Chainsaw use - alone

[Skeans1]

The stump has to be higher because you have to get your saw up under the cut. It is used in the west because most trees are on the sides of hills, and as a rule they fell their trees down hill, or have significant root swell.

There is no real need to use the Humbolt Notch here because we do not fell trees on steep ground as often, nor is there any savings. Here, we have to have trim allowance" on logs anyway, which is at least 4 inches, but most loggers make it 6 inches just to be safe. You never get cut on a butt cut log because of the notch, so why make life harder?

The Humbolt Notch can be modified so it is the same as the Open-Face Notch, just upside down, but it is harder to make since your making the slope cut of the notch upside down.

Interestingly, I grew up with the conventional notch, became a certified logger, and was forced to adopt the open-face notch...as I should have. However, I never quite got used to it. To this day my method is 1/2 conventional, and 1/2 open-faced. Basically I make a really deep open-face notch. It should only be 10% the diameter of the tree, but I make mine about 30%, so wayyyyy deep. There are worse ways to cut wood though so it does not bother me.

The biggest reason it’s used out here all the waste is left on the stump as well as for safety it’s less likely to come back at you. To trim cut 40’s or 36’s all day depending on the species I can have trims from a 10” all the way to 2’. A humboldt is an easy cut to do once you dawg in from your sight cut you can rock the saw on the outside dawg and hit the cut every time. Have you had the enjoyment of taking a 5’ face out before? If not that’s a good reason to do a humboldt the face slides right out so you don’t have to break your back trying to shove around the whole thing or blocks. To your certification I’m a certified logger as well out in the PNW we were always taught a 1/3 to 1/2 diameter for depth it really helps for wedging as well using jacks.

 

[BrokenTrack]

The biggest reason it’s used out here all the waste is left on the stump as well as for safety it’s less likely to come back at you. To trim cut 40’s or 36’s all day depending on the species I can have trims from a 10” all the way to 2’. A humboldt is an easy cut to do once you dawg in from your sight cut you can rock the saw on the outside dawg and hit the cut every time. Have you had the enjoyment of taking a 5’ face out before? If not that’s a good reason to do a humboldt the face slides right out so you don’t have to break your back trying to shove around the whole thing or blocks. To your certification I’m a certified logger as well out in the PNW we were always taught a 1/3 to 1/2 diameter for depth it really helps for wedging as well using jacks.

My trucker(s) hates me because I could never see long logs paying well. Keep in mind this is Maine. Here the log tapers too much.

I get my best scale out of 12 foot logs. It is not so much based on each log, but getting the most out of a tree. My trucker(s) claim I lose money, but I am not. I get less wood on each TRUCKLOAD, but get more out of the tree.

That is because if I cut wood like they wanted me too, I would get a nice 16 foot butt log, another mediocre 2nd 16 foot log, then maybe an 8 footer. That gets me logs out of 41'-6" of tree.

But if I cut (3) 12 footers, then an 8, I get (2) really nice 12 foot logs, a mediocre 3rd 12 footer, and an 8 footer. That is 46 feet of tree going for logs. But the key is, I get (2) really nice logs. Those scale up better, then a single really nice butt cut 16 footer, and a mediocre 2nd 16 footer.

But on a truck, it is less wood, because they can haul (2) tiers of 12 footers, or (2) tiers of 16 footers, so they can haul more. I have tried to explain to them that just because a TRUCKLOAD has more board feet, does not mean I am making more money as a logger/landowner.

We have a sawmill here that can saw 52 foot logs, but again, despite paying $25 more per thousand, the amount of money lost due to the taper of the log over such a length is worse then the money they pay. Again, I tried to tell my trucker(s) that long logs do not put cash in the bank. If trees were the same 2 feet off the ground as they were at 46 feet up, it would be a different story, but trees taper.

My rule of thumb on taper is...2 inches equals 2 feet. Meaning if I can cut a log back to say 10 feet, instead of 12 feet, and be 2 inches larger in diameter, it is well worth doing. I will make more money then having a longer, but smaller in diameter log.

(Note: when I say I cut a 12 foot log, it is just understood, it is actually 12'-6" because of trim. I do not specifically mention the trim. I would never cut a log 12'-0"...ever, even for my own sawmills.)

 

[4570Man]

Locally long logs pay exactly the same per foot. Since they’re measured off the small end I’m better off cutting everything the minimum 8.5’. If doing that lets me cut off a bad spot and bring the grade up then I’m even better off.

 

[Skeans1]

My trucker(s) hates me because I could never see long logs paying well. Keep in mind this is Maine. Here the log tapers too much.

I get my best scale out of 12 foot logs. It is not so much based on each log, but getting the most out of a tree. My trucker(s) claim I lose money, but I am not. I get less wood on each TRUCKLOAD, but get more out of the tree.

That is because if I cut wood like they wanted me too, I would get a nice 16 foot butt log, another mediocre 2nd 16 foot log, then maybe an 8 footer. That gets me logs out of 41'-6" of tree.

But if I cut (3) 12 footers, then an 8, I get (2) really nice 12 foot logs, a mediocre 3rd 12 footer, and an 8 footer. That is 46 feet of tree going for logs. But the key is, I get (2) really nice logs. Those scale up better, then a single really nice butt cut 16 footer, and a mediocre 2nd 16 footer.

