Milling D-Logs on the wood mizer LT40 sawmill

[@thecordlesscarpenter7956]

I'm getting ready to do the same thing on my land in NW Montana (come spring that is). I think using D logs will allow me to not only use the timber on the land but also give me a structure up relatively quickly to live out of while I build my shop and main house. Curious, once you get a rhythm going, how long does it take to mill each log (by yourself) roughly speaking? I realize a lot of it depends on each sawer's experience level and capability of the bandsaw but generally speaking in your situation, once a rhythm is going, how many D logs do you think you could mill in day (lets say a solid 8 hour day)? I've milled quite a bit of lumber on my mill but it's always been what I needed for a certain project and not a mass amount of the same size timber. I'm trying to get a rough estimate of how quickly I'll have to move to get dried in before the white stuff returns. I just stumbled on this video in a search and I'll check to see if you've got any updates and/or lessons learned from "mill to cabin" so to speak but if you don't have any videos out on this, would you do a "lessons learned", tips, tricks, things you learned as you went, that made the milling or log building process easier/faster/more efficient? Thanks and Semper Fi! I'm a retired Squid and my brother is a recently retired Jarhead, good to see other vets out there pursuing dreams instead of withering away!

[@TheOldJarhead]

OK, great questions! I had to go back and watch a recent video milling D-Logs out of ponderosa pine. A 6 inch D-Log milled out of a 9-10 inch pine log took me 5 minutes. That's from when it was on the forks and had to be loaded still to when I picked it up and walked it over to the stack. However, the LT40 is a lot faster than say, an LT10 ;) Had I left the tractor sitting just out of my way so I could move the log to it instead, or use the tractor to lift it off the mill it wouldn't have been much faster, or perhaps it would have been slower, but it would have saved my back ;) -- However, I estimate 15 minutes per log and 6 hours of milling per day. So 4 logs an hour would give me 24 D-Logs per day -- and I'm doing it alone. There are blade changes, fuel ups, lube fills and moving logs down the log deck all to consider as well as stacking, stickering, sealing the ends etc. But I think figuring 24 logs a day is very doable and in the longer days of summer twice that is possible :D Every bit of lumber in/on my cabin except the original framing lumber and exterior siding and sheathing came off the mill :D So all interior trim and paneling, the stairs, flooring, door to bathroom, deck, deck beams, porch roof and more all came off either my LT10 or my LT40. I have not milled enough D-Logs for myself yet ;) The curse of being a mobile sawyer in a world of stationary mills is that I have less time to mill for myself LOL but I'm planning on doing a LOT more this spring and summer! To answer your question though, just remember to end seal every single log! I prefer to do so first, on the log after felling it and not later on the lumber. It's much easier and faster this way. Always cut logs 6" over length to allow for angled bucking cuts and checking. Expect band dive at the entrance (so it will measure smaller) so always measure depth/width of the cant/D-Log a foot or so down the log. Remember a 6" D-Log is really a 6x6x7.5" cant with a round face :P I didn't think much about it when I started and ended up with 6x6x6's which means the actual footprint of the D-Log was about 4 1/2" or 5" - oops! I always mill oversized for myself but remember Simpson brackets are made for dimensional big box lumber so if you plan on using them you'll have to mill to them. Stress can be milled out a little but not completely. Use straight logs for lumber or D-Logs you want straight :P Logs take longer to dry than nominal or dimensional lumber but can be built using D-Log style building when green so let them dry 8 weeks or so and it should be fine to start building. FOHC timbers are less likely to check and warp as they dry so when possible go that route though doing so can be a challenge when milling D-Logs -- you would need a log that is at least 20 inches or so at the small end but could get 4 D-Logs out of it if done right (mill off about 7 1/2" then rotate 180 degrees, mill off another 7 1/2", then rotate 90 degrees and drop the head 7 1/2" from the center of the log, rotate 180 degrees and drop 7 1/2" again leaving the boxed heart remaining. If you maybe a D-Log template you can stick it against the small end and see how it stacks up as you might only need 7" vs 7.5" but once you decide what will work, stick with it for consistency. I'll stop there! lol sorry, there is so much rolling around in this head of mine on this topic that I can get carried away! ha! Ever had an answer this long on KZbin? LOL Semper Fi to you and your Bro! My daughter was a corpsman and her first duty station was the same hospital she was born in though it was 3000 miles from where we lived when she joined up! Her husband was also a corpsman and though they are out now both did several years. Cheers!

[@TheOldJarhead]

I should add that I have many cabin videos here as well and did a sit down (in two videos) about the cabin build which you can find on the channel as well...and I love Montana!!! We spent ten days there last year (you can see some vids I did on ghost town hunting there) and hope to get back soon.

