The working man, and chainsaw thread!!!!!!!!!

[parrisw]

Thanks for the suggestion, I think I am at about 28" or so. So far is has only come loose after pulling through a lot of slack, but other than that has worked real well.

Will, that looks like some nice wood. Hows the back feeling?

Jim, I will bet that saw is a blast to run. Good to see old iron can still get the job done!

Hope everybody has a safe and fun Memorial Day!!

Feeling pretty good, just trying not to overdo it. My body was sore after all those rounds though. Almost finished.

 

[homelitejim]

Jim, I will bet that saw is a blast to run. Good to see old iron can still get the job done!

So much fun that the Stihl 441 never made it out of the Tahoe.

Feeling pretty good, just trying not to overdo it. My body was sore after all those rounds though. Almost finished.

I would have helped with that, too much fun.

Jim good stuff, nice job and pictures!

Thanks Norm, means a lot my friend.

 

[pioneerguy600]

Hey all have a question about east coast spruces. I found a guy through kijiji that wants some 100+ year old spruces cut down and im wondering how big would they be diameter wise?? Hoping they are a decent size so that I can play around with the slingerized 088

I have cut East coast spruce for about 47 years and we have three varieties around here. The white spruce gets the biggest and at around 100 years they are only about 24-30" on the stump, we have a short growing season when the most wood is added to each yearly ring. Rings average around 1/8-1/4" per year. The black spruce is usually smaller in diameter and tighter in the growth rings, the red spruce would be inbetween those two size wise. I have seen 8" diameter black spruce be over 100 years old growing on a barrens under dry conditions.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Good deal Jim, and at first I thought you said saw never made it out to tahoe. Then reread is at saw, made it out of the tahoe LOL! I was gonna say you didn't mention another road trip:cool2: Yeah Will hope you hold up ok, and do not end up with a permanent injury. Brian good to see ya, and Jerry nice run down on the spruve, I figured an expert would be along soon.:msp_thumbup:

 

[NHlocal]

Your the second person to suggest a camel-back. I have a couple of them, I still ride mountain bikes when there is time LOL. I bought a 32oz bottle I can clip to my saddle to give that a try. If that dosnt work I will just take the camel-back. Let me know what you think of the distel, I noticed the last day I was working it you pull a bunch of slack out it can roll out and not grab like it should. For the most part I have never had it slip, but the last time I was using an ascender to go up and would go up 10' or more and then pull the slack through and a couple of times it got loose and didnt want to grab. For now I am happy with it and its a breeze to tie.

Brian, I did some tree work Saturday afternoon and tried out the Distel hitch, I'm using 3/8" Ocean prusik cord on a 1/2" climb line. I tried it tied with the "standard" 4 wraps and it didn't want to grab, it had a bit of slack so I put one more wrap on it and it grabbed great. The problem is it didn't want to "let go" all the way and it was hard to lower myself down the climb line. I'm sure I have to tweak the length to get it right, these friction hitches can be very fussy about the length of cord you use. I was "only" up in the tree for 3 hours, I sure am glad I had my Hydra Pak on. Went through about half of it(50oz). The work went a lot slower than I had hoped. I found out when I got above where the trunk divides into 2 leaders that the split that runs up the trunk runs all the way up the leader I was planning to tie in to. The split looks a lot worse at the top of the tree. :msp_scared: Also the wind was gusting pretty hard, was more cautious than usual. The Hemlock went down without too much trouble, didn't have to climb it, used my throw line to set a pull rope. I'm working on the video, I'll post it as soon as I can. Here's a couple pics. :msp_tongue:
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:



.....setting the pull rope.....

.....most of the crown and a little lean toward the lawn.....before.....

.....and after.....

.....rigging the limb with a natural crotch.....

.....that's enough for today, time to get down.....

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Great pictures, and job Randy. Really nice:cool2:You get a new saw?

 

[pioneerguy600]

Good deal Jim, and at first I thought you said saw never made it out to tahoe. Then reread is at saw, made it out of the tahoe LOL! I was gonna say you didn't mention another road trip:cool2: Yeah Will hope you hold up ok, and do not end up with a permanent injury. Brian good to see ya, and Jerry nice run down on the spruve, I figured an expert would be along soon.:msp_thumbup:

Not sure I am an expert, Norm but I have been in the woods since I was born there. My experience in cutting the spruce is limited to our Maritime provinces around here, ie. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Eward Island and Newfoundland. I have only eyeballed them down in Maine and NY state. The Sitka Spruce out on your coast are massive compared to our trees on this coast.
I have cut white spruce on this side that were in the 40-48" range on property that had never been cut on before by white man, sadly those trees are allmost all gone now as this province has almost been completely cut over.

