Anyone ever mill Bastonge?

[Tree Bones]

I had someone with a csm try and it took 1/2/ hour to cut 4 inches, had to throw in the towel after I figured the cost would be $600.00 per slab. I am hoping to mill this six foot diameter by ten foot trunk. Any suggestions would help.

 

[BobL]

Suggest sending them down under for graduated practice on some of our hard stuff.

1/2 hour for 4" sounds like they haven't set their chain up properly. What sort of powerhead and chain are they running?

That tree also looks bone dry and something to tackle with a Lucas type mill rather than a CSM.

 

[Zodiac45]

Suggest sending them down under for graduated practice on some of our hard stuff.

1/2 hour for 4" sounds like they haven't set their chain up properly. What sort of powerhead and chain are they running?

That tree also looks bone dry and something to tackle with a Lucas type mill rather than a CSM.

+1 Bob,

It sure does look bone dry too me also! That's never going to help the cause. That said, nothing should take 30 minutes too go 4" :jawdrop: Have too agree that something's amiss? I'm surprised it wasn't throwing smoke at that speed! Burning your way through Bastogne is a species of walnut, so it's going too be pretty hard anyway. The bone dry makes it that much worse. If you know for a fact the the chain was razor sharp and 10 degree or better (more) (for dry hardwood I'd use semi chisel 30 degree LP) and a 90cc or larger saw then maybe it's bandsaw or as Bob said blade (Lucas) only material?

 

[amaikayu]

my suggestion

:greenchainsaw: try cutting chain instead of ripping chain

 

[olyman]

or a loop of carbide chain--

 

[Tree Bones]

They were using some brand new riping chain that they had not tried before and it was starting to smoke it. I don't know the specifics of the chain. The log is one year cut now and I tried my chainsaw to make an end cut on a limb and it cut nice. When I tried to rip it you could tell it was real hard. The power for there saw was a two cylinder engine running a hydraulic power head, seemed to have more than plenty of power. I don't know the specifics of the chain.

 

[Burlhunter13]

Dr. Bones
Thats a monster log !

What about quartering it with a chainsaw and then hauling it to have it milled on your bandmill.
I'll be doing this to a oak tree that fell in the thick woods near my friends house. I think it about 3' diameter and at the bottom of a hill. So It'll get quartered first and skidded out I think if possible.

Anyway, good luck buddy! And post some pics opcorn: if you can tackle it! :greenchainsaw:

 

[Zodiac45]

They were using some brand new riping chain that they had not tried before and it was starting to smoke it. I don't know the specifics of the chain. The log is one year cut now and I tried my chainsaw to make an end cut on a limb and it cut nice. When I tried to rip it you could tell it was real hard. The power for there saw was a two cylinder engine running a hydraulic power head, seemed to have more than plenty of power. I don't know the specifics of the chain.

Ok TB,

It's deffinately a chain issue. That's all it can be. Plenty of power, smoking chain. It's just not cutting for some reason? I'd try a different chain that I knew was very sharp. They got aux oiling so that's good. Don't waste any money on carbide chain. They actually cut slower (than a sharp chisel chain) in clean, debris free wood.

 

[BlueRider]

lack of oomph

I mill Claro all the time with no problems and I run an 89cc saw with a 42" bar. Bastigone is a bit harder but still should mill very similar to Claro. I have found that of all the woods I have milled walnut is one of the easiest. it gunks the chain the least and cuts the fastest for anything of comperable size.

I am going to guess that the hydraulic power unit is not running at a high enough RPM and if it is coupled to a gear drive to boost the RPM then it is likely suffering from a severe loss of torque. It is hard to tell from the pic what the power head is.

I would guess that you will need something in the 075 class of saw, or even larger. for a hydraulic unit it will need to put out about 8hp @ 6500 rpm to cut with any kind of speed

I'm just curious how you know it is Bastigone? The reason I ask is that I have a couple of seedlings growing that I think are bastigone but I don't have any pics of leaves to compare to.

 

[olyman]

Ok TB,

It's deffinately a chain issue. That's all it can be. Plenty of power, smoking chain. It's just not cutting for some reason? I'd try a different chain that I knew was very sharp. They got aux oiling so that's good. Don't waste any money on carbide chain. They actually cut slower (than a sharp chisel chain) in clean, debris free wood.

sorry i suggested it--ill keep my mouth shut-----------

 

[BobL]

The last time I saw a chain smoking it was on backwards!

 

[MJR]

That is funny Bob and would make a real good story....

 

[slabmaster]

Skip chain at 15 degrees should cut that slab end to end in less than half an hour.provided the rpm is above 6500.and the chain is sharp.That hydro unit might be slowing it down too much.I could slab that log with my 395 husky in less than half hour for sure with ease. Mark

 

[slabmaster]

A log that big can be easily split with gunpowder to get a better size to work with.That's what i'd do before quitting on it.Mark

 

[Backwoods]

Recipe for splitting with gun powder please.:biggrinbounce2: :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Tree Bones]

BlueRider: I see you are not to far from me, would you consider milling this?

 

[slabmaster]

Recipe for splitting with gun powder please.:biggrinbounce2: :hmm3grin2orange:

It's done by drilling a hole to center of log with a long boring bit and then adding the powder . a wick some dirt tamped down,then more powder with more dirt tamped ,then more dirt tamped ,then light fuse and get far away.When she blows,the log will be split.

 

[BlueRider]

I'm actually the better part of 5 hours from you. I toasted my 075 a couple of months ago and havn't had the time to even pull it apart to see how bad it is. My 051 will pull a 42" bar but it is slow going and It looks like that log will require something longer. I am getting ready for a craft show this weekend in Bellevue and another in theree weeks in SF. If you are not in a hurry I might have some time in a couple of months. If that won't work for you there are a couple of others on the forum here that are even closer to you than I am. A local sawyer has a mill with a 72" bar and I know of a mill in Morgan Hill with a 8' bar.

 

[urbanlumberinc]

U need to find somone with a Lucas slabber nearby. I've been running a Lucas for almost 3 years now and haven't yet found a log it couldn't slice up in reasonable time.

 

[glennschumann]

A brand new chain will cut really slowly if they found a rock or iron an inch into the wood. A look at the chain will probably tell. Maybe the hydraulic motor turns slowly enough that they didn't notice when they got to a rock or the like.

That setup looks awfully new... maybe they are new at this and missed something? I know that when my mill was brand new, I cut more slowly / roughly...