Single Stemmin'

[1I'dJak]

Well I just started single stemming here on mid-vancouver island.... quite the job...man's work that's for sure! We drive to the bottom of the block...get choppered into the block...(its a heli logging show)... then we proceed to the trees flagged to be stemmed...a select few.... then we climb up 25-35m, top the tree, measure and radio in the stem top bdh and the length rappel down and onto the next...took out the biggest top yesterday i've even done... it was still 70+cm where i topped it... which is pretty big when you're cuttin' it out with your little 16" ms 200 bar! Quite the rush! and quite to way to log... after us come the conventional fallers to fall the rest, leaving the stems... then the stems are jigged... backcutting from two sides leaving some holding wood...the cuts are wedged and later a chopper comes grabs these 'jigged' stems, gives them a wiggle till they break, then off the block comes a 'high-grade undamaged from getting smashed down onto a steep grade' log...

 

[clearance]

Good for you man. I want to do it, like what I'm doing now but love the rush, sounds like a big rush. How do you rappel? Do you make a V in the top or leave a couple of branches?

 

[1I'dJak]

yesterday i left stubs, but these are yellow cedars that have fairly downsloping limbs, today i used a false crotch thingys with a prussic that adjusts the choke...its pretty slick...cutting the v's is hard on the chain, i just gotta remember to tie a knot in the line so it catches on the small ring... forgot today and had to climb up the ??????? thing again...right know i'm working for ssh -single stem harvest (well contracting myself to them, which i think many of the guys are doing), which is the other half of the now defunct rem....you'd do well at it cuz you've been climbing and doing that sorta thing for awhile...the pay is pretty good...i'm a trainee so i don't quite know what my wage is yet...but top rate is 450/day...which is seven hours on the block.. but right know the days are long cuz we're driving quite a long way...

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Sounds really cool Jak. Good thread! Any pics? What helos are they using?

Jeff

 

[1I'dJak]

we get flown in a long ranger and they pick the logs up with the air crane... a big red chopper that;s just all enging and cockpit...once i get my mojo going i'm gonna start taking some pics...

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

...just all enging and cockpit..

One of these? Two main rotors, no tail rotor.

 

[1I'dJak]

no it not that one...is that a kamov? this one have one main rotor as well as a tail rotor....looks very buglike... its go no real main body to it, just a front cockpit...kinda looks tripod like with its front wheel and two rear wheels, i'll ask the fellas what kind of heli it is... problem with this heli work though is that its very weather reliant... drove all the way to the block, too much fog heli can't fly... so that's our day..turn around and go home

 

[Reddog]

Must be a SkyCrane. Thats Logging if it isn't rain or fog it's snow or bugs. But it is still nice to be outside.

Jeff, how much will that goofy helo lift?

Wally

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

no it not that one...is that a kamov?

It's a Kmax made by Kaman. Sweet helos. Weather is always a problem, or at least an issue. Most of our better SAR cases take place in the worst weather possible. One of the greatest compliments I've ever received was from an F-16 pilot who told me us Coast Guard aviators were absolutely crazy for flying in the stuff we fly in.

So is this what they use-

http://www.aviation-history.com/sikorsky/s64.htm

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Jeff, how much will that goofy helo lift?

Like 5,000 or 6,000 lbs, and I think that's at 4,000', which is a helluva lot for a helo. The skycrane is something like 20,000. Those are insane number from what I'm used to. My helo will sling 2,000, and that's considered alot, but we're a SAR helo, not a lifter.

 

[Ekka]

Sounds like a way cool operation.

How long are the snap cut wedged spars left hanging around before they get choppered out?

I just wonder what would happen if one fell, like dominos maybe a whole heap would fall .... bam, bam, bam, that'd be a sight.

Pics would be really neat.

How does the helo grab the spar? and how do you guess the weight or do they have a formula? And the pay is friggin good, where do I sign?

 

[clearance]

Sounds like a way cool operation.

How long are the snap cut wedged spars left hanging around before they get choppered out?

