roberte
Addicted to ArboristSite
i can relate, last fall, missed my shot, hung a 30" butt x 100' into another one about the same size, ended up dropping it too but cutting on the opposite side. :sigarette:
Falling pics 11/25/09
- Thread starter Burvol
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i can relate, last fall, missed my shot, hung a 30" butt x 100' into another one about the same size, ended up dropping it too but cutting on the opposite side. :sigarette:
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
9" is a weird trim length for a 16' log.
Trx250r180
Saw polisher
they do that around here too ,length plus 9 inches ,must be for cleanup at the mill
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
8 inches of trim on 8 foot logs here six inches on everything longer.
What lengths are normal for the pnw? Are they bucked shorter at the mill or processes as delivered?
What lengths are normal for the pnw? Are they bucked shorter at the mill or processes as delivered?
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
on this side, rule of thumb 6" trim any length but... that is with clean butt. if the butt is ragged or what not they would want it trimmed clean or a lot more trim left on the small end. some times pallet mills or tie mills ask for weird lengths but they will get two odd length shorter logs out of it.
Not really a normal length... or trim, all depends on which mill its going to. But I'd hazard a guess that 32-40' is average with 10" to 1' trim, but the mills will generally take down to 16'10" mostly in multiples of 8-10'. Some of the export stuff has weird lengths like 33' or 26' I'm thinking its for metric markets. One mill will take down to 10' logs with 6" trim but only if they are over 10"? dia.
The local mills will either buck em shorter or cut em long, depending on the demand and timber quality, they have a machine that bucks em up before they are sawn into boards...
From what I gather the mills are largely automated now, just an operator here and there to keep an eye on things, except green chain... that will probably always be grunt work.
DavdH
ArboristSite Operative
Minimum 6" per segment. 9" is ok, 5" and it gets cut back 2' of length. Anything 16'6" to 18'6" is a 16' segment. Some hardwood mills have a max 16' scale segment which means anything longer is divided into 2 segments and needs 6" more trim, 20' must have a minimum of 12' trim because it is 2 10' logs. Westside scale is 40' segments and have different trim rules. Govt. timber has different rules than private timber. Most mills have very specific trim requirements depending on the end product, peeler mills get super picky because the value is so high per bf unit.
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
david, is there veneer softwood markets over there?
DavdH
ArboristSite Operative
You got it right on the button, our west coast export is metric about 13' multiples, we don't have a single boarder puller on our green chain it is totally automated past the trimmer. Stacked,sticker-ed and banded by machine and hauled off by a fork lift.
1270d
ArboristSite Guru
Got to tour one of LP's OSB mills this spring. They said the whole mill can be run by 4 guys...until something breaks. 16 workers is the regular shift with most of those on maintenance
DavdH
ArboristSite Operative
Veneer for appearance grades is another whole bucket of worms. The answer is yes there is , but... it has to be better than perfect. We have a small log mill sort up to 24" on the large end, for export sort (about 20 sorts China being the lowest) saw logs, for big mills 17" to 24" small end for resale by grade 12" up best sorts are 30"+ in all species. oh and most of the mills here cut just white wood of redwood not both, so sorts by all above by species. White wood includes ponderosa pine, sugar pine, Jeffery pine, white fir, grand fir, Shasta-red fir, hemlock, Douglas fir, spruce etc. all of which grow in this county.
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
we used to have a yellow pine veneer market, I was told it was gone because of law about exporting it. could be bs. it had to be perfect and only the butt log witch made it hard to sell the rest of it. but it did pay good.
Metals406
Granfodder Runningsaw
We use 6" trim here, but I know they'll do 10"-12" in AK. Boom logs are 66' I believe?
33's are common here, which is a 32' with 1' trim (or two 16'-6" logs together).
My comment was pointing out that 9" was rather oddball, when it's close to 10" or another even number.
It very well could be metric for sure. . . As far as bucks -- if they aren't clean -- the mills here will low grade your load and pay you less money.
Clean bucks and butts are just a good habit to get in. :smile2:
33's are common here, which is a 32' with 1' trim (or two 16'-6" logs together).
My comment was pointing out that 9" was rather oddball, when it's close to 10" or another even number.
It very well could be metric for sure. . . As far as bucks -- if they aren't clean -- the mills here will low grade your load and pay you less money.
Clean bucks and butts are just a good habit to get in. :smile2:
a bit of translation... when I say 32' that does not include trim... so the 33' are cut at 34' all very confusing... only the one broker that wants the odd lengths, everyone else wants factors of 8 or 10 feet, plus trim... of course that broker is the exporter and the exporter is paying more than anyone else...
DavdH
ArboristSite Operative
You are correct on all points, 16' 9" would make 2 8' pieces of lumber common in hard wood not in softwood, except for peelers. on the Veneer, slicing Veneer is higher quality than peeling veneer and another specialty market. We try to make 20' and longer lumber and timbers because the value is so much more per mbf, we used to be able to cut 48' timbers but now we are maxed at 36' + trim. The logs to do all this are getting rarer and rarer. I know Starfire can still cut long timbers. We got a bunch (barge load) of logs from British Columbia for some long big timbers a few years ago, don't do fir timbers any longer. All timbers we make now are for architects and special projects, we don't stock a single timber but we cut them to order. We used to have a standing order for 24X24 X24' timbers.
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roberte
Addicted to ArboristSite
last job i cut on and went to tacoma, i was told to buck to in order
26'10"
32'10"
36'10"
10" tops on all
the rest went to pulp or chip
hammerlogging
Addicted to ArboristSite
the 17'9 is peelers- 2 8'sheets of plywood. 2 8 footers with min. 8" of trim for each. often they end up as 18'. but 17'6" is the min.
33 is 2 16 footers with 6" trim each. 34'6" is a sawlog butt log and a 18 foot peeler, another common buck for me.
as for deductions by the scaler, ya, same here. so if there is a mistake in the woods, CYA and carry on, always turning in quality
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
10" top pretty standard here now on every thing but chip.
dooby
ArboristSite Guru
Some of the mills are geared up for the 9' stud market. The mill I currently sale to has a three inch trim per 9'. And 27'9" is their favorite length. They will take tops down to 6" and have taken down to 5.25" w/o deductions. The best saw logs go to a small Mom n Pop band mill(they pay real gooooooooda!)and the rest go to a privately owned local mill in ColumbiaFalls, Mt..
