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Logging and sawing

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vtsteam:
I've been doing a little logging and sawing this last couple of weeks. I thought you ll might enjoy some pictures of what I'm using.

This is my homemade band sawmill. It's powered by a 10 hp motor and is pushed along the track by hand. The band wheels are trailer wheels. The blade guard is a tandem axle trailer fender. I can cut through a 16" diameter pine log, 16 feet long in 60 seconds with a new blade. I've been sharpening my own blades lately with an attachment to adapt a $30 Harbor freight chainsaw sharpener (grinder).

Behind the saw are stacks of 1" thick red maple, and black (sweet) birch. I just cut up some hemlock 2 by material in the foreground

vtsteam:
Here's a closer picture of the mill from the blade side. The blade is a 1-1/4" wide x 7/8" pitch band about 13 feet long. The track is 20 feet long.

vtsteam:
Here are the hemlock 2x8's, right off the mill. They're heavy!

Pete W.:
Hi there, Steve,

That looks like a handy bit of kit!!!   :bow:   :bow:   :bow: 

No problems with neighbours complaining about the noise then??   :D   :D   :D 

Except maybe if you wake up a hibernating grizzly!!   :lol:   :lol:   :lol: 

vtsteam:
This is my quirky little log winch. I think it was used to haul fishing shanties off the river ice in winter. I just got the engine going again after several years of disuse, and spliced in new oak bearing blocks. Gave the engine a new coat of white paint, too.

Yup, that winch drum runs in oak bearings. The engine needed a new carb, gas tank, and new magneto. I added electronic ignition, and it starts instantly now. The engine serial number was from the mid 60's and I bet this whole winch rig was built back when it was new. There is an ancient brake on one end of the shaft -- probably Model T era. It has webbed shoes.

The bottom has a sled-like profile so the winch can skid itself to where you want it. Then I just chain it to a tree, or other solid object, and run the winch cable to the log I want to skid. It is a surprisingly fast operation, though the cable runs slowly with all the reduction. There's a gearbox on the engine, then a big pulley reduction, and then a chain reduction to the winch drum. The wooden vertical lever presses on an idler pulley to tighten the belt drive, by way of a clutch. the other vertical metal lever is for the brake. I haven't ever needed the brake. Oh also there's a lever with a long spring. It rubs against the spool cheeks. That's a friction brake to slow the winch so it doesn't overspin and tangle the cable when you're pulling it out. Also keeps the cable taught wwhen rewinding with no load.

Though this was not originally meant for log skidding, a similar winch is built and used sometimes by individuals, called a "Yankee Yarder."

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