# Best way to cut slab lengths



## firecatf7333 (Dec 25, 2011)

View attachment 213381


What is the best way to cut these slabwood bundles? I have around 50 bundles each year. Currently, i pick up the bundles at the mill, bring back home, then take out of bundles and put into my buck saw and cut with chainsaw. I have a bobcat and was wondering if there was a chainsaw attachment? i've seen a splittler/chainsaw attachment but that was like 20k. I've also seen a chainsaw attachment with a long boom for cutting limbs, but i don't need the boom. A big band saw may work as well??? Another idea i'm thinking is to use the biggest bar i can buy(36in????) and just keep cutting by hand. I have a grapple bucket for my bobcat also to pick up the slab piles if i have to.


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## Ductape (Dec 25, 2011)

Woodsman cordwood saw is how slabs are cut in these parts. Of course, you need a tractor with a 540 rpm PTO to run it.

Vermont Woodsman Cordwood Saw


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## coog (Dec 25, 2011)

I've used chains with boomers and a 36" bar. Keep the bundle tight and it will cut easier. Never very elegant, but the price was right.


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## Jules083 (Dec 26, 2011)

I buy those bundles sometimes, it's a fight to get them cut up. I generally leave them bundled tight and start chewing at them with the chainsaw, just acting like they are a big log. For the first 1/2 or so, pieces just fall off. When it gets to be too big of a mess to chainsaw cut them, I start setting the pieces on saw horses and going at it with a circular saw. It's painfully slow, and normally takes me a few weeks because I can only take so much before I say heck with it. I get as much as my car trailer and F-350 can handle for $30 though, when I can't get in the woods sometimes it's the best option. $30=2 months of heat for me.


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## firecatf7333 (Dec 26, 2011)

*reply*

DooView attachment 213411


do they sell one of these thats vertical for a skidsteer, or could one be made. i think itd work but i've only seen these that cut flat, for cutting down a tree or brush. It needs to be vertical so i can cut down through a pile


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## zogger (Dec 26, 2011)

*Oh that's easy*



firecatf7333 said:


> View attachment 213381
> 
> 
> What is the best way to cut these slabwood bundles? I have around 50 bundles each year. Currently, i pick up the bundles at the mill, bring back home, then take out of bundles and put into my buck saw and cut with chainsaw. I have a bobcat and was wondering if there was a chainsaw attachment? i've seen a splittler/chainsaw attachment but that was like 20k. I've also seen a chainsaw attachment with a long boom for cutting limbs, but i don't need the boom. A big band saw may work as well??? Another idea i'm thinking is to use the biggest bar i can buy(36in????) and just keep cutting by hand. I have a grapple bucket for my bobcat also to pick up the slab piles if i have to.



--you hold a GTG for all these guys here who have all of them old giant like 10 foot long (whatever) two man shelf queen saws. 

--hey, quit looking at me funny, it might work! 

--switch to an outside burner that takes some really long pieces..or the whole bundle, load up once a month...

--build a giant buckhorse

--keep razzing the PNW guys, tell them you think all them pics of them running huge old saws with giant bars are just photoshop BS, they'll get mad, hop on a plane, come over, cut the wood, then give ya a good slapping around..but the wood will be cut!

---build a custom giant slabwood bundle processor, for like around 50 grand or so, then sell them to other guys so they can save money on their heating bill

--or, you could always cut up as much as you can from the ends with your chainsaw, then pick up what is left of the bundle with your little go buggy and move it to a new spot, then cut some more. Once it gets to shorties and the bundle is really falling apart, plus the ones you can't reach in the middle, stack them like ten at a time in a regular old small sawbuck, and finish the job


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## tomsteve (Dec 26, 2011)

i burn slabwood. i built a buckhorse and with 2 people working could go get a bundle(10') bucked up in about an hour. didnt have the help this year and bucked em up with the bands still on. since its personal use, as long as it fits in my stove i'm happy. 18" bar on my saw. i start on the ends about 18'20" in, which is outside the bands, and run through as deep as i can get. move in 18-20" and do it again, then again. throw all the pieces off to the side and go at it again. when i got near the bottom, i put the rest in the buckhorse. took a little longer, but i worked pretty good.
i did see a video on youtube where some rednecks took a poulan and made a lil processor. used a table( might have been a picnic table) to lay the logs on( all small diameter logs) and had the poulan on a pivot at the end with a lil length gage so the logs could be slid up and then just pivot the saw thru the wood. semmed to be a pretty ingenious idea. think i'll go surf and see if i can find that video.


