Warm Winter Weather

The weather in upstate NY and New England has been unseasonable warm the last few days. Most of the snow on the southern slopes has melted and exposed some logs I had set aside for milling in the spring. As much as I hate to see the snow melt, it does give me the opportunity to make some much needed 2" x 4" framing lumber instead of buying them from the local mill.

I'm going after the big log on the bottom. It's one of my last big pines that has been in the same spot for close to two years. A week ago this would have been frozen solid to the ground and nearly impossible to lift. Today it lifts with ease. I suspect the underside will have some rot and blue sap stain. Not to worry...we'll find out tomorrow.

A little prep goes a long way and with a twist from a pry bar, the bark falls off in huge sheets.  A combination of being cut in the spring and sitting around for so long. Most high end sawmills have what's called a "debarker" making this step unnecessary. Mine does not - so removing the mud filled bark will help prolong the life of the saw blade. It's also wise to removed all the remnant branches. Getting a branch hung up when manually rolling the log on the mill is hard on the back.

All prepped and ready to be hoisted onto the sawmill. I'll save the actually milling for tomorrow...unless it snows.