Checking Chain Brake? Also, new logger questions

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For you fallers who carry a small axe on your back for driving wedges -- how long of a handle and how heavy of a head do you prefer?

I've got a full-size axe with 31" fiberglass handle, and a short "camp axe" I think they call it (longer than a hatchet but shorter than an axe) but nothing I can carry comfortably on my back, handle-up, within easy reach for quickly driving wedges when falling. I need another hatchet/axe like I need a hole in the head, but I can see where you might want something handy in a hurry when falling...was considering one of these, which is 26" overall and gets great reviews for a $24 tool:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001CZ9UY4/

Alternately, is there a (safe) way to carry my ~18" "camp axe" on a web belt, maybe? Because it works well for driving wedges, but is a pain to carry around with everything else.

Timber fallers 10th commandment,
" Though shalt not pack an axe"
Throw the damn thing to the uphill side of the next cut tree.

And avoid using it like the plague. Swing that ****.
 
Thanks, guys. Looks like Council may not make the "rafting" pattern axe (or not use that name in marketing it) anymore, but they do sell a 3.5# jobbie with a 26" straight handle ... I think you said you wanted a straight, rather than deer-foot, handle to use as a plumb-bob, Northman ... I may get that. (I'm not a big dude, so 5# may be more than I want ... heck, after the 361, this 660 feels like I'm carrying around a car engine!)
 
Here's the one I'm considering, it's 3.5# with 26" straight handle for about $40-$42:

51sNAK1ggZL._SL1500_.jpg


Was also considering their 2.25# "boy's axe" but they don't offer it with a straight handle.
 
Myself I don’t use an axe as plum bob when I do use one I have a fishing line on a quarter. My personal axes very from 3lbs to almost 10lbs with handles varying from cut down to a 20 to a 30 or 36 from memory.


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Since it sounds like kickback isn't the primary thing to watch out for, I'm curious how most loggers and fallers (especially new guys) get hurt in the woods.

What would be the main things I should watch out for as a new guy? Falling branches/dead tops? Trees falling the wrong way?

Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse with this thread...I googled "logging accident statistics" and found this:

screenshot_685.jpg


and it looks like being "struck by" something is the biggest risk...so the hardhat and "eyes in the sky" would seem to be some of the most important things for a logger / faller, would you guys agree?
The training to know what you are looking up or around for (All aspects of training) falling, is a number of steps that back up another. A faller may have to skip one to overcome a falling difficulty at times, looking up or around is never something to be skipped. Missing steps or going out of order (often the same thing) will kill a very experienced production faller 99% of the time. Any time I have had a near miss, it involved missing two or three steps every time. 1% get killed by a rolling rock or something coming down from trees unrelated to active falling disturbance. then you have slides. I knew two fallers that were killed in that 1%. You control your environment.
 
The training to know what you are looking up or around for (All aspects of training) falling, is a number of steps that back up another. A faller may have to skip one to overcome a falling difficulty at times, looking up or around is never something to be skipped. Missing steps or going out of order (often the same thing) will kill a very experienced production faller 99% of the time. Any time I have had a near miss, it involved missing two or three steps every time. 1% get killed by a rolling rock or something coming down from trees unrelated to active falling disturbance. then you have slides. I knew two fallers that were killed in that 1%. You control your environment.

Thanks, Westboastfaller. Sounds like what they teach m/c riders – SIPDE: Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute. I'd be interested in reading about that sequence of steps....

Man, yesterday I was watching the YouTubes and saw a vid where some guys were falling big redwoods in absolutely gorgeous country that looked like it was out of a Bob Ross painting. Good Lord, those trees SPLODED when they hit the ground! I imagine you could have stuff falling down for quite a whle when you take one of those monsters down...
 
Thanks, Westboastfaller. Sounds like what they teach m/c riders – SIPDE: Scan, Identify, Predict, Decide, Execute. I'd be interested in reading about that sequence of steps....

Man, yesterday I was watching the YouTubes and saw a vid where some guys were falling big redwoods in absolutely gorgeous country that looked like it was out of a Bob Ross painting. Good Lord, those trees SPLODED when they hit the ground! I imagine you could have stuff falling down for quite a whle when you take one of those monsters down...
Yeah, you want to get used to doing site overviews as you enter the forest. looking for common patterns. Example: Old burn area? bug kill in area? heart rot fungus? sap rot fungus? wet lands? what species is clearly affected and by what? what is happening to then? Try to figure out the puzzle before you start. The steps are basically listed in the BCFTS apart from a few others that are needed for WCF. I will go into it more when I have more time, as well address 'helpers' for learning undercuts. That is a falling axe above.
 
Thanks, Westboastfaller, I'm learning a lot from all of you guys. FWIW, found some good falling videos on Youtube put out by Husqvarna...the guy really goes into detail on the basics, explaining things that aren't always obvious to n00b idiots like me. Interestingly, he seems to recommend an open face of ≥ 70° and bore cuts for the back cut most of the time, I guess for more control, especially among Happy Homeowners using small, presumably dull saws.

Thanks, Ron, too -- that's a better deal than the amazon one, though I wish it was a little lighter. I may just try to make do with what I have right now: A 3.5# axe with 31" fiberglass handle, or a 2.3# "camp axe" which is what I've used in the past to drive wedges...with the right cover over the cutting edge, I could carry that on my belt like a framing hammer and have access to it for driving wedges in a hurry...
 
to be fair I've never carried mine with the blade covered until I got one of the grizzly scabbards...

though, I would advice against doing a lot of the things I do... or don't do (chaps eye protection)

Those Grizzly Scabbards are too nice & too cheap to not use if you’re gonna be toting an axe in the woods.

My $.02.
 


Thanks, Ron, too -- that's a better deal than the amazon one, though I wish it was a little lighter. I may just try to make do with what I have right now: A 3.5# axe with 31" fiberglass handle, or a 2.3# "camp axe" which is what I've used in the past to drive wedges...with the right cover over the cutting edge, I could carry that on my belt like a framing hammer and have access to it for driving wedges in a hurry...

I’m not a logger just a firewood hack so pay little attention to me except - the axe I posted has a head designed to drive wedges. Another one of those nice things common toWest Coast guys and not so much so in the East. I gave an old 5# Plumb rafting axe head to an Eastern logger a few years back. Let’s just say he was very impressed. 1/2# to 1 1/2# more than a 3.5# axe is not going to kill you to carry when you need to pound wedges. And it will sure drive some wedges.

Ron
 
Thanks, guys.

Northman, not sure the alloy -- alum alloys and tempering/aging and bendability is a whole 'nother ball of wax I haven't waded into yet...I'd prolly just weld it together from 5052 with 4043 filler since that's what I have hanging around...
 

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