I just wonder what would happen if one fell, like dominos maybe a whole heap would fall .... bam, bam, bam, that'd be a sight.

Pics would be really neat.

How does the helo grab the spar? and how do you guess the weight or do they have a formula? And the pay is friggin good, where do I sign?

Sometimes the trees are left, cut and standing for a while, chopper could be down, too foggy, etc. My buddy did this, he told me every once in a while when it was windy, you would hear a big booming sound, when one of the jigged up trees fell. The "jigging" up trees goes like this, two backcuts at the same level to the centre of the tree, wodden wedges (shingles) are put in. There is a fine line between the tree staying standing and the chopper being able to snap it off. The chopper has a grapple with an abort feature, the weight is calculated before hand. No one goes into the area after the trees are jigged up, I would think the cuts are put in so a domino situation would be unlikely.

 

[1I'dJak]

yeah the weights are calculated for sure...we are given a map of the block with all the trees selected for standing stem... they are are flagged with the dbh written on the flagging... we radio in the tree number along with the dbh... we climb and limb the tree till it gets ????ty... or if its oversize 100cm+ or so we top it at roughly 19 or so meters.... when we top it we measure the diameter at the top as well as the length.... this gives the cubic meters as well as the weight...unfortunately we're not around for the plucking of the stems, although i would like to see it..the pay is good but i'm not making that rate yet...hopefully i'll have some pix next week or so

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Like 5,000 or 6,000 lbs, and I think that's at 4,000', which is a helluva lot for a helo. The skycrane is something like 20,000. Those are insane number from what I'm used to. My helo will sling 2,000, and that's considered alot, but we're a SAR helo, not a lifter.

Chopper pilot, are you? Great job, I'm sure. I wanted to go to Rotary Wing Flight School, but my eyes weren't good enough.


Remember folks, helicopters don't fly.




They beat the air into submission!

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Chopper pilot, are you? Great job, I'm sure.

Nope. Flight mechanic/crew chief. I operate the rescue hoist, handle radios, external loads, aircraft systems and everything aft of the pilots.

And yes is it a great job.

 

[Ekka]

This threads great, can any of you guys get footage.

Like how the spars are wedged, the limbing topping etc and finally the helo lift.

Maybe the company that does it has some promo vid or something.

Yeah Jeff, you got a good job, it's not work ... it's an adventure.

 

[1I'dJak]

here are a coupla articles about standing stem :
http://www.forestnet.com/archives/Dec_Jan_04/bc_coast_logging.htm
and
http://www.forestnet.com/archives/June_00/helicopter.htm

 

[smokechase II]

Injury rates

At some point reasonable stats will be available on the true bottom line.

Injuries and death.

1I'dJak:
Any idea of the injury rates, fatalities and how this compares with other helicopter operations in similar settings?
Other ground logging in similar terrain etc?

This is so unusual that one could speculate as to all sorts of reasons why it would be safer or more dangerous and none of those would have any merit.
Whatever will be, will be.

Good luck and all that safe sort of well wishing.

(Get a camera; you'll take over arborsite.com with our interest)

 

[GASoline71]

Helicopter logging is the coolest operation to watch. I was on the East slope of the Cascades in Washington State one year on an early season elk hunt, and there was a helo-logging "show" (well, it was to me!) on the next ridge over. I wasted more time on the ridge I was on, watching the helos (there were 3 of them) pickin' stems out through my binos. Then the "show" got even better when I noticed a huge top come out of a tree right at the ridge top. Then another, then another. That was big timber. Way cool Jr.!!!

Gary

 

[smokechase II]

helicopters

The guys that have done heli-logging mention that experience first. Or perhaps about evenly with cutting in the West side blocks (Coastal to BC folks).
It is very expensive. With the cost of fuel now there might actually be a reduction in its use.

It is much gentler on the environment.
Harder on the employees generally.

Everybody that has been in heli operations know of a few good pilots that have died on the job.

What we notice in the wildland fire world is how great their pilots are at working with long lines and buckets.
Those are additional skills that require superb depth perception and patience.