A new home for a very special mill

[moosehunter]

I've had a great day and this thread just made it better! Treat Tom like and old friend and you two will work together for years to come!

[MRowsh]

Outstanding.
I am happy for you.

[customsawyer]

Great post Gael.

[Magicman]

This entire story has a very nice ending just beginning.   ;)

[thecfarm]

How true Magicman,how true it is. 
I still can't get over how big those mills are. I saw them up close and was awed by the size. And strenght.Nice and beefy.

[Nomad]

     Gael, that was a great post.  I think I speak for many when I say I sure hope you stick around!  Don't let that post be an ending, but an extension.

[rockingjl]

I have not jumped in since I am mostly a lurker on this forum, but here goes.
This was going to be just another adventure with Scott for me, but I gotta tell you it will long be remembered. I will try to hit the high spots for me. We got in Monday evening at dusk and as we headed down the 1/2 mile tunnel and experienced the road we realized it was going to need some attention.(I don't think the sun hits the road anywhere between the pavement and where it opens into Gael's front yard) On arrival and saying howdy I though things were fine till I heard about the shotgun. Dinner was awesome by the way. After we turned in Scott was the brave one, big brother stayed in his room, I went thirsty. Tuesday Scott worked on the Tom's mill and I started on the drive, of course working any where with Scott is like working at Whispering Pines, just need to work a half day and doesn't matter which 12 hours we work. Did I mention the meals were awesome! Visiting with Gael, Bobby & Allison soon felt like we were old friends playing catch-up on what the others had been doing. I think when we stopped at the cemetery was a highlight for me while also emotional. Guys I don't think a lot of people realize the price our friends and relatives have paid for the freedoms we have. Take a walk thru a Veterans Cemetery sometime and read some of the headstones. I want to say thanks to any of you that have served our country. By the way Allison took that picture with the band saw blade on Tom's headstone. In the evenings while Gael was cooking and after dinner we heard stories and laughed and I realized how wonderful the relationship that Tom and Gael shared was. By the way Gael is a great cook, don't remember if I mentioned that. All an all a great trip, made some new friends, had a good time with Scott,(even if I did get him excited a little when the backhoe got a tiny bit close to his truck once or twice, really there was plenty of space between the backhoe and his truck) did not get to see the alligator or any large snakes but I am ok with not seeing them. I know Scott appreciates getting Tom's mill and will get good use out of it.

[Gael]

Thanks everyone for the kind words!
I spent hours composing that post both crying and laughing while doing it.

Tom and I believe that everyone needs something to call their own and the FF was his, even though Jeff had created me a user name when he sat up Tom's I never went on as the Foresty Forum was Tom's baby, he and Jeff would spend hours on the phone typing, tweaking, joking and cursing   teeter_totter when things would lock up, at one time the whole Forum was moved to our computer while Jeff maintained something on his end and they were up almost all night doing this but even though he would be worn out the next day you could see the satisfaction and joy in his eyes when whatever they were doing had worked.  Not sure if y'all are aware that Tom's professional background was computers but his true calling was as a sawyer.

I can still hear Tom calling from his office while I was in the kitchen asking "honey what word is it that means..." and it was always made me happy (and surprised) that I was able to find the correct word for him, he would spend hours composing post and on some of them would ask me to read before posting and he never failed to amaze me with his scope of knowledge.

Hey Jake - next time you and Lorane (sp) are thru Jacksonville, stop by, the drive is really in good shape  the gates stay closed but just call and they will be opened 

PS. the shotgun has been unloaded...

[Nomad]

     You see, Gael?  You've been a poster here for a long time; we just never knew it.  So don't be a stranger.  Nobody here knew Tom as well as you did.  Many people would like it if you'd share some of that.  He was pretty special to many of us, too.

[Red Clay Hound]

Great story!  I wish I had been able to meet Tom.  From all the stories I've heard, I feel like I know him we'll!

