OH_Varmntr's Creek Clearing Thread w/ Pics and Videos

[zogger]

I appreciate that Jeff and will keep it in mind. I've got a bunch of friends, and a totally capable brother, but not many want to help a guy out for free ya know? There's gotta be something in it for them. I buy them breakfast, lunch and beer at the end of the day. Guess it's not enough anymore...

I plan on going back tomorrow for a couple more hours of cutting. I'll take some more pics :msp_thumbup:

Just a thought here. Could you sort of hire a helper, but pay him entirely in wood? There must be someone around you out of work and willing to work part time anyway, to get wood to burn themselves and sell some on the side for some cash? I am thinking all those branches you would be discarding just to get done would be sorta good pay for someone with no income right now. They help you get the trees down and the logs ready to load, they get to keep the good limbs and maybe the odd ends of the logs?

 

[Gologit]

There's a bunch of tall stuff back here. Nothing much over 24" across, though. Used the 026 the majority of the day today. The MS360Pro is just too heavy for me (I'm a lanky guy) to be repeatedly holding sideways to start the cuts. I did use it on some bigger stuff though.

Clumps of trees.

.

Interesting stumps. Just for fun, why not post these two pictures in the Logging and Forestry section? You might get some tips on how to improve your technique. You might catch a little flak too but you might learn something about falling. There's some room for improvement if you take any pride in your work.

 

[hanniedog]

How do you plan on getting the trees out of the ditch?

 

[Circle B MN]

I do hope for your own sake you have means of moving that wood other than a 4wheeler and a lawn cart. While it is fun enough to knock em down, you have a lot of work ahead of you cleaning up that mess. Best of luck.

 

[CWME]

Are they pulling the stumps out? You have a lot of wood on the stump still is why I ask. Envious of all the felling you get to do=)

 

[Kmaxwell102]

Are they pulling the stumps out? You have a lot of wood on the stump still is why I ask. Envious of all the felling you get to do=)

yea i believe he is.

Hey, Gorham.. im in buxton, bout 10 mins to gorham center haha, closest member ive seen!

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Well tonight was interesting. My buddy and I went back this evening and I cut down everything on the North side of the ditch to match what I cut on the South side yesterday.

I had 3 trees left and was running my 026. A tree was leaning a bit over the water, and I was able to stand on a stump to notch it out. Well during the backcut I was standing on the bank and as the tree started to hinge, I flipped the kill switch. Once I did, I went to remove the saw from the cut but couldn't get it out. My beloved 026 was being drug into the ditch by the tree so I let go and go out of there only to here 2 splashes. One was the tree and the other, my 026. :frown:

She went in deep enough to where I couldn't see it so after a few seconds of fishing around I found it and pulled it out. I tipped it on end and got all the water out of the muffler and put her in the cart. I used the 360P to finish the other trees and came home to tear the 026 apart so she could dry out a bit.

Oh well, I'd rather it had been a replaceable saw than a irreplaceable "me" that went into the ditch along with the tree. I'm sure she will dry out just fine and I'll flush the crankcase very well with some mix to help clear any contamination from the bearings.


Yes, the landowners have an excavator with a grapple attachment they will use to clear everything out once I'm done. I was told it's not a big deal if they go in the ditch. They'll take care of it.

I've got a 16x6 trailer and a good 4x4 truck to haul the wood. I've also got a few friends with some good sized flatbed trailers to help haul when we get down to moving some wood. It will be a very time consuming project, but it's all in the name of free firewood.

As far as hiring help, if I did I would have to clear it with the landowners. They're good friends of mine. So far I'm the only one who has run a saw back here. It's one of those deals where the ditches would be cleared regardless. Instead of just clearing the ditches with their equipment and torching it all, they thought if I could use the wood then they would let me get all I can.

They want to have it all ready to to start planting for 2013. So I've got to get a move on.

Whatever I do not, or cannot, get they will take care of. They're just friends helping a friend out. :smile2:

 

[zogger]

Well tonight was interesting. My buddy and I went back this evening and I cut down everything on the North side of the ditch to match what I cut on the South side yesterday.

