Hide Site/Bug out location Part 8

[Flyin6]

Oh, they printed that box upside down ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^. I already contacted them and have a new box on the way ;-)

[Flyin6]

Everything is packaged separately and labeled. Look at all the hardware for the cutting head. It is labeled, for example: Bolt, M12 x 110mm.

So, there was no confusion on my part. For each assembly step, the instructions would give a list of the required hardware. I'd gather that into a small box, then go to the work site and assemble IAW the drawings/instructions.

[Flyin6]

I thought about it, doing a step-by-step, but that's a bunch of work, so I'll just do the highlights.

You actually begin with assembling the track sections, but I decided to assemble the cutting head first. You start with laying it onto its side to insert the front legs.

[Flyin6]

And then it just goes along step by step. I took my time working from noon until around 1800. I was able to finish the head assembly, although you do not get to tighten the bolts until it is sitting on a leveled and squared track.

[Flyin6]

Now is it me, or does this dog of mine look like a big mole?

[Flyin6]

Assembly point I finished with tonight:

[Flyin6]

Honorable mention for the Burb which sees regular farm trips and now even tows things (very well!)

And

The MX6000 which for no other reason other than I am tired of buying tractors will be the go-to utilitarian work horse for now on.

[JR]

Yep, he looks like a mole. But hey, the supervisor can do as he wishes.

Good looking mill, good on the kubota, mine is a do all too. Front hydro is a must add on.

[TexasRedNeck]

I finally moved the camper I built down to the farm as well. It towed very well behind the Suburban. I'll be doing overnights in it to maximize workdays until I get something a bit roomier up and running.

Spruce Goose!


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[Flyin6]

I finally moved the camper I built down to the farm as well. It towed very well behind the Suburban. I'll be doing overnights in it to maximize workdays until I get something a bit roomier up and running.

Spruce Goose!


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Not quite :-)

[Flyin6]

Next installment of the sawmill setup.

I think I have one more short day of setting the critical angles of the saw after leveling the track and squaring everything, then it will be ready to transport down to the farm. Once there it gets bolted down and leveled again, then the additional six feet of track will be added, then finally it will get its first log, a well-seasoned and big cedar log that is just waiting for the moment!

As with the sawmill head build, I started with laying out all the hardware and small parts. Next, I created four "feet" to lay the track on. Later on, I'll use these to lay freshly sawn timbers on beside the mill.

[Flyin6]

Look at the thickness of the zinc-plated reinforcing plate. This along with all the bolts made for one strong assembly

[Flyin6]

I laid down the bunks while snugging the hardware but not tightening. The critical measurement is 37" to the outside which I maintained almost dead on throughout the process.

[Flyin6]

After taking a lot of time squaring as I went, I took the first corner-to-corner measurement.
153 13/16"
153 3/4"

That was a difference of only 1/16" over an 11' span. I decided to leave it right there for fear I'd knock a bunch of other stuff out of alignment..

[Flyin6]

Then I finished the assembly and thoroughly tightened everything. It is now ready for leveling and to receive the mill head.

[Farmer Jon]

I'm sorry I have been busy and just now catching up on some threads.
You say you get 100 round bales a year at $33  a bale? How big are the bales? I know hay prices vary greatly place to place but even Prarie hay and grass bales are $150 ish a ton.  It cost us $10 A bale to just hire someone to bale it. Large round bales weigh roughly 1,200 lbs.



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[Flyin6]

I'm sorry I have been busy and just now catching up on some threads.
You say you get 100 round bales a year at $33  a bale? How big are the bales? I know hay prices vary greatly place to place but even Prarie hay and grass bales are $150 ish a ton.  It cost us $10 A bale to just hire someone to bale it. Large round bales weigh roughly 1,200 lbs.



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That's a huge difference, but according to my farming friends, around here, that's what folks were paying for them this past summer. I did not purchase nor sell any, I gave all my hay to the farmer next door who has 70-80 cows. He lost his lease on some fields and needed some help,

[Flyin6]

Spent the whole weekend at the farm. Starting Friday afternoon until late Sunday.

