Falling wedges. What's good, what's not, and why?

[nw axe man]

Just Googled Eldin Olin. There is a short bio of him with a couple of pictures. Check it out. Also if I'm not mistaken they use to put some of his stuff in Loggers World back in the day. Maybe NW Axe Man can correct me on that.

You're right on, Joe.
Finley Hayes, the founder/owner/editor of Loggers World, and Eldin Olin were good friends and I remember seeing his work in there a lot. I've gotten Loggers World since the mid 70s and still get it. They put Loggers World and Truckers World in the same edition since postage is so expensive.
I started bucking in the summer of 1971. Back then if you got your picture in Loggers World you considered yourself most fortunate. In February of 1972, when I was a senior, my dad had a real nice sale up the NF of the Cispus River. Nice old growth and Finley wanted to come up and do an article on my dads crew. Of course, I found out about it and felt real bad since I was in school. Anway, I asked my dad if I could come out and buck for him that day in the snow. There was about 4-5 feet of snow and you had to shovel out the snow around the stumps to get down to that miracle 1' high stump that was required. He said yes so I got my pic in Loggers World for the first time. I have two pictures hanging in my house of my dad and I that Finley took of my dad falling a nice fir. As a matter of fact, you can see it on the Madsens album site. Anyway, needless to say I felt 10 feet tall when I went back to school. Especially when I showed them the article. Finley did a total of 4 articles on our crews over the years. Now Mike Crouse owns the paper and runs it. They still print some of the old articles Finley wrote in the new papers. If I can remember I'll contact Mike and see if he has any info on Eldin Olin. I have a strong disconnect from my home to the office and the memory doesn't work like it should.

 

[OregonSawyer]

Turns out he lives only about 20 min up river... Hmmm... Might need to give grandma a quick visit.

 

[nw axe man]

Thanks. Picture tricked me. I can imagine the weight in that gunny sack.

Used a two man saw opposite my dad cutting wood for heat - similar to the one at top of your photo. Still have that two man.
Cut loose stacked hay with one like yours on the right side of your picture. Loose stack is a poor term as the stack packs down very tight.
Long time ago. Nice looking at those tools.

btw, the offside handles kept back of your hands from getting all barked up by the cut side hay (stub ends).

Thanks for the info on the "hay Knife". I guess the guys that told me about it being an ice knife didn't know what they were talking about. Since it's corroborated here by several of you I'll take that as what it is. Now I'm edumacated. Thanks.

 

[nw axe man]

Turns out he lives only about 20 min up river... Hmmm... Might need to give grandma a quick visit.

Keep me posted on that one. I'd be interested to know.

 

[OregonSawyer]

You're right on, Joe.
Finley Hayes, the founder/owner/editor of Loggers World, and Eldin Olin were good friends and I remember seeing his work in there a lot. I've gotten Loggers World since the mid 70s and still get it. They put Loggers World and Truckers World in the same edition since postage is so expensive.
I started bucking in the summer of 1971. Back then if you got your picture in Loggers World you considered yourself most fortunate. In February of 1972, when I was a senior, my dad had a real nice sale up the NF of the Cispus River. Nice old growth and Finley wanted to come up and do an article on my dads crew. Of course, I found out about it and felt real bad since I was in school. Anway, I asked my dad if I could come out and buck for him that day in the snow. There was about 4-5 feet of snow and you had to shovel out the snow around the stumps to get down to that miracle 1' high stump that was required. He said yes so I got my pic in Loggers World for the first time. I have two pictures hanging in my house of my dad and I that Finley took of my dad falling a nice fir. As a matter of fact, you can see it on the Madsens album site. Anyway, needless to say I felt 10 feet tall when I went back to school. Especially when I showed them the article. Finley did a total of 4 articles on our crews over the years. Now Mike Crouse owns the paper and runs it. They still print some of the old articles Finley wrote in the new papers. If I can remember I'll contact Mike and see if he has any info on Eldin Olin. I have a strong disconnect from my home to the office and the memory doesn't work like it should.

