# Log Cleaning



## Rusty (Feb 21, 2008)

It doesn't seem to take much dirt to dull my band saw blades. Sometimes I'll power wash my logs or I'll use a log Wizard. If the logs are just right I'll peel them. This takes allot of time. Is there a reasonable priced log debarker for 36" logs. Everything I've seen has been 10's of thousands of $$$$$$$ Any Advice ?


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## zopi (Feb 21, 2008)

dunno how much production you are getting...i'm kind of laid back about 
how big a hurry I have to be in...i'm in it for the fun..I usually just take an ax 
and hew the bark off the log where the blade will enter..might take five minutes..I do have a good hewing ax though..makes a difference..

besides, operating an ax is kind of fun...


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## Husky137 (Feb 21, 2008)

My woodmizer has a debarker right on it. It doesn't debark the entire log, just the slice in front of the blade. Best money I ever spent.


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## woodshop (Feb 22, 2008)

Used to use an ax... but in spite of what zopi says, for me that was tedious and on some logs was way too much work to get down past the bark into clean wood the whole way down the log. I now use the Log wizard. It's relatively quick, relatively cheap, and does the job well. Other than the big commercial debarkers that some sawmills use, don't think there is a smaller cheaper version for a semi-pro consumer market. I don't think there would be enough demand to warrant the production of one.


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## VT-Woodchuck (Feb 22, 2008)

Yep, Log Wizard here too. Plus, it gave me an excuse to buy another saw - win, win:greenchainsaw:


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## zopi (Feb 22, 2008)

Hmmmm..was thinking about this today...one possible solution..

http://www.rotoclipinc.com/products.php?cat=2


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## woodshop (Feb 22, 2008)

zopi said:


> Hmmmm..was thinking about this today...one possible solution..
> 
> http://www.rotoclipinc.com/products.php?cat=2



Looks like it can SHAPE wood, or trim wood, but wonder how well or fast it would de-bark an 8ft long 24" dia log. My guess is not as fast as the Log Wizard given the size of that cutter head and how it appears to work, but then never having seen one work, can't say. Two and a half big ones seems a little steep price wise also. $450 for a stainless steel one... ouch.


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## DRB (Feb 22, 2008)

woodshop said:


> Looks like it can SHAPE wood, or trim wood, but wonder how well or fast it would de-bark an 8ft long 24" dia log. My guess is not as fast as the Log Wizard given the size of that cutter head and how it appears to work, but then never having seen one work, can't say. Two and a half big ones seems a little steep price wise also. $450 for a stainless steel one... ouch.



I think you could set up one of those cutters like a woodmiser barker that runs in front of the blade of a band mill. Although 450 is pricey just for the cutter. I have seen the woodmizer barker in action and it works great. I would have one if I had a band mill.


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## woodshop (Feb 23, 2008)

DRB said:


> I think you could set up one of those cutters like a woodmiser barker that runs in front of the blade of a band mill. Although 450 is pricey just for the cutter. I have seen the woodmizer barker in action and it works great. I would have one if I had a band mill.



Speaking of which... how much does Woodmizer charge for their debarker that sits in front of the blade? Could it be fitted to other bandmills? Why reinvent the wheel if theirs works well. I doubt the cutters on theirs would start at $250, although the whole contraption might be more than that. 

This is an interesting tool though. Go to their home page and watch the video of the thing trimming cattle hooves. Looks almost like fun, but I guess after a few dozen cattle it would get old quick.


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## big daddio (Feb 23, 2008)

i've always used the ax too. some guys told me about pressure washing, seems like it would make an awful lot of mud in my sawing location and what about the grit under the bark [pines, cherries, etc]. thought about the wm debarker, how does it do on knotty or imperfect logs as far as not hanging up?


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## zopi (Feb 23, 2008)

woodshop said:


> Looks like it can SHAPE wood, or trim wood, but wonder how well or fast it would de-bark an 8ft long 24" dia log. My guess is not as fast as the Log Wizard given the size of that cutter head and how it appears to work, but then never having seen one work, can't say. Two and a half big ones seems a little steep price wise also. $450 for a stainless steel one... ouch.



