Subscribe to my homestead channel: BPo3 Homestead

It’s been a wild ride, and we’re just getting started. Thank you for coming along on this journey for so many years. I started my woodworking channel in 2012, and although I took a 15-month break, it’s time to get rolling again.

If you’re following along with the homestead channel, you’ve basically seen the shop already set up. The tools are in place, powered and hooked to dust collection, and cleaned off, ready for use.

However, the first few minutes of the video feature a visual recap of all the work we have completed on the property necessary to build a shop. It felt really good to edit that part and relive the 400+ days in just a few minutes. If you’re not interested in the shop tour, I’d still recommend checking that part out.

In the present time, I’ve hit a roadblock. My repaired tractor loader curl/bucket cylinder bent again. This time is beyond repair. I’m in the process of sourcing non-OEM replacements. An OEM cylinder is $1500!! I’m reading about other people getting a replacement PAIR that is stronger than OEM for less than $500. That is the path I am on.

Even with the incredibly frustrating and more frequent than normal rain we are getting, I need to get the tractor back in service ASAP. That’s because THE SAWMILL HAS ARRIVED! I rolled one log over a pair of ratchet straps, ratcheted the log to the tractor loader, and very carefully lifted the log without using the curl function of the loader (curl cylinder lines are disconnected, gloved, and zip tied). Putting that one log onto the mill was an incredibly slow process. I milled one log, and now I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve, stuck in Groundhog Day, waking up the day before Christmas over and over. So many logs to get through and I’m soooo close. Stay tuned!