SeanKroll
Treehouser
12" is needed on 40' softwood logs, allowing the trim to be for cutting end checks and multiple bucks.
41' makes five 8'ers, so 6 bucks minimum.
41' makes five 8'ers, so 6 bucks minimum.
The Humboldt is primarily for speed of production
- Thread starter davidwyby
- Start date
- Replies 60
- Views 5K
Btw, if a humboldt results in a higher stump, isn't that reducing maximum possible scale?
stikine
Treehouser
Isn't that what I said?
stikine
Treehouser
Sorry, misread things.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #56
I have seen western fallers cut above the flare (Cut B) to save felling time, and then also flare trimming time because the mills don’t want flare.
It comes down to where the the additional maybe 6”
of log that an eastern faller gets by trimming flare for a face cut and then trimming the rest of the flares is worth the time. ***critical point - the 6”, or even 4” is probably not worth it by the board foot, but it might mean the difference between getting a whole log or buck out of the tree or not.
In the west, there’s plenty of length to play with and the board foot value is much less. Also, pull doesn’t matter as much because there is so much trim usually. Out east, you can’t fiber pull 6 or 12” out of the butt, it’s not gonna get trimmed. A deep close Humboldt pulls fiber out of a butt log like a claw hammer. The face or back wall of the face cut needs to be vertical back east so that it can’t close and pry, and so the fibers are bent to the breaking point before pulling.
@stikine also made a point I glossed over the first time…the mill scales and cuts from the small end. The saw cuts straight lines…everything outside of that is waste.
Last edited:
stikine
Treehouser
Something to consider is that many high value Eastern hardwoods are destined for veneer plants so there is an incentive to maximize the length of the most valuable portion of the tree.
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #58
…and don’t pull fibers out of it. Board foot value for veneer is high. Often you don’t know what you have until it’s down, so proceed with care.
stikine
Treehouser
Another Eastern thing is most of the logging is done with ground based systems like skidders and feller bunchers. Short stumps make for less hang ups.