I had 3 trees left and was running my 026. A tree was leaning a bit over the water, and I was able to stand on a stump to notch it out. Well during the backcut I was standing on the bank and as the tree started to hinge, I flipped the kill switch. Once I did, I went to remove the saw from the cut but couldn't get it out. My beloved 026 was being drug into the ditch by the tree so I let go and go out of there only to here 2 splashes. One was the tree and the other, my 026. :frown:

She went in deep enough to where I couldn't see it so after a few seconds of fishing around I found it and pulled it out. I tipped it on end and got all the water out of the muffler and put her in the cart. I used the 360P to finish the other trees and came home to tear the 026 apart so she could dry out a bit.

Oh well, I'd rather it had been a replaceable saw than a irreplaceable "me" that went into the ditch along with the tree. I'm sure she will dry out just fine and I'll flush the crankcase very well with some mix to help clear any contamination from the bearings.


Yes, the landowners have an excavator with a grapple attachment they will use to clear everything out once I'm done. I was told it's not a big deal if they go in the ditch. They'll take care of it.

I've got a 16x6 trailer and a good 4x4 truck to haul the wood. I've also got a few friends with some good sized flatbed trailers to help haul when we get down to moving some wood. It will be a very time consuming project, but it's all in the name of free firewood.

As far as hiring help, if I did I would have to clear it with the landowners. They're good friends of mine. So far I'm the only one who has run a saw back here. It's one of those deals where the ditches would be cleared regardless. Instead of just clearing the ditches with their equipment and torching it all, they thought if I could use the wood then they would let me get all I can.

They want to have it all ready to to start planting for 2013. So I've got to get a move on.

Whatever I do not, or cannot, get they will take care of. They're just friends helping a friend out. :smile2:

Yikes!! Well, like you said, better the saw then you! Hope you get that one cleaned up and running again soon.

If you have the wherewithal, for such a large project, maybe try to find another similar sized used saw as a backup. "Time insurance" more than anything else.

 

[Steve NW WI]

Someone is gonna razz ya on "farmer's backcuts", pulling fiber and so on, but you can always counter, the trees are on a farm, and firewood not sawlogs, so it is officially cool!

Not cool. "Farmer" - (quit callin em that, some of us farmers are gonna get ticked off! cuts don't help control the direction of the fall, as a matter of fact, if you're wedging, they impede it. If you can't get a notch in, you ain't tryin hard enough.

Multiple stems off the same old stump can be a pain, but watch carefully where your bar tip is and bore in as needed. This is a heck of a good training site, take your time, take what you've learned here and on the logging section and apply it, and welcome any experienced help ya can get.

I grew up clearing fencelines. After a while, it gets to be a game. Set a pop can out in the field and crush it with the tree. You'll get better as ya go.

On the "kill the saw" routine, if it works for ya, fine, if not, just engage the brake and get gone from the area. As long as the chain ain't spinning and trying to bite ya, all is well.

One tip from watching your videos, once the tree is tipping, stop cutting and start leaving. Cutting more does no good at this point, and just keeps you in danger. Once the tree is falling, you should be headed the other way.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Not cool. "Farmer" - (quit callin em that, some of us farmers are gonna get ticked off! cuts don't help control the direction of the fall, as a matter of fact, if you're wedging, they impede it. If you can't get a notch in, you ain't tryin hard enough.

Multiple stems off the same old stump can be a pain, but watch carefully where your bar tip is and bore in as needed. This is a heck of a good training site, take your time, take what you've learned here and on the logging section and apply it, and welcome any experienced help ya can get.

I grew up clearing fencelines. After a while, it gets to be a game. Set a pop can out in the field and crush it with the tree. You'll get better as ya go.

On the "kill the saw" routine, if it works for ya, fine, if not, just engage the brake and get gone from the area. As long as the chain ain't spinning and trying to bite ya, all is well.

One tip from watching your videos, once the tree is tipping, stop cutting and start leaving. Cutting more does no good at this point, and just keeps you in danger. Once the tree is falling, you should be headed the other way.

Ya it seems setting the brake would be better as the saw takes a few seconds to completely die and I'm already on the move...

A couple of the trees I kept the cut going as it was starting to come over because I had some hang up on the hinge. I now know that's due to the fact that my notching/backcutting techniques are....well....novice.

