Today's Job...

[gmax]

We also managed to fit in on the last morning a quick pole saw course. I was asked if I'd like to do it and of course said yes. I didn't learn anything but it is another qualification that I haven't got. We were using the Stihl HT131, exactly the same pole saw I own.
One thing I hadn't seen before was the back brace/harness for use with these pole saws. They are awesome and I've already ordered one. Even at the full 3.8m extension the load it takes off of your arms is unbelievable. Anybody who has used one of these saws for any length of time will know exactly what I mean. They are hard work no matter how tough you think you are...


Matt, that brace/harness looks good, lugging around a pole saw gets tiring, I might look at getting one of those

 

[MCW]

Matt, that brace/harness looks good, lugging around a pole saw gets tiring, I might look at getting one of those

$250-300 Wayne

 

[gmax]

$250-300 Wayne

Bugga, oh well I might find a used one

 

[NORMZILLA44]

As alway's Matt great stuff! Yeah I will hopefully write that off as a freak accident too. Shoulda seen the look on my buddy's face's. Salta's the cup wouldn't be a bad idea. Who in the world ever thought you could get cup checked by a saw. Matt those 660's are thirsty. I wonder if, and how newer one's could be worse? You definately have a great arsenal. I have eyeballed those saw models you have for year's. Never had the opportunity to run a Dolmar, or a 390xp. I have run 288's, and loved them so Im sure a 390 would feel great to me.

 

[AUSSIE1]

Good stuff Matt.

That's prime pine. Doesn't get any better. Would be great "peeler/vernier" wood ( for ply wood) due to the lack of "eyes" and straightness generating excellent profits. Surprising they let you loose in there with chainsaws. Were you expected to cut them up into particular lengths, ie peeler here in Vic is cut to 5.1m. You could pump out 500 plus tonne in that paddock in a day easily.

:msp_thumbup:

 

[MCW]

As alway's Matt great stuff! Yeah I will hopefully write that off as a freak accident too. Shoulda seen the look on my buddy's face's. Salta's the cup wouldn't be a bad idea. Who in the world ever thought you could get cup checked by a saw. Matt those 660's are thirsty. I wonder if, and how newer one's could be worse? You definately have a great arsenal. I have eyeballed those saw models you have for year's. Never had the opportunity to run a Dolmar, or a 390xp. I have run 288's, and loved them so Im sure a 390 would feel great to me.

You're missing out Norm Out of all of the larger forestry type saws I've used my favourites are the 7900's and 390XP's. It's a classic tale of good balance too. On paper the 390XP is heavier than the 7900 yet after throwing both around all day felling you don't notice the extra weight of the 390XP. They are an excellent saw.

Good stuff Matt.

That's prime pine. Doesn't get any better. Would be great "peeler/vernier" wood ( for ply wood) due to the lack of "eyes" and straightness generating excellent profits. Surprising they let you loose in there with chainsaws. Were you expected to cut them up into particular lengths, ie peeler here in Vic is cut to 5.1m. You could pump out 500 plus tonne in that paddock in a day easily.

:msp_thumbup:

There was a bit of negotiation going on from Stuart to get us in there and as you mentioned there is a fair bit of money involved. What surprised me was that that whole block is to be manual felled despite harvesters being able to do it easily - Stuart couldn't work this out and the interesting thing was that the guy on the saw who was coming in to do it is crap.
We just dropped them mate - the only one that got bucked up was the one I put the wrong way. On one tree I went into "Casuarina Mode" and had it on the ground in under a minute. Of course there was a small uncut section that pulled a wad of fibre straight out the guts of the tree about 4" deep - Stuart cut the pulled section off the stump and hammered it back into the hole it had made out the base of the log. I gather he didn't want it seen in case someone cracked the sads I slowed down after that...

 

[parrisw]

Great stuff Matt. Wish there was something like that around here that was affordable.

 

[MCW]

Great stuff Matt. Wish there was something like that around here that was affordable.