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## tomsteve (Dec 26, 2011)

HA!! found it!!!


redneck chopsaw - YouTube


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## 7sleeper (Dec 26, 2011)

I made a thread here some time ago. 

here is the link: http://www.arboristsite.com/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=1995289



7sleeper said:


> This is my try on showing how I process slab wood directly from the sawmill. Many people like my fil are rather old and not very handy any more(after 2 heartattachs & 2 strokes no wonder!) so they use the chance of getting slabwood very cheap from the sawmill's around the area. This is in the southern alpine region of Austria so Beech, Oak or similar is a rarity. Out of the softwoods Larch(or Tamarack) is a very good type of wood so if you can get it, do it. Luckily he has been able to aquire 6 bundles of slabwood from a local mill and had this delivered to his property. Each bundle is approx. 6 meters long and 1 meter in diameter (we are metric over here  ).
> I will try to chronicly show how I, in my limited time, make his firewood for the winter.
> 
> 1. The bundles are delivered
> ...



Hope that helps you out somewhat.

7


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## leon (Dec 26, 2011)

*slab wood/cord wood saw*



Ductape said:


> Woodsman cordwood saw is how slabs are cut in these parts. Of course, you need a tractor with a 540 rpm PTO to run it.
> 
> Vermont Woodsman Cordwood Saw




The only thing I would add to this cordwood wood saw is a 
weight arm to keep the wood in place as it is cut.


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## leon (Dec 26, 2011)

*firewood*



tomsteve said:


> HA!! found it!!!
> 
> 
> redneck chopsaw - YouTube




If you made one of these with a Stihl electric chain saw, buddy bar and .404 chain 
that would really cut some wood though.

I wonder if Wen still makes the reciprocating rip saw that they did years ago?,
that in itself would be perfect for slab wood and a cutting table with a set of rollers. 

You could mount it in a restraining jig to hold it and lift the wood to the blade like the
cordwood buzz saw.


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## Hedgerow (Dec 26, 2011)

firecatf7333 said:


> View attachment 213381
> 
> 
> What is the best way to cut these slabwood bundles? I have around 50 bundles each year. Currently, i pick up the bundles at the mill, bring back home, then take out of bundles and put into my buck saw and cut with chainsaw. I have a bobcat and was wondering if there was a chainsaw attachment? i've seen a splittler/chainsaw attachment but that was like 20k. I've also seen a chainsaw attachment with a long boom for cutting limbs, but i don't need the boom. A big band saw may work as well??? Another idea i'm thinking is to use the biggest bar i can buy(36in????) and just keep cutting by hand. I have a grapple bucket for my bobcat also to pick up the slab piles if i have to.



Just keep em bundled tight and get one of these bars... :hmm3grin2orange:


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## Wood Doctor (Dec 26, 2011)

I wrestled with this two years ago and finally decided the easiest way was to use the sawbuck and to cut the slab logs into 36" pieces first. Then I used the sawbuck by stacking three or four at a time on it and cutting them in half.

I put a wheelbarrow on each side of the sawbuck so that the logs dropped in. Then I carried them to the stack. As usual, it helps to have a helper.

Frankly I'd much rather work with big rounds than slabs because usually about half the slab logs still have to be split. Slabs also deliver a lot more bark than rounds.


