Year 3 is when the farm runs itself so there's nothing left to fix.

Learned this one the hard way after trusting my ears alone for way too long. Holding a bright flashlight at a low angle across the groove shows depth like a shadow, deep cuts look thick and dark while shallow ones look thin, and it saved me from ruining a batch last month. Tried it on a scrap dub before a real cut and the light showed exactly where I was digging too far, something my ears missed until the high end was gone.

Taking it past a certain size is where it gets tricky (and yeah, the cost adds up quick once you're buying two or three boxes). One thing to think about on a bigger build is that clips keep your spacing dead even, which matters more as the span grows, otherwise the whole thing can look a little crooked. Clips won't carry the load though, so on the long beams you still need proper screws or bolts into the posts. Could see it saving a ton of time on a larger frame, just plan the hardware budget before you start.