There are different versions..one company makes one with chainsaw chain..

just a thought.

I don't peel the entire log...just where the blade enters...


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## GeeVee (Feb 23, 2008)

The Woodmizer debarking accessory I've seen is about the best idea I've seen. 

The electric motor is run off of the gas engine, which has been beefed up with a larger rectifier/alternator to run it. 

The motor spins a balde that resembles a standard 7.5inch circular saw blade with 18 to 24 "teeth". The similarities end there though. The blade is easily a quarter of an inch thick, solid steel, and the teeth do not have any special carbide tip, just sharpenable steel. The size and weight of the blade give it momentum, and torque. 

The motor and blade are mounted to the millhead in such a way, that the blade rips through the bark "ahead" of the band where it is entering the wood. This clears the bark and whatever debris that it holds, so the band doesn't pick it up and drag it through the cut, dulling the band prematurely. The band "exiting" the log throws the bark and its debris, so there is far less need to have a debarker on the exit side. 

The motor and blade are mounted on a swingarm of sorts that is spring loaded, to apply tension, and follow the logs curves. Once you have your log squared off, you don't need to engage this device, and it stays out of the way.

My mill guy said he hadn't had a need to sharpen this blade in two years of using it. It clears well, and certainly paid for itself over time by extending the time between sending boxes of blades out for sharpening. He spent the first six months without it, and said it was a easily discernable difference.

For those with CSM's or bands that improvising isn't your strong suit, the log wizard ought to do what you need. Possibly a disposable saw dedicated to it is better than using a apro saw, but that woiuld be up to your budget.... 

I recall one poster in this thread mentioning peeling, and am curious what he peels an entire log for?


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## zopi (Feb 23, 2008)

wonder if an electric saw would run a log wizard? i'm sure the Stihl or Huskys would, but what about the throwaways...:censored:


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## DRB (Feb 23, 2008)

I do most of my log skidding in the winter when there is snow on the ground. This keeps the dirt out of the logs. Old logger told me this "to many bugs in the spring and birds are nesting anyway, too hot in summer and fire hazard anyway, fall to many chores around yard, so winter works best" This does seem to be how it has ended up working for me most of the time.


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## shopteacher (Feb 23, 2008)

Woodmizer debarker is over 2000.00 I believe. I priced one some time ago so not real sure how accurate that price is now.


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## woodshop (Feb 23, 2008)

GeeVee said:


> ...The motor spins a balde that resembles a standard 7.5inch circular saw blade with 18 to 24 "teeth". The similarities end there though. The blade is easily a quarter of an inch thick, solid steel, and the teeth do not have any special carbide tip, just sharpenable steel. The size and weight of the blade give it momentum, and torque...



Thanks for that detailed info... if I had a full blown bandsaw on a carriage this sounds like an investment I would eventually make, although $2k if shopteacher is right buys a LOT of blades and resharpenings. 

Zopi my guess after using the Log Wizard for a while now is that an electric chainsaw wouldn't have enough torque for the Wizard. Maybe if you only did a little skimming lightly and didn't dig down and dirty... or if you took it real slow. My Husky 350 (40cc) is about right, and even when it's digging in and taking a full bite it only slows down a bit as I pull it down the log and doesn't really bog down much. That said, maybe a 30cc big box throwaway might even work OK.


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## Husky137 (Feb 23, 2008)

I paid $1465 for my debarker on the LT40, that was 4 years ago. Sure you can spend that money buying new blades at $22 a pop, or sharpening them for $8.50 each, but there is no replacement for lost time changing out dull blades when you want to be cutting lumber.


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## shopteacher (Feb 23, 2008)

I believe that 1465. was only because you bought it with the mill. Right now you can get one on a new mill for 995. but you won't get it that cheap as an add-on. I'm looking for a mill right now and wouldn't think of buying one without a debarker.