Next time I'm out I'll slow down and be more accurate. :msp_thumbup:

 

[zogger]

Not cool. "Farmer" - (quit callin em that, some of us farmers are gonna get ticked off! cuts don't help control the direction of the fall, as a matter of fact, if you're wedging, they impede it. If you can't get a notch in, you ain't tryin hard enough.

Multiple stems off the same old stump can be a pain, but watch carefully where your bar tip is and bore in as needed. This is a heck of a good training site, take your time, take what you've learned here and on the logging section and apply it, and welcome any experienced help ya can get.

I grew up clearing fencelines. After a while, it gets to be a game. Set a pop can out in the field and crush it with the tree. You'll get better as ya go.

On the "kill the saw" routine, if it works for ya, fine, if not, just engage the brake and get gone from the area. As long as the chain ain't spinning and trying to bite ya, all is well.

One tip from watching your videos, once the tree is tipping, stop cutting and start leaving. Cutting more does no good at this point, and just keeps you in danger. Once the tree is falling, you should be headed the other way.

I didn't invent that term, the farmer's backcut, read it here, same as "noodling".

 

[slowp]

Farmer Logger--it isn't a compliment. I don't know where it originated, but it is a description of a pants tucked in boots, not too good, trying to be a logger guy. Just as I have to overlook the girl insults you guys do to each other, you will need to overlook the Farmer comments. That's just the way it is.

I have seen it used thusly by two different guys about the same two other guys who were trying to log, were overly cheap because they wouldn't spring for a cheap part to keep a major part from breaking down, and rigged up unsafe trees for their yarder. I saw a tree pull out and actually hit the yarder!

The other loggers would spit some chew, and say, "They are nothin' but farmer loggers." An equipment guy showed up, saw their rigged up guyline trees and said, "I'll stand over here where you are, they look like Farmer Loggers to me."

Don't know if it is just derisive in the PNW, or if it is world wide. The Farmer Logger attire is pants tucked into rubber boots. There are exceptions to that. I know of a couple of hooktenders who tuck pants in rubber boots and neither I, or anyone else, would dare to call them Farmer Loggers. :eek2:

The Farmer cut was renamed the slopping backcut by the former member, HillbillyRedneck, who had spelling issues. And quite a few other issues.

I think I'll start a thread on the forestry/logging forum asking for any info on the origination of the term.

 

[bluestem]

I have a question about your friends whole project here in general, maybe you will know the answer maybe not but I was just curious. You said they were pulling the fields out of CRP and planning on tiling the fields, why are they pulling the stumps out of the ground that are growing right on the ditch bank? Seems this will cause quite a bit of erosion and lost of bank stabilization (the main reason for CRP), I work in the conservation field and would be concerned with pulling all these stumps out of a waterway. Why not just cut the stumps flush to the ground and kill them with herbicide? Means more firewood for you too and maybe easier work?

Not trying to pry but was interested in your project (I hate to see any open space plowed up for field crops, but that's a conversation for another day).

 

[OH_Varmntr]

I have a question about your friends whole project here in general, maybe you will know the answer maybe not but I was just curious. You said they were pulling the fields out of CRP and planning on tiling the fields, why are they pulling the stumps out of the ground that are growing right on the ditch bank? Seems this will cause quite a bit of erosion and lost of bank stabilization (the main reason for CRP), I work in the conservation field and would be concerned with pulling all these stumps out of a waterway. Why not just cut the stumps flush to the ground and kill them with herbicide? Means more firewood for you too and maybe easier work?

Not trying to pry but was interested in your project (I hate to see any open space plowed up for field crops, but that's a conversation for another day).

The reason they are pulling stumps is because the land they plan to farm needs to be tiled. They are going to clear the ditch of stumps, dredge the ditch to get better flow, and run all their tiles into the ditch. There are numerous low spots in the field, and a few low spots in the ditch banks that cause them to overflow mainly because downstream it's necked down pretty tightly.

I'm with you, I'd rather see the ground stay in CRP because I'm a hunter. There are bed sites all over this ground, and you wouldn't believe the amount of scrapes and rubs along the ditch. But when they buy ground it's an investment. They farm it. They make a living off of it. Can't blame a guy for wanting to make a living.

 

[zogger]

Well you nailed me!

