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

[Gologit]

A gig handle is what we put a multi pointed barbed head on, you guys prolly call them a fish spear, we use them for harvesting frogs out of farm ponds and streams. We hang coleman lanterns or bright lights on the front of a flat bottom boat and float down these crystal clear streams in the Ozarks and spear or gig suckers and other rough fish for fish frys. A handle is usually is about 2-2.5" in dia and 10-14' long.
It's a dying tradition, people just go to a fancy restraunt to eat frog legs instead of going out and catching their own.

Okay, now it makes sense. We use to gig salmon in the rivers on the coast when we were kids. That would probably get you arrested these days.

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

Axe carry

Some guys use a aluminum box to carry the axe in, it attaches to a belt. I slip my stihl axe in the leather frog on my jack straps in the back. The other way to carry a axe is to drill a hole in the handle and put a piece of cordage thru and attach some sort of snap lock device,clip it to a belt loop, not good for heavy head.

 

[RandyMac]

Okay, now it makes sense. We use to gig salmon in the rivers on the coast when we were kids. That would probably get you arrested these days.

We did that every Easter vacation.

Oh yeah, 75% of what we did for fun and as a matter of course, would get you clapped in irons now.

 

[Gologit]

We did that every Easter vacation.

Oh yeah, 75% of what we did for fun and as a matter of course, would get you clapped in irons now.

LOL...more like 95%. Like the time "somebody" put up the Timber Harvest Boundary ribbon in Sequoia Park in Eureka.

 

[RandyMac]

I could use, ah, a couple hundred feet of the tape.

 

[nw axe man]

I could use, ah, a couple hundred feet of the tape.

Alright, Randy.
I was viewing this site at 4:30-5 this morning and read your question "anybody know why I bent the Pulaski handle?" I can see that no one is biting so, I will.
Why did you bend the Pulaski handle? I was thinking that you reverted back to the handfalling days. Maybe not?

 

[RandyMac]

Pretty close. The bent handle made reaching into blockcuts easier. Being a grunt, I spent much of my day busting up chunks and levering them out.

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

Handle bent

I remember one old faller did the same thing to get a better hit on on the wedges in awkward spots. As to doing to a pulaski I would figure less chance of hitting the foot, kinda like a broad axe.

 

[nw axe man]

Yup...I can relate. I had to quit laughing about the one foot axe handle before I replied, though. I've done the same thing but I had an 18 incher when I was done. And leaners to wedge the rest of the day, too. I think that at the end of that day my right arm was longer than my left from swinging that short axe extra hard.

And you're right about "stupid" stuff. If you made a list of every goof-up that a guy in the woods could make I think most of us could put a check mark beside every one of them. I know my list would probably run at least two pages. They're learning experiences if you let them be but that sure doesn't take the sting out of them.

One question, though. Why is it, that when you screw something up royally, there's always somebody there to see it? And that person is always somebody you'd rather not make a dumb mistake in front of? Like the bullbuck or the side-rod? Or your partner? Or your wife? Never fails.
Ever notice how a lot of times lunch time conversations are about screw-ups? Nobody ever talks about the 500 trees that old so-and-so put right where they should have...they talk about that one tree that went sideways and took out the boss's new pickup. No mercy at all.

And thanks, everybody, for the advice and links on the axe-handles...there's gotta be some good ones some darn place.

Man, you must be special if all you can fill up is two pages. I'm sure I could come up with a book.
Regarding screwing up something up royally.
There's a book called Timber Country revisited. In it is a picture of my father and uncle. Right behind them is a fir that my dad fell right alongside the road. When that picture was taken I had just alligatored that nice 4' fir log. My dad ran over to it and immediately took a chunk of wood and placed it in the slab I had just made off the bottom of the log. "There" he said sarcastically, with a large hint Betty Crocker pissed off, "that way that damn alligator won't go hungry". All this while the guy was taking pictures and the owner of the logging outfit plus a few dignitaries from the FS standing around. Talk about humiliating. I knew I had done wrong and made a mistake reading the bind, but at least I was just a dumb bucker and at the time really didn't know how I bad Ihad pooped in my nest

 

[nw axe man]

Pretty close. The bent handle made reaching into blockcuts easier. Being a grunt, I spent much of my day busting up chunks and levering them out.

Now that would be because of the way redwoods are undercut, right? I see where they didn't necessarily use a humbolt or conventional cut but would block it out?

 

[RandyMac]

I slabbed a Redwood on the 4th cut and was addressed as "boy" for a week. Regardless of the lay of the log, you were expected to be nearly perfect. There is much to be said about the old style formal training.

