Chainsaw milled posts

[Chad]

We had a big ash tree that needed to come down, but it was too close to the house, septic, woodshed, etc. so had a guy climb it.

I had him drop a 40ft stem once the limbs were off and then I milled some posts using one of these beam makers. There are a few different companies that make them, and many of you could make your own with some basic materials and tools. All based on the "Beam machine" from out in BC, but those are hard to find now.

https://www.amazon.ca/LASER-THE-BEAM-MA ... B06Y19281G

Did a fairly decent job. I need some more practice but I ended up with about 10 usable 4x4 posts at 8-9 feet. Some of these will be used to support the roof of my new firewood shed. They are very heavy!

I still have a good amount of this tree left and I'm going to try making some 6x6 posts next.

Pretty easy to set up, and you don't need a big saw or bar to get decent results. I used a 20" bar and this log was on average 22" in diameter. You do need a straight 2x4 (actually there's about 1/2 play so I ended up gluing a strip of mdf to take up the slack). Guess it was made for a real 2x4!

Sorry for the lack of action shots...guess I didn't take any - next time.

If you have trees/logs but don't own or want to pay/transport logs on a sawmill this is a great way to beat lumber prices. Super portable, easy and fast to set up. It can also be used to make boards.







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[Eugen]

I'm very impressed @Chad . That's something I was hoping to do with the ash logs I got. Are your arms sore?

[JSinMO]

Nicely done! I’ve alway been interested in one of those potable saw mills but what you have looks really useful at a fraction of what one of those would cost. Being able to cut your own lumber is a great advantage.

[Chad]

Thanks guys! @Eugen they weren't too bad! The key I found is to do a few "shallow" passes, especially the first cuts. Trying to go all the way the first pass doesn't work well in terms of keeping things square. The mill has small dogs which bite down on the 2x4, enough that you can lever the saw into cut just like normal dogs on a large saw. Plus I was standing while cutting, way nicer than when using my alaskan mill.

It is unfortunate that there is more waste vs. a different mill (ie. band saw) but for what it is I'm impressed.

I guess with enough practice you could do it like this guy! Although I'd still wear some PPE

https://youtu.be/y5Ei-fBIAVk

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[Eugen]

I guess with enough practice you could do it like this guy! Although I'd still wear some PPE

https://youtu.be/y5Ei-fBIAVk

The find it hard to believe that is hard wood. Seems kinda unreal.

So, did you use a ripping chain? I find it amazing you were able to cut so nicely all those 4x4s. Nice little device and good technique I'm sure.

[Toolslinger]

I've got one of those beam saws that my father bought ages ago. Never used it as far as I know... I bought my Alaskan mill before I knew we had it, but the Alaskan was better for what I did with it anyway... Still want to try it out at some point when life calms down a bit. Big ash trees can turn in to a lot of lumber in a hurry. When I got my crane, I decided I needed to get in a supply of cribbing to go with it. Took down a 4 or 5 way ash, and ended up with a huge stack of 4x6 beams 12' long or so from the bottoms. Guy with the bandmill only charged me a couple hundred bucks to slice and dice, so I couldn't complain. The tops went in to the firewood stack, and came close to a cord on their own. Big trees. Damn shame what we're loosing to the ash borers.

[Chad]

@Eugen no ripping chain, but I'm sure it would be better with one. I'm planing them down right now, and I cut them a little oversized with the chainsaw knowing I would. I did cheat a little once I got the 12" slabs and used my circular saw, slow and steady.

@Toolslinger I agree it's bittersweet. I think down the road I'll have a guy with a bandsaw mill some for me...or I may get one.

It is a shame that we're losing these trees, when we moved here 5 years ago you'd never know it would die - had a full and healthy crown, of course I knew it was a matter of time. There have also since been a lot more elms die off too, and the beech have been struggling/dying for quite a while. I'm very worried about oak wilt, since 90% of our trees here are burr oaks/swamp oaks. The past 2-3 years of gypsy moth outbreaks gave us an idea of what that would look like in our woodlots. Spooky seeing a forest de-foliated in the summer...

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[Toolslinger]

With any luck the Gypsy Moth will catch some plague, or move on... They were real bad when I was a kid, and then just disappeared for a couple decades out in PA. I never really knew why, but yea, they can shred the trees. We've started seeing them again, which is just delightful...

I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...

[DavidBarkey]

With any luck the Gypsy Moth will catch some plague, or move on... They were real bad when I was a kid, and then just disappeared for a couple decades out in PA. I never really knew why, but yea, they can shred the trees. We've started seeing them again, which is just delightful...

I never really gave the ash much thought until they all started to die. They're a surprisingly high percentage of the woods by me. Now when I drive through my logging roads, I've got areas that are wide open, and grass, and ferns have taken over. I'm going to have to mow the roads, because I can't see where it is in some areas. I don't want to spray since the plants help hold the dirt, but I can't figure out really how to mow it safely since the roads are real rough and rocky with a lot of erosion... If I keep a mower up to clear the rocks, all I'll get is a slightly lower mess where I still can't see where I'm driving. Perhaps drag some chain link , or just a bunch of chains through to just knock it all down...

Last years the Gypsy moth decimated a lot of trees here . The last couple of years the Ash trees are dieing off . The tree guy said it takes 3 years for the trees to fully die . Fortunatly those are a small percentage of the trees around here .

[Spike188]

We had 2 full seasons of severe gypsy moth infestation. They attack all varieties of trees. I thought we would loose our pines and red maples. It was sickening to watch the defoliation. I tried a dishsoap and water rince, and pharamone traps. We may loose an oak but the damage may be from a very late spring freeze. This year we are not seeing many moth. A local University of Guelph professor thinks the moths were hit by a virus in early fall that wiped out the moth population.