The Old Buzz Saw and Tying Up a Loose End
January 21st, 2007 by Northern FarmerIt looks like things are moving along just fine here on the old blog and that’s all right with me! Sunday evening and not much to tell weatherwise around here. We had a “huge†snowfall here of about a half an inch, they haven’t been getting much bigger than that this winter here. Not complaining, in fact it saves allot of work and possibly hundreds of dollars in cost not having to contend with bigtime snowstorms, yet. Things are moving along on the farm, I’m getting ready to sell around seventy five calves before they eat us out of house and home, and we’ll keep a good number back to graze out this summer if the rains ever decide to find central Minnesota again in this age. Another project we have is to get our old tractor saw rig home and rebuild it for all the firewood we have to cut up. Time to dig out the old technology and work circles around cutting wood with chainsaws. I tried bringing it home a couple days ago but the bugger was frozen to the ground out back in the scrap pile. Even busted a chain trying to pop it out of the ground. But there’s other ways to skin a cat and I already got it figured out how to have the frozen earth release it. I got figured we can saw up around ten cord in four to five hours with three guys. A bit faster with more folks. It’ll be good to hear the buzz of the circle saw again after it being retired for about twenty five years. Get it all rigged up on the old John Deere 50 and away we go! Funny how when a person wants to speed the job up we have to go look in the junk pile for the old equipment, eh!
I remember growing up with the buzz saws as “thee†way to make wood. All the neighbors got together and helped each other with their pile for the year. And I remember the amounts of wood made were huge! Plus the big noon meal at the place we would be sawing that day, let me tell you that was some good food. Now after looking at our rig and trying to extract it from the frozen ground and breaking it in two plus busting a chain, I’m not daunted. The wood is rotten but all the metal parts are in good shape so we’ll just replace the two wood beams and anything else made of wood and have us a state of the art saw rig. Just another example of doing things like we used to and getting the job done better than the modern way! I don’t know if anyone can tell, but I’m pretty happy and excited about this little project! Hmm, I should have some pictures taken of before and after.
Lately my mind’s been buzzing too with everything going on around here on the blog and on the farm and I just have to sometimes stop and take it all in. There’s so much going on I wonder if I’ll be getting an overload between the ears! I don’t even know where to begin a list so I won’t, I’ll just say that never in my life has change come so rapidly here and for the good to boot! When a person is set in a lifetime of old ways change can get a bit scary to say the least. Everything from farming, education, church, marketing and generally about anything else a person can think of. Life is being totally turned upside down here for the better.
Now I was planning on one of my usual rants this evening but it just won’t come out. There’s plenty of time to rant in days to come if it need be. And there’s plenty of subjects to tackle to boot, no shortage there. In fact you wouldn’t believe some of the subjects! But in writing tonight I want to tie up some loose ends that were left here for a few months. One is a quote I mentioned a few months back by Pastor Rod Parsley, Columbus, Ohio. I mentioned it off the top of my head a few months ago in general terms but couldn’t find where I read it, so tonight I have it and will close that up. The book is titled, “Preparing For The Glory Living Leaven Free†and on page 129. I quote:
“Look in God’s Word. When idolatry is practiced in a nation, agricultural ruin follows. God withholds rain and sends plagues and hail and other pestilences of nature.â€
Good food for thought! And idolatry is the largest religion by far in this country with the love of money being the prime example of idolatry. It’s even estimated that seventy five percent of professed “born again Christians†really follow the love of money, thus idolatry is their god. Sobering thought! And pestilences and such must also be looked at as being land totally unable to raise a crop unless money is pumped into it with fertilizers and sprays and such. What happens when anything is withheld because of the system failing from a storm or terrorist attack even on a tanker in the middle east? Or money becoming worthless?
Food for thought, and this and many other things will be written about here in the near future. We can bury our heads in the sand, throw out red herrings blaming the very farmers that are trying to change the system for the better, or get off our butts and do something about it in our families, communities and nations.
January 21st, 2007 at 9:35 pm
hi there,
it is good to be reading one of your post!
got power for now!
January 21st, 2007 at 9:40 pm
Hey Jan!
I got your letter yesterday and couldn’t believe how you folks got hit by that storm down MO way, wow! You were a long, long time without power! I’m sure glad to have you back!
God Bless!
January 21st, 2007 at 9:43 pm
you and me both!
hope it stays on , I want to hear what PJ, got to say over on his blog!
January 22nd, 2007 at 6:52 am
Whoa ho, Buzz saws and the JD 50. Ya got me drollin now!! My FIL had one, he used on the B. He’d pop out a basement window and throw all the wood he cut down there for the winter. Down here we only run through a cord or two in the winter (I’, still not trying to rub it in……. No…. really
), so the Stihl and a swedge (and a couple of strapping tennage boys….) do me just fine.