It was the inauguration for using the camper down there. I stayed in it Friday night and Kat and I both stayed in it Saturday night. She brought both dogs (Which made me super nervous since it was the first day of rifle/deer season.)

[Flyin6]

With that heater going it was super cozy and I/we both got good nights' sleep.

[Flyin6]

The barn lighting is exceptional:

[Flyin6]

Added a small microwave as I once again ramp up this place to be able to support us.

I can so identify with the sign.

[Flyin6]

Saturday, I built a new road at the bottom of the slope so I won't have to drive all over the grass when doing chores in the woods

[JR]

Love the DAM sign, land looks great but the barn needs doors.

Amazing what having a microwave does for you out there. I waited way to long to bring mine out.

[Flyin6]

Love the DAM sign, land looks great but the barn needs doors.

Amazing what having a microwave does for you out there. I waited way to long to bring mine out.

The big doors are built, awaiting hanging...

[Flyin6]

Hard to tell right here, but I filled in a low place in the road with stones I harvested from a stone fence that was created when someone pulled thousands of stones out of the fields when the farm was first going in. These stone "walls" are little more than rubble heaps now, but I plan to use them for backfill in many future projects. This is 9 loads total!

[Flyin6]

And I started on the cleanup of the area some wind storms destroyed some of the things I built. This actually dovetails into the building of the cabin. I will need to finish the halfway below-grade structure and close in the walls. It will house water storage and serve as a storm shelter as well.

[Flyin6]

I harvested a bunch of gravel from that site to fill in around the old sawmill base, which I will repurpose as the new base. I wanted to level that area up more and make it more presentable. Shortly after sawing begins, it will be covered over with sawdust.

I also moved that hideous pile of logs away from the barn...what an eyesore it was. I dressed the area and cut the grass around it.

[Flyin6]

And then for no other reason than I wanted to, I stacked up two big boulders. I was actually playing with the new Jenkins Iron grapple. I could rotate it vertically, grab a boulder from the ground, then rotate upright for transport, and then again parallel to the ground to place it where I wanted. That thing is awesome!

[JR]

And the smile on your facw as awesome I bet. Boys and toys,,,,,,,

[Flyin6]

Sawmill is all squared and finally assembled. Just needs to be loaded/transported and have its final installation in the barn...Oh and add some oil and blade lube fluid.

[Flyin6]

Today all I had to do with the mill was to get it loaded. It still took a while since I was super careful moving everything.

I topped up the fuel and engine oil with Penzoil full synthetic 10W-30 and added windshield washer fluid to the blade lube tank. I then ran the mill for a few minutes ensuring everything was ready to go for when it gets put to work next week.

The objective is to get it farmside and mounted tomorrow, then first of the week, I think I will be sawing up several 30" sections of a Red Oak my friend just dropped at his house.

[Flyin6]

I don't think I mentioned it before, but I had the mulch in a bunch of my plant beds replaced with stone this summer. Here's a couple pics of that.

The big stones all came from my farm.

The photo quality is not that great since I took the photos when it was getting dark with no flash.

[stlaser]

I thought your dump trailer was Kaufman?

[Flyin6]

I thought your dump trailer was Kaufman?

No, the one I sold, an equipment hauler, 17K was a Kaufman. This is a Big Tex

[Flyin6]

So, here is the mill base before anything was assembled. It is not level, nor true. And I had another surprise coming which I did not know about until I tried to place the saw base on the stand.

[Flyin6]

I employed the Skid steer to do the "Heavy" lifting.

[Flyin6]

My old saw was the same brand and the same model. Apparently, there have been a bunch of improvements and one of them was a widening of the stance. This saw is wider than my old 30" saw. The feet for the base overshot the existing base rails by inches. I had to scab two pieces of framing two-by onto each side to achieve the correct width.

Looking at this and all the space it takes up in the barn, I am now thinking I just might build a dedicated sawmill shed and concrete the floor all the way to the opening.

[Flyin6]

The base set right on the old/new rails, and then I added another 6.5-foot section to get me to sixteen-foot cut length.

