Whatcha Sawin' 2025 ??

[Dave Shepard]

It seems there are a lot more snow days now than when I was a kid. My great-grandfather had school buses in the 50's and 60's. He had shovels so the big kids could shovel the snow drifts.

[doc henderson]

Now you would be fired and poss. prosecuted for child abuse and endangerment.  No wonder the kids think video games are what life is all about.  

[beenthere]

   I rode the school bus in the 50's and confirm there were shovels to shovel snow. The country roads were either dirt or gravel. Several times walked to the nearest farm to get a tractor to pull the bus out of snow and mud. Our bus was a Reo parked at the HS senior's home a 1/4 mile down the road where we walked to board. Brother and I helped mornings to get it out of the snow drift often during the winter. 
I wanted that job but the school stopped the policy that Junior or Senior's could drive a bus when I was a Sophomore '55. 

    Once caused the bus to slide into a ditch when we approached a snow-packed intersection and three of us boys decided we would move together from one side of the bus to the other when turning at that intersection. The result was like a big hand picked up that bus and put it right into the ditch. Bus driver not impressed.  

[Old Greenhorn]

well I didn't really 'want' to go to the mill today but I really just want to get the current orders done and if I can only do a little at a time, I just have to keep going down until they are done. If I go, I get a little done, if I don't go, I get nothing done.
 So I went thinking it would warm up a little. The high so far today was 27° at midnight. I left for the mill it was 20, when I arrived it was 18°.
 The mill is exactly 2 miles south of me but has it's own microclimate for some reason, the weather is never the same as at my house. we had some very light half-hearted snow drifting down, but after I got to the mill it turned steady and was accumulating on everything. I got the cold fingers again, but overcame that. But the cold from the slab worked right up into my foot again and I had to bag it earlier than I wanted. When I left I needed the wipers a bit for the snow, the road was covered and all was white. I got home, no snow on the ground or in the air. Go figger. Been home over and hour and just beginning to feel my foot again.
 When it does come 'back' I'll go buck or split more firewood.
 Tomorrow is supposed to be about the same, maybe cooler.

[barbender]

 My Grandpa was telling me that he had a bus when he was in school, mostly to haul his own younger siblings in to school but also other kids from their area. He said the school district paid him, but it barely covered gas. He said he just did it, "to help out his mom" though.

There are some unsafe practices that I'm fine that they went away, but we sure lost something along the way. How many 12 year old could you hand a snow shovel to help dig out a bus these days? And that isn't on the 12 year olds, that's on us.

Sometimes I have a "HAVE TO" order where I end up out at the mill in below 0° conditions. That was more common when I still had a full time job, and nearly full time mill orders. So I'd get in a pinch where things had to be done.

Around -10°, I ran into a problem where the sawdust was freezing to the blade before it exited the cut. Thankfully it was a problem I didn't have to solve as the order was finished and I had no plans for further subzero sawing. It is really easy to pop MEGA fuses for the hydraulics at those temps, too. Even with low temp hydraulic fluid. The system is working so hard just to circulate fluid, if anything puts a load on the system, POP!

Now given my rathers, a day that goes from a low of 0 and a high of 15 or thereabouts, with no wind, can go pretty well. Pine saws beautifully in those temps. The saw marks from a 7/39 turbo on frozen red pine are microscopic. And to be perfectly honest, I am more comfortable on those days than on a 35° day that is damp. I also tend to fight equipment more when the temp goes back and forth from freeze and thaw. 

We're looking at 20's later in the week. I'll exhume the WM from the crusted ice/sawdust pile that I stupidly left it in- one of those 5 minute jobs that there is another thread on. I
Now it will be an all day thing since I stupidly let it freeze in. I'll learn someday, I hope🤦

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, I didn't mention but the cold does affect the work otherwise. That mill barely started today. I should have plugged in the block heater while I was doing my preflight checks. Also lots of freezing sawdust on everything especially the boards. I tried to grab a shovel full of sawdust from the pile to throw over the slick ice and almost broke the shovel. Then I found a soft dry spot in the  pile. I will say though the the boards seem to mill a lot flatter.

Edit to add: I also learned that I can't leave my pen on the clipboard or it will freeze. I have to keep it in my pocket so I an do my tally.

[Hackeldam Wood Products]

I had a garage/towing business for 22 years then I was the Superintendent of Highways for the last 23 years. I retired in December. I have worked out in and driven in every weather. As I have gotten older I do not tolerate the cold as well. I do enjoy my heated gloves and vests.  (Tom sounds like you need heated socks)

When possible I generally kept the crew in the shop above 90 or below 15 (for outdoor work). The extreme temps are hard on you and your equipment.  Basically you need to plan and work with the weather not against it.

Those of you down south are lucky not to have the extreme cold and snow, it just makes everything a struggle. It does look pretty and kills bugs and snakes though!

