mountain_man
Gold Member
Beautiful raw materials. Now I understand why there are so many furniture manufacturers in NC... Thanks for the photos.
Fruits of logging with my JD790
- Thread starter sewells
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bebster
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2003
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- 527
- Location
- Cape Cod, MA
- Tractor
- JD 4410 eHydro & 430FEL w/ 4N1 bucket & pallet forks
Would you mind sharing your technique for pulling the logs out of the woods with your tractor? Thanks.
GregJ
Platinum Member
- Joined
- Oct 8, 2002
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- 708
- Location
- Washington
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- Kubota B2301/LA435FEL/BH70 ; John Deere X350
Steve,
That's a lot of beautiful wood. It really makes it special when it's off your own property. You're going to be a busy man using up all that hardwood. And of course if you don't have all the necessary equipment to mill it, like a surfacer, jointer, etc. you can now cost justify it no problem. Just curious, did you treat the end grain to slow down the checking? If so, how did you do it?
Greg
That's a lot of beautiful wood. It really makes it special when it's off your own property. You're going to be a busy man using up all that hardwood. And of course if you don't have all the necessary equipment to mill it, like a surfacer, jointer, etc. you can now cost justify it no problem. Just curious, did you treat the end grain to slow down the checking? If so, how did you do it?
Greg
Well, I don't have the most sophisticated technique I guess. I've only skidded the ones that were sawed up this go round. But, what I have is a choker cable that I attach to the drawbar. The choker cable is rigged so that when it is pulled on, it just grips tighter. I'll post a picture of the rig with this.
The most important thing, I guess, is to make sure you have a path that is negotiable to and from where the logs are. There were a couple of extremely nice cherry trees I had to pass by this time around because I didn't have a winch to pull them up an embankment that is about, oh, 40 feet or so and there is a gully at the bottom of my bottom land that can't be safely crossed with the tractor.
Other than that, I'd say it was just a matter of making the logs of a size that my tractor would handle. The huge walnut log, for instance, I had to cut into 10-11 foot chunks to make it manageable. Even at that I figure the main trunk portion weighed about 5,000 to 6,000 pounds and I had to clear some underbrush to get to it.
I'll be happy to answer any specific questions if I can.
Steve Wells
The most important thing, I guess, is to make sure you have a path that is negotiable to and from where the logs are. There were a couple of extremely nice cherry trees I had to pass by this time around because I didn't have a winch to pull them up an embankment that is about, oh, 40 feet or so and there is a gully at the bottom of my bottom land that can't be safely crossed with the tractor.
Other than that, I'd say it was just a matter of making the logs of a size that my tractor would handle. The huge walnut log, for instance, I had to cut into 10-11 foot chunks to make it manageable. Even at that I figure the main trunk portion weighed about 5,000 to 6,000 pounds and I had to clear some underbrush to get to it.
I'll be happy to answer any specific questions if I can.
Steve Wells
Attachments
Well, now remember I said I was avid. That isn't necessarily the same thing as being good at it....
I just finished making an end table for my living room. Replaced a metal and glass thing we've had forever. I made it using 8/4 cherry stock (that I had to buy at $9 a board foot if you're wondering why I wanted the cherry lumber - the CFO puts her foot down occasionally when it comes to $80 pieces of wood.)
Anyway, made the legs with a taper from 2" at the top to 1" at the bottom with a nice chamfer that left the legs octagonal. The top was glued up pieces that I picked for the grain. One piece actually had a little "birds eye" type effect in it. Joined the top with a biscuit joiner and used a polyurethane glue for strength. Chamfered all the edges on that too.
I just finished making an end table for my living room. Replaced a metal and glass thing we've had forever. I made it using 8/4 cherry stock (that I had to buy at $9 a board foot if you're wondering why I wanted the cherry lumber - the CFO puts her foot down occasionally when it comes to $80 pieces of wood.)
Anyway, made the legs with a taper from 2" at the top to 1" at the bottom with a nice chamfer that left the legs octagonal. The top was glued up pieces that I picked for the grain. One piece actually had a little "birds eye" type effect in it. Joined the top with a biscuit joiner and used a polyurethane glue for strength. Chamfered all the edges on that too.
Attachments
I just love wood. Thanks, and I'm attaching a picture of a window chest that I just made. It's made of 3/4" cherry plywood for the panels set into a flush mounted kiaat frame. Kiatt is an African exotic that, when it is nice, is extremely beautiful. The lighting in the picture wasn't the greatest.
I built it because we just had the picture window put in, it replaced a couple of single windows and I needed something to kind of "center" things.
It serves as a bench for additional seating as well as blanket storage, etc. The top is 1" thick bookmatched cherry planks.
Steve Wells
I built it because we just had the picture window put in, it replaced a couple of single windows and I needed something to kind of "center" things.
It serves as a bench for additional seating as well as blanket storage, etc. The top is 1" thick bookmatched cherry planks.
Steve Wells
Attachments
Hey, I've been getting grief for a long time over my "equipment" puchases. But, the CFO seems to be happier about them now that I'm making her some furniture. Been giving a lot of what I make away. I'm going to do several things around the place. I've got a downstairs office I'm going to floor in the spalted maple. I'm making new trim for all the window casings out of cherry. I'm making the CFO a display case for the pottery she makes.
Well, that is when I can find time. First I have to put ends on my shop. Put up a 20' by 30' SteelMaster building on a concrete pad for my work shop but I've been so busy I haven't made the endwalls. And, it's going to be COLD around here in another month or so (apologies in advance to anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line as they all know it never gets COLD here in NC.)
Thanks,
Steve
Well, that is when I can find time. First I have to put ends on my shop. Put up a 20' by 30' SteelMaster building on a concrete pad for my work shop but I've been so busy I haven't made the endwalls. And, it's going to be COLD around here in another month or so (apologies in advance to anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line as they all know it never gets COLD here in NC.)
Thanks,
Steve
Yes, I do treat the ends. Basically, I use roofing cement. It's cheaper than the tree wound dressing stuff and it works great. Another thing that can be used is the aluminized paint (I think KoolSeal is one brand). That works well too.
Steve Wells
Steve Wells