I may have a chance to mill a very large oak, but don't have a mill/bar big enough

[scottw]

My parent's neighbor had a 127 year old 56" DBH red oak cut down from their field. We have aerial pictures going back to the 50's, there was never any indication the tree was part of a fence-line. The neighbor is trying to find somebody with a saw large enough to cut it into firewood. I have other ideas. I ran Doyle calculations, over 1500 board feet in the log. I would like to mill it at least into slabs that can be resawn later.

I have a Dolkita 7900 (6401 with 7900 P&C) that I'm putting together and my dad has a Dolmar 7910. I would love to have a 72" double-ended bar to mill it but it's a budget breaker for 1-time use.

Would it be tacky to post up in the classifieds asking to use/rent one?

I remember debating buying a 72 and finally got a cannon sawmiller double end last year from a dealer in Asheville, Nc and love it. I just used it this week on a live oak tree from hurricane Matthew. Some the live edge sections are getting near 53 inches wide and my 66 inch bar a Granberg mill was to small.

 

[Jesse snowden]

this is what I did to a 42" white oak with a 36" bar. same saw actually! used a friends 1970's dolmar 7900.

the little jig is built with a single 2x12. cut two pieces at 3' long. thats the base. then cut 4 pieces at ~6". nail those bits to both ends of the 3-footers. then figure out how you want to build a few wedges. I cut big triangles at 45° and then nailed some small squares to the side so it would stand up on its own. I put "4×6" on my drawing when I was first thinking of this plan. but turns out all you need is a little chunk or whatever. just a lip big enough to keep the log from rolling over. so the small scrap piece of 2xwhatever is plenty of material.

so you half the log, keep the bar flat so you're making noodles a chalk line helps guide you the first time. then you cut those halfs into quarters. at that size the triangular staves are pretty manageable. slip the jig under and follow the drawing. wedge it in place so one of the flat surfaces is facing the sky. screw a flat + straight 2x6 on top of that and make your first cut. roll the log over 90° and do the same thing. repeat that process until its all gone! seems like a mouthful in writing. but its super quick, costs about 20 bucks, and can be thrown away when you're done.

 

[manwithsaw]

Buy my 66", never used, Canon, double sided bar with optiknal helper handle...