How to use your saws sights

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That can't be right. I saw on Ax Men how new employees are trained. The guy with the loudest voice yells at the new guy and tells him to go cut down a tree without killing himself.

Well, if it is on TV then it must be true.:ices_rofl:

Actually, my first day on a govt. thinning crew was similar. Without the yelling though. Here's the saw, here's how you start it, cut the trees at this spacing, don't get hurt, Bye Bye.

Things are different now.
 
i will have to say i am purely self taught,once a couple of the old timers realized i had not killed myself yet,i guess they thought,"looks like this one might stick around for awhile"thats when i started to get advice or helpful hints,thats also when i started making more money cutting by the piece...
 
Here in BC we've been forced to deal with certification of our fallers for the past 6 years. Most people are still on the fence about how it's helped here, it has put safety on more people's radar, which is always a good thing. But it's also penalized those of us who were always breaking in new fallers the right way. We're simply not allowed to do it anymore. New fallers have to go through an intensive program in order to obtain certification, with no guarantee of work when they're done. It used to be we could pick who we thought would make a good faller, watch some rigging guys for awhile, etc. Then break the guy in. Now any Tom, ####, or Harry who has seen Axemen can go pay the money and become a "faller", and I use that term loosely, judging by some of the guys I've seen come through the course.
 
Depends on your area... Up here in the North Sound of Washington state... not many guys are gettin' hired on.

But down in Central WA... there are jobs open. Especially for new chokers/chasers. We gotta have somebody to laugh at. :)

Gary

you wont be laughin for long when im running circles around ya >.O lol im just kidding, sorta.
well i guess i really am joking at the moment, my kneecap is busted in half.
 
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Becoming a C-faller for wildlandfire takes a lot of time and cooperation from whoever is overseeing you and signing off on your task book. I was fortunate enough to work at a Forest Service station with a number of veterans that had amazing credentials and task books that were willing to help me move up in the ranks. In order to become a C faller you need to cut on a number of major incidents but also be accompanied by supervisors that are willing to help you out. Just like any agency whether its local or federal you need to jump through a number of hoops in order to get qualified.
 
Becoming a C-faller for wildlandfire takes a lot of time and cooperation from whoever is overseeing you and signing off on your task book. I was fortunate enough to work at a Forest Service station with a number of veterans that had amazing credentials and task books that were willing to help me move up in the ranks. In order to become a C faller you need to cut on a number of major incidents but also be accompanied by supervisors that are willing to help you out. Just like any agency whether its local or federal you need to jump through a number of hoops in order to get qualified.

I never tried to learn all the stuff the FS wants for it's different classes of fallers, and mine is probably no good anymore. But the last fire I worked on was the Scott Able fire in 2000, here in New Mexico. Two of the saw bosses I was working under could give certifications. We were conture falling some hills, and they kept pulling me off my area to go cut hazards in other fallers areas. :mad: These guy's had been watching me pretty close, and at the end of the first week they gave me some papers and said that makes me a class C faller, and I could re-negotiate my wages. The contracting officer said all they would go for local fallers was $18 and hour + $36 a day for saw + nothing for truck or mileage. Boy, was I excited. :laugh:
That's the reason that the Scott Able fire was my last, and why FS certification dosen't mean much to me to this day.

Andy
 
mmmmmmmm

...... If I see another pic of someone running a saw not wearin spenders and wearin a c--k s----r hard hat .. Someone needs and edjucation on how to dress first .... Whats with the great big TALL faces ... Talk about limiting your time at the stump .... Get the f----n thing on the ground and that will limit your time standing under a widow maker Those govt. snags , were they doug fir , I ask because tho I can spot yellow and red fir very easily in a stack of lumber I,m frameing with .... I,ve never seen a Doug Fir tree and knew that was what I was lookin at .... . Went from Maine to Alaska ....Got no plan about takin s--t over that one .... Anyway , for starters you could drive a VW bug around in that (forest ), strip ???? ..... Tarzan , post some more fu--ed up ground S.E Alaska pictures . So hitting your lay , and limiting your time at the stump are the 2 main criteria .........The only purpose double facing a tree is to me , is to pull wood ,and to keep it as perfactly in it lay as possible when there are other factors in play , ,,side wind , limbed heavily to one side ... Or for me , way too many limbs that I don,t want to cut off the logs , so I keep the tree hooked to the stump while it falls so it can't parachute roll and cause me to work my a-- off limbing .... Sorry about that chaser ..Job security for you ya know :rockn::blob2::laugh:......
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. Depending on the diameter of the tree , , if I have to keep my eye on stuff up there I will kneel down with a foot planted under me and my run trail planned out and walked out ahead of time . If your up on spring boards , well you better have the plan for whats going to happen and what you are going to do when it does , already front and center ....... What is a class C faller .....Sounds like a Weyerhauser idea. or gaemint ....... 650 a day , how many days a week , or month .. How much do they get paid waiting to go to work , but not able to work their regular cuttin job ??????????

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. Lastly , I really like the pictures .. But those campground /park shots ,just aint my world of fallin timber ...
 

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