A weekend at WDH's (lotsa pictures!)

[Dodgy Loner]

Well, my dad and I went down to WDH's place this past weekend to saw up some old fencerow pines from my grandad's place.  I needed about 750 bdft of knotty pine paneling for my workshop, and my dad needed 24 2x6's for some horse stalls he was building.  I had my eye on the only two pines along my grandad's fencerow that would fit through WDH's LT15.  My dad asked me how many bdft they would yield before we cut them down.  My reply: "I don't know."  He inquired as to how I knew they would produce enough lumber.  I told him not to worry, there would be plenty of lumber ;D

Our day started off felling the trees at 7 AM.  This is me notching the smaller of the two trees.  The notch is a little high, but remember, these were fencerow pines.  I had to notch between two strands of barbed wire.


After we got the trees down we bucked them to length.  The small tree yielded three 10.5' logs; from the big tree, we cut one 8.5' log for my dad's 2x6s, and got three more 10.5' logs above that.  My dad is loading the big butt log in this picture.


Like our log truck? ;)


We were over at WDH's house by 10 AM, ready to mill the logs into lumber.  Like I said, I needed some knotty pine paneling for my workshop, and most of the logs happily obliged.


But one of the logs refused to cooperate.  We got sixteen 1x12s out of this one, and most of the boards were almost clear. >:( ;D


Here's the big butt log - at 28", it was about as big a log as the LT15 could handle.


WDH squared it up into an cant 18" wide...


Then ripped it into three 6" x 18" cants, which we milled into 2x6s.


We ended up with about 37 2x6s, nearly 300 bdft - plenty more than the 24 boards that my dad needed .


And I ended up with nearly 1100 bdft of knotty pine.  Most of them were 1x12s, but the edgings produced some boards of irregular width.  I stacked them to dry under WDH's shed (the bottom half of this pile is some oak lumber that he cut earlier).


We sawed and stacked nearly 1400 bdft of lumber in 5 1/2 hours that day; that's 250 bdft per hour - not bad for a the little Woodmizer!  The most WDH had ever sawn in a single day was 1300 bdft, so a new record was set 8) 8) 8).

All that was left was a pile of sawdust and a truckload of slabs.


Oh yeah, and I had to clean up my Grandad's hay pasture on Sunday.  This ought to make a dandy bonfire, dotcha think? ;D


All in all, it was a great day.  I will be forever indebted to WDH for his generosity.  For those who don't know, he's the one who introduced me to sawmilling and woodworking.  I went over to help him saw up some walnut logs when I was in high school (I did more gawking than helping), and a few months later I showed up at his house with a load of cherry logs.  I've had sawdust in my veins ever since!

[Tom]

WDH is generous old soul.  He'd give you a cold if he  had one.   I got some mighty fine hamburgers at his place the other day.

Hang onto that friendship as long as you can, Dodgy.  It's not every old cuss that will spend time with a youngster and like it.   'Course a young fellow that jumps in and helps is a pleasure and a treasure too.  Especially one that is working on his own project. 

I've had some really good, Old-timer friends in my life.  They're worth their weight in gold and lend me a good feeling even after their gone.

[WDH]

Well, it is nice to know that I am an "Old-timer" now!  I have joined the club ;D. 

Those were some fine logs, much better than I am used to sawing.  We cut 1x12's from 5 of the logs and 1x11's from one of the logs.  The other butt log was destined as 2x6's for horse stalls.  Those horses should revel in that clear board home.  It ain't every horse that gets clear lumber to knaw on .

I gave Dodgy some wood for a secret project........more on that later.

What is better than sawing lumber with good friends?... ;D

[Mooseherder]

Looks like you had a great time and some nice t-shirt weather to boot. ;)

[Woodchuck53]

Nice load Dodgy. Can't beat those big ole pines. I have a pond full of butt cuts waiting till I get the mill back together. Plenty of help makes it a great day all around. Enjoy yourself. CV

[thecfarm]

Good size log on the back of that tractor.Is that a 1920 or a 2120 Ford?Looks alot like mine 2120.Seems like you had a good time.

[Dodgy Loner]

I'll have to ask my grandad what it is.  I know more about wood than I do about tractors.  I can tell you this, it was a lot easier to load the logs with the tractor than with my usual parbuckling with a hand winch technique ;)

[schmism]

Good size log on the back of that tractor.Is that a 1920 or a 2120 Ford?Looks alot like mine 2120.Seems like you had a good time.

looks like a newer version.... TT-a series perhaps.

