Today I drove out in the country and looked at a couple of english walnut logs, thinking I could load them up on my trailer and haul them to my sawyer. I can get the logs for a small fee. So why the depression? Well, let me tell ya…I took my peavey with me to see how well I could maneuver the logs. The large one is close to 4 feet in diameter and ten feet long. It was all I could do to ‘budge’ it at all. That sucker must weigh 2 tons. The smaller log is approx 2 feet in diameter and about ten feet long. The small log I could actually rock a little. I have a 14″ flat bed trailer, so I only need to get them about 16″ into the air to get them up onto the trailer. No flippin way can I deal with the big log, makes me want to cry to tell the owner I can’t do anything with it. The owner doesn’t have any equipment, the tree came down in a storm taking out the power with it, and the local utility bucked up the log for her. What to do? I don’t think I can even get the smaller log onto my trailer. The only hope I have is the remote possibility of finding someone local with a trailerable woodmizer that can saw it up on site for me. She’s OK with that IF…I can find someone…..
Any suggestions? Am I wasting my time? Arrrghhhhh….I need another beer!
Jeff
Replies
I keep hearing (around here) that outfits such as Wood Mizer maintain lists of people who have bought their equipment by zip code area. Have you checked their web site.
Also, local woodworking clubs almost always have contacts with people that own such equipment. If there is a club or two in your general area, I would send them an email query.
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"It is what we learn after we think we know it all, that counts."
John Wooden 1910-
Here is a suggestion. It will require some muscle but it is a can do. Start with a pry bar and blocking, start on one endand get it into the air. A come along and choker will get it on to the trailer. You may need a couple of pipes on the trailer to "help" the log along.
If these are street trees, you should check with your sawyer first. Many won't touch street trees due to all the metal that can be imbedded in them. If someone will cut it up, hire a logger with a cherrypicker to move it. Must be some in Seattle.
Beat it to fit / Paint it to match
A Tow Truck service could be a cheap alternative. I remember when we had a drill rig stuck in the mud. Caterpillar D8 and D9 dozers could not budge it. We called a local tow truck outfit and a LITTLE truck snatched that big drill out without panting.
Frosty
Jeff, Frosty has given some great advice, if they can get the truck close enough.
I have loaded big logs onto a trailer. I use a portable power winch, which hooks to the truck battery.
Here are some tips. Logs roll easier then they drag along their length, so if you have ramps for the back of the trailer, run you line over the top, and back under and hitch somewhere forward on the trailer so the winch will roll it up the ramps.
When you get it onto the back of the trailer cross-ways, plan it so that it ends up balanced on a center piece that allows you to spin it while it is balanced. When you roll it off of that, roll it onto some scrap sheet-goods or limb rollers, to make it easier to move it forward.
Sometimes you can't get at the side. I have taken some of the mid size limbs, and cut a long bevel, essentially creating a ramp to, peavy, roll the log up onto, getting it nearly balanced, with one end on the ground, and the other sticking up in the air. I will back the trailer in under the high end. From there, get a chain around it, with a smaller limb roller under it, and wench it on up.
Jeff,
I have dealt with similar problems. I found that the easiest and, in my opinion, most cost effective way to move them is to hire a flatbed auto wrecker.
I have done this a few times and you may need to make more than one call to get someone to come out. I have had guys with aluminum beds tell me no because they thought dragging the log up would damage the bed. The guys who I call now did it originally because the were intrigued with what I was trying to do. The hire out by the hour. In my area I pay $100 and hour. The largest single log I have recovered to date was 38 feet long and 36" at the bole. The log was behind an 'historic' stone wall and about 6 feet below road grade, so they called a tow truck to act as a helper. No extra charge, thank you very much.
I digress. My point was that these truck have tilt beds and built in winches, can handle the weight and the drivers usually know how to drag heavy objects. Considering they can do in an hour what it would take me a full day and lots of stress to do, I feel it is money well spent. Just make sure the side rails on the bed are removable and you can roll the log right off the truck.
Short of that, you might consider taking a chainsaw to the length of the log and maybe even quartering it to make the pieces manageable. Just number the quarters and reassemble in the shop. Isn't that what we do any how?
I do like the flatbed wrecker idea, but failing that here's my suggestion. Rent a cherry picker and a come-a-long. Lift one end of the log and back the trailer under it. Use the come-a-long and winch it up the trailer on pipe rollers as necessary.
John O'Connell - JKO Handcrafted Woodworking
The more things change ...
We trained hard, but it seemed that every time we were beginning to form up into teams, we would be reorganized. I was to learn later in life that we tend to meet any new situation by reorganizing; and a wonderful method it can be for creating the illusion of progress while producing confusion, inefficiency, and demoralization.
Petronious Arbiter, 210 BC
Or, cut it into shorter lengths, and split those in two.
You might not wind up with as much useable lumber.
But, some is infinitely better than none.
Jeff 100
I brought home a lot of big black walnut timbers in my pickup today. (Seven) up to 18 feet long.. plus all the 4/4 and5/4 wood off the trees..
My cost? $100.00
You might factor that into your debates.. Or contact the local sawmill to see if they can pick up the logs and saw them for you..
"Or contact the local sawmill to see if they can pick up the logs and saw them for you.. " I don't think any sawmill is going to do that for only 2 logs. Not at any kind of affordable price anyway.forestgirl -- you can take the girl out of the forest, but you can't take the forest out of the girl ;-)
It can be done if you have the patience and determination. You need wedges, pries, jacks, chains and comalongs. A jack on each side with a heavy chain, and you can lift it. Once you get it moving up, keep wedging to hold it up and from rolling. I moved a house once, so this is definitely doable.
Thanks everyone for the replies and ideas. They really gave me a lot of options for dealing with these logs. The lady that had them thought she was sitting on a gold mine and once I explained the reality of the economics, she was pretty dissapointed. I think getting a rig out there (tow truck etc.) to lift the log onto my trailer was my best option. No matter which option I looked at, other than me putting forth great effort and time, when I added up the cost, I couldn't get it done for less than or even equal to what I can buy the same lumber from my local mill (not kiln dried). So long as I dry my own lumber, I can get very low prices so that pretty much killed this project, I'm not going to pay more just for the experience of turning a log into lumber, especially when you consider the risk of not knowing what's 'really' inside the log! She sold the logs to a carver who doesn't have to turn the log into lumber to work the wood. That seemed best solution for everyone involved...
Jeff
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