Newb, General milling questions

[bonnieville]

Milling novice here.
I might have access to a White Oak tree about 24"-30" diameter and about 30' long. It is in the woods on a steep hill off a road near me. If I can get logs down from there and home in usable lengths, I'd like to, with the help of a friend of mine, who owns an Alaskan Mill, make new decking boards for my 7'x9' Flatbed. The final product would have to be 1-1/2" x 8" at just under 9' long. I am looking for information on how to mill these logs to get the best boards out of them for this application. I will probably leave them rough sawn as this is a work truck.
Cutting slabs and then ripping them to size seems easiest, but is there a better plan to get better boards out of the log?
I realize that there is probably no short answer here. Maybe somebody could direct me to a site that I can read so that I will at least know enough to ask more intelligent and easily answerable questions.
Thanks

Here's shot of the tree. The picture doesn't really show the steepness of the hill or the drop off to the road.

 

[huskyhank]

If you can get permission, cut it right where it is and carry the boards out. But keep in mind its gonna be a lot of work for something you can buy pretty cheap. Oak boards good enough to deck your trailer won't cost that much. The tree looks pretty nice and I'd cut it for some other purpose.

 

[bonnieville]

Milling it where it is is not really an option. It is on a steep hillside not far from a senior citizen only housing complex. The only thing I could do on site is make it into firewood. I guess that is somewhat of a sin over here in the "Milling & Saw Mills" section. With proper planning, I could probably use a combination of wire rope, snatch blocks, a second truck, cant hook, the steep slope, drop off, and gravity to carefully skid 10' or so logs onto my flatbed and do the milling in my back yard.
I have some time to think about it. The wood is off the ground and nobody else would be foolish enough to take it.
I know I could easily buy the lumber, but I think that it would be nice to, as part of the restoration of my 40 year old truck, use local wood that I milled for the bed.

 

[BobL]

Your options depend to some extent on what equipment you have for moving logs.

If you have someone with a hiab and a truck then I would try and get the log home in 2 pieces. If you only have a trailer and cant hooks then you are down to cutting it into 4 pieces and using ramps to roll it onto a trailer.

Just Be careful when pulling logs down a slope. If they get up any speed they can easily pull vehicles after them like a mad dog.

It would be useful to see a sideways shot of the terrain. For example is there another slope on the other side of the road?

 

[huskyhank]

If you can drive to the bottom of the hill, gravity is your friend.

 

[bonnieville]

The road is at the bottom of the hill. I'll figure out how or if I can move them. What I really want is some information on milling.

 

[gr8scott72]

Cutting slabs and then ripping them to size seems easiest, but is there a better plan to get better boards out of the log?

The other way would be to get a Mini Mill. That will allow you to cut the sides of the log making a cant in the width that you want. Then you just cut boards off the cant with the Alaskan.

Cutting slabs and then ripping each one down will be much slower however, it would give you a slightly better/cleaner edge than using the mini mill.

 

[mtngun]

What I really want is some information on milling.

Got a specific question on using the Alaskan that we can help you with ?

If you have access to an Alaskan & its accessories, cut live-edge slabs, let the slabs dry in a neatly stickered pile -- you don't want to use green wood, do you ? -- then edge the slabs as required for your application.

 

[gemniii]

Unless you've got a crane and hoist to drop the whole thing on the back of a log truck -
If you want 9' lengths :
On site cut it into 10' or 11' lengths
Cut three sides off to almost square it, but leave a side to drag it on.
Then you've got 3 chinks much smaller and lighter for lumber and a bunch of firewood.

 

[mountainlake]

Get the logs out and hire a bandsaw, the extra lumber you'll get will about pay for the sawing. Steve

 

[huskyhank]

The road is at the bottom of the hill. I'll figure out how or if I can move them. What I really want is some information on milling.

The Sticky http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=93458 at the top of the forum page is a good place to start.
If your buddy already has a mill and wants to do this with you - go for it.
If not, the suggestion to have them band sawed is good.
How to saw them for a truck bed is not a big deal. I'd slab the logs and trim to the board size you want.

 

[bonnieville]

How about dimensions. Do you mill green lumber a little big to allow for shrinkage? If so, how much? I know from firewood that logs won't dry and shrink much until they are split.

 

[rarefish383]

Many years ago I put a rough cut Oak floor on our 72 Chevy 1 ton, 12 ft stake Body. I was initialyy bummed out because a local mill wouldn't touch any of our logs for fear of metal in them. Then I found another local mill that sold me the rough cut boards. I had them cut at 7 1/2" X 1 1/2" . I forget how much he charged me, but it was cheap. He actually gave me so much extra, for the quoted price, that I had enough left over to make side boards and a tail gate. I know you want to mill the log you have, I would too. Just mentioned the above because I did it with green boards. They worked well with the metal runners that came off the original floor. It did surprise me that the Oak didn't last as long as the orignal Pine floor boards, Joe.

 

[bonnieville]

The original owner put 1/4" steel plate over the original lumber. 40 years of trapped moisture has caused the original lumber to rot.