Another way to get it done.......Big tree, tight spot

[muleman77]

Seems like even in a pretty modern operation, timberfallers still need an axe. Heres a few pics of a sugar pine I had to fall a couple months back.

There was a pretty heavy lean, and not a lot of places to put it.

Not here, thats a 20,000 gallon water system that serves 4 campground and day use areas

State highway, better not.....

And thick woods all around a big tree like this would make a real mess in. But if I can thread the needle, here's a spot, directly opposite the heaviest lean.

Time to get serious. A set of 110 ton tree jack's, stihl 461 w 36" bar, 4 lb Plumb rafting axe. I bored this tree, and it was still plenty sound, but jack's and snags are not always a good combo.

Jacking a tree is a whole different cutting plan. Make the shelf, and backcut enough to get the Jack's in and have room to run the saw without hitting them. Axe is handy here, for removing the chunks. Gun from the backcut to keep it all square as you go.

Load the Jack's and then make your face to match. Again, sure can use an axe. No chasing, no fooling around, very little room for error, especially on a double cut. Gun your face the same as your backcut, so you know where you're at in there.

Check your gauge, and then finish up the backcut, keep checking and keep it on the run. Usually leave more holding wood than a tree you are wedging. Not too much though! Set a couple wedges as backup.

Once you're cut up, you're cut up. Time to finish it off!

The BOOM never gets old

Lot of lift. Wedges wouldn't have really been an option.

Happy cuttin'

 

[jake pogg]

VERY cool felling job,thanks for great photos...
Good to see you back...Was the past fire season worse than normal?

 

[jake pogg]

That's a nice,carefully even hinge...Do you vary your hinge thickness,relative how stubborn the felling will be?Or is it your general average?

 

[muleman77]

VERY cool felling job,thanks for great photos...
Good to see you back...Was the past fire season worse than normal?

That's a nice,carefully even hinge...Do you vary your hinge thickness,relative how stubborn the felling will be?Or is it your general average?

Fire season was not too bad here, things burned at a pretty moderate rate. I stayed pretty busy on a bunch of smaller fires in and out of the wilderness. The last one was in mid November. Its very wet now.

Holding wood will vary a lot, in both thickness and evenness, depending on species, dry or green, lean and some other things. Theres a lot of ways to influence a tree.

I often cut them pretty thin on a tree I have to wedge.

With Jack's, you definitely want to leave enough the hinge won't lift up and break instead of fold over, but it has to break. Those jacks are really powerful, they'll lift a tree off and send it over your head if you aren't careful with your cutting!

 

[jake pogg]

Holding wood will vary a lot, in both thickness and evenness, depending on species, dry or green, lean and some other things. Theres a lot of ways to influence a tree.

I often cut them pretty thin on a tree I have to wedge.

That's neat,thanks a bunch for explaining that,i'd no idea!...(managed to live my whole life with only one species of tree...white spruce...not the toughest wood for that,and most adult trees have heart-rot at that,so i never even tried controlling anything in that manner).
Yes,very neat to see all that skill and thought and strategy,and the exotic trees,And cool equipment-thanks!

I use the same saw...Lovely critter,461...(except i swear that it weighs more than my old 066...is that even possible?)...
I happen to run into a fellow in a remote village last summer who claims to've invented a carrying rig for saws...A back-pack of a sort where the saw rides with bar flat against your back,powerhead up...He showed me a nice color brochure,promotional material like,trying to peddle it to USFS and all that...Seemed like a neat idea,on pictures

 

[Dusty One]

Great job..Thanks for the photos haven't seen the tree jacks used before

 

[Square_peg]

I would have loved to be there to witness that. Appreciate the whole story and photos.

Bravo!

 

[Miller '72]

Seems like even in a pretty modern operation, timberfallers still need an axe. Heres a few pics of a sugar pine I had to fall a couple months back.

There was a pretty heavy lean, and not a lot of places to put it.

Not here, thats a 20,000 gallon water system that serves 4 campground and day use areas

State highway, better not.....

And thick woods all around a big tree like this would make a real mess in. But if I can thread the needle, here's a spot, directly opposite the heaviest lean.

Time to get serious. A set of 110 ton tree jack's, stihl 461 w 36" bar, 4 lb Plumb rafting axe. I bored this tree, and it was still plenty sound, but jack's and snags are not always a good combo.

Jacking a tree is a whole different cutting plan. Make the shelf, and backcut enough to get the Jack's in and have room to run the saw without hitting them. Axe is handy here, for removing the chunks. Gun from the backcut to keep it all square as you go.

Load the Jack's and then make your face to match. Again, sure can use an axe. No chasing, no fooling around, very little room for error, especially on a double cut. Gun your face the same as your backcut, so you know where you're at in there.

Check your gauge, and then finish up the backcut, keep checking and keep it on the run. Usually leave more holding wood than a tree you are wedging. Not too much though! Set a couple wedges as backup.

Once you're cut up, you're cut up. Time to finish it off!

The BOOM never gets old

Lot of lift. Wedges wouldn't have really been an option.

Happy cuttin'

Thats the ticket!
I too, have never seen the jacks used and this may be the closest i come to seeing jacks used in the felling process.
Thanks a million M muleman77 for the pics and descriptions.

Just another boring day at the office for ya...Best Job in the world if you ask me. Look at that mug!

