Felling notches

[edisto]

i usually just chill by the stump and watch gravity do its part.

I was stupid enough to do that when I was young and cutting a lot, but I was at least smart enough not to tell anyone I was doing it.

Now when the tree starts to go, the saw gets shut off as I walk slowly backwards down the path I cleared before starting in on the tree.

 

[smokechase II]

The curse of the new file

1) If you're filing at least you're not cutting - safer workplace for all,
2) More likely to produce chips - sawdust is overrated,
3) It's just one step below; "You need some help wedging?" or "I've got a level in the truck, OK?"

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My apologies to anyone being asked these questions but in the interest of full disclosure now you know.

 

[2dogs]

The entire state of Oregroin wishes to apologize.

===========

(The more common way to tell a guy that he can't cut is to offer him a new file.)

--------

Sorry to say but I'm forced to agree with a Californian.
At least with regard to cutting technique.

I laughed at this one...something about a monkey and a typewriter I heard back in high school. Hey we Collyfornians aren't all bad. Come on down and we'll barbeque some tofu have some fair trade coffee.

BTW I took S-212 week before last. 4 hours into the class I was helping to teach it. But now I am an A faller.

 

[belgian]

Filing on a nice stump is perfect for chilling out...:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

 

[stihl sawing]

Filing on a nice stump is perfect for chilling out...:hmm3grin2orange::hmm3grin2orange:

Do that alot too. But always have to trim off the rough parts to set the saw on. Last year i bought one of those vises you nail into a stump to clamp the bar on. Now i will cut a big round off and leave the vise on the stump till the job is finished. Works pretty good, Keeps the bar steady while you file.

 

[jimbo@stn23]

What I wouldn't give to spend a week in the forest watching and learning from a pro. It wouldn't make me a logger, but it would make me safer.

You and me both, Kat. Bring my own gear and work for free to learn how to do it right.

 

[GASoline71]

...If I had seen you "chillin" at the stump of a falling tree, you would have been setting chokers until you were an old man.

LMAO Randy... Yep... The sawboss I worked for would have snatched a guy up by the suspenders, and then put a boot in your a$$...

...then sent ya out chasin' or chokin'...

Also... never, ever, challenge the wit of the oldest guy in the crew... don't ask me how i know... all I can say is, I was young and mouthy. Not a good combo...

Gary

 

[BuddhaKat]

LMAO Randy... Yep... The sawboss I worked for would have snatched a guy up by the suspenders, and then put a boot in your a$$...

...then sent ya out chasin' or chokin'...

Also... never, ever, challenge the wit of the oldest guy in the crew... don't ask me how i know... all I can say is, I was young and mouthy. Not a good combo...

Gary

Yeah, the old guy I was working with had about enough of my young mouth one day, turned to me and said "Why don't you quit telling me how stupid you are and show me instead."

That one sentence changed my life.

 

[GASoline71]

"Why don't you quit telling me how stupid you are and show me instead."

That right there is sig line material...

Gary

 

[BuddhaKat]

That right there is sig line material...

Gary

Yeah, I outta add that, but it's so hard to give up the blind duck jab. :greenchainsaw:

There are are three pearls of wisdom that I have been lucky enough to have imparted to me. I'll share them for the benefit of all the yougnins here.

From my Mom: "Look, if you're smart, truly smart, you won't have to tell anyone. They'll figure it out on their own."

From Cliff Justice, an ornery old German guy that was the head printing press installer for Rockwell International: "Why don't you quit telling me how stupid you are and show me instead."

From Bill Riggs, my step-father and a Saint in his own time, and the most important and influential man in my life, may he Rest In Peace: "Look, you little snot nosed Son-Of-A-#####, this world's been getting along for 2,000 years without Jesus Christ, this company will survive without you."

Good times!

 

[stihl sawing]

Some more good advice"One liners" I'm hijacking my own thread.lol

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered....not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

 

[GASoline71]

Good ones!!!

2 pearls from "Buck" Thomas. One of the orneriest men I ever worked alongside... Rest his soul... he taught me a lot...

He was 60 years old, and showin' me how to set chokers. I was 17 and had a hard time keeping up with him... He said this to me on the landing, before we went down the hill... "Now listen rook'... when I move, you move... when I duck, you duck... when I jump, you jump... and if you see me haulin' a$$ outta there, you better be on my heels... 'cuz I don't wanna have to call your mama and tell her your dead."

The other pearl from Buck was what he told all the fallers from time to time... "Dammit rook'... look up, look out!"