Do you mean the courses Will? The Basic cost me $400 and the Intermediate and Pole Saw cost $850. I think the Advanced will be up around $850 as well. I doubt I'll get a discount for providing the trees to run the course

 

[Stihlman441]

Good job there bloke and well done,i wish i was there but some things are to hard.
With them 660 liking a drink that can be a good thing ya get a spell more offen.That 660 BB kit one ya did for me i have been getting 25 to 30 mins blocking Stringbark per tank.
Know that your all edgamakated there is no excuses for crappy back cuts ect a.
I notice in the 660s they are using that blue Stihl oil,what did ya think of that smoky smelly bern ya eyes sh-t.

Keep up the good work

 

[MCW]

Good job there bloke and well done,i wish i was there but some things are to hard.
With them 660 liking a drink that can be a good thing ya get a spell more offen.That 660 BB kit one ya did for me i have been getting 25 to 30 mins blocking Stringbark per tank.
Know that your all edgamakated there is no excuses for crappy back cuts ect a.
I notice in the 660s they are using that blue Stihl oil,what did ya think of that smoky smelly bern ya eyes sh-t.

Keep up the good work

I just won't post photos of any more bad backcuts etc Unfortunately concentration is the key and I have trouble remembering my own name some days
As far as that blue oil I didn't get much of a sniff. I'm currently into a 20L of AGIP Semi Synthetic after using the blue ALCO (Jakmax) fully synthetic. It smells like bubblegum

 

[tdi-rick]

[snip]
I'm currently into a 20L of AGIP Semi Synthetic after using the blue ALCO (Jakmax) fully synthetic. It smells like bubblegum

Agip make a good two stroke brew.

 

[wyk]

Do you mean the courses Will? The Basic cost me $400 and the Intermediate and Pole Saw cost $850. I think the Advanced will be up around $850 as well. I doubt I'll get a discount for providing the trees to run the course

I spoke with the BC forestry and safety guys - if you can not challenge their course for a fee of $1,400, you must take the faller training course. It is 1 month long, does not include room or boarding, and the fee is $10,000.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Agreed Matt. Missing out I knew with the introduction of the 390, it would gain quite a following as the 288 has. After all there is a reason it was brought back I say. Some guy's forgot about the 288, with the new 390 I guess. But the 288 is still a top runner. Maybe the 390 is lighter? But watched it since it first came out put a smile on my face, because that was on saw they never should have dropped. I know the 385 is outstanding too never ran one, but heard they put a heavier flywheel for the 390 some said the 385 had a hair under for torque. Cant swear by it but had heard that a few time's. Intead of discontinuing top model's the maker's should just revise, and upgrade.

 

[parrisw]

Do you mean the courses Will? The Basic cost me $400 and the Intermediate and Pole Saw cost $850. I think the Advanced will be up around $850 as well. I doubt I'll get a discount for providing the trees to run the course

I spoke with the BC forestry and safety guys - if you can not challenge their course for a fee of $1,400, you must take the faller training course. It is 1 month long, does not include room or boarding, and the fee is $10,000.

Yes Matt I do. For what I do though, I know enough, but I would always like to know more! LOL. There is nothing like that around here. Like WYK said, you can challange the faller's course but cost allot to just do that, and I know I wouldn't pass. This is why I like working with my friend as much as I can. He's a certified Faller, and owns his own tree service, and he is very good.

 

[MCW]

I spoke with the BC forestry and safety guys - if you can not challenge their course for a fee of $1,400, you must take the faller training course. It is 1 month long, does not include room or boarding, and the fee is $10,000.

There are extra units to do as well as far as the production side of things go - I'm just doing the felling side of things. For instance I would also have to do a crosscut unit, plus another three units in regard to bucking, limbing, thinning etc etc for the mill. As far as the felling side of things go though it is all the same - the extra training comes for when the tree is on the ground. $10,000 is a pretty solid fee though - apart from maybe becoming a qualified arborist AND doing the above felling courses I doubt I could get anywhere near fees of $10,000 though. In saying that though I doubt any of our forestry courses apart from maybe in Tasmania (rapidly changing with the greenie movement) would ever tackle trees as large as Canada and the PNW. Our biggest trees are around the same size as their biggest trees but ours are fully protected and only dropped when dangerous with a LOT of paperwork and legislation involved.
If I had the money and time I'd love to have a crack at the BC course - whether I passed or not I'm sure I'd learn more than any other course in the world.