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## zopi (Feb 23, 2008)

woodshop said:


> Thanks for that detailed info... if I had a full blown bandsaw on a carriage this sounds like an investment I would eventually make, although $2k if shopteacher is right buys a LOT of blades and resharpenings.
> 
> Zopi my guess after using the Log Wizard for a while now is that an electric chainsaw wouldn't have enough torque for the Wizard. Maybe if you only did a little skimming lightly and didn't dig down and dirty... or if you took it real slow. My Husky 350 (40cc) is about right, and even when it's digging in and taking a full bite it only slows down a bit as I pull it down the log and doesn't really bog down much. That said, maybe a 30cc big box throwaway might even work OK.



I figured...elect chainsaws pretty much suck. 

heh..mount one on a chain trimmer bar...ya don't hafta getcher feet dirty..:greenchainsaw: :greenchainsaw:


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## big daddio (Feb 23, 2008)

> My mill guy said he hadn't had a need to sharpen this blade in two years of using it. It clears well, and certainly paid for itself over time by extending the time between sending boxes of blades out for sharpening. He spent the first six months without it, and said it was a easily discernable difference


.


two years on one blade without sharpening? how much did he saw?


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## woodshop (Feb 23, 2008)

big daddio said:


> .two years on one blade without sharpening? how much did he saw?


I think he meant two years on the small debarking blade, not a bandsaw blade.


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## woodshop (Feb 23, 2008)

zopi said:


> I figured...elect chainsaws pretty much suck.
> 
> heh..mount one on a chain trimmer bar...ya don't hafta getcher feet dirty..:greenchainsaw: :greenchainsaw:



When I worked as a logger for a paper mill (this was 27 years ago) before we got our total tree harvester that would fell, debark, delimb and stack the logs in a bed behind the thing, we were trimming branches off of the trees by hand with chainsaws. We had a company that wanted to sell us what looked like a skidder but it had a huge (very fast) spinning drum on the front to which dozens of 4 ft long pieces of ordinary chain were attached. This thing would simply drive down over the log(s) and the spinning chains would debark and delimb the stick. It basically just smashed/ripped/tore the limbs and bark off the tree. Keep in mind this only worked well for 8-15 inch dia pine, which is most of what we cut for the mill. The thing worked great... but the reason we didn't get it was the stories we heard about it. Once in a while a chain would break free from this spinning drum and depending on what part of the cycle the drum was when it broke, could be a very lethal chunk of metal flying through the woods at very high speed. We heard of a chain breaking off that proceeded to bury itself a foot down into the forest floor. Imagine what it would do to any human being in it's path. 

So... I'll stick with my Log Wizard. It uses a lot less fuel than a skidder.


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## lmbeachy (Feb 23, 2008)

I have a friend who uses one of those Roto Clip things to trim cow hoofs. He makes his living doing that. It works pretty fast on a cow hoof, not sure that it would be very efficient for debaking a log though.


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## zopi (Feb 23, 2008)

there is a larger, and similar device the army uses to clear land mines...great big drum with chains on it...and a bombproof vehicles behind it..chains dig into the ground and detonate the mines...leaves a nicely tilled garden spot too..


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## Rusty (Feb 23, 2008)

*Thanks for all the responses !*

Thank you for everybody's postings. Are the debarkers that scratch a travel line in the log really effective ? Has anybody seen the one Hudson makes in action ?
I couldn't get the guys at the logging show in Rutland to demo it for me last year. 
P.S. an ice chopper makes a pretty good bark peeler.


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## Husky137 (Feb 23, 2008)

Rusty said:


> Are the debarkers that scratch a travel line in the log really effective ?




As long as it is properly aligned with the blade. I can easily mill all day on the same blade, some 600-1000 BF, working by myself.


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## big daddio (Feb 24, 2008)

thanx woodshop, my next question was gonna be what kind of blade was that?


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