Newsletter #313 2025 Jun 25 Wednesday
A small engine repair, a tire replacement, kiln dry lumber, and great progress in the Sheep Pasture. God is good. One hiccup, too. Not good.
Primal Woods
Sawmill Services
I made direct Moisture Content (MC) measurements of lumber at three places in each kiln; Rob’s lumber is done cooking.
Kiln dried is defined as 6-8% MC, so we’re good, well below 7% on all measurements, which should cover any possible measurement error to the high side. The estimated Equilibrium Moisture Content (EMC) in the kilns was roughly still hanging between 8 and 9%, so … I suppose there could be any number of reasons for that, including temperature and/or relative humidity error, error in the equation’s factors, error in the equation, etc. All measurements have errors, maybe small, but errors nonetheless. The equation, which was probably some sort of “best fit” to collected data, is an approximation.
Rob and I are now scheduled to discuss the next steps in getting this lumber to 3/4 inch hardwood flooring.
Small engines … the Husqvarna Rancher 460 chainsaw is just not performing as it should.
This is the first piece of equipment I bought, a dozen years ago; it gets almost daily use on the Homestead or in the Sawmill Services business. So, I’m not disappoint that its first major work has arrived. I bought this model because the dealer told me it was their rental model, which is to say that it has to be nearly bulletproof to survive the abuse.
I have two problems, the engine seems to be running too rich and therefore the saw is not achieving full power, and the clutch is slipping. In the below photo are the clutch parts (R), the carb and air filter (C), and the fuel tubes, priming button, air filter and spark plug (L). Should be good to go, plug and play.
If you or someone you know are interested in our Sawmill Services, check out our Primal Woods page on the subject.
Pure Maple Syrup
We put together some “private label” Pure Maple Syrup for some friends; Timothy did the bottling, Geri managed the labels, and it was her brainchild. Turned out nicely.
Homestead Rebel
Last week I was talking about the proliferation of small engines and tires, and I said, “just maintaining all those tires is a bit of a chore;” the image above is the perfect example. There is actually no reason I can think of, aside from lower cost/price, that this wagon, or the log splitter, or the wood chipper, need pneumatic tires. I will never take them on the road. So. Instead of fixing more flats on the wagon, today I ordered solid tires of the same size; no future flats, thank you very much.
Sheep
This week Timothy and I got some help with the Sheep Pasture; we had four men from Hillsdale College on-site last Friday; Jeff, John (not from Hillsdale), Timothy, Ryan, Billy, and Desmond (L-R).
They were on-site for 6 hours, including donuts in the morning, lunch, and some fellowship; I reckon we were working for about 4 hours, and in that time we got all of the remaining posts installed on the perimeter. This is a huge accomplishment.
We put in somewhere between 60 and 70 posts. Now Timothy and I are working on finalizing the design of the “sorting system.” When that is complete we will begin with the H-braces on either side of the gates (at least 6 gates) and the corners (6 corners.) When the H-bracing is complete we will run the woven wire fence, followed by a strand of electric above the woven wire, and a strand of barbed wire below the woven wire. Step by step.
Oxen
I updated the Homestead Rebel Farm bird’s eye view diagram to include the Paddock numbers for the Oxen Pasture; the Oxen are now in Paddock #8. It was simply coincidence, but a nice one, that they’ve been in Paddocks #8 and #10, the shadiest of the lot, during this hot spell we’ve been in. We have been rotating them through the paddocks in a counter-clockwise direction. Elmer and Boris are going through water like you can’t believe, maybe 75 gallons a day between them. Thank God we got the water system in this year.
Timothy also sprayed them for flies again yesterday; the horse flies are just killer right now.
Pigs
The pigs too enjoy the shade, and creating a little dry wallow where the earth is cooler.
And, as planned, we had pork breakfast sausage, bacon and eggs for “lunch.”
Broiler Chickens (aka Meat Birds)
Tragedy struck this week; we think it was the work of a ‘coon.
We had a plywood cover on the brooder, with a 2x4 under one end to make for a little better venitlation; evidently that was enough space for a ‘coon to get in. So. Lesson learned. More birds are on order.
Firewood
I reckon that’s two cords, maybe a bit more. But we are focusing more time and effort on firewood now, with Timothy here for about 7 more weeks, and 10 cords as our objective. Once we get it split and stacked we will know exactly where we are at.
Farmhouse Airbnb
Timothy mowed the yard today, and we are expecting guests to arrive on tomorrow, Thursday.
News and Notes
There is a lot going on, of course, chief among those things for most is the U.S. bombing of Iranian nuclear sites. I’ve not dug into that, it’s probably too soon for the dust to have settled. I’m not sure we even know what exactly happened at this point, much less what the longer-term ramifications might be of it, whatever it is, having happened. Having said that, I am more interested in what is going on inside our borders, culturally, because as the old saying goes, politics is downstream of culture.
And, it seems to me, people are looking for something more, something maybe their parents, or grandparents had. Some, not too few, are behaving in a decidedly counter-cultural fashion.
I documented several other ways people are resisting, in my post,
If a person wants to know what the U.S. might look like if we continue down the Biden path (there are so many aspects to it, I’m not sure what else to call it), the U.K is probably as good an example as you’ll find.
Books & Such
I’m in the next book that my Mom recommended, The Viking Heart: How Scandinavians Conquered the World. I’m too early in the book to even comment at this point; I bought the Kindle version.
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All the best, and may God bless you and yours,
John & Geri
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