As I watch the storm come across the country, it is amazing how unprepared folks are and how a little bad weather is like a major news story.
To answer the original question I am good down to 15 if the sun is shining. Now that I am working for fun, if I get cold,hot,tired ,hungry or lazy I can just quit!
I also helped put the chains on the bus. We would all crowd to the back to make it up hills. If you acted up on the bus they would use someones house phone to make a call, the bus Superintendent would drive out,throw you off the bus and let you walk home. If it was far he would take you back to the bus garage and arrange a ride or call your parents. They would put him in jail today! Not many kids acted up though!

It snowed today so I built a shelf on my new work bench. Used some nice Maple I milled a few years ago.

[Machinebuilder]

I grew up in the Western NY snow belt. 
I remember waiting for the school bus in 6" or more of snow, I can remember being on the bus when they decided to cancel school.


Now that I have lived in TN for over 30 years, I will loudly say I don't miss snow and cold.
Now I laugh when they cancel school becuse snow is predicted (BUT the roads closer to the mountains and higher elevation get bad first)

Yesterday afternoon I took the dogs out , it was 30 degrees very high humidity and windy.
My fingers got really cold really fast. I don't like that either.

Today I looked out the window while waiting for my coffee and there is this strange white stuff on the road and ground.
I am glad I don't have a snow shovel.

[beenthere]

I grew up in the Western NY snow belt. 
I remember waiting for the school bus in 6" or more of snow, I can remember being on the bus when they decided to cancel school.

Reminds me of the morning I was walking up the drive in about that much snow and when the bus driver popped open the door I for unknown reason blurted out "no school today". He didn't hesitate a split second to close the door, turn the bus around and take the kids back home. Surprise me that it happened. Some HS girls on the bus were very upset when they found out that all the other buses delivered kids that day.

[GAB]

It seems there are a lot more snow days now than when I was a kid. My great-grandfather had school buses in the 50's and 60's. He had shovels so the big kids could shovel the snow drifts.

What is a snow day?
In 12 years of school in Franklin County Vermont, I do not remember of ever having a snow day.  
GAB

[SawyerTed]

Inclement weather is infrequent and of short duration in a lot of places like here.  There just aren't enough resources or equipment for a handful of snow and ice days. 

It would be a poor use of funds to chain up the tires on buses just to take them off the next day or two.  Plus these people just don't have the opportunity to develop skills for driving in snow including the high school students who drive to school. 

One step further is the schools don't have resources and enough personnel to deal with snow in parking lots and on sidewalks..  

The result is it's cheaper and safer to cancel school for a day or two. 

We had snow and ice on Sunday.  Schools were closed yesterday and today.  Schools will be open tomorrow.  

It's a rough thing for a school system here to keep schools open during dangerous weather and have students or employees injured or killed.  It's happened here in recent history.  

[doc henderson]

they plan for a few snow days, and I think if they have not been used, they have a low threshold to activate if needed.  

[Old Greenhorn]

It seems there are a lot more snow days now than when I was a kid. My great-grandfather had school buses in the 50's and 60's. He had shovels so the big kids could shovel the snow drifts.

What is a snow day?
In 12 years of school in Franklin County Vermont, I do not remember of ever having a snow day. 
GAB

Well horses usually did better on Snow than wheeled vehicles.

[Jim_Rogers]

My wife's son has two kids in school in eastern NC.
They have in the past, canceled school on the forecast of "chance of snow today".... NOT actual snow, just the forecast of "chance" of snow.

Jim Rogers

[Old Greenhorn]

I think I told this story on the forum somewhere before, so if you read that one, skip this one. (And it's a long OGH post anyway, so maybe not worth you time.)
Back in the early 80's I was working as an applications engineer for a company that made and sold a Suprefinifishing machine attachment. It was supposed to save the world according to the promo material.  My job, along with a young assistant, was to go to too shows and show folks how great this thing as, we would also do 'in shop' demos as well as help customers get going with the tools. But tool shows were that main  thrust and I did them all over the country , LA Detroit, Boston, all over. That was my life. So we were booked to do the Charlotte show in January. When we did the paper work in July I thought "Oh that will be nice to get into some warm country in January while the NY winter is brutal. Well there was a freak snowstorm down south the week before and Virginia and all those states were reeling from the mess. 2 " of ice on the interstate when we drove through and they had been trying to clear the ice with graders, which just made a washboard that you could not exceed 40mph on.
 We got to Charlotte and it was clear and dry, but cold. 20°, which they are not used to. We left NY at 3am and it was -5° and had been for a week, so 20 felt pretty nice, especially with the bright sunshine. We got into the convention center and unloaded that night after 16 hours of driving. (BTW, of ALL the shows I did all over the country, the Charlotte show was the best one ever. The folks were so nice and helpful and a joy to work with. Loved doing that show and most shows I hated.) We did a rough booth setup that first night then headed for the hotel.
 The next morning I had already showered and was having my coffee and watching the news when I saw that they were telling everyone to stay home unless they were essential workers. Don't go out, they said, there is ice everywhere, the roads are terrible, schools are all closed, etc. etc. So I hollered to my partner in the shower "Hey, kick it up a notch, the roads are bad and we may have trouble getting in on time to finish setting up the booth!" So he does, and we hit the road. There is NOBODY out on the roads. The only ice we saw was skim ice on some puddles. We got breakfast in an empty restaurant.  We parked the truck 3 blocks from the hall and walked in with our sport jackets open. It was a beautiful 20° day with the sun shining bright. We walked past a group of folks at a bus stop and they were wearing just about all the clothes they owned and looked really cold. They looked at us like we were from Mars. We had no problem getting to the hall and setting up. NOBODY came to the show. We had, at most, 1,500 people come through over the 3 show days. It should have been 3,000 people per day minimum. It was dead. Vendors were playing poker in their booths to kill time.
 It cost my boss a small fortune, but we had a nice southern vacation. Now that I think about it, it was also in the middle of that show that I quit, pending finishing up and returning home. I was done with that job. Had nothing to do with the weather, I had just gotten fed up with the abuse. They apologized, gave me a raise and I wound up staying on, but when the sheriff came and put padlocks on the doors a few moths later I was pretty much done with them.

