How Can You Spot The Amish Fisherman??

I've got an amish buddy that hooks his travel trailer to his fore cart and hauls it to the campground behind his team of Belgians. His kids love when the camper is at home because they milk cows so have electric in the barn and plug in the trailer so they have air conditioning in the summer! Very inventive folks.
 
I'm not very familiar with the Amish, but from what I know they are anti-machinists, so I find it odd that they have an off-board ( or is it off-shore?) engine. Shouldn't they use only rows?
Maybe those are not so strict as others :huh:
 
Horse needs to back quite well because they are backing 2 hitching/turning points. Toni, they aren't really anti machines, what they are is anti anything that makes their life easier creating the greed gene. With restrictions to horse drawn farm equipment they won't become the major corporation in the community, one man won't buy out 15 other small farmers. It keeps the need for community mindsets to excel. It is their religion.
 
For the most part they are anti electricity. They can use a gas compressors. I was at a jobsite in Walnut Creek, OH a few years back. I sold them a compressor and a special pneumatic nailer to attach metal roof to 12 ga. perlins for a barn roof.

They even invited me to supper.

I thought that they were really genuinely nice people. I admire that they can stick to their values, morals and character.
 
They have some interesting perspectives. As I understand it most of the "anti machinery" is more to avoid being tied into dependence on the outside world. As is not uncommon this appears to have become somewhat lawyered over the years (so for example in some communities running a gas powered generator is ok, but tying to the grid isn't because with the generator you're still technically independent). This leads to some rather fascinatingly baroque setups - a fellow (that I can't seem to find online anymore) was blogging for a while about his apprenticing at an amish workshop that had a HUGE generator but was only used to charge an even larger air compressor tank and then the compressed air ran the tools. There is apparently a fairly large industry making air powered tools for amish workshops because of this setup. Personally I think it would be incredibly nifty to have a water powered lineshaft and a bunch of tools off of that so I can't really make any comments old technology :D

We were traveling through Tennessee Amish country a few years back and stopped at this fellows roadside stand to buy a loaf of bread and some sorghum. I asked him where he got his flour, he looked dumbfounded for a minute and then said "the grocery store", to which I replied 'oh hmm, I was wondering if there was still a local mill or anything, I generally prefer to grind my own but when you're on the road...". He didn't really quite know what to say to that but allowed that yes probably grinding your own would be better :D I think seeing one of the "English" drive up and then throw something like that out put him a bit off of his oats.
 
Ryan, I have seen many power tools, some on ads like Craigslist, modified by the Amish to be run on hydraulic motors, that are powered by a fairly large capacity gasoline or diesel engine with a good hydraulic pump. They have quite an ingenous mounting system on some of them. Table saws, jointers, planers, drill presses, etc. Good looking workmanship too.
 
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