Falling wedges. What's good, what's not, and why?

[dancan]

Working the regular (summer) wedges in cold (5-15 F degree above) they seem more prone to fracturing. And few that blew back out into shins/knee got a hard cussing at.

Maybe the soft ones are blue to remind you they are for cold or more gentle pounding....

I've gotten a few stitches under the chin because of hard pounding and flying plastic , I've learned that more wedges on the bigger trees that need wedging and working the wedges is a better plan than brute force .
I try and use the harder ones in the summer and softer one in the winter but still manage to break or cut them all , I'm OK with killing one per paying job , I consider them a consumable like fuel and bar oil but do try to make them last .

 

[Whiteman]

I go at it like a drugged orangutang, doctor said no more so got to figure a way to make a younger guy do it :msp_thumbup:

Sounds like a personal problem........ one to share on a different kind of forum.:msp_unsure:

 

[John Ellison]

I've had those long banana wedges before. Great in bigger timber but I hated carrying it. Would'nt stay in my wedge pouch so I got the bright idea to stick it in there upside down so it would stay. Looked down at that knife edge sticking up there and thought, well, I'll be careful. DUH. Almost immediatly I fell on it and drove it betweem my ribs. Thought I was gonna die.

 

[Philbert]

I've had those long banana wedges before. .

Anyone got a photo of a banana wedge? Curious.

EDIT: Banana wedge that would be used for falling? - I tried a Google image search and mostly got photos of funky women's shoes(?) along with a few curved tools that looked too thin to use on trees.

Thanks.

Philbert

 

[Greystoke]

Only one I could find Pard.

15" long, can be used as a hammer for smaller trees, or a wedge in bigger ones. Also have gotten me out of a pinch a few times with smaller trees when they set back and my saw was still in the backcut...nice thing about having a sharp point. Also use it as a progress needle the same way Jack aka 1dangercat on youtube uses his fallin axe in the back cut. Works nice too in place of stackin two wedges, if the tree is big enough. John is right, they can be a pain to carry...when I went without a wedge pouch I carried it in my back pocket, upside down, and with a wedge pouch just figured out the right configuration of smaller wedges in front of it, with it being closest to me. My wedge pouches were fairly stiff too, unlike some of those cloth ones.

 

[Metals406]

Only one I could find Pard.

15" long, can be used as a hammer for smaller trees, or a wedge in bigger ones. Also have gotten me out of a pinch a few times with smaller trees when they set back and my saw was still in the backcut...nice thing about having a sharp point. Also use it as a progress needle the same way Jack aka 1dangercat on youtube uses his fallin axe in the back cut. Works nice too in place of stackin two wedges, if the tree is big enough. John is right, they can be a pain to carry...when I went without a wedge pouch I carried it in my back pocket, upside down, and with a wedge pouch just figured out the right configuration of smaller wedges in front of it, with it being closest to me. My wedge pouches were fairly stiff too, unlike some of those cloth ones.

Them are the wedges Ron Martin calls "Cows Tongue Wedges". He said he used them a lot in NorCal back in the day. He was there in the 70's, probably about the time Randy was trampin' around too.

 

[Gologit]

Them are the wedges Ron Martin calls "Cows Tongue Wedges". He said he used them a lot in NorCal back in the day. He was there in the 70's, probably about the time Randy was trampin' around too.

"Cow Tongue Wedges"...man, I hadn't heard that term in years. We used to call those long wedges lots of things, most of which can't be repeated here. The names were usually anatomical references...use your imagination. We used big metal wedges when I started out and a lot of the guys were slow to change over to plastic. Once they did, though, the old metal wedges started to get used for door stops and screen door counter-weights.

 

[lfnh]

"Cow Tongue Wedges"...man, I hadn't heard that term in years. We used to call those long wedges lots of things, most of which can't be repeated here. The names were usually anatomical references...use your imagination. We used big metal wedges when I started out and a lot of the guys were slow to change over to plastic. Once they did, though, the old metal wedges started to get used for door stops and screen door counter-weights.

In this place that's like yelling "free saws, your choice. On the House. "



Meant to ask if you remember about when the change over to plastic started ?

 

[T_F_E]

The international s-10 wedge was my favorite for the morning today.

 

[Steve NW WI]

The international s-10 wedge was my favorite for the morning today.

I had to do some googling. I didn't know IH was in the skidder business until just now. Looks like a heck of an effective wedge though.

 

[T_F_E]

I had to do some googling. I didn't know IH was in the skidder business until just now. Looks like a heck of an effective wedge though.

Yup thats her, wish I could have seen her back when she looked that good! But if I had that stack of wood that the old girl has pulled in her life I'd be pretty well off.

 

[2dogs]

I was curious if this thread would die while I was on vacation. That was silly of me.

My son is at Boy Scout camp and one of his tasks is detering bears from tearing apart the garbage trailer each night. They have been shooting shotguns over the bears on occasion but mostly they yell and bang pots and pans with wooden spoons. I guess I need to tell him to up-arm. Bigger spoons I guess. No...magnum spoons.

I almost always have a rifle with me for sending coyotes to Valhala. Same with rabid rodents but I don't know where they go. Oh and wild hogs but their valhala happens to be in my freezer.

And our beer drinking reverand pro faller wedge expert is now a timber preserve manager. I'm so proud of him. HBRN have you ever thought of politics?

 

[stihl 440]

I had to do some googling. I didn't know IH was in the skidder business until just now. Looks like a heck of an effective wedge though.

Hey now....the 170 and 240 extremely effective wedges as well...were they can get to anyway...lol

 

[Philbert]

I had to do some googling. I didn't know IH was in the skidder business until just now. Looks like a heck of an effective wedge though.

Well, in Wisconsin, when you think about wedges, it is probably Cheddar, or Havarti , or . . .

Philbert

 

[Steve NW WI]

Well, in Wisconsin, when you think about wedges, it is probably Cheddar, or Havarti , or . . .

Philbert

Quite often, yes. They are effective logging tools in their own right. Keeps ya from having to carry a bunch of TP with ya! Even at -30, it's not recommended to pound cheese wedges into trees and expect anything but a cheesy maul!

 

[lfnh]

good to see you back, 2dogs.

did ya miss us ?

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

I see my hate mongering heckler showed his head again guess he has low self esteem issues

 

[paccity]

hbrn, why bring it on yourself. if you even minutly want to be on here don't poke the bear.damn.

 

[2dogs]

good to see you back, 2dogs.

did ya miss us ?

Yes I did. I enjoy it here.

 

[HILLBILLYREDNEC]

I see more people attacking me for no reason. I not a poser like my hater group