[@thecordlesscarpenter7956]

@@TheOldJarhead For sure one of the more detailed answers I've ever received, thanks for that! I'm typically the very same way, I think, in part anyways, it's due to our time in the service and always feeling like we had to clearly lay out every single detail to the guys if we wanted anything done even remotely correct lol. That's what I blame it on anyway. Perhaps I just like to chat, who knows 😉. 15 minutes a log is good time! I'll be much slower than that with my mill (EZ Boardwalk 40), it's an all manual mill (I prefer everything manual, keeps it easier to work on myself) but I think once I get into a rhythm I won't be too far from that. I'll call it a good day if I can get 10 logs milled a day and have all the D logs completely milled up in less than a month (with all the other chores I'll have going on). Thus far I've been pretty solid on the end sealing, it only took one batch of lumber to be partially ruined from neglecting to end seal, for me to learn my lesson there ha... When I first started milling about 4 years ago I was using anchor seal, which I still have a gallon left, but have since switched over to using good old fashioned Crisco and have been using it for years now and it's worked just as well (and way cheaper). The 6x6x7.5 tip was confusing at first but I think I understand what you mean now. I took it as you forgot to account for the rounded face and at 7.5" tall it gave you 4.5"-5" lands on the top and bottom (from the corner to the beginning of the round face) and then once you milled the top and or bottom lands to 6", it yielded a 6" tall log? Good advise on the Simpson products, I never thought about that, mainly because I've never used them but I may use them if I find myself in a bind for time and that advice will be handy... I totally would have been looking all day for true 2" Simpson brackets lol. Milling FOHC is likely a no go with the standing timber I have on my land... it was logged back in the 70s or thereabouts and I mainly have Doug Fir and Larch, which is perfect (exactly what I was looking for and one of the biggest reasons I bought that piece of land) BUT Larch is a slow growing tree (diameter wise) and most of my timber is in the 10"-15" range. I do have some stands of doug fir, grand fir and white pine that are much larger that were not logged but I will be trying to keep as much of the older growth stuff as I can and just go box heart. If I do decide to harvest a few of the larger trees, it'll likely be for all the other stuff like flooring, siding, rafters, roofing boards, etc. The good news is that the 10"-15"ers are mostly super tall and straight. After watching me, my two daughters wanted nothing to do with military lol however, my oldest married a team guy (of the corpsman variety coincidentally) so they move around a lot but it's to all the places she's lived while I was in haha. Just watched your fireside chats on the cabin with a hot cup of joe, good stuff. I'm trying to enjoy my leisurely YouTubing, my land in MT is about an hour drive to civilization and way up in the mountains surrounded for miles by USFS (in the Kootenai National Forest) and there is no internet up there but I have TONS of projects to get done before spring rolls around so I'd better get my a$$ to work. I'm sure you haven't heard the last of me... Cheers my friend!

[@TheOldJarhead]

Ahhh yes, our time in the service leaves and imprint that cannot easily be overlooked or removed ;) I am often called The Sarge' or 'the old sarge' or even 'the general' LOL. On the measurements, not quite. Here is what I did: I milled the first face leaving plenty of opening (meaning 6 inches or more). Flipped the log and milled the second face 6 inches from the first making a log with two flat faces 6 inches apart. Then rotated the log up flat to the side supports, dropped the head 6 inches and cut the bottom out (which would be the inside face once constructed).....the mistake was that it left me a D log that was 6 inches deep (as planned) but only had 4 1/2 to 5" of top and bottom face. I may have to do a video specifically on this issue though it's a simple fix! On you mill even easier to fix perhaps. When I ran a manual mill I spent a lot more time thinking about what I was doing and measuring measuring measuring things :D On my LT40HD with simple set I do still but not as much since it has a scale and a computer setworks ;) Had I just measured down before my last cut I would have seen that I was making the D-Log too narrow and adjusted down to ensure I have a 6x6 with the round face AFTER the full 6 inches of face (for the next log to rest on and be secured to). Instead I have a 6x4.5 DOH! Checked out your channel and will have to go check it out more today, I love those old planes! Someone gave me one and I've been contemplating leaving it vs restoring it...and I see you have or at least had a Jeep ;) Kindred spirits perhaps! Cheers

[@thecordlesscarpenter7956]

