Amish loggers

[poorboypaul]

Neighbor is having his property timbered. Doing some right now behind my father's house. Looked out the window, as they are next to the property line, and nothing but flat-hatters working. No ppe, just straw hats and suspenders. Most likely sub-contracted and cheap. But on the other hand, for the logging company, probably a good source of dependable help. No showing up late, failing drug tests, being hauled away by the law, drama, etc. Probably be the next reality show!

 

[husqvarnaguy]

Do theys have saws? I thought they did not believe in that stuff.

 

[lmbrman]

There are several amish crews around here, they bid and buy timber like the rest of us. There have been times they have worked for local crews as employees also. I know of one logger that employs young amish and gives room, board and some cash until they have enough money to leave and become xamish. He is known as part of the underground railroad for xamish.

They have worked for me and run my saws no problem. The amish church east of me allows ownership of saws for business, but not for firewood. The church to the north does not allow ownership at all, but they can 'help' a neighbor like me

 

[Arbonaut]

I get Anthracite through a bit of an Amish network here. One guy has a sawmill, and they do off the slabs cut to firewood length. Load my pickup with Reading coal on the pallet with a Gehl Skidsteer. (Newer than I could dream of.) His part of the organization must allow some good tools.

 

[poorboypaul]

Do theys have saws? I thought they did not believe in that stuff.

Each sect has different rules set by the elder. I've seen Amish paying with plastic. Newest is kids having cell phones. Seen a bunch of Amish kids outside a small store, hiding around a corner, texting away. One was a lookout. When mom and dad came out, the phones disappeared. They're obviously allowed to have them, but probably only allowed to use them so much. When you head east towards Lancaster, many there have electric in their homes. Around here, you'll never see that. Like anybody else, there's good one's and one's that will screw you over if given the chance. Many around here have given up farming and do construction, lumber industry, and operating bulk food grocery stores.

 

[twochains]

I used to cut firewood for some Amish in Southern Missouri. The guy was breaking a draft horse for me. They paid well, and if I brought them a saw, they paid hourly use it (they insisted). The Amish in that area are hard workers. They are a funny lot...Amish...they aren't allowed a phone, yet they camp at their neighbor's using their phone. :rolleyes2: I got to know several families up there, one day a group of the kids ran up to the window to greet me...quickly shoving a calculator at me. I was like what the heck? They said they "found" it and would get in trouble from their parents for having it.

Did they bring their horses? If so, would ya mind videoing a skid or three? :msp_biggrin:

Oh, don't think they kids get in trouble. I heard a large percentage of the shoplifting at Bass Pro Shop in Springfield, is Amish related. (IDK just what I heard)

 

[Dusty Rhodes]

My neighbor is Amish, he runs chainsaws and burns firewood, as do all the Amish in the community that is in the valley I live in. Course they will use generators, compressors etc when they need to. I saw one Amish man run tractors and dozers too. No rubber tire equipment, but metal wheeled or tracked stuff is OK to them. They will do what they need to pretty much, in order to compete with the English (that be us). funny thing, while talking to my neighbor one day about an incident I saw and the Amish were involved, my Amish neighbor told me. "not all good men are Amish, not all Amish are good men" Guess they have their bad eggs too.

 

[Guido Salvage]

Don't confuse the Amish with Mennonites or "Plain People". Each sect as its rules as to what is allowable and it often differs between their professional and personal lives. Take a ride through Lancaster and you will see tractors with steel wheels and engine driven balers being pulled by a team of horses.

 

[Arbonaut]

We are all not that far removed from it as it sounds. All in all you could manage a lot of work on a small operation with a team of Belgians. I know you can. I have neighbor from the regular population, I've put up hay over there mostly done by horse. Dragging logs for them animals is in their genes. And in some situation, realistically, there is no substitute.

 

[poorboypaul]

They are using skidders. Saw two today and they just started today. I know the must have at least 2 crews working, as I can hear by the log trucks already going up and down the road. They got quite a bit of cutting ahead of them. Nice large trees.

 

[Kevin in Ohio]

As others said, the bishops determine what is allowed. Generally, if the can make money buy using it, it is allowed. The sneaky ways they find to get around the rules is comical to me.

My sister lives in a heavy Amish area in Shipshawanna, Indiana. One time visiting her I saw some amish baling hay. They had a brand new tractor and a baler going through the field. They were PULLING the said tractor through the field with a team of horses! The "rules" were they could have a tractor to power machinery but it could not be used to pull things.

The kids can have all the worldly stuff before they join the church. Meaning cars and such once they are of legal age. It's a "sacrifice" thing for them when they join the church to show how deep their faith is. Thing is, the parents can use the stuff under the guise that it is not their stuff. Kids drive them around and they seem to encourage at least one child who is of driving age not to join till the next one can do so. They can use any of the worldly stuff as long as they don't "own" it Who do they think they're fooling?

I saw one amish buggy up there on my last visit that had battery powered neon lights under it.

Back before cell phones they used pay phones. My sister was friends with an Amish girl who lived out in the country area. At the end of the drive was a Pay phone! They ended up calling the phone company and asking if the could move it closer to the house or put a louder ringer on it as they couldn't hear it when they were in the house.

Drugs and alcohol are running rampant in her area too. Meth is the main one now and my sisters Amish neighbor just busted for making it.

 

[lumberjackchef]

There is a very large Amish community in the north part of my county(Bourbon) here in Kansas. There are about 6 different 36" bandsaw sawmills complete with cut off, gangsaws, re-saw bandsaws, etc. all shaft and chain driven by the same central diesel engine. I have been working on several different families small engines for about 3 years. They all use small honda horizontal shaft engines to power their implements and some appliances. I have actually repaired a lot of old chainsaws for them as well as converted and modified an 064 to a BB ported 066 for one of the sawmill owners who does a lot of logging himself. Not many here have electricity but I know of one house that does. it seems to be where a lot of laundry is done. There are several clotheslines with tons of stuff hanging on a daily basis. No personal cell phones but all their neighbors must have me on speed dial. I get calls from them all the time on their neighbors cell. Of course i have to provide pickup and delivery but they always pay and never complain about the price. All in all most of them are a pleasure to do business with, but there can be a bad apple in any bunch. One day i was trying to talk to one of the little ones and made a comment to the dad that his little boy didn't talk much. To that he responded he would probably talk to you if he knew what you were saying, he doesn't speak English yet! I guess they are taught Dutch/German in the home until they go to school to learn English. To each their own I reckon.