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## firecatf7333 (Dec 26, 2011)

*reply*

Thanks for the replies. I like that massive bar sitting on the cat atv. How long is that bar, and how many CC would you need to run that? I should of stated in my post that i'm cutting up about 150 face cord of Slabwood each yr. I buy it from the mill long, and then re sell it cut up, delivered in my dump trailer. I've got an idea and would like to know your thoughts. I'm thinking of using a Buzz/buck saw View attachment 213461
View attachment 213462
View attachment 213463


1- Have a table with rollers on it

2- slide wood from rollers to buzz saw

3. After wood is cut, it falls into conveyor

4. I park my Dump trailer under conveyor


Can you have a buzz saw that is run off an engine, i've only seen them run off PTO from tractors? Another option would be to run buzz saw off the hydarlics from my skid steer??? Also, a firewood conveyor could have a small gas engine run it, right?

The table could be had for cheap, and i could find an old farm conveyor fairly cheap, and i'd imagine an older buzz saw isn't that expensive. I'd think for around $500 i could do all this. Thoughts


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## Hedgerow (Dec 26, 2011)

firecatf7333 said:


> Thanks for the replies. I like that massive bar sitting on the cat atv. How long is that bar, and how many CC would you need to run that? I should of stated in my post that i'm cutting up about 150 face cord of Slabwood each yr. I buy it from the mill long, and then re sell it cut up, delivered in my dump trailer. I've got an idea and would like to know your thoughts. I'm thinking of using a Buzz/buck saw View attachment 213461
> View attachment 213462
> View attachment 213463
> 
> ...



A. That's a 42" bar. I'd say 90 cc would be the ticket.
B. I like your conveyor into the trailer idea.
C. Conveyors are not cheap, unless you got an abundance of them in your area. I don't...:bang:
D. If you're an engineering fellow, you can rig about anything up to run off your skid steer, but for sheer cheap production, I liked the redneck chop saw idea a few posts back... 

But then I'm a bit of a saw nut too... :msp_sneaky:


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## Wood Doctor (Dec 26, 2011)

*150 face cord per year?*

... yes, you should have stated that somewhere. Good luck finding half a million bucks to process all that. And, be sure that you have lots of customers that enjoy burning it in stoves and fireplaces.

Or, consider shedding and bagging it all for landscape mulch. Buy some chemicals for dyes. People love colors.


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## zogger (Dec 26, 2011)

firecatf7333 said:


> Thanks for the replies. I like that massive bar sitting on the cat atv. How long is that bar, and how many CC would you need to run that? I should of stated in my post that i'm cutting up about 150 face cord of Slabwood each yr. I buy it from the mill long, and then re sell it cut up, delivered in my dump trailer. I've got an idea and would like to know your thoughts. I'm thinking of using a Buzz/buck saw View attachment 213461
> View attachment 213462
> View attachment 213463
> 
> ...




You thought it out perfectly fine. yes,yes,yes,yes, and yes to your questions, if you can scrounge the old equipment. The saw can run on a gas engine, so can the conveyor. That might be the cost there though, scrounging old equipment, then getting them to run. Putting the hours on the expensive equipment..I am not that sure that will be long time cost effective, although I will say I have my share of hours on a buzz saw, an arbor saw with a swing table, belt driven from a tractor. I think wearing out a cheaper engine is more cost effective, long range, plus loads easier and cheaper to work on if/when something breaks.

And good for you taking scrap and turning it into a useful product and making an honest buck from it!


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## turnkey4099 (Dec 27, 2011)

Something on this order would work built wide enough to take the biggest bar you run. Processing that much though, I would want help loading/unloading it.







Harry K


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## cfarms (Dec 27, 2011)

I mark my cuts(every 20 inches). Then take two ratchet straps and put them on the middle two pieces. Tighten very tight. Remove bands and cut off of both ends till done. I have a 32 inch bar and cut from both sides. Takes very little time to cut and throw into the basement! The skid steer with pallet forks works nice for handling them.


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## Steve NW WI (Dec 28, 2011)

Buzz saw from a small gas engine is doable, I've seen one from Australia on here somewhere. You'd want probably 8+ hp, about 5:1 reduction (my tractor mounted saw rig runs 750 rpm off the belt drive of an old Farmall), and some extra rotating mass (big flywheel). They do take some oomph when ya work em, mine will open up the governor a bit on a 45HP tractor if I bind it a little, happens once in a while.