 

[NHlocal]

.....new saw?

Great pictures, and job Randy. Really nice:cool2:You get a new saw?

Thanks Norm, I didn't have my son with me so it was a "one man operation", my wife was there to "keep an eye on me". :hmm3grin2orange: It's not a problem, I just am pretty limited on what I can lower out of the tree without "ground crew". All in all it went well. The hinge on the Hemlock is a little ugly. I left it a little thicker than I normally would and wider on one side to help "steer" the tree and to keep it on the stump as long as possible. Like I said it was a "one man operation", had to do things a little different to keep it safe. When I put the back cut in it it didn't open up hardly at all, :msp_scared: that's the main reason for the thicker hinge, I had to "run" around to the come-a-long and pull the tree over. It had a "bit" more weight on the lawn side than I expected. It did come down alright though, fell to the ground with very little "collateral" damage. :msp_thumbup:
New saw?, Norm believe it or not, that is my "original" Husky 362xp that I bought brand new in '06. I love that saw, it's a work horse for sure. I'm working on that video of the Hemlock, I'll post it ASAP.
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[NHlocal]

.....Saturday afternoon cutting.....

.....okay guys here you go, Saturday afternoon cutting video, take a look and tell me what you see. opcorn: It was a little bit of a different take down for me not having that extra "set of hands" to help out, probably did a few things I shouldn't have, but I was very cautious with everything I did. You do what you gotta do depending on the situation, as long as extra caution is taken and understanding what the consequences will be the risks can be managed. :msp_huh: Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weedend!
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

Hemlock Take Down.wmv - YouTube

 

[Somesawguy]

.....okay guys here you go, Saturday afternoon cutting video, take a look and tell me what you see. opcorn: It was a little bit of a different take down for me not having that extra "set of hands" to help out, probably did a few things I shouldn't have, but I was very cautious with everything I did. You do what you gotta do depending on the situation, as long as extra caution is taken and understanding what the consequences will be the risks can be managed. :msp_huh: Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weedend!
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

Hemlock Take Down.wmv - YouTube

Nice job. I'm pretty sure I heard a come-along there at the end when you were pulling the tree down.

Is there a reason you didn't put it in the grassy area? It seemed like an ideal place to drop it.

 

[Denis Gionet]

.....okay guys here you go, Saturday afternoon cutting video, take a look and tell me what you see. opcorn: It was a little bit of a different take down for me not having that extra "set of hands" to help out, probably did a few things I shouldn't have, but I was very cautious with everything I did. You do what you gotta do depending on the situation, as long as extra caution is taken and understanding what the consequences will be the risks can be managed. :msp_huh: Hope everyone had a great Memorial Day Weedend!
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

Hemlock Take Down.wmv - YouTube

I know why he felled it into the bush.... less branch cleanup !!!! No raking required.

Good job on the cut, better leaving more hinge and pulling it where you want, rather than cut it too thin and fight to keep it away from valuable space. I'd have probably done the same on a tree that tall. 2 thumbs up.

 

[Somesawguy]

I know why he felled it into the bush.... less branch cleanup !!!! No raking required.

Good job on the cut, better leaving more hinge and pulling it where you want, rather than cut it too thin and fight to keep it away from valuable space. I'd have probably done the same on a tree that tall. 2 thumbs up.

That makes sense. :msp_thumbup:

 

[NHlocal]

.....the grassy area!?!.....

Nice job. I'm pretty sure I heard a come-along there at the end when you were pulling the tree down.

Is there a reason you didn't put it in the grassy area? It seemed like an ideal place to drop it.

Ayuh, that's exactly what you heard, a handy tool to have when all you have are your own two hands to work with. :hmm3grin2orange: Putting it on the "grassy area" (aka; the customer's back lawn) probably would've taken about 5 minutes, and I'm sure it would've taken the home owner about 5 seconds to fire me from the job. :msp_scared: You're right, it was the ideal place to drop it but it wasn't an option. Clear instructions from the home owner, "no lawn damage". He also said, "drop it and leave it", which means no cleanup for me.:biggrinbounce2: Thanks for the comment neighbah. :msp_thumbup:
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[NHlocal]

I know why he felled it into the bush.... less branch cleanup !!!! No raking required.