[Dave Shepard]

A friend of mine was working on a hydroelectric plant and had to go somewhere in the Midwest. He flew out of New York and when he landed it was 0⁰ at the airport. Someone asked how he liked the weather. He said "pretty nice out, it was -50⁰ back home" I think he was working in Saint Regis Falls at the time. 

My grandfather told me about selling Morbark pulpwood debarkers in Canada. Similar situation. Very cold the night before, -40 or something similar. It had warmed up to 0⁰ over night, and they walked from the motel to a diner for breakfast in just a flannel shirts like it was summer.

[Old Greenhorn]

Yeah, it's all relative to what you are used to. I had to go to Orlando in February to review and accept a machine. I had an afternoon flight and I followed a plow up the NYS Thruway because I could make out the lights on the back of it. I got to the airport and it was -5  and blowing snow like mad, they were de-icing planes over and over. I got the last flight before they finally shut the airport. I landed in Orlando and got checked in at my hotel and went for dinner around 8.  They asked where I'd like to sit and I said "well it's SUCH a nice night, could I sit out on the patio?" The hostess looked at me like I was nuts, and remarked it's pretty cold out there, but I told her where I came from and she smiled and said "yeah, I get it, I'm form Minnesota" so she seated me out there. I was the only one. It was 60° and it felt like 75 to me. I ate there for the next 3 nights. Great steaks, BTW.

[Magicman]

I am looking at my sawing schedule and watching the weather.  I am not calling anyone because no one would want to work in this mess, especially me.

I did pass another job off to another sawyer today.  That plus I called another guy back and simply told him no.  Some jobs I ain't doing and just let them die where they lay.  Another wanted beetle killed Pine sawed and again, I said no.  Trees that died in 2023 are not fit to be sawed now.

[cutterboy]

I do believe that some people think logs are like rocks.
They last forever.

[Magicman]

The Pine trees are beginning to fall because termites have traveled between the tree and the bark doing their job.  To saw them you are having to jump butt them 6'-8' and even then the butt log might not be much.  It's simpler to just refuse to saw logs from trees that died in 2023.

[Old Greenhorn]

So here's a question, what do y'all make of this:
Last night I got an email from a guy That says this:
---------------
Hello Sir/ Madam
    I want to order Lumber or Timber . What type of Lumber or timber do you have? Let me know so that i will send you the sizes I want.
DO YOU ACCEPT CREDIT CARD?
Thank you,
[name redacted]
-----------------------------
 So I send him a response with very general info and ask how he found me and where is he located? His response:
--------------------
Thank you for getting back to me! I'm interested in white pine , White pine Size 4x4 4x6 LENGTH 10 if you don't have this size you can tell me the one that you have ? I Would like to know the price for each size so I can give you the Quantities that I want to order. Thank you
-------------------------
 So I respond with a general price that will be adjusted based on quantity and AGAIN ask where he is and tell him if he gives me quantities, I can give him a more precise quote. I also mention basic details about it being green and he is responsible for transportation. I then get this response:
------------
Ok im looking to order 1500 BDFT each size i mention if you can cut it to odder and also am located in SD. 4x4 - 1500 BDFT 4x6 - 1500 BDFT Thank you
-----------------------------

 So SD? South Dakota? His request works out to abut113 4x4's and 75 4x6's but that seems like a lot of trucking costs for that amount and he should be able to find it much closer and faster.
 I am strongly wondering if tis is some kind of scam, I get a ton of these coming in through the website, but thsi one appears to have a real human involved
 What do you guys think?

[doc henderson]

ask for a phone number so you can call him.  

[Magicman]

Why are you now wondering whether this is some kind of scam??       

[TroyC]

Good answer Doc, I'd ask for the phone and also what he plans to do with the lumber, just to feel him out a little.

[Old Greenhorn]

Because I would rather figure it out now  rather than after I start work and it's too late. If it's a real job, then I think there has to be somebody closer than me.

 Doc, That's a good idea.