Council tool makes a great axe, 5# rafting pattern even comes with a 28" handle... around $50 if I remember, might even get one at 4#... the 5 pounder is a wedge killing machine.
Checking Chain Brake? Also, new logger questions
- Thread starter Canyon Angler
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InfiniteJest
ArboristSite Operative
Timber fallers 10th commandment,
" Though shalt not pack an axe"
Throw the damn thing to the uphill side of the next cut tree.
And avoid using it like the plague. Swing that ****.
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks, guys. Looks like Council may not make the "rafting" pattern axe (or not use that name in marketing it) anymore, but they do sell a 3.5# jobbie with a 26" straight handle ... I think you said you wanted a straight, rather than deer-foot, handle to use as a plumb-bob, Northman ... I may get that. (I'm not a big dude, so 5# may be more than I want ... heck, after the 361, this 660 feels like I'm carrying around a car engine!)
its a single bit with a flat poll.. May call it something else now?
I'm a huge dude, and i don't like dragging the 5# all day, it pretty much just hides under the seats of the crummy and comes out once a year for really big trees.
I'm a huge dude, and i don't like dragging the 5# all day, it pretty much just hides under the seats of the crummy and comes out once a year for really big trees.
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
Here's the one I'm considering, it's 3.5# with 26" straight handle for about $40-$42:
Was also considering their 2.25# "boy's axe" but they don't offer it with a straight handle.
Was also considering their 2.25# "boy's axe" but they don't offer it with a straight handle.
"deerfoot" can show plumb. have edge toward you or tree.
Skeans
Addicted to ArboristSite
Myself I don’t use an axe as plum bob when I do use one I have a fishing line on a quarter. My personal axes very from 3lbs to almost 10lbs with handles varying from cut down to a 20 to a 30 or 36 from memory.
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The training to know what you are looking up or around for (All aspects of training) falling, is a number of steps that back up another. A faller may have to skip one to overcome a falling difficulty at times, looking up or around is never something to be skipped. Missing steps or going out of order (often the same thing) will kill a very experienced production faller 99% of the time. Any time I have had a near miss, it involved missing two or three steps every time. 1% get killed by a rolling rock or something coming down from trees unrelated to active falling disturbance. then you have slides. I knew two fallers that were killed in that 1%. You control your environment.Since it sounds like kickback isn't the primary thing to watch out for, I'm curious how most loggers and fallers (especially new guys) get hurt in the woods.
What would be the main things I should watch out for as a new guy? Falling branches/dead tops? Trees falling the wrong way?
Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse with this thread...I googled "logging accident statistics" and found this:
and it looks like being "struck by" something is the biggest risk...so the hardhat and "eyes in the sky" would seem to be some of the most important things for a logger / faller, would you guys agree?
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks, Westboastfaller. Sounds like what they teach m/c riders – SIPDE: Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute. I'd be interested in reading about that sequence of steps....
Man, yesterday I was watching the YouTubes and saw a vid where some guys were falling big redwoods in absolutely gorgeous country that looked like it was out of a Bob Ross painting. Good Lord, those trees SPLODED when they hit the ground! I imagine you could have stuff falling down for quite a whle when you take one of those monsters down...
Yeah, you want to get used to doing site overviews as you enter the forest. looking for common patterns. Example: Old burn area? bug kill in area? heart rot fungus? sap rot fungus? wet lands? what species is clearly affected and by what? what is happening to then? Try to figure out the puzzle before you start. The steps are basically listed in the BCFTS apart from a few others that are needed for WCF. I will go into it more when I have more time, as well address 'helpers' for learning undercuts. That is a falling axe above.
Here's the one I'm considering, it's 3.5# with 26" straight handle for about $40-$42:
Was also considering their 2.25# "boy's axe" but they don't offer it with a straight handle.
http://www.baileysonline.com/Forest...xe-4-lbs-with-28-Hickory-Handle-WPX-F4028.axd
Ron
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks, Westboastfaller, I'm learning a lot from all of you guys. FWIW, found some good falling videos on Youtube put out by Husqvarna...the guy really goes into detail on the basics, explaining things that aren't always obvious to n00b idiots like me. Interestingly, he seems to recommend an open face of ≥ 70° and bore cuts for the back cut most of the time, I guess for more control, especially among Happy Homeowners using small, presumably dull saws.
Thanks, Ron, too -- that's a better deal than the amazon one, though I wish it was a little lighter. I may just try to make do with what I have right now: A 3.5# axe with 31" fiberglass handle, or a 2.3# "camp axe" which is what I've used in the past to drive wedges...with the right cover over the cutting edge, I could carry that on my belt like a framing hammer and have access to it for driving wedges in a hurry...
Thanks, Ron, too -- that's a better deal than the amazon one, though I wish it was a little lighter. I may just try to make do with what I have right now: A 3.5# axe with 31" fiberglass handle, or a 2.3# "camp axe" which is what I've used in the past to drive wedges...with the right cover over the cutting edge, I could carry that on my belt like a framing hammer and have access to it for driving wedges in a hurry...
to be fair I've never carried mine with the blade covered until I got one of the grizzly scabbards...
though, I would advice against doing a lot of the things I do... or don't do (chaps eye protection)
though, I would advice against doing a lot of the things I do... or don't do (chaps eye protection)
hseII
Addicted to ArboristSite
Those Grizzly Scabbards are too nice & too cheap to not use if you’re gonna be toting an axe in the woods.
My $.02.
RandyMac
Stiff Member
If the Redwoods exploded, they were doing it wrong.
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
You mean like these?
https://grizzlypeakenterprises.com/t/axe-scabbards
I could tig together one of them right fast...
hseII
Addicted to ArboristSite
I could too, but I can buy them
Cheaper than I can take time & build them.
And especially after buying a couple wedge holders.
Yes sir.
They are pretty tough, riveted no welding, all bends so i think thet may be 7075?
Either way tis a damned good product and worth sticker price
I’m not a logger just a firewood hack so pay little attention to me except - the axe I posted has a head designed to drive wedges. Another one of those nice things common toWest Coast guys and not so much so in the East. I gave an old 5# Plumb rafting axe head to an Eastern logger a few years back. Let’s just say he was very impressed. 1/2# to 1 1/2# more than a 3.5# axe is not going to kill you to carry when you need to pound wedges. And it will sure drive some wedges.
Ron
Canyon Angler
Addicted to ArboristSite
Thanks, guys.
Northman, not sure the alloy -- alum alloys and tempering/aging and bendability is a whole 'nother ball of wax I haven't waded into yet...I'd prolly just weld it together from 5052 with 4043 filler since that's what I have hanging around...
Northman, not sure the alloy -- alum alloys and tempering/aging and bendability is a whole 'nother ball of wax I haven't waded into yet...I'd prolly just weld it together from 5052 with 4043 filler since that's what I have hanging around...