[metalspinner]

What a great day!  Looked nice  and shady, too.

But Dodgy,

You're supposed to leave with the lumber and leave the slabs behind. ;)

[Dodgy Loner]

There's always plenty of shade at Danny's place.  He hasn't cut down a single tree around his house and barn if it wasn't absolutely necessary.  I think his Mrs. has had something to do with that .  And the slabs are in Danny's truck, not mine.  I left everything but the tops with him.

[WDH]

Sheesh, he gets the lumber and I get the slabs.  I need a better business plan .

[adrean louis]

hey nice job on the pines, but i noticed you have a LT 15 also, i had one like that years ago, but last year i got there newer one, what a fantisic machine.

[WDH]

Adrean,

Tell us about it.  What has changed and what do you like about it that is different?

[thecfarm]

adrean,a new member.Welcome to the forum.Glad you found us.What are you using your lumber for?

[SwampDonkey]

Well, it is nice to know that I am an "Old-timer" now!

I was gonna say.........  ;D

What is better than sawing lumber with good friends?... ;D

Nothing better, well don't hold me to the mat over it.

Looks like a lot of fast work and good sized wood to get that kind of production. How sustainable is that pace Dodgey? You'll have dad's and WDH's tongue handing out like the hound. :D

Great show, love it. 

[WildDog]

Looks like a good day all round Dodgy, bet you made your Dad's day, I hope my young fellow still wants to spend the day working alongside me when he's your age.

Thats a handy trailer you've got there.

[TexasTimbers]

Good on all of ya. This is what it's all about.  8)

I echo what Tom says about old timers (sorry Dubya I guess that's you in this case ;) ) I have 2 retired fellas, one 77 (Jim), another 83 ("Woody") that frequently stop by to lend this young whippersnapper a hand.

Whenever I see a brown (Woody) or white (Jim) Ford truck pulling in, my spirits lift and a smile grabs my face. These are true friends that are not easy to find, that make a choice to come spend time and share wisdom when they could make other choices.

Don't forget to make it more than just about the wood Dodgy. Dad's don't last forever and friends don't grow on trees. ;)

[fencerowphil (Phil L.)]

Yep, friends don't grow on trees, but...

they obviously do grow amongst 'em sometimes!

Good story and pics!

[Dodgy Loner]

Looks like a lot of fast work and good sized wood to get that kind of production. How sustainable is that pace Dodgey? You'll have dad's and WDH's tongue handing out like the hound. :D

You know, we really didn't hurt ourselves that day.  We took a short break after almost every log, and the weather was agreeable.  With my dad and I offloading and stacking, WDH never had to stop while he was running mill.  I think we could have sawed for several more hours and been alright.  Matter of fact, WDH and I got up early again on Sunday morning and sawed another 200 bdft of beetle pines that he had laying around.

Don't forget to make it more than just about the wood Dodgy. Dad's don't last forever and friends don't grow on trees. ;)

I'm not a wise man, but I know wisom when I hear it.  Thanks Tex.

[tcsmpsi]

Thanks for posting this, Dodgy.  I was looking forward to some pictures of it. 

Some good looking lumber.  Slabs ain't bad, either.   Especially on Danny's truck.   :D

[Trax]

WDH  what are you using for lube on your LT-15 ?

[WDH]

About 1 part diesel and 10 parts water.  The vibration of the engine allows just a very little diesel to mix with the water at the bottom of the tank, keeping the blade nice and shiny.

[OneWithWood]

Thanks for posting this, Dodgy.

What a wonderful way to spend a weekend  8)

[adrean louis]

well, hi everyone again.
my first LT15 was from the year they first made that model, i think i had it for about 8 years then i loan it two someone for the summer and then the next year he wanted to buy it from me, so i sold it to him. i was without  a sawmill for two years and finally got a new LT 15 last year. and boy they made some great improvements on it, like electric start, wha ho that is great and the up and down turn is greatly improved one full turn is 4 inches now and also the blade tightener is better, just half a turn

[adrean louis]

someone asked me what i use my lumber for, well i have a small nursery and about 90% of the lumber i use to make wooden tree pots to grow trees in.