Farmer Logger--it isn't a compliment. I don't know where it originated, but it is a description of a pants tucked in boots, not too good, trying to be a logger guy. Just as I have to overlook the girl insults you guys do to each other, you will need to overlook the Farmer comments. That's just the way it is.

I have seen it used thusly by two different guys about the same two other guys who were trying to log, were overly cheap because they wouldn't spring for a cheap part to keep a major part from breaking down, and rigged up unsafe trees for their yarder. I saw a tree pull out and actually hit the yarder!

The other loggers would spit some chew, and say, "They are nothin' but farmer loggers." An equipment guy showed up, saw their rigged up guyline trees and said, "I'll stand over here where you are, they look like Farmer Loggers to me."

Don't know if it is just derisive in the PNW, or if it is world wide. The Farmer Logger attire is pants tucked into rubber boots. There are exceptions to that. I know of a couple of hooktenders who tuck pants in rubber boots and neither I, or anyone else, would dare to call them Farmer Loggers. :eek2:

The Farmer cut was renamed the slopping backcut by the former member, HillbillyRedneck, who had spelling issues. And quite a few other issues.

I think I'll start a thread on the forestry/logging forum asking for any info on the origination of the term.

HAHAHAHAHA, got me cold! Pants tucked into rubber boots, check! The only time they aren't is when I am sawing, then pants on the outside so I don't accumulate a bootfull of chips!


heheheheh too funny.......

 

[EXCALIBER]

You guys must have different CRP (crop reduction program) programs than I have ever heard of before. They started the CRP program many years ago to help farmers bring the price of grain, hay, whatever crop up, so the farmers could make better money. The gov would pay the farmer to not farm that chunk of land for X many years, thus reducing the supply of say grain, and thus increasing the cost of that crop, less supply same demand. However this program has never worked due to the farmers being so dam greedy they ended up screwing themselves in a way, but at taxpayers expense. Farmer Brown would put 1000 acres into CRP, getting paid for nothing, then would just go down the road a little, buy another 1000 acres of land and plant it in whatever crop he was going to plant on the CRP acres to begin with, so no change in supply and demand. Basically taxpayers are buying these farmers more land for free, so guess good deal for them, bad deal for us. The funny part is now they are complaining about how little their crops are worth, lol

 

[bluestem]

I agree Excalibur, the other part of CRP was to take highly erodible ground out of production to reduce erosion, siltation any many other things.

I think the problem these days is that with all the govt forced regulations on ethanol as well as higher demands globally the corn market has skyrocketed and the CRP payments aren't near what the farmer can get from the grain, so many CRP fields are plowed up again. I completely understand, but what a messed up system. Just another case of to much govt!

Anyway, back to the topic at hand here, be safe out there, take your time and by the end of January you will have this whole tree cuttin thing down!! Have fun.

Sent from my Droid

 

[tramp bushler]

where to start??

So, are we still on the questions about Falling?

If you don't. Want people to think of you as a Farmer then stop using terms like "dropping " and" notch"..

You Fall trees. And the first 2 cuts are to get the Face out ..

If you are slipping and sliding around you WILL get cut or worse. Get yourself a pair of rubbur corks ..


No sloping backcuts .
You shouldn't be getting hit with widow makers! !!!!!!!! ! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
LOOK UP! !! EVERY TREE YOU FALL. !! YOU SHOULD LOOK IT OVER AT LEAST 3 TIMES.
Closely look it over. !!
It looked like you had a full face Dutchman in that tree that started falling then stopped. Don't do that.

 

[tex]

So, did you get the saw running again?

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Well the 026 has been sitting drying out for a few days now. Should be okay.

Last night was upsetting. I'm remodeling my basement and was tearing drywall off one of the exterior walkout walls. It's timberframed, don't ask why I didn't built it. Well got the drywall off and the insulation just fell apart onto the floor.

The back deck sits over this wall and when they built the deck they never flashed above the deck header. So the water that hits the back of the house runs down the siding, onto the deck then behind the deck header. From there it flows down the exterior of the walkout wall behind the siding and has completely ruined the sheeting on that wall. So I tore the wall out yesterday got it sheeted again. Going to housewrap it today and reside it. Then going to put new insulation in and vapor barrier the basment.

This has put me behind atleast a few days...