Oh yeah, you've got those with an extra set of hands. Just stack the slabs beside the log and get the property owner to come load them on the trailer when you're done. The biggest slab I've tried moving around by myself was a 4" thick, 26" wide and it was an absolute backbreaker just moving it end by end. Still had to use a tractor to get it in the back of the truck. 3" or less thick and under 30" wide and I can load them, any bigger than that and I'm getting too old for this **** lolYou guys are wealth of knowledge.
I’m standing here right now looking at this thing and I’m pretty positive. I can move them with one helper. Monday is the day.
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You could do something like this to reduce the number of moves needed by the skid steer (without compounding error) by starting at max depth and working your way up.I want to ask you guys a question. Ill try and keep it short. Iv got a 43-45” diameter X 10’6” long white oak log that im getting paid to mill @ 9/4’s. Its on a tree service owner’s property and he offered to help me load the boards on the trailer with a skid steer with forks. But…. I know he is busy and I don't want to come get him every 20 min to load one board at a time.
My thought was to mill the first at 2.25”. Take the wedges out, then set the mill at 4.5”, take the wedges out then do 6.75”. Maybe jist stick with 3 at a time.or maybe just do 2 to be safe.
If I set the mill depth correctly do you think this will work and they will be the same thickness? I don't see why not but iv never done it like this.
I will use a leaf blower to blow all the saw dust out between the boards before removing the wedges each time.
Thoughts?
Got it. Cool ideaYou could do something like this to reduce the number of moves needed by the skid steer (without compounding error) by starting at max depth and working your way up.
I find the Granberg grind is a good comprise... make my own out of full comp with a grinder setup in a drill press
I meant to imply that while using his ladder guide or whatever, he could begin with the deepest cut to be made from that position. Subsequent cuts would be made shallower and necessarily with the guide still in place. If your mill has enough vertical adjustment to suit, you could make a few good cuts off of the ladder without moving it.any kind of multiple cut approach like that is asking to compound inconsistency. I use a ladder guide every cut just so I don't compound inconsistency.
Gotcha - hadn't entirely thought that approach out but see your point. If your ladder guide setting on top is maintaining the same level through every cut, I can see starting deepest and working your way up should stay fairly consistent. The only way it goes wrong is if you fail to clean out each cut with a blower or something properly, or if one of the bottom slabs takes a warp from a cut that the weight of the wood above it fails to flatten out completely. But yeah, otherwise makes sense. I'd definitely still make the standard first cut first a few inches deep to get rid of the edge wood and establish a solid flat platform for the ladder guide before doing those kind of cuts though. Intriguing, will have to try it sometime. Granberg does make 36" extra long posts that seem designed more or less for that purpose so you could do entire logs that way, because I can't see anyone is making cants that big to need posts that long.I meant to imply that while using his ladder guide or whatever, he could begin with the deepest cut to be made from that position. Subsequent cuts would be made shallower and necessarily with the guide still in place. If your mill has enough vertical adjustment to suit, you could make a few good cuts off of the ladder without moving it.
So if the ladder remains screwed into the same spot throughout multiple cuts, one eliminates some unnecessary movements/adjustments, screwholes in each board, and perhaps even some minute tolerance stacking (compared to resetting the ladder for every individual cut.)
I see only an improvement there when it comes to quality control, and improved efficiency as well!
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