Unlike Charlie Ryan's 1955 song (B side of "Hot Rod Lincoln") I've never worked for a paycheck in my father's sawmill. From my earliest memories, I was crawling over the mill, climbing on piles of logs and sawed lumber. My grandfather Ervin Wheeler bought the mill, in the 1950's and ran it for many years after that time. My dad, Stanley ran the mill, as a commercial enterprise from 1972 until 1979. He added a slab chipper, a board sorting chain and a multitude of conveyors. Many of the features that dad added are now gone, but the mill still saws true.
This summer we are sawing lumber for a couple of farm building projects, an addition to the sugar house and a roadside produce stand, and for our camp in Aroostook County. This day we are finishing up the last of our logs, now we just have to put it on sticks to dry in the mill yard. I've taken the controls of the mill as of late. I want to know how to make the mill work down the road when I may help our children saw the lumber for their own houses. What a great tool this is as we try so hard to be self-sufficient.
Stanley & Gideon (2nd and 4th generation mill hands) wait for the next board.