One thing. I tried to use the word “bugger” on our family Christmas card this year. The next sentence was something like “God bless”. MY wife gave me a funny look and told me bugger had no business being in a Christmas card and told me to look it up. Believe me, I was suprised by what I found…. you probably will be too……. Not complaining, or trying to word wrangle, I’ve used the word for probably 40 years of my life and never knew what it’s main definition was……
Anyway, Hope you found a way to bust the saw out. If it were down here, it would be up to its blade in mud!!
Have a GREAT day,
Brad
January 22nd, 2007 at 7:56 am
Jan,
Here’s hoping your great storm adventure of 07 is history!!
Brad,
I know, that buzz saw coming back to life gots me drooling!! I figure I’ll head out there later today with a couple pails of hot coals from a wood furnace and cover that pully that’s sunk and frozen into the ground. That should do the trick. Get er home and replace the old rotten wood, fix up anything that needs fixing and away we go, oh, plus add a few more safety features than were on it from the olden days. Ahh, the bark of the old “50″, saw singing, work gettin done fast, good food, good people. Am I in heaven or what????!!!!
In my tradition I won’t quabble over words, I’ll just take your wife’s word for it. If I offended anyone, well………., it sure wouldn’t be the first time nor the last!! And if I start pleasing everyone then I know that I ain’t doing my job right! But in respect for your wife who must be good I’ll calm down on that particular word.
Well, I’d better get back out and see what misadventures await!!
Have a good one down there in the warm lands!!
January 22nd, 2007 at 8:36 am
Oh, no offense here (with either me or my wife). Its funny though, I used bugger and substituted it alot for critter or the like. Its just funny how I used the word all these years, and just assumed thats what it meant. Anyway, keep doing what your doing, no complaints here.
Hot coals?? Good idea, I was thinking about a couple of teens and a spud….
Brad
January 22nd, 2007 at 4:51 pm
Tom,
You are definitely right that we need to dig in and get working. In some ways there seem to be limitless opportunities to start working on. Now if I could only eliminate my off-farm job. I wonder if I could come up with space for a few more calves … ahh, but on the other hand some family members might rebel.
I remember old family pictures showing my grandfather’s buzz saw - a saw hooked up to a model T Ford car that had its back wheels jacked up and one wheel driving the saw. My uncle said it was noisy, dangerous work.
Jim V
January 22nd, 2007 at 5:43 pm
Brad,
Well, success today extracting the pulleys out of the frozen ground!! Them hot coals did the trick so now it’s just a total rebuilding job facing us, which shouldn’t be to overly complicated.
Jim,
Hmm, I know what you mean about family members rebeling, believe me
But the opportunities are out there, that’s for sure.
To the buzz saw, I’ve seen some pretty wild rigs in my day! Some I wouldn’t have wanted to get all to close to. But ours can be rebuilt now to something pretty good and about as safe as we can make it. When working with wood there’s really no way to be totally safe just like anything else in life, so we’ll do the best we can.
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:40 am
Morning Tom,
Rebuilding those old things are where the fun is. I’m working on an old McCormick 25v sickle mower right now. I gotta hand it to those old equipment designers, they sure knew how to build things pretty simple back then. Simple enough even I can figger it out.
Is the wood good enough to use as a pattern? Or is it the old “This is the way it should of been” wood replacing??
Temps in the low 40’s today here…. Its the end of January and starting to feel like winter….
Have a GREAT day,
Brad
January 23rd, 2007 at 6:53 am
Mornin Brad!
Well, allot of the wood has returned to the earth, so to speak but one side gives enough refrence for length and such. Really though it shouldn’t be to tough because we have all the hardware and the blades and belt so we just make it fit. Well even replace the old bearings with a couple of new ones to eliminate slop. I’ll re-gum the saw blades, sharpen and set them, there’s three we have on hand hanging up in the old machine shed.
Well, I’d better scoot and get out there, 18 above and the stars are twinkling up there. Who’da ever thought January would be so mild!
Tom
January 26th, 2007 at 7:47 am
Tom,
We live in Northwestern Lower Mich. We are going to be raising a few pastured cattle this coming season. We have a few general questions that we would like to ask you. Can we ask them here, somewhere else or not at all?
Fred
January 26th, 2007 at 7:51 am
Hi Fred,
Feel free to ask anything you’d want on the subject here and in up and coming posts. Posting them here is much better because you can get different views and such. Plus, believe me , I don’t know it all but in combination with allot of folks things can get answered! Thanks!!
God Bless!
Tom