 

[phantomknives]

very good job, those are some paul bunyan jacks

 

[muleman77]

Great job..Thanks for the photos haven't seen the tree jacks used before

I would have loved to be there to witness that. Appreciate the whole story and photos.

Bravo!

Thats the ticket!
I too, have never seen the jacks used and this may be the closest i come to seeing jacks used in the felling process.
Thanks a million M muleman77 for the pics and descriptions.

Just another boring day at the office for ya...Best Job in the world if you ask me. Look at that mug!

very good job, those are some paul bunyan jacks

Thanks, glad you enjoyed 'em!

That's neat,thanks a bunch for explaining that,i'd no idea!...(managed to live my whole life with only one species of tree...white spruce...not the toughest wood for that,and most adult trees have heart-rot at that,so i never even tried controlling anything in that manner).
Yes,very neat to see all that skill and thought and strategy,and the exotic trees,And cool equipment-thanks!

I use the same saw...Lovely critter,461...(except i swear that it weighs more than my old 066...is that even possible?)...
I happen to run into a fellow in a remote village last summer who claims to've invented a carrying rig for saws...A back-pack of a sort where the saw rides with bar flat against your back,powerhead up...He showed me a nice color brochure,promotional material like,trying to peddle it to USFS and all that...Seemed like a neat idea,on pictures

The 461 is a good one

That pack sounds interesting, if designed well I'm sure it could be useful!

 

[jake pogg]

Very glad to hear that fire season was moderate,and all under control now.
you know how it is,nowadays,the great uncertainty,things changing rapidly,and in a not so predictable direction...(pretty severe fire seasons here in AK,record-breaking year after year

On one of your photos there's a curious pattern,is that some beetle damage?...

 

[disduster]

All business

 

[Old Axeman]

GREAT post muleman ! It is nice to see a post with safe and professional work. Brings back memories for me. Only difference is the jacks were bell base screw (house) jacks and my two favorite saws (I date myself here) were the 075 and the 056 super.

 

[VintageAxe]

Nice fall there. Reminds me of an old doug fir I cut down a while back, only I didn't have a jack. Six sets of wedges, double stacked, before it went over. Think I would have preferred the jack, but it was a good workout.
That narrow face would cause a minor freak out with the agency people here on the east coast. Everyone is all about the open face, boring backcut here. What forest is that on, if I can pry?

 

[quinton]

Thanks, Mr. I really appreciate your posts!

 

[John A. Larsen]

Great photos and very interesting process. John

 

[A17]

O Old Axeman , what bar length did you prefer on the 075? I recently picked up an ex-U.S.F.S 075 with a 29 inch bar on it, but I also have 16, 34, and 41 inch bars for it hanging around. Rather than buy a bunch of chains for bars I wouldn't really use, I'd like to get the opinion of someone who's actually used one. I already know a 32-36 inch bar is best on my 045 and 056, but an 075 is new territory for me.

 

[muleman77]

Very glad to hear that fire season was moderate,and all under control now.
you know how it is,nowadays,the great uncertainty,things changing rapidly,and in a not so predictable direction...(pretty severe fire seasons here in AK,record-breaking year after year

On one of your photos there's a curious pattern,is that some beetle damage?...

I think the picture you mean, with the D tape, just shows some bark surface that's recently weathered off.

GREAT post muleman ! It is nice to see a post with safe and professional work. Brings back memories for me. Only difference is the jacks were bell base screw (house) jacks and my two favorite saws (I date myself here) were the 075 and the 056 super.

Thanks, that's a compliment. At the time 056 and 075 were well regarded saws, and they still have a following!

We had a couple of those old screw Jack's around, but I never used them for this. Be a good way to stay right with a crosscut operation and get some options though. Gets me thinking....

Nice fall there. Reminds me of an old doug fir I cut down a while back, only I didn't have a jack. Six sets of wedges, double stacked, before it went over. Think I would have preferred the jack, but it was a good workout.
That narrow face would cause a minor freak out with the agency people here on the east coast. Everyone is all about the open face, boring backcut here. What forest is that on, if I can pry?

I've pounded my brains out on many stacks of wedges. It's a workout all right!
With the humbolt face, 30 degrees or so is plenty, and noone gives me any grief for it here. Pretty standard west coast logging practice. I'm in the SHF, R5. Saw programs are including more GOL type stuff nationwide, here too.

I cut with a boring backcut when it's useful. I've got more pics from this season to make threads of that might have one of those.

 

[Fmont]

My cousin was just getting trained in CO, boring backcut is the first thing they taught him.

O Old Axeman , what bar length did you prefer on the 075? I recently picked up an ex-U.S.F.S 075 with a 29 inch bar on it, but I also have 16, 34, and 41 inch bars for it hanging around. Rather than buy a bunch of chains for bars I wouldn't really use, I'd like to get the opinion of someone who's actually used one. I already know a 32-36 inch bar is best on my 045 and 056, but an 075 is new territory for me.

Dude, I love working on 2t motors. I've been thinking about trying to find an old non-running saw to experiment with. Do people mod/make frankensaws? I have a scooter engine I built pushing 30hp at 15k rpm, stock was 4hp @ ~8000 rpm. I'd love to make a monster saw just as an exercise in staying curious.

 

[A17]

I've seen a McCulloch 15 with a water pump engine stuffed under the hood, but the engine turned the chain the wrong way so it was set on the back burner. I've also seen a Chevy 350 with a bar on it. Talk about a monster saw! Mostly, people stick to inter-saw frankensawing, but anything's possible.