Found this book "the Backyard lumberjack"

[Pcoz88]

WE were at Malabar Farm,near Lucas, Ohio.We went to the Maple syrup Festival.Anyway in there gift shop they had this book.I picked it up and ck it out.It has alot of info on cutting wood,bucking,splitting and stacking.Last chapter on lumberjack events.Its a very good book.I have not put it down yet.

 

[Adkpk]

Who's the author and what did you pay?

 

[Pcoz88]

Author's

Frank Philbrick & Stephen Philbrick(Father)
ISBN-13:978-1-58017-634-7
ISBn-10:1-58017-634-8
$ 19.00 paid

 

[John Ellison]

I enjoyed most of the book too, but think that the pics of felling cuts are all wrong. Mismatched cuts in the face, cutting all the way thru the hinge, some pictures have a back cut about a foot above the notch. No mention of looking up for safety or what mistakes like these can do.

 

[Husky137]

I've come across a lot of "how-to" books on various topics that have alot of information. So few of them have any good information because they are written by the Bob Vila's of this world.

 

[highpower]

I think you mean Boob Vila.

 

[Adkpk]

That's the problem with the world today. The dumba$$'s are writing all the books.:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[A100HVA]

I enjoyed most of the book too, but think that the pics of felling cuts are all wrong. Mismatched cuts in the face, cutting all the way thru the hinge, some pictures have a back cut about a foot above the notch. No mention of looking up for safety or what mistakes like these can do.

you can tell a lot about a timber faller by the way his cuts look like on the truck or on the stumps out in the woodlot.i guess it all boils down to got to be one to know one:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[stihl 440]

book

I enjoyed most of the book too, but think that the pics of felling cuts are all wrong. Mismatched cuts in the face, cutting all the way thru the hinge, some pictures have a back cut about a foot above the notch. No mention of looking up for safety or what mistakes like these can do.

I feel the same way, mismatched cuts in face, improper notching altogether, backcut wayyyy too high. But also enjoyed the pics of the firewood. I just think that the guy needs some well needed felling advice, not just what his dad gave him when he wrote a book. That is the stuff that gets people hurt.:bang:

 

[bottlefed89]

Someone else saw that

Glad someone else noticed that... I've seen the book in baileys, then I noticed it at a book store, so I picked it up. Being a firewood guy I am always hoping to pick up a trick here or there to make the job easier. the book is alright, but as mentioned, I would not want to be in the same timber as this guy, his felling methods/cuts are not right, pretty poor for an instructional guide. Don't publishers or editors check into the validity of information going into books??

 

[jnsn]

I bought it for the same reason, hoping to pick up a few tips, see how others solve my problems etc. The book is pretty light on info but readable. The son is pretty impressed with himself , and his self-conscious ramblings and pictures marred the book and made me feel like I had picked up a book aimed at women or more likely gay city lumberjacks.

Also, as said above the felling section looked like the "what not to do" or "common mistakes at the stump" section of a more serious work

 

[hornett22]

i found alot of innaccurate info in it as well but......

i enjoyed reading it just the same.not much literature out there on this stuff that i can find but i read through info quick since my brain is a sponge.

my library had nothing on logging or climbing or trees unless you are a tree hugging 3rd grader which i thought was lame but living where i do,being disappointed in a daily occurance.

 

[jerry wayne]

I bought it for the same reason, hoping to pick up a few tips, see how others solve my problems etc. The book is pretty light on info but readable. The son is pretty impressed with himself , and his self-conscious ramblings and pictures marred the book and made me feel like I had picked up a book aimed at women or more likely gay city lumberjacks.

Also, as said above the felling section looked like the "what not to do" or "common mistakes at the stump" section of a more serious work

Thank God i cant even picture what a gay city lumberjack looks like.....

 

[ben14826]

I spent about a half hour skimming through the book at a local borders a couple days ago. I got a much different impression than some of the rest of you. I think that you guys may be a little bit too harsh on the authors. Yes, the way they fell those trees is not 'the' safest way to fell, but theres no law saying that it has to be done any certain way. You sit there condeming and criticizing and thinking you have all the answers, yet you haven't sat down and written any book like that have you? The work and time that must have went into the book deserve admiration, and overall it really is a great book (IMHO). It's easy to sit there and criticize and put someone down, but I just couldn't see how it was justified here. If you disagree by all means feel free to let me know, but I just felt that the slamming of the book was quite a petty attack on someones hard work and dedicated effort. Also, I think that it might be necesarry to remind some of you that the book wasn't written for professionals. Feel free to chime in, I'm interested to see what others think.

