Milling a 20 tonne GIANT!

Hi all,

We had the pleasure of salvaging this giant log from a tree that blew over just before Christmas 2017. The final log was 5.5m long x 2m wide, up to 2.4 wide at the base and weighed 20 ton on the hook of the crane. We were planning on putting it on the float but 15t was the limit and the crane was maxed out too, so we decided to mill it where it lay.

It took our crew 2 or 3 days to process the top of the tree back to a log, then another day to cut the rootball off and set the mill up. Finally another 6 days to mill and cut around 17 slabs from it, then 3 days to transport the slabs and firewood home. We normally don't slab down through the heart, but in this case we wanted the 800mm wide slabs either side of the heart for book matching. We set the crane truck up along side the mill and lifted each slab off and stacked it ready for transport. The slabs are now all tucked away on the rack at the farm and will sit there for 5 years until ready for sale, with the best part of $10k spent getting this tree processed, milled and racked. I will be looking forward to a boardroom table or two being made from them to repay the investment, but on the other hand, it is a once in lifetime experience milling something this grand.

Hope you all enjoy the pics.

Cheers,

James.:2tsup:

800mm wide book matching pieces...nice!
AND on the quarter :o
Lovely stuff...MM:2tsup:

That’s is awesome. It is definitely a once in a lifetime sort of tree. Great work


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Great photos, thanks for putting them up. Big job.
A long wait, five years...
Pedro

Ripper! So for $500 each I might grab three :rolleyes::D:wink::wink:

Hi James certainly a big trunk on that fella. Presumably a eucalypt, do you know which to satisfy my curiosity.
Cheers Wayne

Hi Wayne,

I would love to say it was myrtle or sassy, but it was our local redgum. Still beautiful all the same and great to mill.

And MM, imagine if those quartered slabs were fiddleback blackwood...mmmm!

Cheers,

James.

And MM, imagine if those quartered slabs were fiddleback blackwood...mmmm!

Cheers,

James.[/QUOTE]:ok:...MM:)

Thanks for that James. I don't know much about red gum but it looks pretty good to me. Best of luck with the drying and marketing. Hope it rains over there soon as it looks thirsty.
Cheers Wayne

Not a bad stick at all James. Always nice to see job being done properly.

Bit of a question: how much preload is there in that wide slabber? Does it finish reasonably close to level at that width or are they carrying a crown and if so how much average.... given sharp chains, good operators etc.

Three guesses why I'm asking... I got a little problem or 5 coming in.:D
Well the littlest ones already in, but the others arent far behind him.

Attachment 443346

Have seen a Peterson slabbing mill with eccentric tensioning springs that preload and reduce deflection in a bar around 1800mm long
How wide is your bar James ?...MM:)

Hi fellas,

The bar will cut just over 1.9m wide. I use little strips of aluminium cans to shim the bar to flat, as it does want to sag at that length.Total deviation of the bar would not be more than 5mm, but that is not as important as having the chain sharpened perfectly. A small error in sharpening can see the slab thin from 60mm back to 50mm or thicken to 70mm. We have made a few mistakes over the years but I have found the main things to get right are a sharp chain, squarely dressed bar edge, perfectly parallel rails and never force the slabber along. If it is hard to push then something is wrong. Get the log on an angle and let gravity do the work.

For example, we had this little log in the mill yesterday and today, peeling off some nice slabs 4.6m long in soild birdseye. Weighed in at 18 tonne, so it will be in the mill for a few more days to come. Angle was a bit extreme but the slabber cruised through nicely. I reckon next time I will simply dig a hole and bury 1/3 of the log to make it a bit more manageable, as it took two people to haul the mill up the slope with the blade on. Always room to improve the process.

Cheers
James:2tsup:

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