I saw this today from an article in the WSJ. I would guess the wheels are 48". It is a monster bandsaw. The millwork shop I worked at for 25 years had a 30" saw, and I thought that was big.
 
Look at the picture on the right.
 

I used one in my youth. Called a "Ship Saw" in New England because they are used in ship building. The lower wheel is below the working floor and the upper wheel is above the sawyer. Will cut massive timbers.

We also used a 4 sided planer. Cut all four sides of a plank at one pass. Used a crew of 4 (or more, depending on the size and weight of the timber): infeeder, outfeeder, oiler and shovel guy who kept the shavings out of the way.

There's a 36"(throat) metal cutting Do-All vertical band saw in my hobby/home machine shop.

So far, it's cut just about any thing I wanted to saw!

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS:
We also used a 4 sided planer. Cut all four sides of a plank at one pass. Used a crew of 4 (or more, depending on the size and weight of the timber): infeeder, outfeeder, oiler and shovel guy who kept the shavings out of the way.

Our shop had a 30" planer, but only two sides. Your planer must have had babbitted bearings if an oiler was necessary. We did have a 6"x12" molder that would cut all four sides, and not just "plane" either, though it could do that. We ground our own profiles on cutters that would bolt into the cutter heads on all four sides and make any profile you could dream up. Wide bar rail was one favorite order. Heavy crowns. And even something simple like the bench slats for the Washington DC Metro system benches. There are only two or three slats per seat, because they are 3"x8" white oak with just rounded over edges. We won the bid for running most of them, because we could set the big molder to surface all four sides and round the edges all in one pass, while most shops were using a planer, jointer, and shaper with much higher labor cost in the bid.
 

Years ago in Carver Oregon, there was a log yard with the most huge chain saw I ever witnessed in action: it was mounted on an overhead support a full log truck could drive thru. One end of the arm (like a large chain saw bar & chain) could swing an arc that must have been close to a 20' cut. There was a large slot in the concrete slab under the head unit so it could swing more than 90 degree cutting arc. I think there was a clean-out pit there too.

Yes, there used to be large diameter timber in this country. I watched them a couple times make a swing cut thru trees that were butt-cut single log loads, as tall as the cab & headache bar on the truck.

Quite a sight, with chips flying, it would generate considerable waste with just one cut.

quote:

Originally posted by ArtieS: Used a crew of 4 (or more, depending on the size and weight of the timber): infeeder, outfeeder, oiler and shovel guy who kept the shavings out of the way.

As a young man at the lumber yard, someone once brought in a trailer of poplar beams for planing. Even with a dozen of us, it was very difficult!

I recall seeing images of huge band saws slowly cutting stone blocks. 8' wheels or bigger, maybe.