Agreed Matt. Missing out I knew with the introduction of the 390, it would gain quite a following as the 288 has. After all there is a reason it was brought back I say. Some guy's forgot about the 288, with the new 390 I guess. But the 288 is still a top runner. Maybe the 390 is lighter? But watched it since it first came out put a smile on my face, because that was on saw they never should have dropped. I know the 385 is outstanding too never ran one, but heard they put a heavier flywheel for the 390 some said the 385 had a hair under for torque. Cant swear by it but had heard that a few time's. Intead of discontinuing top model's the maker's should just revise, and upgrade.

I've never run a 385 but I know Al has ported and fitted a 390 top end to his 385 and said similar porting to the 390 top end didn't yield the same results as the 385. It would seem that the 385 may have more left in the tank as far as mods go than the 390. The 288's have a good reputation though for sure.

Yes Matt I do. For what I do though, I know enough, but I would always like to know more! LOL. There is nothing like that around here. Like WYK said, you can challange the faller's course but cost allot to just do that, and I know I wouldn't pass. This is why I like working with my friend as much as I can. He's a certified Faller, and owns his own tree service, and he is very good.

Yeah that's a lot of coin. In all honesty I'm mainly doing my felling courses for the qualifications. Although I've learnt a few things along the way most of it is outlined in forestry manuals etc and is standard practice. The main thing I've learnt is that softwoods and hardwoods are different in the way they need to be cut and the things you can do to alter their fall. A softwood's hinge will hang on, allowing fancier cuts like Swinging Dutchmans etc. If you try the same cuts on our hardwoods they'll shear clean off and go where they want anyway. I rate myself as a pretty good chopper in those Casuarinas I've been felling however I looked VERY average when I started dropping the Pines on these courses. Due to the speed that my saws were going through the softer wood my cuts were getting away from me as I wasn't paying enough attention. It's good to be able to work with mates like yours who know what they're doing. Unfortunately there are a lot of guys around who think they know what they're doing and other gullible people unfortunately believe them - you just have to surf Youtube.

 

[MCW]

That is beautiful wood! I can understand why you wish you had milled it instead.

Yeah that pink stuff would look nice as a kitchen benchtop. Beaut character :msp_thumbup:

Just a quick one gents. I made up an impromptu chopping board the other night and have been wiping it with olive oil. Has come up nice making me even more angry that I didn't mill that log. Hand planed and sanded so a bit wobbley on the flat benchtop. I'm in the market for a decent thicknesser now! Some may say wobbley is dodgey craftmanship, I say it's got character

 

[Rudolf73]

Looking good Matt!

Chainsaw mill or freehand?

 

[MCW]

Looking good Matt!

Chainsaw mill or freehand?

Freehand with 32" bar on the 390XPG then out with the good old Bosch plane. Then a bit of a Bosch Orbital sander. A few more end cracks have appeared since this photo but nothing major. The missus thought it was a lovely gift - I was just giving her the hint to cook me more food

 

[parrisw]

Yeah that's a lot of coin. In all honesty I'm mainly doing my felling courses for the qualifications. Although I've learnt a few things along the way most of it is outlined in forestry manuals etc and is standard practice. The main thing I've learnt is that softwoods and hardwoods are different in the way they need to be cut and the things you can do to alter their fall. A softwood's hinge will hang on, allowing fancier cuts like Swinging Dutchmans etc. If you try the same cuts on our hardwoods they'll shear clean off and go where they want anyway. I rate myself as a pretty good chopper in those Casuarinas I've been felling however I looked VERY average when I started dropping the Pines on these courses. Due to the speed that my saws were going through the softer wood my cuts were getting away from me as I wasn't paying enough attention. It's good to be able to work with mates like yours who know what they're doing. Unfortunately there are a lot of guys around who think they know what they're doing and other gullible people unfortunately believe them - you just have to surf Youtube.

Yes, oh boy do I ever know that! I run into people all the time working on cars for a living, that think they know what they are talking about.

Here is my friend up a tree, I'm the guy at the end of the rope!

[video=youtube;rMXnaTy00Fg]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rMXnaTy00Fg[/video]

He taught me how to climb too. Its funny, I actually feel more comfortable climbing a tree to take it down, then actually felling one.

 

[AUSSIE1]

Aldi have hardwood chopping boards for $25 that don't wobble Matt!