log roller for mill

[farmerjohn]

After wrestling with a 3ft diameter 10ft long log at my mates mill saturday and sunday i thought i'd put up a post to see if anyone has come up with any ingenious ideas to overcome the problem i faced.

the problem is rotating the log to take slab wood from it to make it square... on a manual mill. We tried using large cant's and it would not budge it. tried rotating it with the 3pt linkage crane but roof too low to get it in. the hand wind rotater on the mill would not offer to move the log.

i did think next time i get a log as big to see if my JCB micro would fit in and try and move it with that, but any suggestions what others do would be very welcome.

thanks, John

[muttley9050]

Sounds to me like you need a Lucas!

[OliB]

Have you got a photo of the set up and available space?

 

Sounds like about 2 cu M of log, pretty hard to budge without a machine, or hydraulics.

 

Might not be the answer you are looking for, but once you have taken the top slabs off, you could get an alaskan mini mill to square up the sides, then you could continue milling with your mates mill?

 

Another option that may or may not work is something like Norwoods rapid dogging and rolling system. It won't allow you to hand turn a log that size, but might make it doable with one or two big cant hooks or the winch you've got? You could probably make something like that for less than you could buy it.

 

Rapid Dogging and Rollng | Portable Sawmills & Forestry Equipment - Norwood Sawmills

[agg221]

My 'budget' solution is a hydraulic engine hoist and a strop. The hoist came from somewhere like Screwfix and is the 2 ton model. With the strop choked tight at the point I want to bring uppermost it happily rolls things this size. Looking at your mill bed height it's pretty close to that of my trailer and you should fit under the roof.

 

My hoist knocks down into bits for convenient storage too.

 

Alec

[Billhook]

Sounds to me like you need a Lucas!

 

I'll second that! Once managed to plank a twenty foot long forty inch diameter beech with my eight inch Lucas. Down in the wood as well as the forklift could not lift it.

Really the bigger the better as you spend less time setting up.

[muttley9050]

I'll second that! Once managed to plank a twenty foot long forty inch diameter beech with my eight inch Lucas. Down in the wood as well as the forklift could not lift it.

Really the bigger the better as you spend less time setting up.

 

I've got to do a 46" beech on the 9th of April. That should be fun as he wants some 3"slabs off the middle of it to. Luckily he has a tractor with forks on site.

[Billhook]

I've got to do a 46" beech on the 9th of April. That should be fun as he wants some 3"slabs off the middle of it to. Luckily he has a tractor with forks on site.

I have not used my slabber yet.

What are the secrets of gaining a good result.

I know one man who put an extra oiler on the other end.

 

And have you been tempted with a planer or sander attachment?

Edited March 24, 2015 by Billhook

[muttley9050]

Slabber cuts sweet, a little slow but leaves a good enough finish. Remember to drop the rails an Extra 3mm for the extra kerf. It's easy to use but definitely use tape to hold chain on whole setting up. Incredibly tempted by the planer head. It's expensive for what it is. But what you can do with it is unmatched by other machines. Planes somewhere around 70" wide. That's a lot more than the biggest thicknesser out there.

The sander head is a waste of time I reckon. Expensive and is it really better than a hand held orbital? It means you sand dead flat but if you plane your boards sanding flat is easy.

[Billhook]

Slabber cuts sweet, a little slow but leaves a good enough finish. Remember to drop the rails an Extra 3mm for the extra kerf. It's easy to use but definitely use tape to hold chain on whole setting up. Incredibly tempted by the planer head. It's expensive for what it is. But what you can do with it is unmatched by other machines. Planes somewhere around 70" wide. That's a lot more than the biggest thicknesser out there.

The sander head is a waste of time I reckon. Expensive and is it really better than a hand held orbital? It means you sand dead flat but if you plane your boards sanding flat is easy.

 

 

Thanks for that, and good tips about the tape and starting 3mm lower.

 

No trouble with the oiling then?

[muttley9050]

I've had no trouble oiling, but not used it to its capacity yet. I just use cheap 10/30 motor oil that I buy in a drum from costco.