Tractors and wood! Show your pics

[dieselcrawler]

Spent most of yesterday in the woods... future pole barn project requires bunch of 8' and 10' posts, and some 16's and 20's. I found two nice standing dead larger ones, (both of which I managed to hang up in other trees during felling process) and several 6" to 10" (preferred size for my project) with straight sections.






These are from last weekend, not all are locust, not sure what the lighter color logs on the right are, speculation they are basswood.

 

[terryknight]

been busy greg

 

[PhysAssist]

Spent most of yesterday in the woods... future pole barn project requires bunch of 8' and 10' posts, and some 16's and 20's. I found two nice standing dead larger ones, (both of which I managed to hang up in other trees during felling process) and several 6" to 10" (preferred size for my project) with straight sections.

These are from last weekend, not all are locust, not sure what the lighter color logs on the right are, speculation they are basswood.

Hi DC,

Nicely done, good looking log/lumber pile

Pardon my CRS problem, but is a saw mill in their future, or is it more of a peel and use situation?

Are there big minuses to using them as posts and beams w/o milling them?

As I recall, some of my uncle's inherited sheds and barns at 100 y/o+ were framed with (mostly peeled & some unpeeled except at joints) and were in great shape still as recently as a couple of years ago- as long as the roofs stayed well maintained.

 

[dieselcrawler]

Back at it today. Best find of the day was this locust, standing dead, over 40' long. A little punky at the very bottom, and at the upper end, but I got a solid 20' log out of it.


Knocked down a few others as well, got more 10's and a few 8's, then headed to the barn... the girls had other plans.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

As I recall, some of my uncle's inherited sheds and barns at 100 y/o+ were framed with (mostly peeled & some unpeeled except at joints) and were in great shape still as recently as a couple of years ago- as long as the roofs stayed well maintained.

KEY words in that is, 100 year old! That means the logs were 100 year old too...

Can you get 100 year old logs today?? Because these "much younger" tree's that we have today, aren't near as rot resistant as those OLD growth tree's/logs/lumber were back then...

IF I want something "I" build today, to last a long time, I don't get ANY lumber or post, even near the ground, unless it's PT lumber of at least .60 retention...

SR

 

[dieselcrawler]

I may partially mill them, but no more than needed for ease of use. Flat sides on the ones used for floor joist, one side only. Otherwise, fit them together with the chainsaw, and bolt them together. None in the ground, concrete pads, with post base bolted to that.

 

[PhysAssist]

I may partially mill them, but no more than needed for ease of use. Flat sides on the ones used for floor joist, one side only. Otherwise, fit them together with the chainsaw, and bolt them together. None in the ground, concrete pads, with post base bolted to that.

Hi DC,

That's exactly what I wanted to understand, thanks!

Hi SawyerRob,

I think I understand what the quality differences are between old growth trees and new growth ones, but I don't think that's the only factor at play, I have to think that things like: building siting, drainage patterns, and overhangs wide enough to protect the wood are likewise important.

That being said, except for the rarest of exceptions, I try to always build to last, which of course means NO wood contact with ground, because even PT can rot or get infested, eventually.

Thanks to you both for your input,
Thomas

 

[Bocephous]

Dieselcrawler, I'm trying to see how you have the logs hooked up to the box-blade but can't make it out. Any chances of a close-up pic? Thanks in advance!

 

[dieselcrawler]

Simple... chain and grab hook wrapped around box tube frame between lower link points, catches chain or cable chokers nicely. I'll snap a picture later.

 

[John_Mc]

Dieselcrawler, I'm trying to see how you have the logs hooked up to the box-blade but can't make it out. Any chances of a close-up pic? Thanks in advance!

Simple... chain and grab hook wrapped around box tube frame between lower link points, catches chain or cable chokers nicely. I'll snap a picture later.

That's what I did with my boxblade before I bought my logging winch. You can also try welding some grab hooks across the top of the rear of the boxblade, which would let you use a regular chain-type logging choker: just put the choker end around the log, and slip the other end into the grab hook.

I've also seen people just weld some flat stock on top of the rear of a boxblade or other implement with notches cut in it which also acts as a chain grab. This is the same method a lot of logging winches use to hook up logs after they've been winched in. Here's a picture of the chain grab slots on my logging winch (with a chain through one of them):