 

[hornett22]

don't get me wrong.........

i liked the book.i have ven read it a few times.i just think the author and editor should have verified some of the info before they published it.

for one,in the stove section,he says a cast iron stove will last for 100 or more years and i don't dispute that some will.then he states that a steel stove won't last but a few years.well i have seen many allnighter and fisher stoves that have been around at least 40 years and show no sign of slowing down.all the cast stoves i looked at were cracking and falling apart.quality steel stoves are usually made of boiler plate and that stuff lasts forever.

he also mentions that a dumped cord of wood should be 8 feet in diameter and 8 feet tall.i haven't seen a dumped coard of wood that big ever.they just don't stand upright when dumped.

on a positive note.the stories of locals they new was hilarious.my favorite was the guy that was tired of his firewood missing so he filled one log up with gunpowder and forgot about it after a few days untill his daughters kitchen exploded across the street.i still lose it when i think about that story.

 

[ben14826]

he also mentions that a dumped cord of wood should be 8 feet in diameter and 8 feet tall.i haven't seen a dumped coard of wood that big ever.they just don't stand upright when dumped.

on a positive note.the stories of locals they new was hilarious.my favorite was the guy that was tired of his firewood missing so he filled one log up with gunpowder and forgot about it after a few days untill his daughters kitchen exploded across the street.i still lose it when i think about that story.

LOL, Good stuff!

 

[Husky137]

I spent about a half hour skimming through the book at a local borders a couple days ago. I got a much different impression than some of the rest of you. I think that you guys may be a little bit too harsh on the authors. Yes, the way they fell those trees is not 'the' safest way to fell, but theres no law saying that it has to be done any certain way. You sit there condeming and criticizing and thinking you have all the answers, yet you haven't sat down and written any book like that have you? The work and time that must have went into the book deserve admiration, and overall it really is a great book (IMHO). It's easy to sit there and criticize and put someone down, but I just couldn't see how it was justified here. If you disagree by all means feel free to let me know, but I just felt that the slamming of the book was quite a petty attack on someones hard work and dedicated effort. Also, I think that it might be necesarry to remind some of you that the book wasn't written for professionals. Feel free to chime in, I'm interested to see what others think.

Sort of like praising your wife for baking a cake that she filled with sh!t. It still tastes and smells bad, no matter how much hard work or good intentions. I guess if her baking methods don't kill you instantly, then they are just as OK as the "right" way.

In tree felling there are most definitley right ways and wrong ways. To disseminate bad info as sound advice is irresponsible at best. i don't care how hard he worked at it. Not safe is still not safe at the end of the day.

 

[PA Plumber]

Not safe is still not safe at the end of the day.

Good Post!

I used to drop trees like my dad. We were just firewood cutters and only for our own use. With barber chairs, trees rolling to the side, trees falling over backward, and trunks that kicked back, it's a wonder we weren't killed. I continued to practice our old way of dropping trees until I found this site. There is a "method to the madness" and I sure want to be as safe as possible. It would just ruin my day if I got smooshed by a tree.

Douglas Dent's "Professional Timber Falling" has decent drawings and makes sense. I am sure there is a fairly recent thread on good timber books.

I had a professional timber faller out to the our place. To see in person what Dent was writing and drawing was very helpful. Cost me lunch and a gift certificate to a local restaurant. Money well spent!

 

[PA Plumber]

Felling Books

Here is the link to the thread on felling books.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=44728&highlight=douglas+dent

 

[ben14826]

Husky137: I never said that he was felling the trees safely or the right way, in fact I said just the opposite. I agree that his felling methods were definitely not right. With those huge distances between the backcut and the notch, he's lucky that those didn't barberchair. I wasn't saying praise them for being good cutters, I was saying that their intentions were good and they they deserved credit for their effort, nothing more, nothing less. I think it still needs to be emphasized that this is not a book designed to show how to professionally drop trees, and I gues with that being said its all the more reason for them to have shown a safer way to fell. One rookie using those methods is enough to quickly get someone killed. Maybe that's your point? Have a good one.