peeling logs the permaculture way

I wanted to share these photos with the folks at Wheaton Labs after all the time I spent peeling logs there last year. Perhaps you could employ goats to peel all of the future wofati logs?

The other day we felled a tree here in southern oregon to be used as a beam for a goat slaughter. It was toward the end of the day and we were debating whether or not we should peel the log. Then we thought... let's just put it in with the goats, and they went to town right away.

(Of course, in reality it would take the goats quite some time to actually peel this already dead-ish tree, but I thought it was a lovely sight, and a wonderful thought that potentially goats could be employed to peel our logs. =)

Emily Aaston : Thanks for checking in, nice to 'hear' from you! Nice looking Goats ! Big AL

I have been thinking about this log peeling task since my time at the Lab, where I gained first hand experience with the back breaking task of peeling logs with hand tools. A sore back is good motivation for innovation. This last fall I had the pleasure/horror of touring an OSB mill in Alberta. For those who don't know, OSB (oriented strand board) is that plywood like wood product made of chipped up trees, pressed into sheets. As the logs enter the mill, and before they are peeled by an intimidating bark peeling machine, they are soaked in warm water for 6 to 8 hours making the bark softer.

Once they can get access to water on the lab, perhaps they can build a long skinny pond that logs could be skidded into and left to soak. I imagine it would be a lot easier to peel the logs once the bark is soft and wet. Maybe it would be easier for the goats too? Of course, the wet logs would have to be peeled long before construction to allow time for them to dry out, but it could make the task easier.

then there is always this thing:

I want one I want one I want one!!!