LOLOL...You're right about that...it was dirty, either dusty or muddy with nothing in between, we used equipment that broke our backs, the pay wasn't much, the employment always temporary, the work got a little risky at times, and nobody bathed very much.
I'd probably do it again, though. I'll bet Randy would, too.
LOLOL...You're right about that...it was dirty, either dusty or muddy with nothing in between, we used equipment that broke our backs, the pay wasn't much, the employment always temporary, the work got a little risky at times, and nobody bathed very much.
I'd probably do it again, though. I'll bet Randy would, too.
Lol You old timers are not that much older than me, but I came in on the very tail end of it. Pretty much the same only smaller average trees and the pay had not gone up and every body was griping because everything but the pay was going up! The bad thing is there was a time 15 years ago that I made more than I make now, for a lot less skill.
What else would you have done? Moved to the city and worked in a shop or factory? Worked at a mill? or maybe run a cat for the county? Lol
:censored::censored:HELP! some body get another:censored: ram in that thing! Pound some more :censored:wedges while they are at it!
Nice Pine!
Scariest moment I ever encountered while jacking timber was when I was double jackin with Brad...who was another excellent Timber Faller I had the privilege of working with, and learning from:
Anyhow, in this unit about 100 feet above this tree:
there was a redwood growing on a very steep face, just behind another nice redwood, but it was on the downhill side, so, consequently, it was much taller. This glorious tree was only about 6' inside the bark, but we got 270 feet of logs(not counting trim) out of it, to a 14" top(the last 30 feet or so of top blew up), so it was very tall! Anyhow, the wind was blowing that day but on the ground it seemed manageable, but 300 feet in the air it was a different story. I was jacking on it and everything seemed fine(hovering about 3/4 between zero and redline, or 7500), when I felt a bunch of pressure on the handle, looked at the guage again, and it was nearing the end of the redline :jawdrop: I hollered at Brad...he shut his saw down, jammed all his wedges in it, and we just sat and waited(puckering) for the wind to quit pushin, the whole time thinkin our hose was gonna blow, and this tree was goin over backwards, probably with a wicked barber chair, ruining the company jacks, and makin us run like rabbits! We waited and as soon as there was a lull, I jacked as fast as I could (is it just me or does that sound funny??), thought it was all over when the wind slammed it again, and pushed the needle to max again! smashed around the wedges, Pucker!....wind died down and with a little more jackin she finally tipped. I looked at Brad...he tells me my face is white, which I am sure of, cuz his was too. That was one of those days where you get back to the pickup and just kinda slump in the seat after the adrenaline wears off. It was a good lesson for judging what your jacks can take, as it was amazing that we were jacking nice timber all day, but just not quite as tall, also I think those gusts that hit us on this one were probably the strongest of the day. I did the scale that night and could not beleive how many logs that tree produced, as we had to buck 20 footers for weight so the Chinook could handle them, then 40's...quite a day!
What I really wanted to do was be a talent scout for skin flicks...but I couldn't pass the pre employment physical.
Yes, some things were different, however, we had some of the most rancid, worthless, flithy, mindless, drug muddled, mother####in', commie lovin', original brand bastard hippies, ever.
Oh man! Those hippies used to get me fired up:bang:
And they still do:bang: Sounds like they do you too Pardner!
That's exactly right. In those days a kid without a lot of formal education, growing up on the coast, had three choices...ranching, commercial fishing, or going to the woods. I tried the first two and wound up doing the third. Working in a mill never appealed to me and you had to have connections to get on with the county.
What I really wanted to do was be a talent scout for skin flicks...but I couldn't pass the pre employment physical.
That 660 really helps to define the scale. I'll be startin a new tract in about a week, mostly all walnut, some cherry, and a few sycamores. Mostly all hillsides, but not as steep as what yours are.
a 660 w/32" is in there for scale.
got some wood to work up.
its a nice break from falling, but I'm ready to jump into the next unit.
