This hot spring we had sure was a precursor to this summer's weather, wasn't it? Thirteen 90 degree days here in NE OH, so far, which is pretty hot for us. Hope some of you guys were able to build your solar kilns, and get them running. It's been a good year for them. Now, let's get back into the woods with my Amish friends.
I shot this picture on the way back to the truck. This is the road that the horses gave me a ride on as they went to the landing. These woods were so wet that this road was more like a causeway.
After the horse team brought me to the landing, I met with Paul, and paid him. Everyone was on break, so I was able to get some pictures. Remember, as I stated in previous blogs, the Amish do not like their pictures taken. From the back is okay, but not their faces.
Below is the mill of death they were running at the landing. The operator was an old guy of about 25!
Watch your feet. Stumble over something here, and you will cut something off that you might need. Below is a close-up of the blade. Smaller than what you find in a more permanent sawmill set-up.
Below is the power plant that is running the mill.
Not sure how big their engine is, but my other Amish friend runs a 50hp Duetz diesel on his "fixed" sawmill. Their sawmill, and this one above are relatively quiet as they have mufflers in place. A lot of the Amish pull the mufflers off as they feel they get better engine performance without them. Of course most are pretty close to deaf, so not sure what they think they are gaining. We had a mufflerless Amish sawmill that was running in the woods here that was 5 miles from my house, and I could hear their mill running plainly. I went up to talk to the guys to see if they had found any figured lumber in the 50 acres that they were logging (they hadn't), and you pretty much had to yell at them as their hearing was shot. Not to mention it is extremely annoying for all of us living within a seven mile radius to listen to their mill running all day long. You can hear it even inside the house with the windows closed!
Here are some logs that are on the deck awaiting their turn to be cut:
Two young guys with some log peavies roll them down to the mill operator. The logs are cut into lumber, then they are passed to another guy that edges them, and then off to a couple of teenaged guys that stack them into bunks where they wait to be graded. See below:
This follows the same procedure as the first blog I wrote titled "In the beginning".
I found this image below as a sad sight the last time I was there in June. Here are some veneer logs marked, and on their way to...., guess where? If you guessed China, you are right:
Even the Amish foreman, Lester, couldn't believe it. Like he said: "It is hard to believe that they can pay to have these trucked to the east coast, pay again to have them shipped half way around the world, make something, pay to ship the finished product back, and it still cheaper than the wood products that we make here in NE OH". Lester added, "And you know the really sad part Kevin? The Chinese pay more for our veneer logs than the American veneer buyers" It's a tough thing to drive through Youngstown Ohio and see the empty factories, and all of the people struggling there, but we are better off, aren't we?
Next blog we will finish up on this Amish sawmill operation. I have some nice pictures of the woods before it was logged, and after. Also, they started on the front part of the woods the last time I was there, so we have some pictures of that as well.
Thanks for reading, and enjoy the rest of your summer. I also like reading your comments, so keep them coming!
Kevin Koski
Curly Maple Wood
Dry Kiln owner/operator
