The great Thanksgiving Day Split.

[firefighterjake]

Oh yeah . . . cutting and splitting tomorrow . . . providing I have enough time and if my Amish neighbor is done with the splitter.

I am surprised to see the Amish using a splitter. I figured sledges and wedges for them.

And yes, I will be messing aroung out in the woods this morning.



KC

Nah, they're hard workers . . . but they're not crazy.

In fact, one of the families has an unique splitter -- I hope to see it in operation some day -- from the sounds of it apparently it has a double bladed splitting wedge in the middle and you can "feed" the splitter on one end with the piston pushing in while another piston is pushing out . . . according to my neighbor you can have two guys constantly feeding the splitter that way.

However, this splitter was no match for the gigantic sugar maple they were attempting to split (they said it kept stalling the engine) so I offered them the use of my splitter . . . which even then was struggling to power through this wood.

 

[firefighterjake]

Oh yeah . . . cutting and splitting tomorrow . . . providing I have enough time and if my Amish neighbor is done with the splitter.

I am surprised to see the Amish using a splitter. I figured sledges and wedges for them.

And yes, I will be messing aroung out in the woods this morning.



KC

I've heard they can borrow or rent, but not buy. I was picking up some fire wood, and the 'uncle' there told me he bought a splitter 10 years ago and lent it to some Amish near one of his cabins, hasn't seen it since. Their arraignment is: he just swings by and takes all the split wood he needs. When the pump went bad they repaired it and just keep on splitting.

Pretty sweet deal.

I've been told that this group (there are different groups ranging from some pretty liberal Amish that actually have vehicles to stricter Amish) allows some motorized equipment (i.e. chainsaws, splitter, etc.) but there are rules for what is and is not allowed . . . I believe sometimes they are limited to the horsepower produced and sometimes it appears to be limited to the purpose (i.e. a splitter or chainsaw would not be used for non-productive uses, vs. a car which could be used to go on frivolous trips or a tractor which could be used to produce more crops which could lead to one working harder . . . but only for more money.) It's not that the Amish are anti-technology . . . they're just trying to limit their exposure to tech which can lead to vices . . . telephones can lead to gossiping, electricity can lead to vices such as watching TV which may show images or ideas which can expouse greed, sex, etc.

 

[firefighterjake]

Well as it was I didn't get much done. Since my wife wasn't feeling well and had to work the following night I ended up spending most of T-Day cooking . . . and then it rained Friday and most of Saturday. I did end up cutting up some of the 4-foot wood, but that will have to wait for another weekend day . . . it gets too dark too darn quickly this time of year for me to get anything done in the evenings.