Oak tree down- how to cut it?

[Keye]

We are making slow but sure progress on the oak tree that is down. Randy came down to Lacaster to look at it this weekend. He is working on lining up a boom truck to lift the two trunk sections. I have a friend who is going to provide the truck and trailer. Randy offered to use his trailer but I do not think it would have been a pretty sight after we loaded the trunk onto it.

The main issue remaining is cutting the trunk. It is a full 36 inches in diameter, top and bottom. The local rental shop only has a 20 inch chain saw and it looks like it probably has about as much power as my 18 inch Homelite. Power and size of the saw are a concern to me.

Anyone have any suggestions other than trying to whittle through this trunk? Called a local tree service and they do not have anything to cut it with.

The main trunk is 36" by 12'. Anyone have a guess as to how much this weighs, just curious.

[DaveO]

My guess on the weight would be around 5000 lbs, based on green oak weighing 5200 lbs. per 1000 BF and that trunk has roughly a 1000 BF in it. That is probably on the high side, but should keep you from overloading anything.
You should be able to cross cut the trunk in half with a 20" bar chain saw. The hardest part will be cutting all the way through on the bottom where it is sitting on the ground , unless you can roll it.
Dave

[jeff...]

That log should weigh no more than 6500 lbs, that is if it's a live oak which is the heaviest oak. If your having a saywer do all the cutting, loading and moving - most sawyers I know charge an hourly rate plus expenses in addition to their standard saw charge. Most people shy away from having larger logs made into lumber because of all the time / money that's involved. But then again you got an estimated 700 BF of oak lumber that should come off the log, that is assuming it's good and straight and has no defect. Honestly it's no joke to rack up 4 ~ 12 hours labor and expenses on a big log plus a saw charge, by the time it's all said and done. Pray there is no blade destroying objects embeded in the log or you'll also incur a band blade replacement fee. If there's a lot of trash in the log, most sawyer I know will refuse to saw it. They'll take it off the mill and ask you to come pick it up. Ted hit a peice of steel in a yard tree walnut and it caught the blade just right and snapped the drive side shaft in two. Turned out to be a very costly repair and cause the mill to be down for two days, which set him behind even further than he already is.

It really sounds like Randy is going the extra mile for you, good luck and hope all turns out great.

BTW Forestyforum has some handy tools in their toolbox, one is log weight, which I used to estimate the log weight.

http://www.forestryforum.com/board/i...action=toolbox

Thanks

[charlie s]

A 12' long 3' diameter log will have almost 85 cubic feet of wood in it. Based on the seasoned weight of live oak at 59 pounds per cubic foot that would be 5004 pounds. However, the unseasoned weight would be considerably higher, meaning Jeff's estimate is probably as accurate as you're going to get.

Charlie S

[Gofor]

I have dropped 30" pines with a 16" chain saw. You can go through half the width at a time. It will require removing any anti-kickback guards off the end of the bar, and realize that kickback will be constant problem. (The saw I have is pre-antikickback devices, including chain brake, so I did not have to circumvent the safety features). I do not recommend it for safety reasons. A safer option (providing you do not have heart problems) is a 52" 2-man crosscut saw, altho it can be done with a one man. For either option, the log will have to be supported on both sides of the cut so as not to pinch the cutting blade. Driving wedges under the log may provide enough stress-relief to get the job done. You need one end free of the ground.

Go

[scsmith42]

If you haven't already, get some end sealer on all cut ends of the log. Also, compare the horsepower rating of the rental saw versus yours - you may be better off renting a larger HP saw even if it only has a 20" bar.