# North Zone Fallers



## forestryworks (Sep 25, 2009)

http://www.northzonefallers.com/index.html

nice website.

and if you look hard enough - you'll find one of our own on there (Tree Sling'r)


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## RRSsawshop (Sep 26, 2009)

Nice site,nice to see some SKILLED people teaching schools instead of the book smart wantabe's!!!!


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## 2dogs (Sep 26, 2009)

Their site is well put together.


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## 056 kid (Sep 26, 2009)

What do I need to do th get a C faller cert?

I want to get as qualified as I can, are there any other levels of certification?

Help me out 2dogs!


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## 2dogs (Sep 26, 2009)

056 kid said:


> What do I need to do th get a C faller cert?
> 
> I want to get as qualified as I can, are there any other levels of certification?
> 
> Help me out 2dogs!



Start out by searching the net for wildland training or faller certification. You can also hit up your local fire agencies and ask about any upcoming training. Also contact junior/community colleges and see if they have a fire science program. 

Saw classes meet National Wildfire Coordinating Group standards such as S-212, the basic class. Ask a local USFS fire crew and see if they have any leads.

The faller certs start out at A and end at C but there is alot in the middle.


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## 056 kid (Sep 26, 2009)

I was scrolling through this but it is really a bunch of mumbo jumbo.

http://www.nwcg.gov/teams/shwt/httf...nsaw_program_cert/ptbfaller_abc_task_book.pdf



So A is where everything starts, I see. It is somthing I want to do next summer.
Got to worry about school now!!

thanks!


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## slowp (Sep 26, 2009)

I just have a green card. But I just buck stuff here on the district so I'm just a bucker.... which is fine. 

I went out with our C faller guys and they watched me whack stuff up and certified me. Good up to 24 inches. Bigger than that is too hard to roll off the road.

I have to be recertified every year. After the guys cut it down, I cut up the scary tree for my test this year. And they'll usually have some pointers to give out. I like it.


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## forestryworks (Sep 26, 2009)

056 kid said:


> I was scrolling through this but it is really a bunch of mumbo jumbo.
> 
> http://www.nwcg.gov/teams/shwt/httf...nsaw_program_cert/ptbfaller_abc_task_book.pdf
> 
> ...



summer fire jobs will definitely pay for your school.


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## 137cc (Oct 10, 2009)

056 kid said:


> I was scrolling through this but it is really a bunch of mumbo jumbo.
> 
> http://www.nwcg.gov/teams/shwt/httf...nsaw_program_cert/ptbfaller_abc_task_book.pdf
> 
> ...



Some of the federal and state agencies use the faller position task book which you have linked above. To my knowledge the Forest Service doesn't use this book while the BLM does.

The C-faller standards vary so much around the nation it really isn't that impressive of a qualification. Different parts of the country teach completely different methods of how to fall a tree. I've heard of areas in region 8 (basically the USFS in all of the old confederate states) will not card you unless you use an open face felling technique. While other areas in the forest service you would be laughed out of class and maybe given an "A faller cert." if you used that technique.

The qualification is really only useful if you are a regular government employee. I could go into what I went through to get my C-faller but it would only be applicable to the area where I got mine at. One common standard is the requirement of taking S-212.


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## slowp (Oct 11, 2009)

There's other things to do on fires besides falling. And everyone should start out at the grunt level. Everybody. More important than the C faller card is the ability to keep a cool head when things aren't looking so good and think calmly on how to get you and your crewmembers out, unburned, and in one piece.


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## Gologit (Oct 11, 2009)

slowp said:


> There's other things to do on fires besides falling. And everyone should start out at the grunt level. Everybody. More important than the C faller card is the ability to keep a cool head when things aren't looking so good and think calmly on how to get you and your crewmembers out, unburned, and in one piece.



Well said.


