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Haney
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Various missives by Roy Haney
sorted by most recent
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An Intro About Haney Family Sawmill For Made In Tennessee
2022 December 12th
A little bit about Haney Family Sawmill. First of all, we are a small family operation
in Liberty, TN. I always tell people just go to Liberty and find the mule painted on the bluff. Right
behind the mule is a 100-year-old house and that is our home.
We are Roy and Chris Haney and together we are Haney Family Sawmill. We have been blessed for 30 years, getting
to meet and know some of the finest people around. I get asked what makes us different. In
some ways, I have no idea but a lot has grown in the fact that we are one of the few mills that will work with
the individual customer. We decided in 2008 when the economy took a hit, we would deal with small and
large customers like families using our background and experience to help make dreams come true.
My wife is originally from a Montana timber and railroad family and my folks are from Jackson County Tennesee.
This has been a journey that is a blessing. Being able to get to know people and being a part of their
dreams and maybe in a small way by furnishing lumber to make it happen.
What do we do? I get that question weekly and sometimes I have to smile. Here at the mill,
we as a small part of our operation furnish hand split Eastern Red Cedar rails. If you happen to visit
Stones River Battlefield rest your hands on genuine Middle TN products. Grown here, processed here and
sharing the history of our land.
Our influence even reaches farther past our state and if you visit George Washington’s birthplace in Colonial Beach
VA. Stop to rest your hands on the garden fence and yes, they came from Middle TN. Even better
when the new Movie “Savage Land” comes out smiling that a local Tennessee sawmill furnished the split rail and
pickett fences.
But our Company name is “Haney Family Sawmill”? Yes, we saw lumber principally TN native trees for all
types of projects. We are proud that we are now certified to even saw your house construction lumber.
What does this mean? Well until 2014 most counties past a Universal Codes Act that basically meant that
if you wanted to build a structure that was under codes mandate you were going to build it with wood NOT FROM TENNESEE!
In 2016 the state passed a “Tennessee Native Tree Species Act” mandating that the State Extension Agency and the
University of Tennessee would set up a program where people can be certified to inspect TN wood and that document
would take the place of the stamp. I am proud to say that we are one of the few local sawmills that
can saw you a complete house pattern from your trees and you can legally use them to build your dream home.
Just a little side note of fun that I pass along to people. What does the number of days in a Leap year
have to do with a Gambrell (Barn style Roof)?
A leap year has 366 days and if you take the width of what you are trying to span and multiple it times 1.366 you
have the length for your truss pieces. Each rafter cut a 15-degree on one side and a 30-degree on the other. This
will make your roof for your mini barn or such. Nice and easy as life should be.
| 2020 July 20th |
Adventures At The Fair With Our Sawmill |
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| Just some rambling stories so you get to know where I come from. I thought I would chronicle the week at the Wilson County Fair last year. My wife and I decided about 25 years ago to give back by moving the Mill to the Wilson County Fair for nine days and just saw. This started when a boy came with his father to pick up lumber looked at his dad and stated “I thought 2X4s came from Walmart”. We made a call and were told to come on down. The first years were with a non-Hydraulic LT40, then a Super LT 40 and now an LT70, all made by WoodMizer. The first problem we found was that since at that time I worked a job and would leave work to go straight to the fair. We weren’t flush with money (it’s called "raising kids”) so mom started cooking my supper right there at the fair. That grew into a full firebox and other vendors enjoying a home-cooked meal. In 2002 we had established that we would be there so people that don’t live near us would bring logs to the fair so some years I did not even need to bring logs. I started sawing on Friday at the start and noticed that the POW WOW Trade community that sold next to us was having a horrible time with no sales. We had friends there that were wonderful artisans but had not sold anything. Mom and I decided that this year we were a little better off. Instead of having a little paycheck for demonstrating we would put everything back into the food and at least our friends would eat. The more I cut the more she cooked, at one evening she fed over 70 people. Oh, by the way, this was the year after 911 and yes people were still affected. At the end of that year, we had cemented on-going friendships. So, for a start here is what has to happen: » Get a fair support kit from WoodMizer. This is a blessing because they will give you a bundle of log scales that allows you to teach people what is in a tree. I spend a lot of time just talking to people about their options with a few too many trees on their property. » Understand that WoodMizer has a program that will reward you if you talk to someone and they buy a mill. I have been talking to people in the thousands and