Old grain elevators commonly ran on a 1-2hp electric motor, a 5 horse gasser will be more than plenty for that.


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## NC4AB (Dec 31, 2011)

Here are some pictures of an engine driven buzz saw that we use. Guessing it is at least 75 + years old, was made by the Buller Manufacturing Company in Hillsboro, KS and was originally belt powered. The construction is mainly bolted adn it you want more pictures / dimensions let me know. FIL converted it over to a 8 hp B&S engine several years ago, the engine runs at slightly above an idle and has plenty of power for 90% of the slabs we cut. If it had a flywheel to store some energy it would go through all of the slabs we cut with out slowing down.

View attachment 214450
View attachment 214451


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## zogger (Dec 31, 2011)

NC4AB said:


> Here are some pictures of an engine driven buzz saw that we use. Guessing it is at least 75 + years old, was made by the Buller Manufacturing Company in Hillsboro, KS and was originally belt powered. The construction is mainly bolted adn it you want more pictures / dimensions let me know. FIL converted it over to a 8 hp B&S engine several years ago, the engine runs at slightly above an idle and has plenty of power for 90% of the slabs we cut. If it had a flywheel to store some energy it would go through all of the slabs we cut with out slowing down.



That's a nice rig there. 

Ya, a flywheel..


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## NC4AB (Dec 31, 2011)

Seeing if I can imbed the images:


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## Dalmatian90 (Dec 31, 2011)

I've only used (err...was a helper) on a buzz saw once. Not a bad tool.

Just seems to me it's an awful lot of motions to pickup a slab, place on roller table, cut 16", move slab, cut 16", etc, etc, repeat.

Strapping the entire pile once up on a few pallets and going to town with a long bar, then chuck them onto the conveyor to load into a truck seems like it would be quicker...but that's just a wild ass guess.

BUT...if you did stick with the roller conveyor idea to feed a buzz saw, I'd consider a ball table like this:

Roll-A-Way Conveyors BTT2424-4 - Ball Transfer Table

Should let you move the slabs really quickly in both axis you need.


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## NC4AB (Dec 31, 2011)

Our operation pretty much requires 3 people - A "loader" to get the slabs to the table, an "operator" who positions the slab for cutting and operates the table and an "off bearer" that takes the cut slabs and either stacks them or loads them on the trailer. We normally cut to ~ 25" lengths to match our OWBs. Three of us cut up 2 dump truck loads of slabs this morning, took a little over 2 hours but got right at 3 cords of wood.


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## cford (Dec 31, 2011)

Just cut a half cord load of eastern white cedar ... I had it put in my truck on with some crossers underneath ... just took my 038 with 20 inch bar and cut as far down as I could ... then removed the cut pieces and then cut again then moved to the next cut.. 
I am planning on doing maybe 10 more loads (will get dropped off), I plan on using for maple syrup and will take up to 36", and my wood furnace takes up to 28" so I just cut it 3 times.
ps. not really concerned if wood is +- a few inches.


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## zogger (Dec 31, 2011)

Dalmatian90 said:


> I've only used (err...was a helper) on a buzz saw once. Not a bad tool.
> 
> Just seems to me it's an awful lot of motions to pickup a slab, place on roller table, cut 16", move slab, cut 16", etc, etc, repeat.
> 
> ...



They are really fast once you get used to it and arrange your work area and technique for efficiency. I ran one for a few years off and on, did beau coup with it, firewood and also fence posts. Also handy when cutting in the winter in deep snow, no need to go buck every cut, then go find it and fish it out. They work good on stuff up to but not exceeding what you can pick up, small branches, small logs, slabs. Well, at least when I was using one, didn't try anything that weighed tons, no giant logs, they wouldn't have worked even if I had had a way to load them. Anything else though, fast

Ya, if you got like a six or seven cube saw with one of those ditchwitch sized bars on it and can cut whole bundles at a whack, then yes, a chainsaw is faster. Short of that, the arbor saw or buzz saw is faster and you can get good at consistent cuts. It's like a factory production thing.


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