Sep 14, 2010)

Are you using a full skip with the 6' bar?


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## BobL (Sep 14, 2010)

Awesome, perfect use of a winch set up too.


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## billstuewe (Sep 14, 2010)

Baileys ripping chain--it is full comp. Seems to cut well. Pulled good sized chips today and cut very smooth. I did have a problem with sag. I started in the cut with the bar held level with a magnet and when it came out the middle was over 1/4" thicker. Any ideas how to fix?


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## Timberframed (Sep 14, 2010)

billstuewe said:


> Baileys ripping chain--it is full comp. Seems to cut well. Pulled good sized chips today and cut very smooth. I did have a problem with sag. I started in the cut with the bar held level with a magnet and when it came out the middle was over 1/4" thicker. Any ideas how to fix?


I haven't had this problem on my 60" But years ago I often wondered why structural engineers would put the moments (connections) of the steel or iron beams away from column supports by as much as 30% but sometimes only like 5%. Bolted connections then cantilevered. The reason is deflection. I don't know about Granberg but I can locate the bar clamps anywhere I want on my mills. So what might help is to put the clamps at bare minimum with the respecting log width and the bar sag could be lessened if not eliminated. By the way nice work on that Pecan. I was not aware they got that big but then again it's in Texas!


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## BobL (Sep 14, 2010)

billstuewe said:


> Baileys ripping chain--it is full comp. Seems to cut well. Pulled good sized chips today and cut very smooth. I did have a problem with sag. I started in the cut with the bar held level with a magnet and when it came out the middle was over 1/4" thicker. Any ideas how to fix?



Aggiewoodbutcher said he was able to put enough tension on his mill to keep a 60" bar straight but he does have a 4 poster mill which can take a greater back tension than a two poster. In the meantime there are some other ideas in this thread.

Another trick I've heard about is to use higher top plate filing angles on the top cutters than on the bottom, ie 15º on the top cutters and 5º on the bottom cutters.


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## mtngun (Sep 14, 2010)

Awesome pics, BillStuewe. I nominate this for the milling thread of the year.


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## BobL (Sep 14, 2010)

mtngun said:


> Awesome pics, BillStuewe. I nominate this for the milling thread of the year.



I'll second that!


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## Brmorgan (Sep 15, 2010)

BobL said:


> Another trick I've heard about is to use higher top plate filing angles on the top cutters than on the bottom, ie 15º on the top cutters and 5º on the bottom cutters.



That's an interesting idea that just might work; make the chain pull harder in one direction to compensate. Unfortunately I don't have any bars long enough to necessitate testing it out!

Nice work on that huge log/stump, Bill. Are you going to mill the rest of it lengthwise?


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## gemniii (Sep 15, 2010)

billstuewe said:


> I started in the cut with the bar held level with a magnet and when it came out the middle was over 1/4" thicker. Any ideas how to fix?


Cut vertical.

NICE tree.


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## qbilder (Sep 15, 2010)

Awesome pics!!!! Awesome job!!!! Thanks for posting.

The asteroids look like simple birdseyes. It's most noted in maple but every tree I know of can grow them. Nobody's really sure of the cause but it's a sprout that never made it past the initial season. But the knot is there & leaves that "defect" in the grain. From the linear face grain it would just look like a small, singular ring knot. From the linear quartered grain it'll look like curly figure. From the end grain as you have cut, it gives what wood workers call a "sunburst" figure. It's the initial knot at the epicenter, then the successive annual rings warping at the same point year after year to cover & heal the dead sprout.


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## BlueRidgeMark (Sep 15, 2010)

billstuewe said:


> Sorry about the show-off:greenchainsaw:





No, you aren't!


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## Brownpot Deaton (Sep 15, 2010)

Wish i could've been there for that. not too far away either.

is your saw ported at all?

i noticed you don't have an oiler on the end for the bar tip; have you ever had problems with lack of lubrication?


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## billstuewe (Sep 15, 2010)

Brmorgan--I am not sure how he will want the rest of it cut

Brownpot--about 10-0 miles--I am 10 m. NE of Georgetown

It is a new saw and no, it is not ported--I guess I am too chicken
No problem w/ lubrication. Those two cuts were the first ever cut with that bar and chain. I have and AO but did not mess with it on this "small" job.