Good job on the cut, better leaving more hinge and pulling it where you want, rather than cut it too thin and fight to keep it away from valuable space. I'd have probably done the same on a tree that tall. 2 thumbs up.

Thanks Denis,
.....good call on the hinge, the main reason was when I put the back cut in it only opened up just a little bit. I had already put a good amount of tension on the pull rope with the come-along so right away I knew there was more weight on the back side of the tree than I had first thought, if I kept cutting there was a high risk of losing the tree off the stump. :msp_scared: So yes, I agree 100%, much safer to leave a little extra hinge and pull it over to fall "on gun". :msp_thumbup: I haven't measured it, I'm thinking between 50 and 60ft.....? :dunno: I'll measure it up when I go back to finish the Oak. Thanks for the comments.
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[Denis Gionet]

Yeah, 60 wouldn't be a bad minimum. I did a Poplar on Sunday (shed project for the lake, building a shed out of round wood and cutting my own planks for it.... with a 435 Husky) that was 4- 8 foot sections plus the top, which was easily 12 feet. Easy 45 feet, maybe 50, and yours dwarfed mine by 30 feet easy. Good job.

 

[NHlocal]

.....shed project?.....

Yeah, 60 wouldn't be a bad minimum. I did a Poplar on Sunday (shed project for the lake, building a shed out of round wood and cutting my own planks for it.... with a 435 Husky) that was 4- 8 foot sections plus the top, which was easily 12 feet. Easy 45 feet, maybe 50, and yours dwarfed mine by 30 feet easy. Good job.

.....how are you gonna have time build a shed when you're out doing all that fishing?!? :hmm3grin2orange:
Thanks again. :cool2:

 

[Alex D]

One thing I personally hate about hemlocks is that almost every single hemlock I cut which isnt many but still, they had a ton of rot for example the bottom 5 feet or so would be completely hollow in the middle and thats a little tree- 10" or so diameter. Then I had a really close call with a rotten maybe 30-40 foot or so tall stub of a long dead hemlock that was 5 foot or so in diameter the thing fell apart during the cutting destroyed my arctic 046 but looking back I was real lucky with that tree, that it didn't injure or worse kill me.

 

[NHlocal]

One thing I personally hate about hemlocks is that almost every single hemlock I cut which isnt many but still, they had a ton of rot for example the bottom 5 feet or so would be completely hollow in the middle and thats a little tree- 10" or so diameter. Then I had a really close call with a rotten maybe 30-40 foot or so tall stub of a long dead hemlock that was 5 foot or so in diameter the thing fell apart during the cutting destroyed my arctic 046 but looking back I was real lucky with that tree, that it didn't injure or worse kill me.

Dead and dying trees, whatever type of trees they are, are about the most dangerous and unpredictable trees to cut. Glad you're here to tell us about it, as you said, could've been your life along with your saw. :msp_scared: I was fortunate, the tree was healthy and not "too much" trouble to work with. :msp_tongue:
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup:

 

[pioneerguy600]

If a snag must be cut down that is suspected to be unstable or rotten then that tree stalk should be wrapped with a logging chain and chain binder.Wrap it about 12" above the backcut and again up as far as you can reach, 3-4 wraps around of a 3/8" binder chain then pulled as tight as the binder can pull it will greatly improve the chances that the tree will not implode, explode or barberchair when cutting on it. There is no 100% safe way to cut these things but wrapping them will greatly improve the chances of a safe fell.

 

[NHlocal]

....."on the clock".....

Well, ground my first stump today. It was quite an experience I will say that. :hmm3grin2orange: I was "on the clock" with the stump grinder, it was a [SUP]1[/SUP]/[SUB]2[/SUB] day rental(4 hours). So in that 4 hours I got loaded, tied down, drive 30min. to the home, unload, dig around the stump/prep the area, grind the stump 4"-6" below grade, load the grinder back on the truck, drive 30min. back to the rental yard with 10min. to spare. That's almost as hard as tree work. I really got beat up. Anyway, don't cry for me 'cause I sure ain't complaining. It's great to be able to make a few extra dollars these days. And you can't go to any gym I know of and get a work out like that. Here's a few pics.....
Work safe. :msp_thumbsup: