Amish(?) sawmill visit

[Mobuck]

Tom had told me about a "traveling bandsaw mill" run by a couple of Amish(?) guys who were working our area. Tom had several logs he wanted made into specific sizes of lumber to build a wagon box and had made arraignments to have the bandsaw work them up. We loaded up what I figured was about the right amount of logs on my big flatbed trailer and hauled them the 25 miles to the millsite. Upon arrival, I was a wee bit concerned with the shaky looking equipment and the fact that the stacker was broken and waiting on a hydraulic hose.
When the mill guys returned, we were talking about how Tom wanted the lumber cut and what to cut from which log and such. The miller wasn't a dummy and realized I did know something about a sawmill when I started talking about what each log would "square" and how many of each size board could be cut from each.
With the stacker back in action and a new saw blade in place, the job went smoothly w/o any crashes. After the job was done, we were talking about logs and sawmills and stuff. The miller asked if I'd worked on a mill and I said not for a long time. His mill is all hydraulic and I commented it was a lot easier than hand rolling logs. Then I commented we'd used a single horse with a chain and a big hook to roll logs onto the saw deck and flip the big ones when squaring them up. The miller gave me the eye and asked "So you've worked horses?" I said "Oh, we used horses to shuck corn and haul hay until I was 8 or 10 years old". The miller gave me another look and nodded his head-I guess I passed the test.
Grandson got to see a saw mill work and took some pictures so I guess it was a good day. Job done, nothing broken, and a pile of lumber taken from stump to board.

 

[contender]

An education (along with a slight step back in time,) like this is invaluable. Growing up in these mountains,,, I was around a lot of stuff done "the old way" when it was the only way. Horses,,, mules,,, hand working stuff was more common.

I recall a family that were loggers. Mules were used,, and an old truck was used to haul the logs to the mill. One of the (6) sons was close to my age. He got on the school bus one day,,, looking like he'd been whipped pretty good. I was about 14,,, and he was about 15-16. When I asked him what happened,,, he commented on how he'd gotten mad at his daddy while they were HAND loading the logging truck with pulpwood pine logs. Seems he'd thrown a log across the top of the truck at his daddy. Daddy whipped him good. His daddy was mean. Mean enough to have gotten in trouble with the law because of hanging the two oldest boys up, under their old house,, & whipping them with a chain. He escaped into the woods & hid out from the law for about 1-1/2 years. Got the nickname "Boone" for living off the land & evading the law.
Mules,,, logging using hand tools,, etc all go back to a time of serious hard labor for a very low wage. Having a saw mill move around & all like that is a neat thing to see.

 

[john guedry]

Sure would be nice to see some of those pictures.

 

[Mobuck]

I never considered myself a "logger" but I did earn my grocery money a winter or 3 cutting, loading, and delivering logs to a local sawmill. Came out w/o a scratch which is uncommon considering the equipment we used. On a good day, I can still cut a tree and hit a mark I made where it would land. We used to bet lunch on that. The cutter put a peg in the ground and the helper had the option of putting a peg where they thought the log would land. If the log landed closer to the helper's peg, he got a free lunch(or got to eat the cutter's lunch).
In my youth, I had a wide variety of "life enhancing" experiences. I do my best to pass on things from "the old days" and encourage the young'uns to pay attention to how things work.
My grown children have come to understand how much the old man knows(if he can remember it) and appreciate that I taught them HOW to do things.
Sometimes Tom uses an anecdote form my life in his presentations. In a single lifetime I went from work horses to robotic, satellite guided, computer controlled tractors. From shelling corn off the cob in the corn crib to plant the new crop to genetically enhanced seed stock that has changed the entire way of farming.
Fortunately, I haven't lost the old memories and could step back in time all those years like opening a door. I sort of pity all those folks who have become so disconnected from the land and rural life that they simply have no idea of those times.

 

[bogus bill]

I was raised in Wisconsin and there were Amish in the area. Don`t know how the kids could take walking behind a horse`s azz and watching the outsiders their age racing down the roads on motorcycles and watching airplanes going over.
Now we live in SW Utah. before we moved here I thought if their are still polygamists there cant be but a few left. Wrong. They are all around us. The boys work (probably illegally) at a very early age`as it seems their dads are mostly contractors of one sort or another and you might see a 10 year old kid doing roofing etc. I doubt many or any get to high school. Every boy seems to carry a clip blade knife in his pocket. 95% of them are whip thin. All are easy to pick out at Walmart once your here a short while. It must be very similar to the way my dad said he was raised a hundred years ago.

 

[opos]

Here's a you tube of a horse powered Amish saw mill...many Amish saw mills with overhead line shafts run with steam or water power...the Amish are wonderfully talented folks....For many years I've restored antique farm engines for display at fairs and gas engine get togethers and the old engines are made of very crude and rough cast iron...the old iron is brittle and if cracks develop in rotating parts like flywheels they are deadly if welded as they often come apart in thousands of pieces from the stresses....the answer is to cast a new part...sand casting of cast iron is a special talent and the Amish have several forges that you can get to make new parts....I've had flywheels cast and they are amazing....true to the dimensions, well made and reasonable compared to anyone else that casts iron parts...

The device the horses are attached to is called...amazingly enough...a horse power....We had one on the farm that my Grandad used with a team for many farming chores...a very long time ago.

https://youtu.be/nbTNtCWXccQ

In the following video it shows an Amish saw mill and there is a man with a chain saw...how can that be? They won't use a chainsaw but you can use it for them to rough out the lumber for size....more than one way to skin a wabbit...the guy with the saw is not Amish.

https://youtu.be/FztFQxP8qqk

 

[Tom W]

I worked at a sawmill for 22 years.... started out stackig dimension lumber, graduated to operating the sorter, then spent a long time as Q.C. The last few years I was in the filing room taking care of saws and guides, both composite and Babbitt. I was really happy to see the Babbitt, it was labeled #4 nickel Babbitt and an excellent source of tin. I'd call the supplier and after work I'd find a 60 pound ingot of reclaimed battery lead from Sanders Lead in Troy, Alabama, and a few ingots of the Babbitt. They really appreciated our business, and I did the ordering for my department......

 

[Bear Paw Jack]

I grew up in New Mexico and used to spend time on the Reservation working on the green chain. If you've never done that you are in for an experience. I liked that place they had a roof over it because of the rain, but it also kept the sun off you while you worked. Once you got the hang of it, it wasn't hard work, but getting used to it was a trip. Nobody else wanted to drive the straddle buggie so I'd do that too.

 

[6GUNSONLY]

Story told around here about a backwoods guy talking to a friend. Says "I got me a new job." Friend says " Ya did, huh? What is it?" Country boy says "I'm off-bearing slabs at the sawmill. "Friend says "Sounds like hard work." Country boy says "Nah, best job I ever had. I only work half the time. I carry a load over to the slab pile, but I don't have to carry nothin' back."

 

[Rick Courtright]

Story told around here about a backwoods guy talking to a friend. Says "I got me a new job." Friend says " Ya did, huh? What is it?" Country boy says "I'm off-bearing slabs at the sawmill. "Friend says "Sounds like hard work." Country boy says "Nah, best job I ever had. I only work half the time. I carry a load over to the slab pile, but I don't have to carry nothin' back."

Hi,

That reminded me of the two guys who'd worked together for years, then found themselves out of work and standing in the unemployment line. First guy to the window was asked by the lady what he did. "Ma'am, I'm a woodcutter" he told her.

"I'm sorry, Sir, but we don't have any work for woodcutters this week."

Then she asked the second fellow what he did. "Oh, I'm a pilot" he says.

"Oh, a pilot? That's great," she answered. "We can have you working by the first of next week!"

"Really?" he asks. "Tell, me please: if he can't cut the wood first, how in the world am I gonna pile it?"

Rick C