Restoring Tail Race

The tail race is where the water leaves the mill.  If this is plugged it can seriously reduce your horsepower.  It is sort of like a sink drain.  If it is plugged … well, you get the idea.  The tail race is around 200ft long.  Twice I have taken a shovel and dug a small trench the length of the race.  I thought it would washout and slowly get bigger.  Didn’t happen.  So, I dug a little deeper and found logs in the mud.  I got a bid to find and remove the logs.  It was around $15,000.  So, I bought a backhoe for my tractor.  The photo shows one of the logs.  Some of the logs were heavier than my tractor.  A farmer friend brought over a BIG tractor and pulled them out for me.