Favorite set up for a Faller's Axe

muleman77 said:
I don't carry in my belt. How depends on what I'm doing, how far and how much fuel I need.

I've got a pack set up for just this, that I'll put it in sometimes. Usually the long range method I use. All my saw gear goes in it, saw on the pad over my shoulder.

I have a saw scabbard that carries an axe perfectly. Theres a little place for file, bar tool and a wedge. If I'm just cutting one or two down not too far in, I'll wear the chaps and my wedge pouch, and throw the rest over my shoulder.

Others, like falling on a fire line where I need a lot of fuel, I poke the handle through the dolmar handle, and carry that over a shoulder, or if I have a swamper he does.

Or if I'm just cutting a roadside I carry my axe along in the other hand and keep most of my stuff at the truck.

Just a few ways I've come to prefer.

I don't use a falling axe with a thin bit. Some are flat, some high center but in reality they're all similar thickness. This is not a job for thin light tools in my case. Either way you can get a toe or heel in a kerf far enough to know what you need to know.

In use I'd have an axe sheath on all these.

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Excellent descriptions of some of the gear you use on a regular basis and when/how you get it to where you need to be.
Always great of you to share what you do everyday M muleman77 ...I love it!
 
thunderstick said:
Muleman That's some nice rigging there. May I ask what state you live in and what your occupation as a USFS packer involves? It's obvious that you know and regularly use your gear.
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Well, the actual packer job is running the string of mules we have on our district. But I wear more than one hat here, just due to my previous experience working in the woods/logging.

I spend about half my time packing and taking care of the mules, and the other half as a Faller and Sawyer. I help do the trainings and certs, cut on fires all over, and do a lot on our district taking care if hazard trees in campgrounds, roads etc.

I also do a bunch of crosscut stuff, help sawing, especially the complex ones, teaching/training the trail crew and maintaining our crosscut inventory.
 
Thank you ... I saw you listed as a packer but then you were describing doing tree service so I assumed you wear more hats than a mule packer. One of the better experiences of my life was hunting in Newfoundland with a guide who was a logger and guide all his life. His knowledge of the bush and what he did with a 20" axe was amazing.
 
I put a leather handle saver on it-joined in the back. It's held by contact cement. Then I saturate the leather with pure boiling beeswax. When it dries it contracts very tightly to the handle and the beeswax makes the leather much harder and abrasion resistant.
 
The head is a 3.5# vintage Craftsman Ebay find- has good steel. I typically look for Craftsman first as they are often good deals. The handle was a 28" Faller's axe handpicked "House Handle" unfinished handle. It took very little shaping with a draw knife to fit the eye. I always eliminate the steep shoulders on the sides of the handle to make a gradual transition to the eye. I don't like wood protruding beyond the axe width. This is especially important if you add width with a handle saver. I don't like a saver that is a always being caught because it makes the handle too thick.
 
When I blued the head I discovered that there was some residue of light blue paint in the pores of the head that didn't take the bluing. It wasn't noticeable till the bluing was applied. I'm not sure yet If I will leave it as is or strip it and remove the old paint residue. Functionally its ready to go.
 
Head fit. I gorilla glue the handle to seal the wood, fill all voids, and bond to the eye. I also gorilla glue the wedge--waited 24 hours and then drove the metal wedge in additonally. The glue keeps the wood wedge from pushing when inserting the metal wedge and it gets the whole fitment very tight. Using Gorilla glue isn't part of a traditional fit, but it keeps things very secure through all types of weather changes.

http://s1038.photobucket.com/user/a...[user]=138911980&filters[recent]=1&sort=1&o=2
 
Looks like it will work.

These axes take quite a beating if you really cut much. And suffer through a lot of weather of all kinds. Just the pickup bed in summer, might be 150 degrees around here. Then rain and snow all winter. Try as you might they're going to get some of that.

So all bets are off. Gorilla glue. Drift pins. metal wedges. All the axe snob
no-nos......whatever will get it tight and weather resistant as possible.
 
Yup function first. I do think I might square the head up a bit more on it. I heat primarily with wood but the last few years I've had so many downed trees from wind and ice storms that I haven't felled many trees.
 
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