[RynSmith]

Thank you all for sharing such a great story.  From  :'( to  .

[Phorester]

This is bringing back fond memories of my visit with Tom and Gael in 2009. I had become friends with Tom over the course of a few years on this forum and a couple of others.  We were in FL to visit some of my wife's extended family.  Called Tom and said that I was a hundred miles or so from him and that I'd like to visit while I was down there if it wasn't too much trouble.  He said something like, You'd better! If I had found out later that you were so close and didn't come, you'd a-been in big trouble. 

We got to his house later than we had wanted; it was almost dark, it was a cool day for Florida, uncomfortable without a jacket. He was having knee problems, I believe, and it was difficult for him to walk. But he wanted me to see his property and the mill, so we scurried off through the woods to see all the sights he wanted to show us before it got too dark to see. Off we went, my son and my wife and I, while my mother-in-law visited with Gael on her porch.

Now, my MIL is not an easy one to please.  She is usually very uncomfortable alone with strangers.  I really was surprised that she didn't insist on waiting in the car while the rest of us visited.  :  But later after we had left and were headed up the Interstate, all she could talk about was what a wonderful time she had had with Gael.

Gael, you are truly an amazing person if you can make my MIL feel at home.  And, of course, Tom was just as I had expected; friendly, cordial, anxious to show off his property.  And of course the red T-shirt. 

I am really glad that his mill has found a new home and will be maintained and used. Tom would have wanted it only that way.

Very glad that I got to visit in person with such a man as Tom, and to meet such a woman as Gael.  Many thanks for the friendship and warm memories.  I will never forget.



The mill



What did Tom call this tree?



Wife, me, Tom, Gael in their house

[RynSmith]

Was it the 'holey oak'?   

[Jeff]

Was it the 'holey oak'?   

It sure was.

https://forestryforum.com/board/index.php/topic,17513.0.html

[Phorester]

YEP!  The holey oak. aka the mighty holey oak.  Thanks for the link too, Jeff.  I had never seen that thread and didn't know that the picture of my wife and me was there.   :  Proud to be a member of that pretty exclusive club.

[RynSmith]

And I completely forgot to thank you for sharing those pictures - thanks! 

[scsmith42]

I woke up this morning thinking about this post.  It's hard to believe that it's been over ten years since Tom joined our operation.  It brought a smile to my face to re-read all of the comments in the thread and think back to the start of our adventure.

Lots of sawdust under the belt since then (not to mention in my pockets...), along with rebuilt hydraulic cylinders, replaced hydraulic lines, a plethora of bands, two different radiator fans, an injection solenoid, drive chains replaced (more than once), carriage bearings - you name it! and a re-engineered roller guide system which increased the max cut width by 4 inches. 

But Tom keeps hanging in there and throwing sawdust out the side like he's just getting started.

Here is a recent pic of Tom with Maya helping me to adjust the roller guides.  It's been quite the adventure, to say the least!



 

[chickenchaser]

Scott

Thanks for kicking this thread back to the top.

Tom passed a year or so before my introduction to the Forestry Forum but that didn't keep me from learning to appreciate the man and his knowledge.

Your going back and reading the thread is similar to what I did early New Year's morning.
I read all the threads I started.
My appreciation grows for members now gone ( Danny) or unable to saw (Tom the Sawyer) only to name a few, plus current members and the administrators of this forum.

It helps me to know how much...and how little...I have learned.

Thanks again.

CC

[CCCLLC]

Thank you Scott. Love the update.

[caveman]

I'm glad to see you are still running it.  When I saw this thread pop up, I was concerned that you may have sent it down the road. 

[scsmith42]

I'll probably keep Tom until I'm too decrepit to run it!

[customsawyer]

Good looking pup. They sure keep it entertaining.

[Raider Bill]

I met Tom the day he got that mill.
We sat next to it and chatted a hour.
Great to see it still sawing.