Amish cuts slab by hand

[Burd]

I'm out in Lancaster Pa camping with my family and I was walking the dog and I see this on the side of the road never seen a tree this big and what really blows my mind is that the Amish cut this slab by hand. No mill I wish I had a tape measure the trunk of this tree is well over 6feet in diamitor there's siding on the slab too protect it from the weather. The slab thickness is from 6'' to 8'' thick 12' long and in guessing 4' to 5'wide
This is something you have to see to believe

 

[n3pro]

The Amish are fascinating to watch work. I had several projects I hired Amish for. They work and work, and work. I loved watching the put in my fence, never complained, never skipped a beat. Everyone had a job and they did it. Much different then working for my family :-(

 

[pen]

No way in hell you'd ever here me complain about a day's work in front of one of them folks.

 

[TradEddie]

Don't bet that it was cut by hand. Like all religions, the Amish have varying degrees of strictness, depending on the local congregation, and of course varying degrees of personal adherence to those rules. It's not unusual to see small gas engines powering the moving parts on horse-drawn machinery. Some Amish carpenters use portable generators to power electric tools, so that slab could easily have been cut with a chainsaw. There is a consistent logic to most Amish rules, and that logic doesn't automatically exclude modern technology.

TE

 

[firebroad]

Was up in Arch Springs Pa. last winter in an Amish store. Young lady came in to wait on us, it was bloody freezing in there. Outside, wood was being cut by an Amish man, he was using a chain saw and a band saw. Seems that as long as it was gas-generated it was alright .
I also have noticed that the guys can have zippers (jeans), but the women have to still use pins.
Like TradEddie said, rules are meant to be stretched. How many Catholics are NOT using birth control?

Still, Amish workmanship is superior. They don't cut corners where it counts.

 

[lukem]

The Amish guys around here have better tools than just about everyone. There's a guy up the road from my dad who has a LT40 Super Hydraulic mill, articulated loaded outfitted with forks, and *several* pro-saws. The only one I got a good look at was a 372xp...and it wasn't the biggest one either.

Check local listings, but they will use just about any modern equipment for work, but can be weird about somethings. For instance, this guy has no electricity to the house, but has a phone in the shop, and a big diesel that powers a monster hydraulic pump. All of his stationary wood tools have had the AC motors removed and are converted to hydraulic motors. They will also charge cordless tools from a gas/diesel generator. I'm not sure what the logic is, but it is Amish kosher.

 

[firefighterjake]

Don't bet that it was cut by hand. Like all religions, the Amish have varying degrees of strictness, depending on the local congregation, and of course varying degrees of personal adherence to those rules. It's not unusual to see small gas engines powering the moving parts on horse-drawn machinery. Some Amish carpenters use portable generators to power electric tools, so that slab could easily have been cut with a chainsaw. There is a consistent logic to most Amish rules, and that logic doesn't automatically exclude modern technology.

TE

As mentioned . . . different congregations, different Ordnungs. The Amish in our community have horse drawn equipment, but use cordless tools (charged from solar panels or wind turbines), air tools (powered by wind turbines) and small gasoline powered tools, including chainsaws, hay bailers, etc.

 

[firefighterjake]

The Amish guys around here have better tools than just about everyone. There's a guy up the road from my dad who has a LT40 Super Hydraulic mill, articulated loaded outfitted with forks, and *several* pro-saws. The only one I got a good look at was a 372xp...and it wasn't the biggest one either.

Check local listings, but they will use just about any modern equipment for work, but can be weird about somethings. For instance, this guy has no electricity to the house, but has a phone in the shop, and a big diesel that powers a monster hydraulic pump. All of his stationary wood tools have had the AC motors removed and are converted to hydraulic motors. They will also charge cordless tools from a gas/diesel generator. I'm not sure what the logic is, but it is Amish kosher.

The logic depends on the individual congregation's rules . . .

The tools I have seen our local Amish use are pretty comparable to what folks have . . . but then again I suspect like most folks they realize that having decent tools makes the job a bit easier when you're not always having to fix or replace a broken tool. A couple weeks ago when I was "helping" (I just hauled some of the materials to them) some of them put a roof on my neighbor's house (non-Amish, he just happened to buy the metal roofing materials from them) I saw an assortment of Makita, Dewalt and Milwaukee cordless tools.

It often seems that when it comes to modern conveniences . . . the groups often look at things and wonder if the "convenience" could lead to sloth or other bad habits. For example, a phone in the home could lead to folks talking all of the time with gossip or idle banter whereas a phone down the long driveway in the "phone booths" that I see at many Amish homes means that they can still use the phone and answering machine for business or emergency purposes, but generally there will not be many times when there is idle chit chat.

That said . . . the Amish as a whole are pretty smart when it comes to mechanical things . . . my neighbor heats his shop with a woodstove and hydronic heat using batteries charged off the wind and solar to power the circulating pump. Technology is not evil to them, it's how people can succomb to the lure of some of the "benefits" of this technology . . . such as spending my time in the evening plunked down in front of a huge plasma TV instead of reading or doing some necessary chore around the house or spending way too much time at hearth.com when I could be doing something productive like actually cutting firewood.

 

[ScotO]

Was up in Arch Springs Pa. last winter in an Amish store.

That's just over the hill from my house! The Amish in this area do use power tools, but they don't own any of them. A crew from over the hill helped me frame my addition on my house. Their tools are 'owned' by a third party, in the case I am talking about it is the driver that takes them around to the different construction jobs. The driver gets paid very very well, but they buy him his truck, trailer, tools, etc.....

 

[nrford]

The last photo on the bottom was most definately cut with a chainsaw, just look at the kerf of that cut. I for one would not be on either end of a hand saw with that kind of kerf!!

 

[firebroad]

That's just over the hill from my house! The Amish in this area do use power tools, but they don't own any of them. A crew from over the hill helped me frame my addition on my house. Their tools are 'owned' by a third party, in the case I am talking about it is the driver that takes them around to the different construction jobs. The driver gets paid very very well, but they buy him his truck, trailer, tools, etc.....

Heh heh, just a side note, Scotty--my friends live in Tyrone Township, they have an agreement with the Amish "Next door": they get two loaves of bread a week and all the eggs they want in exchange for letting the Amish borrow tools and put their food in the chest freezer in the barn.