German Estate Revitalized with the Addition of an LT20B Sawmill

By Kirsten Longmuss, Wood-Mizer Germany

German Estate Revitalized with the Addition of an LT20B Sawmill

Sylko Schlenstedt and his family own an estate in Saxony near the village of Hohenölsen-Kleindraxdorf. The small town has 630 inhabitants and was founded 650 years ago alongside a silver mine.

The estate had belonged to an aristocratic family called von Reuß. After World War II and until the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, the estate was one of the communist regime's farm cooperatives, where Sylko Schlenstedt's parents worked. As a child, Sylko played in the dungeons, cellars, and haystacks. In 1998, the now run-down estate was put up for sale, and Sylco's wife made the life-altering decision to buy it.

After working hard to arrange the finances, Sylko and his wife were able to purchase the estate. However, it dawned on them that it would take at least twenty years to fix the place—and there wouldn't be any free time.

 

 

Their two sons, Robert and Bastian, offered their help on the alterations, however they knew the estate was too big even for the ever-expanding family. The roofs alone cover 1000 cubic meters and Sylko and his sons all work. Sylko works as a truck driver from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. while planning work at home on the estate, and his sons are both metal workers at small companies in the area.

Despite these struggles, they were able to pull through. Five families now live on the estate, working on repairs to the historic 19th-century buildings. They are able to use the space for family, friends, and also a bikers' club called The Dark Forces, founded in 1992 by Sylko, who is a Harley-Davidson enthusiast.  After work, everybody builds brick walls, saw timber, and tackle other tasks on the estate. At first, repairing the roofs and generally tidying up was difficult. It took months to scratch layers of whitewash from the vaulted roofs. 

Fortunately, volunteers came to help them. Motorcycle club members saved the boards and beams of an ancient, derelict wooden bridge, which was dismantled and reborn as a timber veranda in the central courtyard. In summer, they sit there, talking Harleys!

 

 

The estate timbers presented an interesting problem, as standard dimensions proved inappropriate for restoring these ancient buildings. This led to undue expense and inflexibility in buying custom-cut timbers. Often, during particular restorations, just a couple of boards were needed, and work ceased while they awaited them from a local sawmill.

This inevitably led to the decision to mill the timbers to their own rather special requirements and at a reduced cost.

After some research, they decided to purchase Wood-Mizer's small-to-medium band sawmill, the LT20B. Now, when battens, boards, planks, or beams are needed, they put a log on the sawmill, saw it to the required shapes and dimensions, and continue their work without unnecessary breaks.

 

 

The mill was intended to solely serve its own needs, but a year later, fifty percent of its time is spent sawing timbers for customers. This presents a whole new aspect to the estate's activities and income. 

In the long term, the family aims to achieve complete independence, relying on their stables, gardens, solar power, and income from contract sawing and firewood.

 

 

The Schlenstedts have several Harley-Davidsons in a shed and a nicely restored Norton. The Dark Forces bikers meet twice weekly in their clubhouse, a restored old building on the estate. Twice yearly, they throw a big party for 300-400 guests: learn more at www.dark-forces-mc.de.

 

 

A man needs a task in life and appropriately, as a knight's proverb says: Siegen kommt nicht vom Liegen (victory doesn't come from reclining). All the family agrees with that, and Sylko Schlenstedt is a happy man.

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