Once the oak log was cut into boards, we were faced with the mission of the maple logs we had cut and collected at the cemetery the week prior. These logs are not light and/or easily moved around. I learned to appreciate cant hooks, which are long handled tools (like a rake or shovel) with a hook at the end and used in a lever-type fashion to allow people to move such massive pieces of wood. With the help of cant hooks and gentlemen stronger than what my 113 lbs can supply, we managed to cut two of these massive logs over the course of then day.
I even got to try my hand at pushing the saw. It was surprisingly easy to push through such a hard material. But, naturally, during my first attempt, I hit a knot that had filled with dirt and stones from moving it around on the driveway. Thin, fast-moving blades don't agree with stones so we had to change the blade and cut out the knot with a chainsaw before I was able to make a complete cut. You can see the saw horses set up under the overhang for the boards to dry in this photo. They'll stay there until we move them over to the drying racks behind the barn.
And, on a final (and somewhat irrelevant) note, I learned to drive a tractor! The most challenging motor vehicle I have had to drive in the past was my father's Mazda 5-speed pick-up so this was a whole new world. They refer to the John Deer as the Cadillac of tractors on the property and I understand why now. It's so easy to learn and use. From the first few cuts of the logs, we got throw away pieces that couldn't be used for anything so they were dubbed firewood. Now, they came from heavy logs and just because they were sliced a bit thinner didn't mean they were light, especially when we were dealing with 10+ of them. Thus, my tractor skills came into play. I was responsible for moving the firewood to the pile after it was chopped up via chainsaw. The tractor is far more fun to drive than my Buick.
At the end of the day, my hands were somewhat numb and I was coated in an awesome sawdust and windshield washer fluid mixture but, I could look at the drying stack of boards and be proud of how much wood we had done. And, I had learned to drive a tractor! I enjoyed my first day down at the saw mill and I enhanced my woodworking vocabulary a bit more.
Now, on to today's tasks. I hope you all had the happiest of holidays!
That is really good and interesting post, you did really good comparison of the both, thank you for sharing it and keep posting such nice posts
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