Dynamite In Tree Trunk

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The fire line explosive idea looks like a great solution to quickly clearing a fire line. Too bad the gov't regs got in the way of the continued use of this practice.
 
hollow cedar

John:
I don't know the story behind these photos.
Just that this guy seems to be a natural photographer.

The cedar is at least being hollowed out.

I'm sure you cut a lot of these in AK.
 
smokechase II, I find the pictures you post extremely interesting and amazing. please keep them coming!! Unfortunately it looks like the board deletes old attachments. Do you have a website where you host all of this content yourself?
 
picture posts

ranchjn:

Can't take credit for these. I also blew it, should have put these in the picture forum.

If a moderator wishes to move them, that would be great and thanks.

Send me an arboristsite message on what was deleted a ways back that you'd like to look at. Might be able to repost if the thread is still relevant or e-mail you.
 
The linked page says "Holes are drilled or sawed into offending snags - standing dead trees - that threaten mayhem upon sawyers felling them by conventional means." in relation to the photo showing dynamite inside a cutout in the trunk.

Help me out here, why would this be the preferred approach? Seems to me the benefits of using dynamite are outweighed by the risks. Can't tell much from the narrow view in the photo, but from what you can see, it looks like it could be felled conventionally without difficulty.

It would also seem it would take longer to properly (safely, etc.) rig the dynamite, connect the trigger, run the wire, etc., than it would to just drop it.
 
EngineerDude,
I can comment on the one time that I had a snag dynamited. We were always told that anytime we did not feel comfortable falling a snag that we could get someone on the road crew to blast it. Pride and idiocy keeps you from doing it unless it is really needed.
Bad snags are pretty common in AK. and some can be a real aggravation. Shaped like a traffic cone or a tepee with no top. You have to make an under cut of halfway or more and a lot of them are rotten and full of shake (ring separation) so it is continually sitting down on your bar.On the worst of them wedges are useless. They can be a lot of work for something that has no value, but has to be fell for the safety and to make it easier for the rigging crew when it is logged.
On my strip near the top about two hundred feet below the road was a bad snag about 7 or 8 ft. thru. I looked a it every day and was dreading it. You still get paid for it even tho its cull, but I knew I would spend a lot of time on it. The road crew boss was nearby one day so I bore cut three holes in it about 1ft. dia. He and I packed in some Tovex and he blew the thing to the ground. Was nothing left but fuzz. Saved me a lot of trouble.
I dont know anything about the ones on fire, but there are snags in some parts of the country that for sure are safer to blast than to fall. But yes it did take longer.

Here is a pic of a good snag stump. The bad ones usually disappear under punk rotten wood.
 
I would like to do that type of work....I love being an firefighter and like the rush, but it seems to be a never ending battle...I think I want to do that...Hard work fire and fun.
 
Properly applied, explosives can be a very safe, quick and effective means of tree removal.
This is if you don't want to log the lower section of the tree.
 
whats the canvas used for?

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