# Is vertical chainsaw milling possible/practical?



## OneStaple (Jan 31, 2008)

Hey,

I was bouncing ideas around with my dad last night because we have a locust tree that needs to come down in our backyard. While we were talking, we thought up the idea of doing chainsaw milling vertically. I'm not yet convinced that it would be a good idea or that it would work, but I wanted to get opinions from those with more experience so as to flush out the idea.

The concept would be to leave the last 8'-10' of the trunk in the ground and then use a CSM vertically to slab off boards. I assume the weight of the CSM would be too much, so it would probably have to be held up slightly to slow the cut. Once near the ground, another chainsaw could be used to cut through the board and allow it to be detached. Or perhaps, instead of detaching them one at a time, the could all be done at the end. The first method might keep you from lifting the CSM all the way back out of the cut though.

Obviously, I don't think this would be practical for a tree that is cut down in the woods. But maybe it would be practical for trees that are near buildings or where there's not a lot of room to have a 8'-10' log fall/rest.

As I said, I'm not convinced that this is a good idea. Any thoughts?

Thanks,
Tyler


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## wdchuck (Jan 31, 2008)

Snap some lines and free hand it.

It isn't the weight of the mill that would be an issue, but keeping the rig from creeping away from the stem.
How would you attach any guide rails to the bottom, you'd need some way of doing that. 

I"ve done some small logs that way, but freehand, and a simple guide would be the difference to maintaining some nice straight lines.

If you do this, take some pics.


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## 1953greg (Jan 31, 2008)

Is vertical chainsaw milling possible/practical?

simple answer possible yes practical no


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## BobL (Jan 31, 2008)

I agree with wchuck, To use a mill you will need some way to apply sideways force onto the mill or else it will wander. 

A forum member called railomatic has done this using one of his special mills and a guy in Australia made a rig where a CS slides down a steel pipe. 

None of this inspires me - the fact that you have to lift the mill back up 8 - 10' after every cut makes my back arms and shoulders ache just thinking of the effort involved compared to the low effort required when milling on a 10 - 20 horizontal slope.


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## olyman (Jan 31, 2008)

you could attach a small pulley to the top of the tree--with a small boat winch on the side of tree opposite csm--to raise and lower the csm---and have someone lean something against the csm to keep it running straight--a certain large ash tree is waiting for me to do this to it--but remember this--if those slabs are of any width--you want to brace them across their width--otherwise when you let them down--if you grab the sides--they may break right down the center lengthwise----


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## woodshop (Jan 31, 2008)

Besides the pain in the a$$ method I'd think you would need to apply to mill that way, my biggest concern would be the safety aspect. Picture this unwieldy thing above your head, bar and chain spinning away... and it slips or drops... down toward the operator... sheeesh.


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## zopi (Jan 31, 2008)

woodshop said:


> Besides the pain in the a$$ method I'd think you would need to apply to mill that way, my biggest concern would be the safety aspect. Picture this unwieldy thing above your head, bar and chain spinning away... and it slips or drops... down toward the operator... sheeesh.



yah..besides safety, it'd be a giant PITA and for all that trouble you might as well buy a bandmill..:hmm3grin2orange: 

Sorry...it's stihl a new toy..and orange..


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## BobL (Jan 31, 2008)

woodshop said:


> Besides the pain in the a$$ method I'd think you would need to apply to mill that way, my biggest concern would be the safety aspect. Picture this unwieldy thing above your head, bar and chain spinning away... and it slips or drops... down toward the operator... sheeesh.



Not to mention handling a 10 ft long standing slab.

Today's news headlines, . . . . . . Man sliced and pancaked by falling CS and timber slab . . . . . . . . 
:greenchainsaw:


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## OneStaple (Jan 31, 2008)

Hey, at least it'd make for an entertaining headline.

I kind of figured it might be more trouble than it's worth, especially with lifting the CSM up 10 feet in the air. But thanks for the input!

--Tyler


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## BobL (Feb 1, 2008)

OneStaple said:


> Hey, at least it'd make for an entertaining headline.