yes, they bought mills but being at the fair has never brought me a referral. I didn’t start this for referrals or commissions and I am OK with it. » One of the best things about the fair is I am there to demonstrate not run production. That is a blessing and yes, I get pleasure in putting a little boy or girl on my lap and let them saw a board out. August is normally 95 degrees and when I give the child the board to go home and make a birdhouse for some reason the father isn’t happy hours later when the child won’t let him sit the board down and come back for it. Moving the mill means at least six round trips 38 miles each to the fair, 228 miles total. This is my give back and I am not worried about the economics of it. » Move the mill out of the shed (this means that the annual complete cleaning will happen) » Wash the mill » Collect Logs » Gather what you need for the mill to run for a week » Gather cooking stuff (this will probably take until Sunday to get everything there) » Don’t forget to bring the mill head yes that has happened » Move your support machinery Speaking of support machinery, I have been blessed with one of the best skid steer operators in what started as a 10-year-old daughter. She would haul the garbage out with the Bobcat. The old-timers operate a circular mill one Saturday. They would have my daughter Wendy move logs for them. They would later have her move them back just to watch her operate the Bobcat. Now that it is Thursday and the mill is up for Friday evening take stock and go get what you forgot, you have to understand that the mill operation at home did not stop and customers have to be taken care of and planning for the week after the fair. This year I have to add poplar in the mix for three jobs at home that did not get finished in time. That means haul poplar 38 miles to cut then haul it back home for the customer. It is just part of the experience and before you tell me that I am going to lose money, not just break even, remember I enjoy watching little ones playing in sawdust. |
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| 2020 February 20th |
RAISED BED GARDEN ENGINE |
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| Well, you are here and maybe been confused by blog 1 talking about straight back chairs and a homestead,
well now to tie it together in our own Homestead. A raised bed system that acts as an engine. You and your circumstances are unique to you so what I am describing might work or it just might be a catalyst for something even better. One of the facts that I have seen over and over is too large of foodstuff plots rather than too small. I am guilty of this myself. It is a nice day and before I realize I have 500 tomato plants when I only have the time and resources to take care of 100. Trying to do the larger plot ALL SUFFERED. What I designed was done when I realized that I wasn’t getting any younger and a small high yield was the ticket. Now for some facts. » Raised beds are great if you have water to compensate for the faster soil drying. » Most raised beds are not built to last. I have tested here on the Sawmill different woods and designs and it has surprised me how fast wood rots, even the more durable. » Raised beds by design have a downdraft problem. (This is a new term that I am going to use and stay tuned for Blog three for the answer. YES! I am horrible.) » Raised beds typically lose their richness of the soil. » Now that I have painted less than a stellar review, here is the one thing that trumps everything else. Raised beds can be built and managed where you need them not that wonderful garden plot that isn’t in your backyard. Raised beds can be more productive than non-managed garden plots. So, with this stated, I am going to layout a raised bed system. This system consists of five raised bed areas. I don’t care if you have one bed split into five areas or ten areas divided by twos. Having the five growing areas allows you to build and manage your soil. This is the crutch to what makes your raised beds better than in-ground. When you are building soil with a raised bed you normally have deeper soil to work with. This allows you to have better drainage, better soil dynamics, and a greater bank of nutrients for the plant to absorb. In a typical set up you add nutrients to the surface, the roots go where the nutrients are then when hot weather hits guess what? This is what we are going to fix, and a fix is actually Chickens. To understand one of the age-old methods that seem to work and is actually mentioned in the Bible is leaving the field fallow or not used for a season. This allows the dynamics of the soil to come back into sync with the soil itself and the ground is better for it. We are going to do this with one-fifth of the ground but in a tight area, this becomes a problem because we can’t afford the loss of productivity. So, the solution is a chicken house/tractor that sets on the raised bed and allows the chickens free rein of the bed. This allows the soil to rest, adds tremendous nutrients, and puts a bug-eating weed-killing machine where we need it the most. The problem with this is heating up the ground, but nature gives us an added benefit. Remember the five areas? Now I will explain the areas so we have our engine working. » Year 1 area 1 is the fallow chicken run. When we finished last year’s mulch pile, we added it on top of the 1st run helping choke any weeds and giving the chickens more to play with. » Year 2 area 1 which is last year’s chicken run we will plant brassicas (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, and others). They can handle the over hot ground from the chicken’s manure and will grow out of this world. By the end of the season, the ground will have calmed down and is ready for the rotation next year » Year 3 area 1 will have tomatoes, peppers, basil » Year 4 area 1 we grow the squash, cucumbers, onions and carrots » Year 5 area 1 is beans we got to have bean type crops. This includes pole, bush or whatever your sweet bippy desires. The good thing about this is beans build the soil and will balance out the bed even better. Remember, we're only talking about area 1 for each step. Be sure you're planting area 2 with year 2 items and so forth. Then with year 2 just shift everything down 1 area. Now before you start off that I didn’t include this or that just add them to their compatible plants and have fun. This is about the end of this post but stay tuned and I will get to the down and up of the plant. So, for now, take care to sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite and understand that you can actually do this. |
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| 2020 January 20th |
The Straight-Backed Chair And Your Homestead |
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| I’ve already started this blog once and the good Lord killed the electricity to our house. I
did not have a battery backup! Guess what? I get to start over... I want to explain a little bit about how your homestead needs to work. I am going to use the example ‘how a straight-backed chair is built’ to help you understand a little bit about your own Homestead. What I want you to think about when you are working with your homestead, small farm, or dream is what are the similarities. Most people do not know that the straight-backed chairs are built from green lumber. I am blessed to live in the rocking chair capital of the world as I understand it and have learned from some with a wealth of knowledge. Middle Tennessee has always had an abundance of small sawmills working with the individual cottage industries. So, running a sawmill here I have been associated closely with Rocking and Straight-backed chair makers and I thought I would explain a couple of things that might help you to understand about your homestead by explaining on how to build a chair. Now in talking about building a chair I’m going to use two terms. One is Horizontals and the other is Verticals. Except for the Rocker on the bottom, all Horizontals have been allowed to dry more than all Verticals. This is how the cottage industry is able to build straight-backed chairs that can sit on the front porch for 50 years and still be solid. The Rungs on the bottom of the chair are the driest part of the chair when they are built. They are normally a hickory or other hard wood. So, when you buy your oak chair more than likely the Rungs are not oak but hickory and they have been dried as long as possible. Chair makers will buy dowels for the Rungs a thousand at a time and put them up to be dry in order not to shrink any during or after the build. The slats in the back are normally two weeks dryer than the vertical post. The vertical front and rear post can be green as a gourd. What happens in the shop is the following: » Cut a number of chairs, not one at a time. » They will first cut the horizontal pieces to length and size. Then put fans on them to dry a little bit. » Then they will turn the post to shape and drill their holes and slots. » After that they will start the assembly by now shaping the end rungs apply glue and sometimes a brad and press fit. The post will shrink during the drying which will further secure the horizontals. » After this the rockers, which are the only pieces that are greener than the post, are cut and drilled. They are secured to the post again with glue and a fastener. Then the chair is ready for a finish or sell. I have chairs that are 100 years old and do not have any nails screws or otherwise, just the dynamics of the wood and some glue, this is what you are looking for. Now let’s get onto the real subject and that is your homestead. Your homestead has to be like that chair. Each designated part of your homestead needs to have a function and be able to work in unison with the rest of the homestead. To explain this a little bit, I will tell you about our homestead. Our Homestead main base is around a sawmill operation, the sawdust from the operation goes into a pile that has manure and soil mixed into it, the slabs are cut and either sold, used in our house to cook and heat, or placed on rocky hillsides where they are burnt to overheat the limestone below and release nutrients along with the ashes sweetening the soil downhill from the burn pile. I have a lot of work to do, but the idea that I’m trying to get across to you is even if your homestead is a back yard please look at your yard as a homestead and as an engine that each and every piece of your real estate is complementing and working with the other parts of your homestead. This actually might be as easy to understand as planting your tall garden crops south of your cabbage and broccoli to let them be shaded for a longer production. In the following blogs to come I will explain to you to the best of my knowledge how to make your homestead an engine that powers your dreams and your family’s well-being. So, for now take care, sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite and understand that you can make it. Roy Haney. |
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