"The Axman" US Forest Service Training Film

rjdankert

rjdankert

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Mar 10, 2011
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Don't know if this has been posted before. Found it posted on another forum. Not an endorsement of it - just passing it along for anyone who might have interest in it.

[video=youtube;fc0mdjknbPM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fc0mdjknbPM[/video]
 
Thank you! No, I hadn't seen this one before. Makes me glad to have learned, practiced and experienced exactly this from the gov't of Ontario (Dept of Lands & Forests) 45 years ago. Yes steel-toed boots and hardhats had become part of the kit by then but radios/phones and power tools were not featured. Single bits and Pulaskis were the only order of business though and doubles were never mentioned nor available.
 
Amazing that the basics were there and always have been, but man with the inclusion of the chain saw and other modern equipment has lost these ways.

Really good video overall. I like the sheaths. Don't need a fancy imprinted leather sheath to do the job.

Also notice the pace and rhythm when he was working - classic. Many today, including myself, get after it too fast and that can only lead to mistakes.

Make every swing count. Classic.

Great video thanks for sharing.
 
You are correct Operator1975 in that an experienced feller does all he can to pace himself and to optimize having the momentum of the axe do the work. Chopping like 'a man possessed' requires much higher expenditure of energy and doesn't increase productivity by the same amount. Plus you very soon 'run out of steam' especially during yesteryear's 10-12 hour working days.
 
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Good video:D:D
 
Gave it a quick glance. I'm going to have to watch the rest at home.

Very cool though. Thanks for posting. I very rarely see anyone these days choke up on the axe with the right hand to pull it up in the swing. Most people I see just hold it like a baseball bat at the end and lift from there. I've even heard people say "good form" on videos like that. Maybe it is but it's always seemed like the least ergonomic way to do it.
 
Shotgun said:
Gave it a quick glance. I'm going to have to watch the rest at home.

Very cool though. Thanks for posting. I very rarely see anyone these days choke up on the axe with the right hand to pull it up in the swing. Most people I see just hold it like a baseball bat at the end and lift from there. I've even heard people say "good form" on videos like that. Maybe it is but it's always seemed like the least ergonomic way to do it.
Click to expand...

For sure the 'seasoned gent' (and no actor!) featured in this was doing everything he could to make his actions appear to be standard routine. His colleagues would have laughed him right out of the bunkhouse and forever discredited him had he eagerly pretended to be something that he was not. Strength/enthusiasm and skill/experience are two entirely different kettles of fish.
 
300Six said:
. . . Strength/enthusiasm and skill/experience are two entirely different kettles of fish.
Click to expand...

An old bull and a young bull were standing on a hill top overlooking a valley full of young heifers. The young bull excitedly says "hey, let's run down there and mate with a few of those beauties". The old bull chews his cud a little, switches it to the other side of his mouth and says calmly "well, I thought I'd just mosey down there and mate with all of them".
 
Three bulls are standing around overlooking a field full of cows when they overhear the farmer tell one of the cowhands to get the trailer ready to pick up a new bull.

The old bull snorts and says, "I'm a tellin' ya what, there ain't but fifty cows here that are mine and if'n that new bull thinks he's a gettin' any of my cows, well, he's got another think comin'."

The second bull says, "There ain't but 30 cows here that are mine and that new bull sure ain't get any of my cows."

The young bull says, "There ain't but 10 cows here that even know me, but I sure ain't lettin' that new bull have any of 'em."

A few hours later a tractor trailer arrives and the bulls listen as the air brakes let out a whoosh, then the trailer doors open and and the gate lowers what has to be the biggest, meanest, orneriest looking brahma bull they've ever seen. Great big hump on his back, huge horns, froth dripping from his jowls as he stamps and paws at the ground.

The old bull says, "Ya know, I've been thinkin, it's mighty selfish of me to keep all them cows for myself, I might just part with a few of 'em to be neighborly."

The second bull says, "Ya know, I'm thinkin the same thing, no need for me to keep all thirty of them cows to myself, gets to be a mite tiresome."

The young bull lets out a huge snort and starts stamping and pawin' at the ground, raisin' a huge ruckus.

The old bull says, "Woo boy, what's a matter with you? Don't you know that new bull will kill you?"

The young bull says, "I'm just makin' sure that he knows that I'm a bull..."
 
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