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## olyman (Feb 1, 2008)

i know of you gents concern--but the reason i will do this--the large ash--44 dbh-----that im going to do--know what that chunk of log weighs????? its 16 foot tall--with almost no taper----and it would take one dang large crane to lay it down----i know the city workers in the town--and i know they would lay the slabs down for me---thats why im going to do it that way----and board both ends--so they dont split in half---


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## 1953greg (Feb 1, 2008)

olyman said:


> i know of you gents concern--but the reason i will do this--the large ash--44 dbh-----that im going to do--know what that chunk of log weighs????? its 16 foot tall--with almost no taper----and it would take one dang large crane to lay it down----i know the city workers in the town--and i know they would lay the slabs down for me---thats why im going to do it that way----and board both ends--so they dont split in half---



know what that chunk of log weighs????? its 16 foot tall--

bout 8100 lbs!!!!!!!


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## zopi (Feb 1, 2008)

8784.88 lbs...

168.94 cu ft...


roughly...

4" slab outta th' middle will weigh in around a thousand pounds...


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## BobL (Feb 1, 2008)

zopi said:


> . . . . . .
> 
> 4" slab outta th' middle will weigh in around a thousand pounds...



Today's news headlines, . . . . . . city workers pancaked by 1000 lbs timber slab . . . . . . . . 

Seriously, I reckon it can be done but at what risk? What about getting one of your city workers to do a proper risk assessment of the situation. My guess is to do it properly and safely you will need a scaffold surrounding 3 sides of the trunk. A block and tackle to lift the CS Mill and to lower the slabs, and 4 - 5 people to hang around for the duration of the milling. If you do a full costing of this I reckon it will come out about the same as a crane hire which in the long run will be a lot safer. While you have the crane on site, get one end of the log lifted up so you can get a glut underneath it and then experience the ease of sloped milling.


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## zopi (Feb 1, 2008)

How much room is there around this thing?

If ya can't drop the whole 16 ft...maybe drop the top 6 or 8, saw it up 
then drop the other section...slow cut and alot of wedges..you shouldn't
lose too much lumber if you notch downward and flush cut for the hinge...

besides..there is a country buttload of lumber in it...


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## olyman (Feb 3, 2008)

no room to the west--roadway--no room north--house----no room south--railroad---east is only way-----and if you drop that pig!!!!!!!!!!! would still have the weight of the dang boards anyway--was going to cut them 9/8 for "harvest" table tops---and use the smaller side pieces for the legs---and i want the full length for the table tops------


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## 1953greg (Feb 7, 2008)

so why not drop it east?


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## olyman (Feb 7, 2008)

thats the only "open" area--but it aint--theres two smaller ash trees that way--one or the other would get hit by it


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## BC WetCoast (Feb 9, 2008)

olyman said:


> no room to the west--roadway--no room north--house----no room south--railroad---east is only way-----and if you drop that pig!!!!!!!!!!! would still have the weight of the dang boards anyway--was going to cut them 9/8 for "harvest" table tops---and use the smaller side pieces for the legs---and i want the full length for the table tops------



Get two flag hags, drop the log on the road and use a tractor/truck/peavy to spin it and roll it off the road. On the ground and off the road in 10 minutes.


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## 1953greg (Apr 8, 2008)

olyman said:


> i know of you gents concern--but the reason i will do this--the large ash--44 dbh-----that im going to do--know what that chunk of log weighs????? its 16 foot tall--with almost no taper----and it would take one dang large crane to lay it down----i know the city workers in the town--and i know they would lay the slabs down for me---thats why im going to do it that way----and board both ends--so they dont split in half---



so oly, how did the big drop go?


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## big daddio (Apr 10, 2008)

hey guys, i just came in on this, but isn't there something dangerous [or at the least daring] about cuttin' a large locust or ash down a log length up the tree. locust, not as bad, but ash around here has to be cut just right to keep it from splittin' and slabbin' up the tree makin' it land with a long slab stickin' out [awful close to where the timber cutter could be]..........don't think i'd want to be off the ground doin' it.


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