@@TheOldJarhead Gotcha on the D log measuring mishap, I understand now. Yeah, I love the old Jeeps but I sold that one when I left Washington because it would have been pointless where I live now, plus it was in PRIME shape and no better time to sell for the biggest buck than when she's at her best. I had some GREAT times in that ol' gal. They are stupid simple to work on which is part of the appeal BUT as you well know, if you're gonna own a Jeep like that one, you better know how to work on it or be willing to spend a lot of time underneath it while you learn how to work on it haha, especially if you drive it like I did. Yeah, I lived in WA for the last 5 year stint I did in the Navy (Bremerton) which is where I fell in love with the PNW but the politics in WA are such, that I needed to find a state that was a better fit. So many great landscapes across our nation are completely ruined by the political views of the inhabitants of thier metropolis', sad really. Think about it, WA, NY (upstate in particular), CA, OR... Thank God, Montana remains the way it is and now that I'm a resident, I plan to be one of the patriots that keep it that way! I chuckled when I saw you sub'd my channel, I haven't done anything with it in years, the whole reason I started the channel in the first place was so my kids and grandkids could spend time "virtually" with Dad/Grandpa since I lived on the other side of the country and of course, Mom to "hang out" with her son. If I ever learn how to edit video I'll likely start it back up but my videos sucked so bad I told myself I'd stop putting them out until I learned how to edit and I'm just busy with higher priorities right now, one day perhaps. The funny thing is that I have all the right gear for it too, the fancy cameras (because I enjoy photography very much), I even have a Macbook Pro with final cut pro on it and everything, I just know that when I set my mind to something, I fully immerse myself in it and all my current projects would suffer. Right now my main focus is finishing the full restoration of a 1973 JD 450B crawler loader with backhoe, 4-in-1 bucket and forks. That coupled with my IH dozer with 6-way blade will allow me to do all the dirt work and logging on the homestead in MT. I need to finish that up before I head North this spring. Maybe I'll learn how to edit before I get up there so I can document the journey and all that would entail, that would be important to me.

[@davesalkeld9741]

Great views. Reminds me very much of the land I used to own over by Curlew, WA.

[@TheOldJarhead]

We love it! Not as wet as the coast and easier to get through the forests! And we aren't far from Curlew

[@brucewatson8451]

Great video. Any more acreage in that area for sale...beautiful area. I'll bring my WM 126 mill. Congrats, Bruce

[@TheOldJarhead]

Thanks! There may be though I hear it's getting spendy! Our property is in Okanogan county (that's the biggest county in the state) and up near the Canadian border. Called 'The Okanogan Highlands' - the challenge though, is with all that beauty comes a price: forest fires. It's dry arid forest so always a challenge to prepare for fire season!

[@brucewatson8451]

Yes. We've been there many times. We are tired of the west side and it's getting time to make a decision....right or wrong...lol @@TheOldJarhead

[@TheOldJarhead]

Couldn't be happier with mine! 😉

[@TheOldJarhead]

check out dirtcheapdirt dot com

[@jbbrown7907]

I enjoyed that Thanks.

[@TheOldJarhead]

Thanks! That was one I did before I learned how to do High Definition!

[@dangosselin-q8v]

Going 8 years 4 me. Waiting 4 my new woodmizer show up . My main sales in the NEK r going to be D logs. What do u get 4 a 16 ft average where you are

[@TheOldJarhead]

Hi! Which new mill are you getting? I don't sell lumber, so I have no idea what they would run here 😉 I'm milling for myself now 😀 Previously I milled for others traveling around the area.

[@dangosselin-q8v]

@@TheOldJarhead I had a 1220 timber king. Updated to a Lt 15. Tough little mill. I got every option included deisal moter. I've started my own lumber yard in my town. There is nothing here. Lowell Vt 1800s 9 sawmills and 4 stores. We were the largest logging community in books

[@TheOldJarhead]

@@dangosselin-q8v Great options! The LT15 is a real producer! And if no others around you've got a nice little niche 😉

[@suemoore1965]

❤️🇺🇸💙 LIKED WATCHED COMMENTED

[@stevencrabtree1960]

Semper Fi Brother

[@TheOldJarhead]

Semper Fi!

[@oliverm5sc]

Instead of pushing the slabs onto the loading arms and having handle them twice why not pull them off the operator side and stack towards the rear of the mill

[@TheOldJarhead]

Good question :) Pushing them off onto the loading arms makes it easy for me to put them back on the deck for furhter milling if desired so it just becomes a habit. Normally, for example, I'll toss the flitches onto the forks and resaw the edges when the cant is nearly done. It is also part of the "I usually work with a crew" habit ;) When milling for others I have a crew that off-bears the slabs etc. In this case, without the tractor I just pushed them to the forks to pull off on that side to chuck them to the pile by the logs (something I need to clean up) but I usually have a tractor set on the sawyer side of the mill and put them there to take to the pile when done -- same thing with the lumber; I'll pull it off (when I've done several pieces, are finished or need to move them) and set it on the forks of the tractor.

[@TheOldJarhead]

I just realized you were talking about what I call the 'cap cuts' (a slab to me is a thick cut of lumber, say a 3" thick live edge 'slab') which are sometimes also called "slab cuts" or "slabs" -- those I was pushing onto the forks because the slab pile was that direction so it saved me walking around the mill and also made milling the log much faster :D I can push the slabs off in the direction of the off-bears (there were none this time but usually are on jobs I'm working for others) and they can haul them off and out of my way, or I can get them when the log is done :D