I Gotta Hand it to You

[Snorider]

I have two pretty big piles of trees to "process". I bought 5 acres and have had some trees fell for my new house. I did some cuttin' today and I have to hand it to you folk. This ain't no game for soft hands or weak backs. This is hard work. I was only out for a few hours, I only cut about 3 trees and threw the rounds into a pile. Cut a tree, throw rounds, cut a tree, throw rounds, and so on.

Just holding the saw making the cuts is a hard work out. Gotta hand it to you folks.

 

[12vdzl]

Always "gets" to my left arm when firewood limbing ...

 

[dancan]

The more you do it, the tougher you get .

 

[rwoods]

^^^^ But it doesn’t take long to get soft again. Ron

 

[dancan]

Yup , gotta be at it constantly to keep that muscle memory going , stop for a month and then it's like starting from Zero lol

 

[rwoods]

A yearly cycle for me. By the time I get in good shape the season is over. Ron

 

[Deleted member 149229]

I consider the saw and splitter costs my gym membership fee.

 

[dave_dj1]

I was just telling my wife that I am surprised the only thing achy on me is my forearms! This wood is heavy and I know I'm outta shape! What keeps me at is knowing I will be as warm as toast next winter

 

[Cody]

I was up in the air taking down trees from the top all but Friday and Sunday this past week. At first my right forearm was sore from holding the saw, then my left arm became sore from grabbing the branches and holding them, or swinging them down to the ground. That's the easy part, cleanup sucks, and then there's wood to split afterwards. I'm just glad the weather cooperated for 5 out of those 7 days, just to be crappy again. It's been a **** winter for trying to get anything done, I've finally just said screw it, if get wet and muddy that's too bad.

 

[FlyingDutchman]

Post the wood on Craigslist for $500.

I got the T-Rex arms real bad splitting on Saturday. As stupid as it sounds the dinosaur noises do help.

 

[ChoppyChoppy]

2 years ago I got a bad infection in my lungs. Was in ICU for a week and recovery for about 6. Lost about 35lbs.

I thought I'd be able to pretty much get back to work once I got better-ish. Yeah right! The first day back I was pretty well wore out just from getting my work clothes and boots and and driving 3 mins to the shop, never mind actually doing anything!
Took close to a year until I was back to the same level as far as strength and stamina.

 

[jrider]

I cut, split, load, deliver wood most of the year. However, I generally take a little time off at some point in winter ( 3-5 weeks or so where I don't do much) and when I get back to it I feel it some the next day. You're right - it's hard work. And it will keep the pounds off some too.

 

[Marshy]

I like to mix it up a little. Cut some rounds, split them and throw them in a pile. Come some rounds, split them and throw them in a pile. Stack the pile of splits then go back to cutting and splitting.
No that I have a hydraulic splitter my routing is close to the same but I split until the table at the end of my splitter is full then I stack them. That keeps the splits off the ground so I don't have to bend over and I can bear hug the pile of stakes splits off the table and turn around and put them right into my stacked row. Rinse and repeatedly until my rounds are gone then cut more rounds. And repeat the splitting/staking.

 

[Bobby Kirbos]

People see you running a saw and think it's easy - the machine is doing all of the work. They don't realize the physical requirements of the operator's entire body that are needed to keep the saw under control. You're using muscles you didn't know you had.

 

[user 122190]

A yearly cycle for me. By the time I get in good shape the season is over. Ron

My arms look like they are 23 again at the end of the season. Come this time of the year, they look 56 again.

 

[Big_Eddy]

Funny - I was thinking the same last week. Maple syrup season is wrapping up so my next task is to refill the wood shed in preparation for next winter. I'm usually good for 2 or 3 trailer loads in a row - after the first load last weekend, I was feeling pretty tired. By the time the wood shed is full, I'll be back to several in a row.

 

[Ted Jenkins]

Always "gets" to my left arm when firewood limbing ...

I use my left and right arm equally. When One arm gets more tired than the other then I know I need some more wood to cut. Some of my saws weigh 48 lbs so it is important. Cut wood and pile it when its 90 F will either make you room temperature or get you back to your high school shape. Thanks

 

[abbott295]

Well,

I'm a limberjack and I'm okay.

 

[jrider]

People see you running a saw and think it's easy - the machine is doing all of the work. They don't realize the physical requirements of the operator's entire body that are needed to keep the saw under control. You're using muscles you didn't know you had.

Funny you said that. A few years ago I had a teenager working for me - good kid and hard worker. He started out helping me when he was almost 15 and he worked with me until he was almost 19. As time when on he wanted badly to run a saw. So I taught him a little here and there. One day we had a lot of wood to cut, load, and haul out so I let him run my small saw (Stihl ms 260 with 16" bar) After 1 tank he looked at me and said "man this is tiring."

 

[Davej_07]

I’m feeling ya. I have rotator cuff issues and, while it doesn’t bother me while cutting, I’m definitely feeling it later that day. This spring I have about a dozen trees to take down and I’m achy just thinking about it.