peterrum
ArboristSite Operative
Hello All;
I am relatively new to this site and have spent the last few weeks devouring the information in it. It is nice to see so much information and absolute brilliance on this site about CSM's, which is the system I will be starting with. I recently retired from a job I worked at for 30 years and picked up a contract to do some work in Africa. That contract finishes at the end of this year and then I will retire for good, but never say never. I have spent tons of time throughout my life playing in the woods, hunting, fishing, camping, gathering firewood and hiking. Like alot of you I get my peace and destress by being in the woods. Its good for the soul, no doubt about that. So lucky me, now that I will be coming home full time, I will get to spend more time doing the things that I want. Again like all of you, I have a massive to do list which includes, rebuilding two decks, renovating the kitchen, rebuilding a few outbuildings on a gorgeous piece of property tucked into the mountains of southern British Columbia, and maybe building a small solar kiln. One of the outbuildings on my property is a smaller log barn which had a covered hay shed attached to it and this collapsed just before I purchased the place.
At any rate since I have been over here in Africa the price of dimensional lumber in Canada has risen to what I think of as ridiculous prices. So I started talking to one of my co-workers here and he mentioned that he had a 36" Alaska Mill which he does not use and he would sell it to me. He said that he bought it 20 years ago when he was stationed in the Yukon. He used it once and has never used it since. I have heard about these Alaska Mills over the years and thought, why not try it. So I bought it from him and he threw in a book he received when he bought it, Malloff's book on Chainsaw Lumbermaking. What a gem that has been. I have devoured that book and along with the advice I have discovered on this site, from the likes of Woodshop(a man of extreme talent) and others, I am starting to develop my "system". I have purchased a Husky 395XP for the mill and have a 30" bar for it along with a few ripping chains. I am still breaking the saw in before I start to use it on the CSM. I have also purchased the Haddon Lumbermaker as I know that I will be able to use it. Most of my work will be done out in the woods as I have a fair amount of blowdown on the edges of my property, 24" douglas firs, some pine and larch. I don't have the big equipment to move any of this big wood as I am a just a weekend warrior with a pickup truck and a few come alongs. But some of the timber can be bucked up to length and moved. Lets assume that with my floor jacks and winches I am able to get a 10 ft. long 18" diameter piece of fir into the bed of my truck. Here is where my question will come. As part of my "system", I will rebuild the hay shed I mentioned earlier and use that for doing some of my CSM work, mostly to get out of the elements. I will be able to stack the cut lumber in this shed as well to air dry, 3 sides are open so there will be enough air movement. But before I do that, I need to get the tree into the shed in order to get it cut. The best way that i can think about doing this is to use an I beam with a moving trolley/hoist. I can park the truck outside the shed underneath the end of the I beam, use the hoist to lift the logs out of the bed of the truck and then move it along the beam, into the shed and then lower the log onto a raised bed for the CSM. Does anyone use this type of system and if so can you post pics or details of the mechanics you use. One last thing, this property I have is off the grid, we use solar power to the main house/cabin for but there is no power to the outbuildings. Thanks all and again this is a great site.
I am relatively new to this site and have spent the last few weeks devouring the information in it. It is nice to see so much information and absolute brilliance on this site about CSM's, which is the system I will be starting with. I recently retired from a job I worked at for 30 years and picked up a contract to do some work in Africa. That contract finishes at the end of this year and then I will retire for good, but never say never. I have spent tons of time throughout my life playing in the woods, hunting, fishing, camping, gathering firewood and hiking. Like alot of you I get my peace and destress by being in the woods. Its good for the soul, no doubt about that. So lucky me, now that I will be coming home full time, I will get to spend more time doing the things that I want. Again like all of you, I have a massive to do list which includes, rebuilding two decks, renovating the kitchen, rebuilding a few outbuildings on a gorgeous piece of property tucked into the mountains of southern British Columbia, and maybe building a small solar kiln. One of the outbuildings on my property is a smaller log barn which had a covered hay shed attached to it and this collapsed just before I purchased the place.
At any rate since I have been over here in Africa the price of dimensional lumber in Canada has risen to what I think of as ridiculous prices. So I started talking to one of my co-workers here and he mentioned that he had a 36" Alaska Mill which he does not use and he would sell it to me. He said that he bought it 20 years ago when he was stationed in the Yukon. He used it once and has never used it since. I have heard about these Alaska Mills over the years and thought, why not try it. So I bought it from him and he threw in a book he received when he bought it, Malloff's book on Chainsaw Lumbermaking. What a gem that has been. I have devoured that book and along with the advice I have discovered on this site, from the likes of Woodshop(a man of extreme talent) and others, I am starting to develop my "system". I have purchased a Husky 395XP for the mill and have a 30" bar for it along with a few ripping chains. I am still breaking the saw in before I start to use it on the CSM. I have also purchased the Haddon Lumbermaker as I know that I will be able to use it. Most of my work will be done out in the woods as I have a fair amount of blowdown on the edges of my property, 24" douglas firs, some pine and larch. I don't have the big equipment to move any of this big wood as I am a just a weekend warrior with a pickup truck and a few come alongs. But some of the timber can be bucked up to length and moved. Lets assume that with my floor jacks and winches I am able to get a 10 ft. long 18" diameter piece of fir into the bed of my truck. Here is where my question will come. As part of my "system", I will rebuild the hay shed I mentioned earlier and use that for doing some of my CSM work, mostly to get out of the elements. I will be able to stack the cut lumber in this shed as well to air dry, 3 sides are open so there will be enough air movement. But before I do that, I need to get the tree into the shed in order to get it cut. The best way that i can think about doing this is to use an I beam with a moving trolley/hoist. I can park the truck outside the shed underneath the end of the I beam, use the hoist to lift the logs out of the bed of the truck and then move it along the beam, into the shed and then lower the log onto a raised bed for the CSM. Does anyone use this type of system and if so can you post pics or details of the mechanics you use. One last thing, this property I have is off the grid, we use solar power to the main house/cabin for but there is no power to the outbuildings. Thanks all and again this is a great site.