Anyone use a Cant

[crazyal]

Ceder should last just fine. My neighbor has a shake machine that's got to be about 100 years old but works great. It's just a little less safe than what's made today. It's got an 48" circular blade, an automatic system to increment the log to cut it at the right taper (actually can do different cuts with a change of a die), and a planing wheel to square up the sides. All you need is a leather belt and a tractor or large motor. He would die for a log of that size to make shakes out of.

 

[newbury]

I'm not sure what I'll do with it. It's been on the ground for at least 10 years and probably lots more. Problem is it's too big to move and I'd have to cut down a tree and dig out a big stump to get at it for milling. I think I'll borrow my buddy's big saw and cut the end off to see what's in there... If it's good cedar I know a guy with a mill and maybe we could get some wood out of it.

There are plenty of us around with saws that would love to chew into something like that. My ported and muf modded 660 with a 42" bar could square it up and mill it down. I'm sure there are peeps on your side of the Mississippi that have bigger saws and bigger bars that could mill it in place.

As far as peavey vs cant vs timberjack -
I bought an NT timberjack with the big thick handle and used it on a 30' maple log. Need a board to put under the jack on soft ground, but worked fine for me to cut the wood into shorter lengths. I also bought a LogRite 60" Aluminum Handle Peavey, VERY heavy duty.
You can also put a logstand on it to make it into a timberjack. Universal Log Stand.

I like them both.

 

[dfkrug]

I also have the cheapo from northern tool that comes with a metal leg{Making it a timber jack ??} to lift smaller logs for cutting. I have moved locust{one of the heaviest woods} but I doubt highly it would lift a 20-30 foot sizable log onto the leg.

I have that one, and I can not really recommend it. It is all-steel, and
maybe 5-ft long, but I quickly bent it rolling a log up onto the stand. So
I removed the stand and now it is just a cant hook. I have a hard time
getting the hook to dig in well enough to roll the larger logs. It slips on
the bark. Perhaps better ones have sharper spiked hooks?