# Horseshoe In A Log! Ouch!



## gvwp (Dec 28, 2013)

Was milling a super large 30" Sassafras log today and found this surprise right in the middle of the log. Total unexpected hit brought the LT70 to a sudden and terrifying halt. Locked the blade tight. Fire came out of the log with a deafening squeal from the drive belt until I could flip the autoclutch switch and get everything shut down. Had to make cuts on both sides with the chainsaw and then split the cant with a sledge and wedge after disconnecting the blade from the mill. Needless to say the blade was completely and totally destroyed. Put a new blade on and mill seems to have survived without any other damage. My only question is does this mean I will have good luck for the next year because I "found" a horseshoe????

Reactions: Like 6


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## Tclem (Dec 28, 2013)

Think it means that somebody didn't finish that game of horseshoes

Reactions: Funny 1


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## jmurray (Dec 28, 2013)

in the last pic the shoe is upside down, so any luck just spilled out. 
glad to hear that a blade is all it costed you. either your not using a metal detector or you are and its from HF


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## JR Parks (Dec 28, 2013)

Since upside down some folks believe that all the bad luck escaped- Glad that it was just the blade.
Jim R

Reactions: Like 1


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## SENC (Dec 28, 2013)

Wow!


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## manbuckwal (Dec 28, 2013)

That had to be a sickening sound !!! Glad nobody got hurt !


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## gvwp (Dec 28, 2013)

Yes a sickening sound indeed. Nobody was hurt. I hit an insulator one time that was about the same way. Its that unexpected sudden surprise that gets you every time. Just about like a blade breaking. You know it will happen sooner or later but no matter how many times it happens it always scares the bejeepers out of you.


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## Nature Man (Dec 28, 2013)

Wonder what the history behind that horseshoe is??? The wood in the background sure is nice! Chuck

Reactions: Creative 1


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## Mike1950 (Dec 29, 2013)

Personally-I think the horseshoe found you!!! I know when a blade on my bandsaw breaks it startles me. It only goes thud!! I can imagine that would have scared the bejeevers out of you. I bet the mill smells nice sawing that sassafras.


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## gvwp (Dec 29, 2013)

Nature Man said:


> Wonder what the history behind that horseshoe is??? The wood in the background sure is nice! Chuck


 
Yes Chuck. I do too and we all had a discussion about it. The Sassafras log was huge. Around 30" diameter. Perhaps the largest Sassafras log I have seen. It came from the local tree company so it was likely close to some kind of building. The horseshoe was dead center in the tree. I'm not sure how old the tree was but I'm guessing 80-100 years. The shoe was large. A bit larger than regular shoes I have seen. Tons of farms and horses in this area but if I had to guess its from the 19 teens to twenties sometime. I'm going to burn it out of the remaining piece of wood and hang it on the wall along with the collection of other prizes I have found in logs over the years.

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## gvwp (Dec 29, 2013)

Mike1950 said:


> Personally-I think the horseshoe found you!!! I know when a blade on my bandsaw breaks it startles me. It only goes thud!! I can imagine that would have scared the bejeevers out of you. I bet the mill smells nice sawing that sassafras.


 
Oh yes. The aroma filled the entire shop for several hours. I closed up the shop with the raw cants all stacked up so I bet it will be really nice in the morning when we open up the shop. We will process all the cants tomorrow in the wonderful smelling shop because they are forecasting the temps to not rise out the of teens here so I'm not going to open the doors at all tomorrow.

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## Treecycle Hardwoods (Dec 29, 2013)

gvwp said:


> Yes Chuck. I do too and we all had a discussion about it. The Sassafras log was huge. Around 30" diameter. Perhaps the largest Sassafras log I have seen. It came from the local tree company so it was likely close to some kind of building. The horseshoe was dead center in the tree. I'm not sure how old the tree was but I'm guessing 80-100 years. The shoe was large. A bit larger than regular shoes I have seen. Tons of farms and horses in this area but if I had to guess its from the 19 teens to twenties sometime. I'm going to burn it out of the remaining piece of wood and hang it on the wall along with the collection of other prizes I have found in logs over the years.



I wonder if it had been hung on the tree when the trunk was still small enough.


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## gvwp (Dec 29, 2013)

Treecycle Hardwoods said:


> I wonder if it had been hung on the tree when the trunk was still small enough.


 
Definitely. It had a bit of bailing wire around it where it was hung on the tree when it was very small.

Reactions: Like 1


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## BarbS (Dec 30, 2013)

gvwp said:


> Yes Chuck. I do too and we all had a discussion about it. The Sassafras log was huge. Around 30" diameter. Perhaps the largest Sassafras log I have seen. It came from the local tree company so it was likely close to some kind of building. The horseshoe was dead center in the tree. I'm not sure how old the tree was but I'm guessing 80-100 years. The shoe was large. A bit larger than regular shoes I have seen. Tons of farms and horses in this area but if I had to guess its from the 19 teens to twenties sometime. I'm going to burn it out of the remaining piece of wood and hang it on the wall along with the collection of other prizes I have found in logs over the years.


EEgads, I'd sure like to see a photo of that Wall with your treasures on!


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## ripjack13 (Dec 30, 2013)

Glad to hear it was just the blade and not you. Do you have a metal detector? It would be worth the investment....


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## gvwp (Dec 30, 2013)

ripjack13 said:


> Glad to hear it was just the blade and not you. Do you have a metal detector? It would be worth the investment....


 
No. I used to use a metal detector but it wasn't very effective for detecting metal which was deep inside a log or small nails which is what is normally in a log. Especially from the tree companies. Worked fine for finding stuff on the surface or a couple inches in. Perhaps the quality of detector I was using could have been better.

Reactions: Like 1


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## sprucegum (Jan 9, 2014)

That is a one of a kind blank you cut out of the log. I would ask a good price for it.


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## gvwp (Jan 9, 2014)

sprucegum said:


> That is a one of a kind blank you cut out of the log. I would ask a good price for it.


 
LOL! Yeah it would demand a pretty good price considering the cost of getting the blank.


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## Blueglass (Jan 9, 2014)

Might be kinda cool cast. I think on FB someone sent me a pic of a tree with a bicycle in the trunk.


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## sprucegum (Jan 9, 2014)

I asked a old circular mill sawyer one time what happens if you hit a horseshoe? He said it costs a blade if i'm lucky, my head if i'm not. Seen a lot of them nailed to trees over the years to hold gate poles.


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## gvwp (Jan 9, 2014)

My father always told the story of back in the day he took pine 12 X 12's to a local mill to have them resawn into 2 X 4's. The mill owner wouldn't accept the work. The week before they hit a horseshoe with one of the 56" big circle blades. He said it destroyed the blade beyond repair and cost him $800. This was back in the 50's sometime so multi thousands in todays dollars.


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## redwolf (Mar 13, 2014)

prolly a old draft horse shoe? are you in a amish area or what used to be a amish area?


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## Blueglass (Mar 13, 2014)

I still think it would be awesome to make something out of it. I thought about the voids cast when I first saw this post but now I think of a box with the shoe sticking out.

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## PhoenixWoodDesigns (Mar 17, 2014)

That is so crazy! Glad no one was hurt and nothing serious was destroyed.


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## robert flynt (Mar 17, 2014)

Probably just had crappy luck the day you cut that log.


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## rob3232 (Mar 19, 2014)

Hmm.... Maybe hook up with a carver?? See lot's of possibles there


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## gvwp (Mar 19, 2014)

Just glad that doesn't happen every day. I've got the piece sitting on the shelf. I'll decide what to do with it eventually.


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