The Shade Garden Bench Job - Part 2

Creating a bench for the shade garden presented some interesting challenges. The proposed site was at the edge of a depression, a possible hazard for someone leaning back too far, and it was not in an ideal location for enjoying the garden itself. So the Trails Committee set out to find suitable bench materials from nature's warehouse and come up with practical designs. Not far up the trail was a graveyard of fallen evergreens and cut logs.

Click on photos to enlarge

Jim and Bill measure a nice, straight log for cutting

Terrance and Jim use the Gator to haul tools to the work site, saving a lot of lugging

Jim cuts the big log

Meanwhile, Terrance practices splitting a log in half, just like the pioneers, except that they didn't have plastic wedges

 

 

"I did it! And I only needed 8 wedges!"

 

 

Bill supervises, while Jim, Bob, Joe and Richard attempt to roll the log. Apparently they don't see that a tree is in the way

 

The log is too big and too heavy to load on Rich's little truck, so Jim cuts it in half

Rich, Joe, Terrance, Bob, and Bill watch Jim cut away

Practice makes perfect. Terrance gets a clean split on a hardwood log

 Sandie, our Staff photographer, records the loading of the logs into Rich's truck

The logs will be brought to a log saw, where they will be sliced in halves to make the tops of 4 rustic benches, a nice addition to the new shade garden in the Spring