Part 16. A whole New Year!

Well we are now in 2012 and looking forward to all it has to offer.
The holiday season is pretty quiet for us. Time spent with close family and the few neighbours in the inlet.

Our Christmas tree expedition is an event we all look forward to. The boat loaded with mince pies, mulled wine and a chain saw!!
For those worried about safety, the person using the chain saw is not allowed the wine until the tree is in the boat!!

This years weather was very disturbed but we picked one of the good days and were successful in getting a nice tree, albeit a little on the bushy side.
Decorated and lit, it looked well and meant that Christmas was really here.

As I mentioned in a previous posting the latest equipment purchased was a Band Saw Mill. Transported first in the back of the mini van and then on the boat it is now installed on its float and working very well.
It can cut logs of 16 feet long and approx 20 inch diameter. These are not big logs but we have a large amount of junky logs that are not saleable and we always need lumber for general maintenance such as decking etc so this was a good investment and so far has certainly earned its keep.

The logs for cutting are rolled up from the far side of the float and across, up the ramp and onto the bed. Here they are secured and lined up ready for cutting. To get the most out of the logs you turn the log after each cut.
One of the side effects from cutting lumber are the slabs that accumulate. These are put on one side then cut in to smaller pieces and can be used as fire wood. We have been warned by many people that they can ' get away from you' as there always seems to be more slabs and ends than useable lumber, so that is the part of the operation we will be watching.
We are still learning the best ways but each log is different and some lend themselves to planks, others to 2x4's etc.
A great and very easy piece of equipment to use.

Many planks later.............