But on a truck, it is less wood, because they can haul (2) tiers of 12 footers, or (2) tiers of 16 footers, so they can haul more. I have tried to explain to them that just because a TRUCKLOAD has more board feet, does not mean I am making more money as a logger/landowner.

We have a sawmill here that can saw 52 foot logs, but again, despite paying $25 more per thousand, the amount of money lost due to the taper of the log over such a length is worse then the money they pay. Again, I tried to tell my trucker(s) that long logs do not put cash in the bank. If trees were the same 2 feet off the ground as they were at 46 feet up, it would be a different story, but trees taper.

My rule of thumb on taper is...2 inches equals 2 feet. Meaning if I can cut a log back to say 10 feet, instead of 12 feet, and be 2 inches larger in diameter, it is well worth doing. I will make more money then having a longer, but smaller in diameter log.

(Note: when I say I cut a 12 foot log, it is just understood, it is actually 12'-6" because of trim. I do not specifically mention the trim. I would never cut a log 12'-0"...ever, even for my own sawmills.)

That works till the mills put a minimum length requirement per load most of ours have to average a minimum of 34’ per load, I’ve cut short wood 17’ to 25’ and the scale is better but if the mills won’t take the wood no one wins. For hauling short wood we have what’s called a conversion rack that sets into the bunks of a standard long logger that adds two bunks or another option is a mule train that can hop up on the back of the truck so a forwarder can unload the trailer and load the truck as well as the pup.

 

[Skeans1]

Locally long logs pay exactly the same per foot. Since they’re measured off the small end I’m better off cutting everything the minimum 8.5’. If doing that lets me cut off a bad spot and bring the grade up then I’m even better off.

That’s what’s called camp run sorts where all lengths pay the same I wish we still had that here but it’s pretty much gone.

 

[BrokenTrack]

Anything over 16 feet is considered "long logs" and so there is a premium pay for that, but an 8 foot log has a deduction. What I like though is that softwood logs have "straight scale" so there is no select, #1, #2, etc. Knots do not matter in other words, so it all pays the same. I just have o find that ideal balance between length and diameter, and most times a 12 foot log gives me that.

Logs go in 2 foot increments, except for hardwood logs of course, studwood, and boltwood.

I get kind of mad because around here the log yards say they will buy 8 foot logs, but get mad if you haul them in. I say that is false advertising myself. It is not as bad as it used to be though, because when none of the paper mills were taking softwood pulp, it meant leaving a lot of wood out in the woods since you could not take an 8 foot log on the top.. But now that they are taking it, you can keep your logs up around 10 inches, and just pulp the rest, and come out pretty decent on money...and have a lot less waste in the woods.

 

[Jstpssng]

I am able to sell most everything tree length, which reduced the amount of waste left behind.

 

[arizona98tj]

40 years ago I was a kid in high school. It was spring, about 2 weeks left in the school year. I was a farm kid and so when I got home from school, I would do the evening chores (milk cow, feed horses, chickens, etc.) and then grab the chainsaw and head out to the woods to cut some pulpwood (a way to make spending money). That particular spring day, as I was gathering up my axe, chainsaw, gas can, etc., my Mom asked me where I was cutting, which was about a quarter-mile into the woods from our house. She told me I was wasting time and energy carrying everything to and from the spot I was cutting at. "Take the tractor", she said. Hey, who was I to argue with Mom? I strapped my stuff onto an Allis Chalmers "C" tractor and headed for the woods. Little did I know at that time that those three words from her would save my life.

I was cutting 12" poplar trees. I had dropped a couple of them and was trimming off branches when I made a mistake and buried the saw bar into my left knee. Unknown to me at that time, I had severed the patellar tendon which made my knee as useful as a floppy door hinge. With the tendon cut, I had no muscle control over the lower half of my leg so walking on it was impossible. I crawled over to the tractor and spent an unknown amount of time getting up onto the seat. We didn't have the backrest on our "C" which made it easier but that fender to fender seat was still a challenge to get up onto with only one working leg.

I got the tractor started and headed down the logging trail, as fast as I could manage, towards the house. Every bump I hit hurt like ****. I made it to the house and my Dad got me off the tractor and into the truck for a no-holds-barred race to the little hospital in town, about 20 minutes away. The OR staff was already waiting for us by the time we arrived. I was in shock but otherwise doing pretty good from what I was later told. After a couple of hours in surgery, I woke up in the recovery room with a crotch to ankle length cast on my leg and some stainless steel wire holding things together. I would go through three casts in the upcoming 9 weeks and spend the remainder of the summer on crutches.

I still cut wood alone to feed our woodstove here on the homestead in northern MN. I wear chainsaw chaps, safety boots, and a helmet with eye & hearing protection. I still take a tractor with me into the woods but now it's a much newer hydrostatic drive MF 1529 which doesn't require a working leg for a clutch. I'm probably more careful around chainsaws than the average cutter and amazingly, my knee doesn't even hurt when the weather turns cold!

For those that don't know that an AC "C" looks like, here is a photo of one.

 

[shovelmike]

I'm glad you recovered well, Arizona. Those old AC's have enjoyed a lot of popularity here in Missouri too.
Sometimes when I must, I will cut with the saw alone, but I usually wait until my wife is around.

 

[Citydude]

Mothers have a sense that boys and men will never know. Thank goodness your mother said the three words “ take the tractor”.