Suggestions on milling and transporting wood from rural areas?

[jteneyck]

I've seen more elegant versions of this but this shows the idea:  lift arch.

[Chris Watson]

These are all fantastic ideas. Thank you. I have a feeling if I tried to implement some of them though I would wind up a hillarious meme or in a YouTube video of the most epic "Fails".

That saying "when it rains it pours" certainly seems true regarding Osage orange. My brother in law text me this morning to say he found another place that had all I wanted of cut down OO. So I'm waiting to hear what condition this source is in.

[ianab]

If you are going to get a portable sawmill in to process the logs, then doing it at the farm makes sense. Put your time and effort into recovering the best logs, and lining them up ready for milling.

The portable guys usually have a minimum charge, a setup fee. But they can process a good amount of wood in that 4 hour minimum if you have things set up nice for them.

[Steve N]

Not sure about KC Mo., but in SW Ohio most are more than willing to barter for lumber, Usual split is half with blade breakage on you. But as I said with an abundance you can change the terms a lot. They usually are pulling up to 2, 3 trees max. Given a lot of desirable wood, terms will favor tree owner. Tom is closer by far, he may be able to talk about that locality better than anyone, unless there is a miller in KC who comes here.

[opticsguy]

Buy yourself a bandsaw mill.  Cut any size and shape of wood you could ever dream of.  Will really change your woodworking life and your project possibilities and your creativity and your.....
I purchased a TimberKing 1220, certainly one of the most important woodworking tools I own.  I do not sell wood, this is a hobby for me.  I could easily sell my mill used for about what I paid for it new 6 years ago.  
You only live once and you will run out of time before you run out of money.

[Steve N]

You only live once and you will run out of time before you run out of money.

Thinking you have more $$$$$$ than I do

[Stwood_]

You are going to have it milled sooner or later. As suggested, find someone to mill it on site.  I assume the farm has a tractor, most likely with a bucket. Use this to move the logs to the mill. Either pay cash to the mill operator or barter lumber.

Much easier than moving logs to the mill. I did that several times- when I was much younger.

+1

[Bob10]

You ever consider a cherry picker to lift one end back under it and lift the other.  I don't know the size of the logs you are looking at I did a few 6' 20" black oak by lifting one end then the other and sliding them into my truck without a lift but I don't recommend that.  If you go that route do your best to adjust grade to reduce the difference in height.  A ***** a long helps a lot

[Kansas City Fireslayer]

Myself and another Woodnetter--MikeinKCMO--hand jacked a small variety of good sized logs about 12+ years ago with minimal equipment. Basically, we would drag them up onto a trailer lengthwise using either a come-along or a cheap wench from HF. We would put fence post underneath them so they'd roll. A Peavey or Cant hook is nice to also have.

It's a lot of work doing it this way and being able to get your trailer as close as possible makes a big difference. Mike and I loaded a really big and beautiful walnut log one day and we were so tired after the first one that we left another really nice one behind for firewood because we were so shot. I still can't believe Mike let me talk him into gathering the logs we did! Hope Mike sees this.

If I were in your situation I'd find a guy with a portable mill as well.

[jamesglenn]

I am guess you have to consider how to unload them as well? Do you have a lot of space at home to store and stack them, then room for a sawmill?

As others have stated, milling in place would be the easiest method to handle a large volume. If there are a lot of logs to move, hand jacking with pickers or come-alongs will be tiring quickly. Boards are much easier to handle.


For loading purposes only, if you do not have access to use a skidsteer or loader, then I would rent an excavator for a day or weekend. One with a thumb would allow you to lift each log and set it into the truck or trailer and loading would be quick. Provided all the logs are cut to length ahead of time and you are not driving hours each way with the logs.