Great story, as usual.

Maybe you should start writing up a book of your own. Guys like yourself, Randy and Bob are becoming fewer and further between. It would be awesome to keep all the great stories alive for more generations to enjoy!

 

[nw axe man]

Great story, as usual.

Maybe you should start writing up a book of your own. Guys like yourself, Randy and Bob are becoming fewer and further between. It would be awesome to keep all the great stories alive for more generations to enjoy!

I've though of that. Thank you for putting me in the same category as Randy and Bob. I take that as a compliment. I do have the stories but am not sure I have the writing capabilities that Randy has. Every time he puts one of those snippets on a post I want to hear more.

 

[Joe46]

Thanks NW. I've been reading LW since I think 74. Subscribed to it and Log Trucker sometime in the late 70's. I 'think" I saw Finley mention one time he had a paper out on just cutters? Again I'll await your knowledge on the subject. My remembory doesn't work so good anymore.

 

[nw axe man]

Thanks NW. I've been reading LW since I think 74. Subscribed to it and Log Trucker sometime in the late 70's. I 'think" I saw Finley mention one time he had a paper out on just cutters? Again I'll await your knowledge on the subject. My remembory doesn't work so good anymore.

Again, you're right on. Can't remember if it was called Timber Cutter or Timber Faller but he did have it out. He did an article on my dads crew in 71 and 78. He also did one in 81 when my dad and I were contracting in the blast area if my "remembory" serves me correctly.
Well, boys, gotta go sit down all day. All of you have a good one. At least the sun is shining and supposed to shine most of the weekend. Good for the garden.

 

[dancan]

Switched to this setup this year, got tired of stuffing my beater in the back of my belt. A pain in the butt, literally.

This is much better. The harness and scabbard came from a little company over in Smelterville, Id. They make a lot of nice stuff for fallers.

That is the famous tape nail that Cody likes to speak of on the end of the tape. Works good.

I'm not too picky about wedge brand. Don't really need anything over ten inches around here. Like I said before, I really like the 7.5" Stihl wedges when a tree spits a wedge. They can really go where no other wedge can.

The axe has a 3 pound head, which suits me just fine

A little off topic (not that it probably matters here, lol), but I bought myself a new pair of Viberg Calks after work today. I wish everything was made as well as those boots.

Take care - Sam

Here on the under privileged "LEast" Coast we don't have a lot of large trees left so it is not often that we need large wedges but occasionally a 7" or 10" is needed , most of the time a 5" or a felling leaver will do .
After beating on wedges available around here over the last few years I've found (as others have stated) that the Stihl's seem to last the best .
Nice pic Sam .
Since I joined this site a few years ago I have kept my eyes open to thing that could make my life easier or more efficient when I'm working in "my" forestry division and have adapted a lot of things from different regions to make life easier (some not) .
One of these things has been my axe scabbard that I made after seeing a few pics here .
I carry one wedge in it and the rest in a pouch .
The axe is about 2lbs with a 24" handle which doubles up a a measuring stick if I forget my tape , the harness is made from a discarded fall protection harness .

This works for me in the things that I do , your mileage may vary .
Many thanks to all you picture posters !

 

[Greystoke]

nice, i like the barberpole handle, have your feet started begging for mercy yet

can we get a close up of the tape nail?

Here ya go pard:

Those nails rule, specially when bushelin...not havin to wait around for your tape to come in...actually have to slow er down a little to keep it from comin back and stabbin ya! They are way too sharp at first as the sharp point bends the first time you plug it into somethin hard, but just take a flflat file to it and make it a little more blunt and she works great. The way they make tapes anymore with the weak ass springs, you gotta lighten up your tape any way you can. I bought a hundred of these for $.25 cents a piece from John Day Riggin in Oregon. Not sure if they still make em, but they are worth havin.

