Good vs Not So Good Help

[FLRA_Dave]

A guy about 25 miles from me had an ad on CL where you cut and he gets 1/3 of the wood. Seemed like a fair deal to me.
I had "helped" my brother in-law put in a new crank and what not into his G20 Chevy van. In return he and a buddy of his was going to help me get some of the wood done. Sounded like a plan to me.
I should have known better when he asked to leave at 7 am instead of 6 am, but we didn't actually leave until 7:45 am. Oh well, it happens. Get to the site and unload everything and get into the woods. I thought I would give them an opportunity to run some saws. it was painful watching my BIL clear away brush from around the tree and he started cutting off limbs that he could reach from the ground. I was screaming inside my head for him to just cut the tree already. Finally he went to do the face cut... he cut into a bit and I watched him stop pushing the saw - no chips were flying. He just was letting the saw rev in the cut. Whatever... I knew he didn't do this much. I took the saw from him and finished the face cut (explained to him what I was doing). I then let his buddy do the back cut - big mistake. He wasn't paying attention to the tree. It was beginning to go over and he had his face in to what the saw was doing. Had to smack him on the shoulder to get him to stop and get away from the tree. My BIL was then trying to reinvent how to get the wood out to the landing... big time hampering of production. My temper can run a bit short at times, so I just let him call the shots, rather than to continue butting heads (that hurts production as well).
Here you can see the wood with snow on it that took us 3 hours. This picture is also the continuation of work that was done with my brother (pictured) this past Saturday.

With my brother we were really getting some work done. I really like working with him. We work really well together. I suppose that happens with someone you have worked with your whole life.

Bucking up our first round of pulls from the woods:

Pulling another tree out:

Some cleanup before we pack up:

Our finished work for the day. Only 2.5 hours. Measurements put it right around 2 cord in the stack. I think we did well.

I appreciate that my brother in-law wanted to help. I just hope he learned a bit so he is better next time. In hindsight I should have done all the saw work (they were afraid to use the 441 and stuck to his PP4218AVX).

My brother put it in a pretty good perspective: "Not everyone gets to play with their wood as much as we do". Man, I sure love my little brother!

 

[ponyexpress976]

Teaching...a profession only for those with great patience.

 

[XSKIER]

I didn't see the PP, but a MS 180? Nice 3038e too! Did you have to haul it there, or was it already on site? Either way, nice wood and sweet deal!

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

Well, now you know who not to bring with you the next time. The fact that they wanted to stay away from using your Stihl should've spoke volumes about their experience levels. Can't think of many guys on here who'd pass up the chance to run a 441 versus the poulan. In your first couple sentences you said you "helped" your BIL drop the new crank in his van. By helped, did you mean by any chance that you did most of the work yourself??

 

[Cheesecutter]

Isn't it funny how you can help someone and they will ask you to help them again, but when they get to help you they make sure you"ll never ask them again.

 

[FLRA_Dave]

I didn't see the PP, but a MS 180? Nice 3038e too! Did you have to haul it there, or was it already on site? Either way, nice wood and sweet deal!

I didn’t have any pictures of when my BIL was there. My brother was using the little 018C as I was using the 441R C-M. Been thinking about getting the 261 C-M for a while as the 441 (28” bar) will wear me out after a bit. Close on the 3038e… it’s the 3032e. I needed to haul it there on my 18’ utility trailer behind my ’08 Dakota QC.

Well, now you know whonot to bring with you the next time. The fact that they wanted to stay away from using your Stihl should've spoke volumes about their experience levels. Can't think of many guys on here who'd pass up the chance to run a 441 versus the poulan. In your first couple sentences you said you "helped" your BIL drop the new crank in his van. By helped, did you mean by any chance that you did most of the work yourself??

That’s exactly what I meant. He’s an alright guy, just doesn’t know much about that stuff. He does tile work, roofing, drywall, and other remodeling stuff.

 

[XSKIER]

I didn’t have any pictures of when my BIL was there. My brother was using the little 018C as I was using the 441R C-M. Been thinking about getting the 261 C-M for a while as the 441 (28” bar) will wear me out after a bit. Close on the 3038e… it’s the 3032e. I needed to haul it there on my 18’ utility trailer behind my ’08 Dakota QC.





That’s exactly what I meant. He’s an alright guy, just doesn’t know much about that stuff. He does tile work, roofing, drywall, and other remodeling stuff.

That's exactly the opposite of how I struggle in the woods. I always pick up the MS 261 C-M VW first, then leave the MS 441 R C-M for back up. I also struggle with my little 1026R to bring in a bucket load of splits at a time, no skidding ability. But, on the other hand I don't have to struggle with dulling saw chain by cutting dirty skidded wood. Keep up the good work!

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

I didn’t have any pictures of when my BIL was there. My brother was using the little 018C as I was using the 441R C-M. Been thinking about getting the 261 C-M for a while as the 441 (28” bar) will wear me out after a bit. Close on the 3038e… it’s the 3032e. I needed to haul it there on my 18’ utility trailer behind my ’08 Dakota QC.





That’s exactly what I meant. He’s an alright guy, just doesn’t know much about that stuff. He does tile work, roofing, drywall, and other remodeling stuff.

If he was knowledgeable about all that I probably would have had him fix up something around the house that needed work and called it even. Leave the cutting to you and your bro.

 

[chucker]

! it's said " all the good help is in the cemetery".... so where does that leave us? now, an when were visiting our final resting place??

 

[Hinerman]

The fact that they wanted to stay away from using your Stihl should've spoke volumes about their experience levels. Can't think of many guys on here who'd pass up the chance to run a 441 versus the poulan.

I respect them for knowing their limits. I have friends who are scared to death to run a saw. The power of a 70+cc saw is frightening if you ask me, especially in an inexperienced persons hands. Things can go sideways in a blink of an eye and the results can be catastrophic. I guess that is part of the rush of operating one. It also forces me to be very focused.

Nice haul of wood you got there by the way; and an extra bonus working with your brother. I envy you for that alone. I have 6 brothers and none of them come cut wood with me.

 

[Bushmans]

nice work! It is inspiring when you can get some guys together that know what they are doing and work well together. Just Monday we had 2 trucks and 5 guys skidding logs out of the woods. One guy brought his grandsons. Both anywhere from 17 -21 yrs old. It was those three and me and another guy. We first went in and limbed and bucked the trees into 15-20 lengths and then while my partner drove the truck I would run into the woods and hook the strap to the log, give the signal and he would drag it out of the woods. After a couple logs I told him to just stay in the truck and I would run out after him, unhook the strap from the log and as he backed up I would walk with the strap to the next log and hook it up. Within 20 minutes we had hauled a bunch of logs out of the woods. Then the three of us cut it all into rounds while the 2 young ones loaded the trucks and trailers. In about 2 hours we had loaded up almost 3 cord of wood.

 

[pennsywoodburnr]

I respect them for knowing their limits. I have friends who are scared to death to run a saw. The power of a 70+cc saw is frightening if you ask me, especially in an inexperienced persons hands. Things can go sideways in a blink of an eye and the results can be catastrophic. I guess that is part of the rush of operating one. It also forces me to be very focused.

Nice haul of wood you got there by the way; and an extra bonus working with your brother. I envy you for that alone. I have 6 brothers and none of them come cut wood with me.

Absolutely. You're head has to be in the game. That's also why I said he should leave the cutting to him and his bro. Not only do they work well together, but he doesn't have to babysit anyone coming out to work with him. I'm sure the BIL and friend are awesome guys, just not firewood cutters.