As in “when life gives you lemons . . . .
I reported briefly nearly three months ago that we had a storm, a tornado. Since then I have spent very little time here. Had a major cleanup operation, still ongoing. I’ll post about the heartbreaking loss of 125-150 year old barns later.
We had probably total of 50 trees down, many huge, old pecan trees. The majority of downed trees were pines, and that’s where the lemonade comes in. I have posted before about my younger friend who owns a portable sawmill. I traded with him to bring his mill and convert a bunch of the downed trees to usable lumber. He, along with a half-dozen other neighbors/friends/relatives showed up within an hour after the storm hit with saws. Wes, the sawmill guy, brought his tractor with grapple attachment. We started sawing trees, getting them out of roads, off of fences, etc. I had presence of mind, and they knew as well, to saw the trees into usable lengths, mostly 10-15 feet. Anyhow, we wound up with several stacks of logs waiting for the mill.
It took Wes just over four days to get the logs sawed. I wound up with between 5000-6000 board feet of good lumber, full dimension 2x6 and 2x4, and 1x10, 1x12, up to 1x16 boards for siding, flooring, etc. I intend to use the lumber to build a barn to replace one of those we lost. I traded with Wes to pay him $300 per day for him, his mill, and his tractor. Paid him $1275. Turned out to be a bargain for me, and he was pleased.
We stacked the lumber with “stickers” between the layers to allow it to dry, and covered it well with roofing tin. I intend to start building around October 1. The wood will still be green, but we can work with that. It will dry some between now and then.
Pictures . . . . .
I reported briefly nearly three months ago that we had a storm, a tornado. Since then I have spent very little time here. Had a major cleanup operation, still ongoing. I’ll post about the heartbreaking loss of 125-150 year old barns later.
We had probably total of 50 trees down, many huge, old pecan trees. The majority of downed trees were pines, and that’s where the lemonade comes in. I have posted before about my younger friend who owns a portable sawmill. I traded with him to bring his mill and convert a bunch of the downed trees to usable lumber. He, along with a half-dozen other neighbors/friends/relatives showed up within an hour after the storm hit with saws. Wes, the sawmill guy, brought his tractor with grapple attachment. We started sawing trees, getting them out of roads, off of fences, etc. I had presence of mind, and they knew as well, to saw the trees into usable lengths, mostly 10-15 feet. Anyhow, we wound up with several stacks of logs waiting for the mill.
It took Wes just over four days to get the logs sawed. I wound up with between 5000-6000 board feet of good lumber, full dimension 2x6 and 2x4, and 1x10, 1x12, up to 1x16 boards for siding, flooring, etc. I intend to use the lumber to build a barn to replace one of those we lost. I traded with Wes to pay him $300 per day for him, his mill, and his tractor. Paid him $1275. Turned out to be a bargain for me, and he was pleased.
We stacked the lumber with “stickers” between the layers to allow it to dry, and covered it well with roofing tin. I intend to start building around October 1. The wood will still be green, but we can work with that. It will dry some between now and then.
Pictures . . . . .