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## bullbuck (Oct 11, 2009)

before i was a dozer op.on fires i did a short stint on a type 6 engine,just to kill the boredom i would contact our assigned crews every morning just to see if they needed anything cut?almost everytime i put out the call they would send a scout for me,and we would hike in.nobody ever asked me for cert.even the safety guys,but this was ten years ago,things have likely changed,got to cut a couple burning snags with my eyes closed holding my breath wishing my saw would catch a breeze so it could cut too!whew looking back i probly shouldnt have been in there,but it sure was fun


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## Jacob J. (Oct 11, 2009)

137cc said:


> Some of the federal and state agencies use the faller position task book which you have linked above. To my knowledge the Forest Service doesn't use this book while the BLM does.
> 
> The C-faller standards vary so much around the nation it really isn't that impressive of a qualification. Different parts of the country teach completely different methods of how to fall a tree. I've heard of areas in region 8 (basically the USFS in all of the old confederate states) will not card you unless you use an open face felling technique. While other areas in the forest service you would be laughed out of class and maybe given an "A faller cert." if you used that technique.
> 
> The qualification is really only useful if you are a regular government employee. I could go into what I went through to get my C-faller but it would only be applicable to the area where I got mine at. One common standard is the requirement of taking S-212.



The C-cert is definitely harder to get in some areas than others. I was certified on the west side, on a Forest Service district. Of course at that time, there wasn't task books for anything. You sat through the class, demonstrated a skill and your knowledge of the situation, and then got your cert. I think some of the modern task books are silly. There's a lot of common sense stuff that people have to be 'signed off on'. 



slowp said:


> There's other things to do on fires besides falling. And everyone should start out at the grunt level. Everybody. More important than the C faller card is the ability to keep a cool head when things aren't looking so good and think calmly on how to get you and your crewmembers out, unburned, and in one piece.



I agree with that, and any of these certifications are supposed to be a measuring stick of how much a person can remain cool under fire. I was just as nervous giving my presentation for M-410 as I was cutting a tree in front of a large group of people.



bullbuck said:


> before i was a dozer op.on fires i did a short stint on a type 6 engine,just to kill the boredom i would contact our assigned crews every morning just to see if they needed anything cut?almost everytime i put out the call they would send a scout for me,and we would hike in.nobody ever asked me for cert.even the safety guys,but this was ten years ago,things have likely changed,got to cut a couple burning snags with my eyes closed holding my breath wishing my saw would catch a breeze so it could cut too!whew looking back i probly shouldnt have been in there,but it sure was fun



Nobody asks for your red card anymore. They assume that if you're there, assigned to do the work, then you must have the quals...


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## tramp bushler (Oct 14, 2009)

slowp said:


> There's other things to do on fires besides falling. And everyone should start out at the grunt level. Everybody. More important than the C faller card is the ability to keep a cool head when things aren't looking so good and think calmly on how to get you and your crewmembers out, unburned, and in one piece.


..



..
. AHH ,, Contraer ,, how ever you spell it .. Tramp bushler aint, gonna start out on a fireline swingin a poulaski ...... If they ain,t smart enough to hire me to fall , then it can burn as far as I,m concerned .........,


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## 056 kid (Oct 14, 2009)




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## slowp (Oct 14, 2009)

tramp bushler said:


> ..
> 
> 
> 
> ...



Disclaimer: The last time I went on a crew was eons ago. 

Then, you may hang out with the overhead people who have never worked on the line, on a crew, and think ill thoughts of the grunts. 

I went as overhead a couple weeks after being a grunt on a 3 week tour of Eastern Oregon bug kill fires. I set my sleeping bag out in the crew area and slept there. One of the office ladies was horrified. "You are sleeping where "Those People" are?". I replied that just a few weeks ago I was one of Those People. 

One should have line experience simply so one can know what Those People are going through. Those People are tired and dirty, and don't want to argue about whether they should get paid or not paid for not taking a 30 minute lunch. Etc. 

You can be the Greatest Faller Ever and still not know when to run away from a fire that has changed direction, or where to run to, etc. Or who to argue with to be sure you get paid for not taking a 30 minute lunch break.


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## Gologit (Oct 14, 2009)

slowp said:


> Disclaimer: The last time I went on a crew was eons ago.
> 
> Then, you may hang out with the overhead people who have never worked on the line, on a crew, and think ill thoughts of the grunts.
> 
> ...



LOL...the grunts _know_ what's happening. If I was in a tight spot I'd want "those people" with me. The overfed overhead team can stay in camp and crunch numbers.


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