Thread: Tree felling at home - useful?

Originally Posted by himzol

where abouts? I'm at crafers west.

Himzo.

Well, with a good arm, I could probably lob a rock on the tollgate roof

Michael

Looks like some beautiful timber you've got there. I'd definitely try to keep it for future use.

Nothing wrong with cypress, remember the Pope's coffin:

Well, They're almost all down.

I chased around for the green wood sealer, LEDA no longer sell it, as their staff member who was into wood turning is no longer with them.

MIK had some, all you need to do is to bring a wide-mouth container for them to decant into. I bought way too much...

See how I go tomorrow, but so far, I have about 6 lengths of about 1 metre and 3 at about 2 metres. I've sealed the ends as soon after cutting as possible. Photos attached. I took one of the grain patterns on one of the stumps after wetting it down. Looks very nice!

Questions:

* Do I need to split them down? I have no facilities for this, the tree feller reckons it's hard work with a chainsaw, didn't want to do it. I might be able to get hold of a power saw, but not big enough to cut all the way through.

* Where should I store them to season? Is warm and dry better than cool and dry?

* How long will they take to season? What tests tell me that they are ready?

There's some redgum here as well, but it's big. I can't see that I would ever have the facilities to deal with it.

Michael

Do I need to split them down? I have no facilities for this, the tree feller reckons it's hard work with a chainsaw, didn't want to do it. I might be able to get hold of a power saw, but not big enough to cut all the way through.

they will dry faster / better if you can saw them.. if you cant well Mac is probably the most forgiving wood to dry in log form

* Where should I store them to season? Is warm and dry better than cool and dry?

Cool and dry is probably better for logs , will take longer but less likely to split

* How long will they take to season? What tests tell me that they are ready?

If you weigh the logs you will see them drop in weight each week, when it stops getting lighter it's dry.

I can understand the tree guy not wanting to split them for you... it's hard work / takes time. But to process logs you need some sort of machiney. If you cant do anything else leave them as logs, you might loose a few inches on the end and risk the log splitting.. but not much else you can do. Let them dry slow, Mac is a naturally durable wood and wont usually stain while drying.

Cheers

Ian

Here's a few pic of dropping a nice Mac tree

This tree is now T&G pannels in a couple of houses, one is my dining room.

I chased around for the green wood sealer, LEDA no longer sell it, as their staff member who was into wood turning is no longer with them.

Yeah, that would be Dave, he now works for MIK.

As for splitting the logs, at that sort of diameter it would be best with a bandsaw as anything else has too big a curf.

Himzo.

Originally Posted by Ianab

Here's a few pic of dropping a nice Mac tree

This tree is now T&G pannels in a couple of houses, one is my dining room.

Wow, that's a monster compared to mine!

I should get a few more logs out of the last tree tomorrow.

I'll move all the logs inside out of the sun. It's a basement room, we should see temps of 15-20 celsius in there over summer. Dry. the logs are between 22cm and 30cm diameter. Do you think they'll dry over summer?

Michael

the boards from that tree sawn to 25mm, dried to ~14% in about 3 months over summer. I dont have any experience drying in log form though.
I suspect it will take more than 12 months to dry them tho.
You still have to break them down into boards at some point.

Ian

You can see where the cool curly grain can be found in a piece like that

That tree is a baby...
For the others we are looking for a bigger chainsaw....
Once the dia of the tree gets twice your saw bar things gets interesting.
The one beside that looks like yours.. but with 4 trunks that size:eek:

Ian

Originally Posted by himzol

Yeah, that would be Dave, he now works for MIK.

As for splitting the logs, at that sort of diameter it would be best with a bandsaw as anything else has too big a curf.

Himzo.

Hmm. Maybe I should advance my bandsaw purchase. I was thinking next year, but this might be a nice excuse for an early christmas present.

I've been drooling over the H&F BP-16A and the Carbatech BAS-350, wonder if I can sneak it past the SO...

Ianab, those trees are huge. How do you mange felling them like that?

Michael

Ianab, those trees are huge. How do you mange felling them like that?

Carefully

There are right and wrong ways to fell trees, and the wrong ways get you killed. That one was complicated by the fact that the tree was leaning and most branches were on one side. Makes it easy to predict where it wants to fall, but also puts a lot of tension on the tree where you are cutting it. The danger is that you will get 1/2 way thru your felling cut and the weight will cause the tree to split up the middle :eek: That not only ruins the log but the broken off tree then falls on your head.
To overcome that I first cut a notch in the direction it's going to fall. ( Pic1 - thats standard for any felling) Then I bore cut into the tree from each side, leaving a hinge of wood just behind the notch. (Pic 2) The tree is still held by a strap of wood at the back which is cut last and releases the tree as you get the heck out of the way. The hinge wood controls and directs the fall of the tree.
You can see where the different cuts were made on the butt of the log. By using extra clever bore cutting you (in theory) can safely fell trees up to 3 times the length of your saw bar. I'm not that good though

KIDS - dont try this at home

Ian

Originally Posted by woodbe

Hmm. Maybe I should advance my bandsaw purchase. I was thinking next year, but this might be a nice excuse for an early christmas present.

I've been drooling over the H&F BP-16A and the Carbatech BAS-350, wonder if I can sneak it past the SO...

Ianab, those trees are huge. How do you mange felling them like that?

Michael

Good luck with it, I've got the BP-16A and can say that it's a great machine once you get a decent balde for it. Don't know much about the BAS-350 but the boys at MIK could probably give you all the low down on it.

As for how long the logs will take to dry, a rough rule of thumb is 1 year for each inch of thickness. However it all depends on the type of timber and the drying conditions. Your basement sounds great from a temperature point of view but you need air movement around the logs to stop mould growing on them and to carry the moisture away.

there are some web sites which help explain it that are really good. I'll post the URLs tomorrow as they are on my work computer, otherwise you could google for "air drying timber".

Don't get discouraged the feeling you get after making something from a tree that was growing in your own yard is indescribable, especially if you've done all the work.

Himzo.

Originally Posted by himzol

Good luck with it, I've got the BP-16A and can say that it's a great machine once you get a decent balde for it. Don't know much about the BAS-350 but the boys at MIK could probably give you all the low down on it.

As for how long the logs will take to dry, a rough rule of thumb is 1 year for each inch of thickness. However it all depends on the type of timber and the drying conditions. Your basement sounds great from a temperature point of view but you need air movement around the logs to stop mould growing on them and to carry the moisture away.

there are some web sites which help explain it that are really good. I'll post the URLs tomorrow as they are on my work computer, otherwise you could google for "air drying timber".

Don't get discouraged the feeling you get after making something from a tree that was growing in your own yard is indescribable, especially if you've done all the work.

Himzo.

Hi.

Thanks Himzo. I was going to wait until next year for the bandsaw, but the positive feedback and my impatience have won me over. There is a BP-16A on it's way. I'm sure the BAS-350 is good, but the extra cut height of the 16A will be useful.

What blades should I get? It apparently comes with 15.8mm blade, I'd guess I should get something wider for ripping the logs, and something narrower for doing fine curves...

I'm looking forward to making something with the timber, with all the pieces I have, it must be close to a cubic metre now. Sounds like I mught need a small fan for keeping the air moving in there...

Dust collectiom. I can see that this is an issue for general woodwork. With ripping these logs, will it create much dust? It sounds like the dust collectors on the bandsaws are not so great?

Regards,

Michael

To correctly identify the tree you need a set of the needles that come from it. Also, to save yourself heartache mill the logs asap.

Cheers