Gig'Em '73


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## horsey32073 (Sep 15, 2010)

*dumb question*

what combo saw and mill size is that? All i know is i like it!!!!!!!!:greenchainsaw:


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## Daninvan (Sep 15, 2010)

Did you count the rings? How old do you figure it was?

Dan


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## dustytools (Sep 15, 2010)

Sweet!!


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## billstuewe (Sep 15, 2010)

I sawed it with a Stihl MS880--new 5/4/10--with a 72" bar and a 72" AK-III

I counted 126 rings. It is being taken to a botanist so we will see how close I came.


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## mtngun (Sep 15, 2010)

billstuewe said:


> I counted 126 rings.


126 years produces a 24" - 26" diameter softwood in my area.


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## qbilder (Sep 16, 2010)

126? Wow. I would have guessed much older. Must have been growing out in an open area with good water source & lots of sun.


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## billstuewe (Sep 16, 2010)

It was by itself in a field on a 30"bluff overlooking Little River on some of the best farmland in Texas (part of the Blackland Prairie).
I too thought it would have been 400-500 years old. The first 2' of rings were each 1/2" across. After that they started narrowing down and at the edge some were only about 1/16"


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## TXcowboy (Sep 16, 2010)

Great pics and Great milling!  Thats a huge tree but as you say, it was growing in some of the best dirt around. Let us know when you get an offical age on it. I agree with Brownpot, would have liked to see you cutting that one.


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## qbilder (Sep 16, 2010)

billstuewe said:


> It was by itself in a field on a 30"bluff overlooking Little River on some of the best farmland in Texas (part of the Blackland Prairie).
> I too thought it would have been 400-500 years old. The first 2' of rings were each 1/2" across. After that they started narrowing down and at the edge some were only about 1/16"



That's all the difference. It had optimum growing conditions. Full sun, great soil & nutrition, and a virtual pipeline of constant water. That tree was on roids LOL


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## billstuewe (Sep 16, 2010)

Well, the official ring count is in and I was dead on at 126. The baylor University Professor got 1`26 the first count and 127 the second so I guess IK know how to count rings.


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## billstuewe (Oct 23, 2010)

Well, today I went and milled 6 more cookies off the big trunk for some of the people that put up money to drag the log out of the river. For my effort I got to take the rest of the log, about 38" worth. Each slice is about 500lbs so it is a challenge.
The "left-over" weighed 3900# acording to the loader scale.





Table anyone?




Three coats of anchorseal on each side, Will sticker when dry.


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## johncinco (Oct 25, 2010)

Sag solution: Use a 3' bar, plunge cut, and then have someone drive the truck around with you on the tail gate. 

Thats one big stump. Looks like a lot of fun. Hopefully they do not warp much and you can get some nice table top slabs out of it. There are buyers out there for something like that for sure.


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## BobL (Oct 25, 2010)

billstuewe said:


>



Looking at that shape and I keep seeing a blobby lookin critter.

If it fails as a table it would be fun to set it up in a kids park or similar.


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## billstuewe (Oct 25, 2010)

I was wondering who would find him first--Casper is in there--his head is about half way up straight above where the stick is tied in the middle. His tommy button is to the left of the stick just above the crack.

I am hoping that the crack has already relieved most of the stress and that there will be minimal cracking. I have about 8-9 more to cut--I need a boat load of anchorseal.


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## deeker (Oct 26, 2010)

You have done a very nice job!!!

Keep up the great work!


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## Gunther274 (Jun 20, 2011)

look up epicormic sprouts on google images, im guessing thats what those little knots are. they are just little branches that come out of the trunk, they are dormant buds that sit on the cambium and just grow with the tree, then sprout kinda randomly, or when the trunk gets extra sunlight. 

Epicormic buds, or sprouts or branches, look it up, im guessing thats what it is.


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## Gunther274 (Jun 20, 2011)

Ha funny i didnt realize i was looking at threads on like page 15... OOOOPs!


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## rarefish383 (Jun 21, 2011)

That's alright, this one is worth looking at again and again, Joe.


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## mitch95100 (Jun 21, 2011)

discounthunter said:


> man!thats a big chunk of wood! going to slab it up any more.looks like table top material. how about the rest of the tree? any pieces worth milling .
> 
> good job.


 
Thats what i was thinkin!! it would make an awsome table top


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