Tractors and wood! Show your pics

Jstpssng · Mar 20, 2021

I definitely have got to get out there and see what big trees look like! I can be one of those tourists stopped in the middle of the road gawking while a log truck comes barrelling toward me.
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Maybe not that last part.

Gordon Gould · Mar 20, 2021

Jstpssng said:
I definitely have got to get out there and see what big trees look like! I can be one of those tourists stopped in the middle of the road gawking while a log truck comes barrelling toward me.
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Maybe not that last part.

You definitely should. My daughter moved out to Marblemount WA in 93 and the first time we went out it just gave me an incredible once in a lifetime feeling.

gg

John_Mc · Mar 20, 2021

arrow said:
Also, a lot of "occasional cutters" aren't sharpening their saws to pro standards making an upward cut more difficult.

I've met a few unfortunate pros who don't sharpen their chains to "pro standards" either. However, these tended to be pros only in that they got paid to cut trees. How they managed to stay employed was beyond me. They did not seem to have much skill at what they were doing.

arrow · Mar 20, 2021

John_Mc said:
I've met a few unfortunate pros who don't sharpen their chains to "pro standards" either. However, these tended to be pros only in that they got paid to cut trees. How they managed to stay employed was beyond me. They did not seem to have much skill at what they were doing.

I've seen the one's you talk about and I would not call them a "pro" in the least.
A "pro" to me was someone who stayed put as a logger for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10.. Those guys knew a "little something" about tree harvesting. I did it for 30 and never thought I knew everything. Most didn't last the month especially when hired mid summer or dead of winter.

What I have a hard time fathering is I've been retired for almost as long as I was a wood chuck. Still doing the home owner thing however.

Rarely is the "occasional cutter" touching up their chain at every refill and yes, some of my cohorts weren't doing this as well but they soon learned otherwise when they got to see production differences.
Wood cutters stayed employed because they were a warm body until their day of simply not showing up.. Hardly anyone really wanted to do it in my time.

Nowadays you're mostly a machine operator of some kind rather than a guy with a chainsaw waiting for a skidder turn.

John_Mc · Mar 20, 2021

It's always a pleasure to see someone who really knows what they are doing at work, whether it's a chainsaw operator, the guy who is restoring my 1951 truck, an excavator operator, or whatever. Seeing the guys at the other end of the spectrum at work always makes me cringe.

Skeans1 · Mar 20, 2021

arrow said:
I've seen the one's you talk about and I would not call them a "pro" in the least.
A "pro" to me was someone who stayed put as a logger for at least 5-7 years and preferably 10.. Those guys knew a "little something" about tree harvesting. I did it for 30 and never thought I knew everything. Most didn't last the month especially when hired mid summer or dead of winter.

What I have a hard time fathering is I've been retired for almost as long as I was a wood chuck. Still doing the home owner thing however.

Rarely is the "occasional cutter" touching up their chain at every refill and yes, some of my cohorts weren't doing this as well but they soon learned otherwise when they got to see production differences.
Wood cutters stayed employed because they were a warm body until their day of simply not showing up.. Hardly anyone really wanted to do it in my time.

Nowadays you're mostly a machine operator of some kind rather than a guy with a chainsaw waiting for a skidder turn.

That’s because the timber is smaller, the insurance for a hand faller is crazy to put it nicely, and setting chokers behind a skidder is a quick way to go out of business.

I don’t touch my chains in the brush never have and probably never will I can swap a chain before a guy can file one. The guy who works for me running a grapple track skidder runs a 20 inch bar by the time he does a stroke I can have a 36 or 32 swapped. The other reason is I don’t run round grind cutter they’re all square ground it’s a lot faster, smoother, and it’s easier on the power head.

Skeans1 · Mar 20, 2021

arrow said:
The Humbolt is good for stems going to the mill. Also, western logging is dealing with large trees where even a "wedge" can weigh more than 150 lbs. The Humbolt makes the wedge sort of fall out rather than have to be wrestled out. It is good however if the tree has a lot of swell out at the bottom where the wedge can get rather large.

For the average weekend wood chuck, the traditional 45* on the upside is preferable in my mind.
The reason being is the wood cutter is always dealing with a mitigation of the saw's weight as a result of a downward or horizontal cut.
Also, a lot of "occasional cutters" aren't sharpening their saws to pro standards making an upward cut more difficult.
What is essential is that the wedge cuts should meet as exactly as one can muster.
Not doing so can cause a tree to hang and subsequently barber chair.

What really helps when doing a humboldt is have two dawgs on the saw so you can dawg in and cut. If a humboldt is done correctly yes the face cut will fall out but it’s also easier to see if you missed something in the cut unlike a Saginaw cut when looking through.

Food for thought you can have unmatching cuts on the stump and not barber chair if you know what you’re doing. Great example is to use a Dutchman to get a tree with a little lean to the left to swing up to the right into a better lay and turning the belly so you don’t blow it out. Another good one is a full faced Dutchman when you need something to jump off the stump vs slide off the stump. Most of these cut can be done with a Saginaw style face but they won’t have the same effects as a humboldt.

Skeans1 · Mar 20, 2021

John_Mc said:
I've met a few unfortunate pros who don't sharpen their chains to "pro standards" either. However, these tended to be pros only in that they got paid to cut trees. How they managed to stay employed was beyond me. They did not seem to have much skill at what they were doing.

Would those be arborists?

Skeans1 · Mar 20, 2021

Jstpssng said:
I definitely have got to get out there and see what big trees look like! I can be one of those tourists stopped in the middle of the road gawking while a log truck comes barrelling toward me.
>
>
>
>
Maybe not that last part.

There’s not a lot of wood like this left around anymore other then on State and Federal lands but of it is all dead. When you see a truck now they’re all small wood loads it’s sad to see the rotation of the industrial get down to an age that’s not the best for everything.