Funny thing about Buck... everybody to him was a "rookie" So he called everybody "rook'" He got his start in the woods as a Donkey Puncher. Tuff old bastid he was...

Gary

 

[Turkeyslayer]

Some more good advice"One liners" I'm hijacking my own thread.lol

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Keep skunks and bankers and lawyers at a distance.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered....not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Live a good, honorable life. Then when you get older and think back, you'll enjoy it a second time.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* If you find yourself in a hole, the first thing to do is stop diggin'.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* The biggest troublemaker you'll probably ever have to deal with, watches you from the mirror every mornin'.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

Good stuff. Tried to rep you but have to spread it around a little.

 

[2dogs]

When you're up to your armpits in alligators it is sometimes hard to remember why we needed to drain the swamp.

God gave you two ears and one mouth. That's so you can listen to twice as much as you speak.

Fool's names and fool's faces are always seen in public places. (From my mom).

If I want your opinion I'll give it to you.

Park where the fallers park. If they move their truck, move yours. (Stolen from here).

F**k it, I'm outahere!

Never rile the cook.

 

[BuddhaKat]

It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and remove all doubt. Confucius.

 

[canopyboy]

These are all good for survival in the woods, but how about the one for when you get home?

An old guy once told me over and over...."When the women are happy, everyone is happy. When the women ain't happy, ain't no one happy."

Funny how sometimes I still forget it, and it's like trying to fall that 15 degree leaner up a 40 degree hill.

 

[056kid]

I havent had any bad experiences due to staying put..



I HAVE been smashed to the ground by not paying attension to what was going on up in the tree or on it's way down to hit me.


People all have there special opinions

I dident have the opportunity to work in big timber with old timers. Most everything i know about falling timber i learned by myself from reading books and experience.

Doing it professionally gave me alot of time to hone my skills and widen my arsenal.


To answer your question 2dogs i would face the tree to side hill and take my compression wood out of the hinge first, put a wedge in it to create a fulcrum befor the face comes into play. i guess you could call it a fulcrum..
and work my way around to the up hill side of the tree. Watching top the whole time to see if its going to walk or sit back. sometimes instead of just following around to the up hill side holding wood, cut the compression wood and the tree will begin to sit back and down. wedge in the right spot and then dog in at the up hill side and the tree will do its thing. I have found that the amount of wood you remove from the face is a really touchy subject as far as getting a tree to swing.
(it would be a swing dutch by the way, right 2 dogs??...)


I have had set ups that i was sure would commit properly but before the tree gets to commit the stump pulls and it goes the way it wants.

i have had set ups that commit and then go over ever farther because of too much holding wood.



there are alot of variables to falling timber. and good and bad ways to do it.




And if what I am saying is stupid, lets go see what is what... I will get my 2100 have my hat shipped from VA and we can go find out.............

 

[BuddhaKat]

I havent had any bad experiences due to staying put..



I HAVE been smashed to the ground by not paying attension to what was going on up in the tree or on it's way down to hit me.


People all have there special opinions

I dident have the opportunity to work in big timber with old timers. Most everything i know about falling timber i learned by myself from reading books and experience.

Doing it professionally gave me alot of time to hone my skills and widen my arsenal.


To answer your question 2dogs i would face the tree to side hill and take my compression wood out of the hinge first, put a wedge in it to create a fulcrum befor the face comes into play. i guess you could call it a fulcrum..
and work my way around to the up hill side of the tree. Watching top the whole time to see if its going to walk or sit back. sometimes instead of just following around to the up hill side holding wood, cut the compression wood and the tree will begin to sit back and down. wedge in the right spot and then dog in at the up hill side and the tree will do its thing. I have found that the amount of wood you remove from the face is a really touchy subject as far as getting a tree to swing.
(it would be a swing dutch by the way, right 2 dogs??...)


I have had set ups that i was sure would commit properly but before the tree gets to commit the stump pulls and it goes the way it wants.

i have had set ups that commit and then go over ever farther because of too much holding wood.



there are alot of variables to falling timber. and good and bad ways to do it.




And if what I am saying is stupid, lets go see what is what... I will get my 2100 have my hat shipped from VA and we can go find out.............

OK, I've got $20 on 2Dogs. :greenchainsaw:

After it's over I'll tell the kid the story about the old bull and the young bull.

 

[056kid]

its not a competition..

 

[AT sawyer]

Somebody more skilled than me had better explain that bore cut technique in a bit more detail or this will morph into the "kickback" thread or the "injury and fatality thread". One doesn't just plunge the hot running nosetip of a bar into a tree just any old way. I believe that initial contact-with-tree moment is done rather carefully.