Simple, DIY mill?

[fields_mj]

I'm wondering if there are any simple DIY plans out there for a mill. What I'm looking for is something that I can use with my saw (Stihl 064) to cut some 2x4, 4x4, or 4x6 boards. The woods that I hunt and cut in had over 1100 mature trees taken out in the past 9 months, and a lot of the tops that were left behind are pretty big. By the end of the winter, I will probably be several years a head on my cutting. As of right now, I have most of next years wood already cut and hauled back to the house, but I'm at a bit of a stand still. Because the rest of what I cut could be stacked for years, I want to get it up off the ground. The lumber that I want to cut would be laid on the ground and my firewood would be stacked on top of it, so I'm wanting something that is somewhere between very cheep and free I've been thinking about buying some treated lumber to put down, but I just hate to spend the money. Then it dawned on me that there are a LOT of oak tops out there that are over 36" across and are just going to rott because I'm the only one with a saw big enough to work on them, and there's so much firewood available, that by the time I get done picking the low haning fruit, the big stuff will be starting to rott. If I could rig up a simple mill to use I could cut a few of them up into lumber and use them. I would have my time, bar oil, and gas involved.

Now for the second question. How long should I espect to work at milling the lumber that I want? My wood stacking area is about 150 ft long, and I stack 2 stacks deep and I'd like to put down 2 boards per row. I think I can cut everything out of logs that are somewhere in the 8' to 12' range, so I would be milling roughly 60 pcs of lumber. Would I be better off milling out beams that I can drag/pull into the bed of the truck, and then haul them home and cut them to what I want with a circular saw?

Last question, do you think this is a waste of my time and I should just stop at the local lumber yard and buy some treated 4x4s and save myself the headaches?

Thanks for any feedback
Mark

 

[thepheniox]

I think you should find some free pallets and use them. I find them everywhere. If your only planning on milling lumber for this purpose you could use the time saved to cut more firewood.

 

[srcarr52]

Buy treated lumber. Never store untreated wood on the dirt, even if it is just firewood.

 

[820wards]

I think you should find some free pallets and use them. I find them everywhere. If your only planning on milling lumber for this purpose you could use the time saved to cut more firewood.

Ditto on the pallets, I spray mine with deck sealer to make them last a bit longer. Here on the left coast we have redwood, and it last a long time on the ground with having to treat it.

jerry-

 

[Talltom]

Not sure why you would want to mill something to dimension only to stack firewood on it. I use round logs 6-8 inches in diameter set on the ground for the base of a crib that has vertical supports and a rail across the top to keep air flow between the tarp and the firewood. Each crib is about 14 ft long so it can be covered by a 16 ft tarp, but the logs don't have to be continuous (& a 14 ft log is too heavy to move around easily.) Each pair of logs should be approximately the same diameter so the stack is horizontal, but each pair can be different. I like to use pine for this purpose since it's not the best firewood and has moderate decay resistance. The logs will last several years if they are kept dry, which is sort of the idea anyway. Some of mine have been down for 12 years. They disintegrate from the bottom up, so they are still usable until they're about halfway gone. Each crib will be emptied every 2-3 years as I use the firewood, so it's easy to replace rotten logs in the Spring. My neighbor uses pallets that he gets for free. They last 4-5 years if kept dry.

How are you going to keep all that firewood dry? Your scheme for doing that should dictate the way you stack it.

Milled lumber won't last any longer on the ground than the logs they came from & it's a lot of work to mill lumber with a chain saw. The only reason to use PT lumber is if you want something permanent.

 

[fields_mj]

At this point I'm going to use tarps. I use smaller tarps that only come down 12"~18" on each side of the two stacks, and the stacks are between 5ft and 6ft tall. I've used small limbs in the past with moderate sucess. I just like the flat sides of dimensional lumber to stack on. I've been using old treated 4x4s that I had laying around and had been removed during a remodel, as well as some old rough sawn 2x10 poplar that used to be floor joists, also from a remodel. I need to check into land scape timbers and see how they compair on price, but at the end of the day I'll probably get some free pallets and use those.

Thanks,
Mark

 

[thepheniox]

Probably putting gravel down first would keep what ever you you use on the bottom dry.

 

[sb47]

If I may sagest using pallets as some have already suggested.
I use them and they work great and are free.
Here in the Houston area it gets quite wet at times and moisture can wick up even through the pallet wood to some extent.
So I lay down a double layer of plastic first then put the pallets on top. This makes a great moisture barrier to keep water from wicking.
I stack one row of wood on each side and leave a space down the middle so air can blow through. And being on pallets I get air flow underneath as well.
I cover the top with scrap plywood I got for free at a local construction site. That keeps the tarps from tearing up on the ruff wood edges. I use wire to hold down the sides and when I need to get to the wood I just unhook the wire and lift the tarp.

Dennis
Here is a picture

 

[fields_mj]

We've gotten way off topic here, but that's okay For the wood that's going to be stacked for more than a year, I plan on putting something down on the ground first, mainly for weed control as I'm stacking against my property line which is full of various types of ivy. I've got a roll of #30 tar paper left over from the roof last year. I might use that.

 

[scor440]

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[scor440]

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