Sawing driftwood for my review of the Silky Bigboy in the February issue struck a chord that has resonated deeply through most of my life. My father used to take me to the beach near our home in Edmonds, Washington, to gather red cedar driftwood for a fence that would eventually surround our 1/3-acre lot. In those days, tugs towing long rafts of logs up and down Puget Sound were common, and logs often escaped and washed ashore. Dad and I would load the ’54 Ford Ranch Wagon with a crosscut saw, a bow saw, a maul, and wedges and head to a beach where there was no shortage of stray red cedar logs. I was too young to do much work other than fetch tools; Dad cut logs to length and split posts, rails, and pickets. When we had enough to fill the car, we loaded up and headed home; the smell of red cedar filled the car and seeped into our clothes.
On a few occasions I've harvested trees that had to come down. This western red cedar was threatening to crack the foundation a friend's home in Seattle. Some of the wood from this tree became floorboards for a Gokstad faering.
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Awesome. The wood, the redneck motorbike table saw, the cabin, etc, etc.
Great story. I really enjoyed reading it.
Great to see a Mountain Goat still going! They are collectors items now. Excellent way to run a saw too. I really enjoyed your article.
Thanks for sharing that amazing story… lots of problem-solving going on there. You really extracted all the value out of the ol’ Tote Goat too. Inspires me to finally fix the old Craftsman table saw I inherited from my father which should be a simple fix compared to the ad hoc table saw you built onto the mountain bike.