Cuttings slabs for customer with Alaskan Sawmill?

[FirsTREEsponse]

Hey! I a new member and already have so much to ask/say but I really need some advice on this asap please and thank you!
So I recently bought the 48" Granberg Alaskan sawmill with a 56" in bar and bought a Holzfforma G888 chainsaw head to run it and so far it's been running great!
I just took down a fir tree for a customer and they want some live edge slabs. The section I'll be cutting is 8ft long and 42in height and they asked for as many 2in slabs that I can get, so not including the top/bottom slabs, I'm assuming I may be able to cut at least 10-15 slabs or more. I have no idea what to charge for them though. Can anyone tell me how much something like that would cost? How much should I charge them? Please let me know what you think! Thank you!!

 

[Kaveman]

$800 is a good starting point. Go up from there. Significantly.

Every three cuts turns an inch of that diameter into sawdust, at 0400, I'm not mathing that for you, I'm not qualified.

You will struggle to move that fat slab, and several before and after it, hopefully you're lifting with hydraulics not hernia.

If they really want the slabs, you hold the monopoly. There's no portable bandsaw mill that I'm aware of that will handle that 42in diameter, so it would have to be done with an Alaskan mill. That's a helluva lot of work, I know because I've done it. It's time consuming and quite physical.

Also, welcome to the forum!

 

[Treeaddict]

What Kaveman said. Yeah,milling with a chainsaw ain’t easy. Quite a bit of set up time as well. Sounds like most of the day will be spent milling on a project like that.

Just a thought: a 2” slab on something 42” wide may not be thick enough. I take into account the movement while drying and the subsequent flattening process which can easily take 1/2” or more away from final thickness (assuming they want their slabs flattened) I’d probably want to cut at 2-1/2”-3” thick per slab. Downside is that they are heavier to move.

Welcome to the House!

 

[flushcut]

Welcome!
Charge by the hour. Half a day is easily about where you’ll be cutting slabs.

 

[SeanKroll]

Use roller logs to move heavy slabs.

 

[Kaveman]

Use forks, or you'll prove @Treeaddict a prophet. 42x2 inch will split like kindling if mishandled. Shake is a problem with an 8ft length as well. Any windshake, or other faults in the log will be issues at that thickness. I'd recommend that the widest boards be at least 3 1/2- 4in.

Alternatively, you can slab, sticker, then use a good circular saw to rip them in half. That will make them significantly easier to deal with and reduce the propensity for splitting as they dry.

Take a few log rollers and cut a notch or saddle in them, set them up on the off hand side of the log. Flip the top cut onto them, place stickers and continue. The whole log ends up upside down, slabed, stacked and stickered. Wrap ratchet straps around the bundle and cinch it down. Tarp it. Leave instructions with the home owner to tighten the straps every other month or every three months, for two years. Maybe check in on them from time to time.

Just how familiar are you with chainsaw milling? There's more than one way to skin that critter, and lots of variables to take into account.

 

[gf beranek]

Chainsaw mills, in my opinion, are only good for canting large logs. Squaring them up so they fit into a band mill.

Forget milling 1" boards. Yeah, you can do it, but it's a losing proposition.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

5 quarter is better and you can plane it down as needed if you needed 1X. Bigger is better and mill it smaller as needed after some curing.
Cut smaller turns lossy with warp and checking.

 

[davidwyby]

Welcome.

 

[Raj]

There is a milling thread in Chainsaws. I have a secret list of cut time of various wood, widths and lengths and I use that for figuring out a price. I have the list somewhere on the milling thread.