Production Speed...

[Shawn Curry]

This red pine was planted by my grandfather when he was a teenager, to serve as a wind break for my great grandparents peach orchard. Bark beetles killed it. I own them now, and one of my major projects here is cleaning all the slash out of this stand. Actually I've got a lot of projects like that, so production speed is very important to me.

This tree was standing dead yesterday. Today it's a nice pile of lumber and a new firewood pallet. Thought I'd share a bit about what's working for me, and try to start a discussion about what's working for you.



Actually, I'm tired. I'll talk more about it tomorrow. Happy 4th!

 

[GoBigBlue1984]

Good stuff Shawn. Long time.......keep up the good work.

 

[Shawn Curry]

Thanks Brett!

So - production speed. I call this my "inside out" milling strategy. I like to saw my lumber square to the heart center of the log, and I also want to waste the pith with one of my cuts. So if I can, I like to saw the log right in half first. I made 5 saw logs from this tree and I had prepped them all this way in the first pic.

Another reason I do it this way is to optimize the number of depth adjustments I need to make to the mill. Once the initial prep work is done, I set the mill to the slab thickness I want and make them all in one long session.



I might have been able to get it all done in one day, but I had to stop to sharpen my chain twice. I used 30" 404 full comp - I was getting 4 cuts per tank and about 6 per sharpening.

 

[mdavlee]

That's killer mileage milling. I've never milled pine but poplar I get twice the cut speed and half the fuel used in it vs green oak or cherry. Maple is a little better than oak but not as easy as poplar. In 12x36" oak I was around 1 minute 20 for the fastest and 1:40 for the slowest depending on fuel.

 

[Shawn Curry]

That's killer mileage milling. I've never milled pine but poplar I get twice the cut speed and half the fuel used in it vs green oak or cherry. Maple is a little better than oak but not as easy as poplar. In 12x36" oak I was around 1 minute 20 for the fastest and 1:40 for the slowest depending on fuel.

Yeah this stuff was probably like your poplar, if not softer. It was really cruising thru it - under 1 min per 8' cut.

I got some sticker stock out of the left over pieces and finished stacking everything I milled recently:

 

[mdavlee]

That's probably a little softer than poplar. I think it was 3-4 minutes for 14'

 

[Wolverine]

Awesome stickered stacks Shawn!