Sorry I have been so lax in putting some nonsense up for your reading pleasure in a while. Our church is without a pastor at this time and I have found myself a bit busier than usual. I will try to get a little more regular with posts. Maybe that is the new alliteration, "Post or Perish".
As reported before, our material for the wood shop comes mostly from local trees that we mill ourselves and, as with all wood working, I look forward to firing up the sawmill for the season each year, grateful for the fact that I don't have to do that part of the process during the freezing part of year. I was so delighted to find that the engine on the mill was as anxious to get going as I was and started right up. The engine drives the blade and keeps the battery charged. But the rest of the operation is either electrical or hydraulic powered.
The mill head moved along nicely and when the hydraulics were being tried out, just as suspected, things were moving along much too smoothly. Although the motor that drives the hydraulic pump was working the stuff that is supposed to move when the control levers are moved sat disgustingly still. Adding hydraulic oil didn't make much difference. It was then that I saw oil running out of places where it isn't supposed to. It was obvious that a hydraulic hose had broken and oil was going where it had no business going.
It turns out that a mouse, or maybe several, had taken up residence in the main hollow tube that constitutes the mail frame of the mill and serves as the conduit for the first twelve feet of all the hydraulic hoses. Why a mouse would see fit to chew on hydraulic hoses is beyond me. But chew he (she, they) did. Chewing through the outer rubber part is bad enough. But one hose was nearly severed meaning that the little bugger ate through the steel part as well; must have had carbide teeth. In any event, repairs have been made and although we're starting a little later than usual, we'll be turning trees into two by fours once more.