 

[Greystoke]

Pardon my ignorance, Sam. What's the function of the leather in the pic? Also, do the CCI Blazers go out with you, too?

They go around your shoulders like a horse collar. Straps on front and back kinda like spenders that hook to your wedge belt to take the weight off your hips, specially when packin a fallin axe. Also serve as shoulder pads when packin your saw on your shoulder.

 

[Rounder]

What he said. The shoulder pads are really nice. It'd be tough to punch a dog through on of those.

Cody ain't kidding about being carefull with those tape nails. Got in a big hurry to tie into the road, falling/bucking big ugly fir. Popped that bugger loose and next thing I know it's stuck in my forearm, lol. Didn't make the road anyways.....I may never learn.

Happy 4th of July weekend all - Sam

 

[wowzers]

I was working on the landing the other day bucking a white fir, and did the same thing. Thing drilled me in the collar bone.

 

[madhatte]

The way they make tapes anymore with the weak ass springs, you gotta lighten up your tape any way you can.

The current generation of Spencers is seriously lacking. First of all, they're not a Seattle company any more; they're owned by US Tape out of PA. Second, as noted before, the quality of steel in the rewind spring is considerably lower than in the past. Third, the gears are made of some cast powdered alloy rather than steel, which is why they eat teeth so much more than they used to. The reels are made of thinner material, as is the gear at the bottom of them. Today's Spencers only superficially resemble the older ones. I have a 50' manufactured in '93 and a 75' from '96 and the parts are totally incompatible with new ones. What I do now for the pile I maintain for my crew is to keep rebuild parts on hand for at least ten rebuilds, as we easily mangle that many of something in a season. I tune 'em to come up tight at least a couple feet before the end of the tape so it's hard to walk off the end of it, and that helps some, but they're still fundamentally a less-tough tool than they used to be.

EDIT: oh, and I talked to the rep at US Tape and he tells me that he's "shocked" to hear that the pot-metal gears were breaking, and could I please collect a few and send them in for failure analysis? I've got a pile ready to go. Maybe they'll revert to steel? I hope so.

 

[T_F_E]

The current generation of Spencers is seriously lacking. First of all, they're not a Seattle company any more; they're owned by US Tape out of PA. Second, as noted before, the quality of steel in the rewind spring is considerably lower than in the past. Third, the gears are made of some cast powdered alloy rather than steel, which is why they eat teeth so much more than they used to. The reels are made of thinner material, as is the gear at the bottom of them. Today's Spencers only superficially resemble the older ones. I have a 50' manufactured in '93 and a 75' from '96 and the parts are totally incompatible with new ones. What I do now for the pile I maintain for my crew is to keep rebuild parts on hand for at least ten rebuilds, as we easily mangle that many of something in a season. I tune 'em to come up tight at least a couple feet before the end of the tape so it's hard to walk off the end of it, and that helps some, but they're still fundamentally a less-tough tool than they used to be.

EDIT: oh, and I talked to the rep at US Tape and he tells me that he's "shocked" to hear that the pot-metal gears were breaking, and could I please collect a few and send them in for failure analysis? I've got a pile ready to go. Maybe they'll revert to steel? I hope so.

I sure hope so too.

And since we really cant get anymore off topic, today a forester came in to inspect our next job and found a "pacific yew". I havent heard of these before but from what I can tell its pretty much just a bushy low and slow growing tree. Its only about 4 foot tall and about 3 inches in diameter. Anyway we arent allowed to cut within 50 feet of this bush. Has anyone heard of this before? Theres a link below with some info about it but thats about all I can dig up.

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/index.php?pid=21308#axzz1QtPx1DeM

 

[Rounder]

Well #### it, since we are vearing off course anyways.....I've been meaning to ask?

Anyone tried the Woodlandpro, or Husky tapes? I've not got much use for the new Spencer I bought. - Sam

 

[madhatte]

today a forester came in to inspect our next job and found a "pacific yew".

Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) was big news a few years ago when it was discovered that a chemical in it, Taxol, was useful in fighting breast cancer. For a time yew was badly over-harvested, but that's stopped because the Taxol is now synthesized. Yews grow very slowly. The wood is hard, and is historically important as the material used in the construction of longbows. You'll see them throughout the Northwest as solitary trees, but seldom as a population. The little red "berries" aren't edible. They're also not berries. They're actually a kind of weird cone. Family Taxaceae is a weird one genetically as they look more like pines than cedars, but they're more closely related to the latter than the former. The biggest Yew I've seen was about 30" DBH and probably 50' tall. I'm guessing it was at least 300 years old, based on the few I've drilled.

 

[RandyMac]

I saw Yews in the Klamaths, to the untrained eye, they can resemble redwood shrubs.

The limbs can make excellent bows, leading to today's bit of historical fact or fiction.

In vulgar vernacular "#### you!" came from the English. During one of the little tiffs the English had with the French, The English Bowmen reigned supreme using Yew wood bows. They were so good, that when captured, the French cut off the middle finger, that was used to draw the string, without which it is impossible to draw the renowned English longbow. So the act of drawing the longbow was known as "plucking yew". Thus, when the victorious English waved their middle fingers at the defeated French, they said, "See, we can still pluck yew! PLUCK YEW!"

 

[nw axe man]

Pacific Yew (Taxus brevifolia) was big news a few years ago when it was discovered that a chemical in it, Taxol, was useful in fighting breast cancer. For a time yew was badly over-harvested, but that's stopped because the Taxol is now synthesized. Yews grow very slowly. The wood is hard, and is historically important as the material used in the construction of longbows. You'll see them throughout the Northwest as solitary trees, but seldom as a population. The little red "berries" aren't edible. They're also not berries. They're actually a kind of weird cone. Family Taxaceae is a weird one genetically as they look more like pines than cedars, but they're more closely related to the latter than the former. The biggest Yew I've seen was about 30" DBH and probably 50' tall. I'm guessing it was at least 300 years old, based on the few I've drilled.

We have some populations, and I do mean populations of that stuff up here. In places it grows so thick it'll tear the shirt off your back. Nasty stuff to cut around. They had several sales above my home that they would hire helicapeters to come in and fly bundles out of the woods. Like Madhatte said though, after they synthesized the Taxol that ended.
Brings up a story about how powerful the wood is. In 78 my partner had just started a new job in about 4' of snow. After the first few hours I didn't hear his saw so hollered over to him, "Hey, you alright"? He answered "I think I cut myself". You can imagine what I was thinking. How do you "think" you cut yourself.
Anyway, I went over to where he was and it looked like someone had thrown a bucket of blood on that snow. He was sitting there with his head in his bloody hands looking miserable. His hard hat was about 70 feet away with a huge indentation in the front of it. I took his hands down and he had two 2 1/2" cuts at an angle on his forehead from the right to left clear to the skull. We didn't hang around but went down to the country doctor.
The doc went in to clean up the cut and called me in to take a look. I went in and you could see his skull where each tooth from the left and right side of the chain had taken out "bone shavings" from his skull. I had to sit down right away.
He had falled a hemlock about 20" and it had skidded down the hill and pulled over about a 3" yew wood which put it under pressure. He revved up his saw to cut it off and it blew up on him sending the saw into his forehead and flinging his hardhat about 70' away. If he hadn't had that hardhat on the chain would have gone into his head like a mushmellon. This was also in the days before the anti kick back devices on the saws.
We have a lot of yew wood here in Eastern Lewis county. It's incredibly beautiful wood, kind of a peachy color with a bright white sap wood. Makes incredible lumber if you can get it big enough to mill some boards. Like Mad said, it's harder than the hubs of h### and very resilient. The largest yew wood in the world is here in this county about 10 miles from my home. It's listed in the big trees book. Sorry for the ramble.

 

[RandyMac]

Ramble on.