 

[Gologit]

Man, you must be special if all you can fill up is two pages. I'm sure I could come up with a book.
Regarding screwing up something up royally.

Yup...just two pages. But I write really small and I can get a lot on two pages. A whole lot.

 

[RandyMac]

Now that would be because of the way redwoods are undercut, right? I see where they didn't necessarily use a humbolt or conventional cut but would block it out?

Humboldts and what we called "Orygun" cuts were used often enough, block or step cuts made up over half, at least what I saw in our area.
It had as much to do with the sheer size than anything else, angled cuts take up a lot of room and time. There was also the mechanics of how you needed the tree to fall. I forget the exact formula, so many inches of rise/step depending on diameter of trunk and angle of slope. Uphill falls need less, downhill cuts could be very wide. Snipe placement, angle and depth were critical. To tell the truth, at the time, I found Redwood logging to be tedious. The value of the wood meant strict attention, an error of an inch could cost $100s at the mill.

 

[nw axe man]

I agree. There's a whole lot to be said for that kind of training. Especially when what you really crave from those older guys is respect. There's only one way to get it and that's to do it right. You might only get a nod, but that was enough. At least you knew you were on the right track. It's that scowl that really hurt. No words, just a scowl.

 

[nw axe man]

Humboldts and what we called "Orygun" cuts were used often enough, block or step cuts made up over half, at least what I saw in our area.
It had as much to do with the sheer size than anything else, angled cuts take up a lot of room and time. There was also the mechanics of how you needed the tree to fall. I forget the exact formula, so many inches of rise/step depending on diameter of trunk and angle of slope. Uphill falls need less, downhill cuts could be very wide. Snipe placement, angle and depth were critical. To tell the truth, at the time, I found Redwood logging to be tedious. The value of the wood meant strict attention, an error of an inch could cost $100s at the mill.

Interesting. I've never done the block out cut. I have super 8 movies of my father running a two man Diston and he and his brother blocking out cuts on big oldgrowth fir. I guess by the time I got into it that had passed with the advent of the lighter faster saws. Yes, falling large wood is tedious and takes a lot of work. It's also an art form as far as I'm concerned. One that is fast becoming lost. The part I love is the challenge of putting trees right where you want them and for a strip to look like the fingers of your hand laying out all nice and perfect. The thought that any one tree can screw your strip up for 2-3 weeks makes one pay close attention to detail. You're right on, that inch can cost not only dollars at the mill but dollars in your pocket.

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

Cuts

Another thing about big trees one inch too much and get a faller killed or maimed. The bigger the tree the more time spent doing the cuts wiil save life and limb as well as BF value.

 

[RandyMac]

Old Ray was one of my Grandad's buddies, the pressure was doubled. I am now the age that Ray was, if the world had spun differently, I would be riding herd on a high strung kid, as punishment.
He said "Do exactly what I say, exactly how I tell you to and we will be fine, and quit looking at my daughter like that!"
I remember being upgraded from boy to lad, it really stung to be called boy after a preventable mishap.
Not a day goes by without me hearing his voice, much of his advice applied to every day life. That year with him was worth ten.

 

[RandyMac]

Arboristsite MVP
This message is hidden because HILLBILLYREDNEC is on your ignore list.


I don't know or care what you have to add. Maybe you should just go #### yourself.

 

[Gologit]

I agree. There's a whole lot to be said for that kind of training. Especially when what you really crave from those older guys is respect. There's only one way to get it and that's to do it right. You might only get a nod, but that was enough. At least you knew you were on the right track. It's that scowl that really hurt. No words, just a scowl.

Yup. Sometimes, when I was breaking in, I would have settled for just not getting yelled at. My uncle taught me...and he was a yeller. Maybe because he was deaf from too many years on the saw. When I got so I could go a whole day and not get yelled at I figured I was making progress.

But...as I got better his expectations got higher too. Much higher. It was a natural progression and I recognize that now but at the time it sure put the pressure on. When I started we were right at the end of the old growth Redwood days. The older guys knew that and I think they wanted their last work to be their best. What Randy said about an inch costing money was true then. And having a big one splatter was just a terrible thing.

The guys that taught me weren't much for praise. A look or a nod was as fancy as it got. But when you understood the language...it was enough.

 

[Gologit]

Another thing about big trees one inch too much and get a faller killed or maimed. The bigger the tree the more time spent doing the cuts wiil save life and limb as well as BF value.

Sssshhhh...the grownups are talking.