Baymule’s Journal

[Hideaway Pines]

Yes, it stormed here like crazy. Standing puddles of water, ought to make the grass grow! For live feed on bad weather during storms, use your cell phone on KETK it’s a Tyler station and they trace storms, especially rotation that suggests tornadoes. Also the TV station KLTV another Tyler station.

good to know!!!! we will do that

 

[Bruce]

The large beams do not twist or shrink as bad as the smaller cuts would.

What do you consider "large"?

When half our antique timber frame house was rebuilt the guys did it as it had originally been built with floor joists being trees (debarked though, unlike the originals) flattened on one side. One of them is 7" x 8" "finished" and it twisted because the mortise in the carrying beam was too wide. It lifts the floor above by nearly 1/2". I've heard that it takes a year per inch of diameter for wood to dry naturally but this was green wood.

 

[Senile_Texas_Aggie]

We use a lot, we are on a heavily wooded land, and have used it to make several things on our property.

None the less, I am anxious to get them on pasture in hopes it will reduce our feed cost.

Have you considered letting your pigs forage in the woods? The folks in the YouTube channel "Red Tool House" raise their pigs in the woods there, using electric fencing to keep the pigs where they should be.

 

[Hideaway Pines]

What do you consider "large"?

When half our antique timber frame house was rebuilt the guys did it as it had originally been built with floor joists being trees (debarked though, unlike the originals) flattened on one side. One of them is 7" x 8" "finished" and it twisted because the mortise in the carrying beam was too wide. It lifts the floor above by nearly 1/2". I've heard that it takes a year per inch of diameter for wood to dry naturally but this was green wood.

https://timberframehq.com/green-vs-dried-timbers/
this link above has some good info on using green lumber. But our beams are 7"x9", so not much larger than yours but it also depends on the kind of wood you are using. The mortise being too large sounds like that was the issue with the twisting. My DH took into consideration shrinking on ours, but we have not had any twist on any of our projects, we are using a mixture of pine and water oak off our land. We have a large Tractor Shed that has three tall supports (22ft tall, 6 ft is below ground) and they are 8"x12" in size - they have been up for over a year and are doing amazing. the cross timbers are the same size. We are not experts, but after doing some research we decided to give it a try. You are correct on the assessment of drying time, if you were to dry these it would be years before you can use them, or you would pay a lot for an electric drying method, we did not want to do either.

 

[Hideaway Pines]

Have you considered letting your pigs forage in the woods? The folks in the YouTube channel "Red Tool House" raise their pigs in the woods there, using electric fencing to keep the pigs where they should be.

Yes, that is exactly what we are going to do, once we get the large pasture area fenced in - it is some woods and some cleared areas, we want them to help us till the area so we can then come behind them and seed it for a good pasture. it will take some time, but that is the plan.

 

[Bruce]

There is a building in Hingham, MA called "The Old Ship Church". It was designed by one of my earliest ancestors to arrive from England - Thomas Joy (arrived 1635). His sons built it because he died before all the cut trees had the necessary number of years to dry. The name comes from the appearance looking up inside the church, looks like the ribs inside an old wood sailing ship. It is supposedly the oldest continually operating "meeting house" in the country.

And I agree that the "too large" mortise allowed the beam to twist, they should have put in a block to take up the excess space. No other beams had enough space to twist.

 

[Hideaway Pines]

@Baymule how are you feeling?

 

[Baymule]

@Baymule how are you feeling?

I'm getting there! The cough is finally getting better, not gone yet, but its better. I was just so run down, it's taking awhile to get over this crud. The best thing I could do is nothing. Boring, but I guess I just needed the rest. I've watched a lot of TV. If you want your brains to turn to oatmeal mush, just start flipping stations. I have had no ambition for much of anything. It took awhile for me to get here, it will take awhile for me to get back to being me.

I went to Frankston yesterday to get a beautiful cedar porch swing, a birthday present for my sister. She will be so surprised! There is a guy on the town square there that does sawmill stuff and builds porch swings. I don't know yet how I'll get it to her, with this crud, I need to stay far, far away from her. She has COPD and other health problems, she doesn't need what I've got. If my son comes in today or tomorrow, I'll send him with it. If not, then I guess I can offload it in her driveway and she can get a neighbor to come hang it for her. Eh. We'll see.

It's a beautiful day, think I'll get dressed and go outside for awhile.

 

[Ridgetop]

Just sit and enjoy the nicer weather for a while. It i surprising how good a pleasant breeze can feel on your skin when you let yourself relax.

 

[Baymule]

Sheba, Sentry, ewes and lambs are enjoying themselves tremendously. Not much grass yet, but they are enjoying what there is.