Thread: Lucas Mill - semi permanent set ups

The romanticism of buying a portable sawmill and milling your own wood. Welcome to the real world of milling with equipment costs and maintenance i chuckle at how many lucas mills are sold on the pretense that it oh so easy.GET use to lugging it around your forest or get a competant miller who has the gear and save yourself some money

Set your mill up on level,sheltered ground...winch the logs if you have to...and buy yourself a cant hook...lucas mills aren't that difficult to move around,particularly if you have someone helping you...where there's a will,there's a way...i say go for it,milling can be good fun!

Cheer Mapleman. I've definitely enjoyed it so far, even just having a fairly amateur rip at the logs.

Learned my lesson re: shelter and flat ground. Was thinking each time I had to set up over a new log that it would be slightly quicker to have a jack under each foot to re-level the tracks, instead of having to run around finding chocks, move the trolley down the other end, etc, etc. Same again for adjusting the log and/or tracks horizontally and vertically to align with the heart.

Still and all, anyone who has any pics worth sharing, I'd be keen to see how you guys to do it.

Cheers

D

The more difficult part of sawmilling is handling the timber, both before and after cutting.

Your issue is going to be snigging logs. As Mapleman says, logs are relatively easily rolled (it's very handy trees being fundamentally round, but surprising how difficult an irregular shaped log can be) with the use of a cant hook, which is just a lever that id designed to grip the log. If you can get ectra help (and extra cant hooks) the job becomes easier again.

So back to snigging. If you can borrow a tractor for a day that might suffice to get a log supply to get you out of trouble for your immediate building material needs. Position the logs so they can be rolled into place. make sure you have crowbars or other levers to move the log ends around when they roll to the wrong spot. Small tractors and 4WDs have limited capability. Also be careful with tractors if you are in hilly country. Actually, be very careful. If it is possible to lift the front of the log when towing this helps by preventing it digging into the ground and reducing friction.

BUT, it also wants to tip up the front of the tractor. Beware! I don't want to sound quite as sceptical as baz wood but he does make a good point that it is not as easy or cheap as you may have been led to believe . If you can persuade the tractor owner to drive it for you that is even better. He knows (hopefully) what his tractor is capable of and it helps to have an second person hooking up the logs otherwise you are constantly jumping up and down from the machine making minor adjustments.

Actually a bulldozer is what you really want. A guy I know did a tug of war test between an ancient 40HP Fiat bulldozer and a modern 95HP FWA John Deere tractor. In top gear the dozer towed the JD in low gear .

Another thought is that if you snig a log immediately it is debarked there tends to be much less friction because the sap may be running. One day later it will be dry.

One of the scourges of permanent sites is sawdust. It needs to be removed, but from your description of limited use I think you will be able to cope.

Regards
Paul

Maybe get yourself an ol' army "BLITZ'..you can't kill 'em....

pcqypcqy, thats a great project you have there,
don't be discouraged by anyone telling you its too hard, your too inexpeirenced, etc etc. there's much personal satisfaction to be gained from harvesting & milling your own timber to make your own buildings. Accepting that its is hard work, mistakes will be made & there will be a lot to learn, its also a hell of a lot of fun too!!

On the safety side of things, what Bushmiller said about tractors is very important & I'll add a bit more: when pulling an object never allow the hitch point to be above the center line of the rear axle. Imaging towing even a small log through a slight depression in the ground with the chain attached to the lower linkage bar(never do this) - the front of the log digs into the ground - under load the linkage rises above the axle line - within an instant the tractor has flipped and you'll be pushing up daisys for ever more.

The old timers who lived & worked in the bush all their lives often never had the advantage of hydralics & horsepower so they devised many ways to gain mechanical advantage to move logs easier & safer, one way was to use a "log arch" do a google image search on it.
Cant hooks make rolling a log much easier but be careful with them. I quickly learnt not to stand in front of the log and roll it towards me, as a log with a slight bend rolled over-center the cant hook lost its hold & the log suddenly "took off" towards me, and who said "white men can't jump" I sure as hell did!!. Now I roll the logs away from myself.

Are the any Lucas operators close by? you may be able to work with them a bit to learn more.

Keep us posted on your project
cheers,
Dean.

Cheers spray-tech, a log arch is exactly the sort of elegant low-tech approach I'm looking for. The terrain I have isn't overly mountainous, just some hilly bits. The main issue is getting past the smaller trees to the biggers ones, but if I take as I go I should be able to cut a trail for better access.

Totally understand re: tractors and flipping, hence this towing approach would be ideal. Could even still use my mate's 4wd for a lot of it, he's a bit worried about damaging his tow points by purely dragging the stuff, so putting the log on wheels would be perfect.

Are these sort of things DIY, or are they available for sale? Would be keen to get some prices on cant hooks and log arches.

D

Hi D,

depending on where ya are mate, more than welcome to pop down to brissy to have a look at my setup. I've done a bunch of mobile work, semi-permanent work and more permanent work over the past 10 years with 1 of 3 different Lucas mills. I started out with a 6-18 and am using a model 10 EFI now. I can show ya different things to use for loading logs a lot quicker and easier than doin things up here. If you are handy with a welder you can even copy my self made cant hook to use for log rolling if ya want.

PM me or contact me via my website with email or mobile.

Originally Posted by pcqypcqy

Could even still use my mate's 4wd for a lot of it, he's a bit worried about damaging his tow points by purely dragging the stuff, so putting the log on wheels would be perfect.

Are these sort of things DIY, or are they available for sale? Would be keen to get some prices on cant hooks and log arches.

D

Google "log arches" and "cant hooks." There are many pictures under the images. Or you can make them up yourself from your own timbers




:Highgate 023.jpgHighgate 022.jpg

Regards
Paul

Sigidi - I've sent you a PM with my details.

BM - I reckon I could have a go at a log arch myself with some heavy timbers and some wheels, but don't have any welding skills at this stage so I might just buy a cant hook for now. I saw Logosol do one where it's a 2-in-1 job so you can maintain the grip with one while moving the other, dunno if it's of any real benefit but looks impressive to me as a newbie.

I'll see how I go with my brother as he works for a crane rigging company, so he might be able to get me some cheap chains and winches. I'm keen on this approach as it takes most of the manual handling out of it, especially the risk of me standing between the log and where it wants to go (i.e. downhill).

Dave came over and had a morning with me on the mill today. Helped me get an order out and we sliced up 4 decent ironbarks. Got Dave using my cant hook and went over a bunch of log rolling, lining up the log, cutting patterns, sharpening, some 'Lucas' things a whole bunch of stuff - good to meet ya Dave

Originally Posted by Sigidi

Dave came over and had a morning with me on the mill today. Helped me get an order out and we sliced up 4 decent ironbarks. Got Dave using my cant hook and went over a bunch of log rolling, lining up the log, cutting patterns, sharpening, some 'Lucas' things a whole bunch of stuff - good to meet ya Dave

Well done Al and Dave.

A little networking. It doesn't hurt a bit. Excellent.

Regards
Paul

Thanks again for having me out Al, you can't buy that sort of experience. Though I did pay my way when I noticed the number of sleepers you almost drove off with

Yer I had switched off, strapped the pack of timber up and tied it down, when Dave notices I'm 5 boards short for the delivery I was off to do good on ya mate