[Flyin6]

The "feet" are adjustable so for the next couple hours, I carefully leveled the saw side to side and mostly spanwise as well. The adjustable feet are a really nice feature that keeps the saw deck level and square. Hopefully, I won't be cutting too many propellers.

I again used the CTL to hoist the mill head onto the track system.

It rolled easily and freely.

[JR]

Off to the races again. Now for the doors so you don't have a wind tunel.

[Flyin6]

Off to the races again. Now for the doors so you don't have a wind tunel.

No kidding!

[Flyin6]

Good day today. We got a bunch of stuff done.
I pulled the belly plates off of the Kubota CTL and thoroughly cleaned that thing.
I changed the oil and filter of the machine. The factory does not have the owner changing the oil for 500 hours. Man, I can't stand that long interval so with just over 200 hours on the Hobbs, I did a drain and refill along with a fresh filter.
I lubed the entire machine.
I ended up pulling a bucket of crap out of the belly of the machine, then after soaking with a detergent and a good pressure washing, it looks nearly new in there once again.
I then changed the oil and filter in Kat's Honda Talon which hasn't been driven in over a year. I charged the battery, added fresh gas and reinflated all the tires. It, too got a through pressure washing. Man is that one fast little SxS. It will spin all the way through 1st and 2nd gears and well into 3rd!
Next, I pressure washed the barn floor as I continue to bring that thing back into proper serviceable condition.
She burned a ton of old scrap and dead wood that was in and around the shed.
We pulled the storage racks off the exterior walls of the shed as well.
We cleaned up most of what was left and now only have that wrecked deck thing to dismantle to salvage much good lumber.
She started the cleaning of the interior of the shed what will continue as I move everything out of it and relocate to the barn.
All this is in prep for the modification of that building. It is looking like I will be adding an addition of approximately 18x12 with a shed roof. we also plan to add opposing shed dormers to make the upstairs floor space completely useable as a bedroom. Following that I will tear out about 40% of the upstairs floor to make for a high-ceiling great room. I will add some windows and a French door and relocate the staircase.

The way I see it, the first step is to clear out the space completely including that wall that is not structural. Then our idea is to use masking tape to "tape off" rooms to get an idea of what layout we actually like.
While I'm getting ready for a new concrete pad outside, I will also lay out a wrap-around porch of 6' width with a continuous shed roof overhead. I'll be using all the cedar beams I saw myself. All the framing and decking will also be eastern cedar that comes off my mill.

So as you can see, there is a load of work coming, and we will be back at it again Monday when I am scheduled to pick up four huge Red Oak logs that I will saw up for a friend. The deal is he supplies the logs and we split the lumber 50/50.

[JR]

Isn't it amazing how much crud collects on the floor of a skid?

[Flyin6]

Isn't it amazing how much crud collects on the floor of a skid?

Gives one good perspective about how the sedimentary layers accumulated over the eons.

[Flyin6]

The "Exploded" view of my SVL-97

[Flyin6]

^^^^^^ Should have figured those (CRAPPY) iPhone (I-bone ya) pics posted 90 degrees out. Why does everything iPhone and Apple not work with the rest of the world?
Anyway, that machine is now completely clean, has all fluids topped up, and I pumped grease until it purged the old stuff from the joints. I think I am in good shape to continue using it as I build out the place.

[JR]

Because they are apple based.

[Flyin6]

The project is moving forward, but it was a rainy/muddy day down there.

In prepping to hang the doors, I was surprised to find there was not an already-bent metal channel to protect the 2X6 on the top of the door. So, working with the local metal store, they are bending me a custom piece of "C" channel that will cover the top + 1/8" and then wrap down the sides for 2" with a fold at the bottoms.

With those on site, I am ready to hang the doors.

The birds have left their mark, so I'll be doing some more pressure washing first.

[Flyin6]

Here are the correctly oriented after-service shots of the SVL. The thing is looking much better.

[Flyin6]

I think I'll be repainting these heavily scratched surfaces. I'll probably be repainting these areas regularly.