PNW wood question

[ChrisF]

I notice when I have too long of dogs it tends to make the chain grabbier. The further away from the tree you get it seems to make the chain grab.

I noticed that too when I got bigger dogs on my saw, but I like it. Well, apart from the first day when it was abundantly clear that my chain wasn't sharpened as well as I should've, and too grabby because of sloppy work on the rakers.

Good to see I wasn't imagining it, though.

And Randy, that saw is a beauty!

 

[RandyMac]

That is the infamous Super 250. I took those spikes off a CP125, a chainsaw I had for a short time, but wish I still had, it cut faster than the SP125C.
The Super is the only saw I have left from my logging days. It last saw service in second growth Redwood, thus the long pointy things.
I put a set of big spikes on a 660, not only got sawchain grab also a tendency to kickback. I switched to another set that had less of an angle, the problems went away.
http://www.arboristsite.com/forestry-logging-forum/124527.htm
post #11

nw axe man
I spent a year in and around Happy Camp. I worked for the Feds, also as a contractor with the Feds and a short run falling timber for a guy named Kienigh. I left Happy Camp for good in '79, in a hail of bullets. I live in Crescent City now.

 

[nw axe man]

Those were great old saws. My father ran a few of them . I have a bit of a museum at my shop and have a few Macs. I've got one that I also have Super 8 film of my father and his brother falling some big fir.
Sounds like you got out as things started to wind down. I started cutting as a junior in high school in '71. Got tired of the piddling pay for haying and asked my dad for a job. I didn't plan on keeping up with it but you know how it is when the woods gets a hold on you. I cut for 23 years and got knocked out with a car wreck in 94. If not for that I'd still be at it. Well, maybe. I had to have my knees both replaced in 09/10. It'd be pretty tough to do now. Not only that I don't want to wear them out before their time.
Up here we don't have any indigenous redwoods. I fell several 7" ones at the FS compound several years ago. Found out why they kept telling me that 3/8s chain doesn't work. Talk about binding up!
The place I made mention of is up at Weitchpec, "headquarters" for the Yurok tribe. Love those state hwys down there. One foot over the white line and there goes your mirrors.

 

[RandyMac]

Weitchpec, the land of pigs. At work, I deal with Yuroks on a daily basis, some Karuks, Hupas and an odd Pomo or two. Just stay away from their women and you won't get shot at.

 

[nw axe man]

Now that makes me laugh. Land of pigs, huh? Am I to take that literally or are we talking about a people group here? No worries on the women. Been there, seen that. Not too into the whole face ink thing.

 

[RandyMac]

Free ranging hogs, I would never call any of the tribes pigs. I will say that the Hupas, Karuks have a cleaner culture than some others, like the local shellmounders.
Hwy 96 is something else, although much improved over the last 30 years, same with 299. I wish they would fix the bad spots on 199 in the canyon, in this day and age, it will never happen, those nearly 90 degree, 20 mph curves will be with us forever.

 

[nw axe man]

I must say I'm glad to hear your thoughts on those people. I've found them to be most hospitable and warm. One of their chiefs, Walt Lara, had me in his home for dinner one time. Very warm and caring people. Had a great dinner of salmon cakes and mussels. Never had them before. Quite tasty the way they were prepared.
Yeah, I've never seen a state hwy that rugged before. I've had motorcycles follow me to Weitchpec and pass me on some of those corners. Not me.
Is the 199 canyon the one that heads east to Weitchpec?
The place we train is across the bridge at Weitchpec and take an immediate left. Looks like a great place to plant an unwanted body and I guess they've found them up there. Pretty remote.
Last year we went over the bridge down the river and came out in the redwoods. Quite a drive.

 

[RandyMac]

I must say I'm glad to hear your thoughts on those people. I've found them to be most hospitable and warm. One of their chiefs, Walt Lara, had me in his home for dinner one time. Very warm and caring people.
I used to work with Easter Lara, all the girls are named after holidays. Yuroks are good people, Karuks and Hupas too.
Had a great dinner of salmon cakes and mussels. Never had them before. Quite tasty the way they were prepared.
Mussels aka the bearded clam, very tasty and easy to catch if you have the right whistle call.
Yeah, I've never seen a state hwy that rugged before. I've had motorcycles follow me to Weitchpec and pass me on some of those corners. Not me.
Is the 199 canyon the one that heads east to Weitchpec?
The place we train is across the bridge at Weitchpec and take an immediate left. Looks like a great place to plant an unwanted body and I guess they've found them up there. Pretty remote.
Last year we went over the bridge down the river and came out in the redwoods. Quite a drive.

199 connects Crescent City (US-101) with I-5 at Grants Pass, 299 goes to Redding and beyond from Arcata. Hwy 36 is Alton to Red Bluff, 96 starts at Willow Creek, ends in Yreka. Maybe you followed the Bald Hills Road and ended up in Orick.

 

[slowp]

Free ranging hogs, I would never call any of the tribes pigs. I will say that the Hupas, Karuks have a cleaner culture than some others, like the local shellmounders.
Hwy 96 is something else, although much improved over the last 30 years, same with 299. I wish they would fix the bad spots on 199 in the canyon, in this day and age, it will never happen, those nearly 90 degree, 20 mph curves will be with us forever.

I will vouch for the pigs. A couple of times, when I came around the corner just before the Weitchpic Store, there would be several pigs in the road. I thought I was seeing things.

I caught a salmon just below the store. I was warned that the people would not be friendly but they were. Not sure the Karuks get along with the Yuroks...I think not.

Tires wear out quickly there because of the curvy road. I lived upriver for 4 or was it 5 years and one had to pretty much go shopping in Eureka to get good veggies and fresh bread. The Orleans stores seemed to only have stale bread.

 

[nw axe man]

Is there anywhere you haven't been, SlowP? Were you working for the FS there? I didn't see any stations there at all. Not even in downtown Orleans. Last year I stayed between Weitchpec and Orleans down on the river in some cabins. Can't remember the name of the place but the cabins have been there for a long time. All of them cedar within and without. Some kind of goat trail getting down to them for sure.

 

[slowp]

I worked on the Klamath and lived in Somes Bar. A very strange place. The Ukonom Ranger District used to be in Somes Bar. But, the buildings were built on a landslide so after a while, it seems the walls were coming apart so the district office was moved to Orleans and shared with the Orleansians. It is just across the bridge and on the north side of the highway. The Six Rivers forest then took over the Ukonom district or part of it

It was frustrating there. We'd start laying out a timber sale, then Del Norte Salamanders would be found to inhabit the unit and have to be buffered around. By the time all the salamanders were properly protected, it would be hard to figure out how equipment would or could move around in the unit. Never mind that the salamanders were living in areas that had been clearcut and burned during the first go round and were thriving.

There was a high turnover in what I did there. I was told that I wouldn't want to stay, and it was true. I found out that I'm not sensitive to poison oak, so that was a positive!

We had to put our garbage in a bear proof dumpster. It was a dumpster, surrounded by a chainlink fence, with plywood around the bottom to keep them from climbing and an electric fence wire around that. I had a Golden Retriever, who was hanging behind a bit when I went up to dump my garbage. I'd just walk up with the kitchen bag. I got inside and my dog came tearing up the road growling and barking. A bear stood up on the other side of the fence so I shut myself in. My dog chased that bear out of there and came prancing back. She soon became the bear chaser of the neighborhood. When we moved, the bears came back and caused problems.

Klamath black bears are big.

 

[nw axe man]

Hey, Lil Possum.
I tried to put a pic of a tree falling showing the ash cloud. This tree was fallen in 1998 about 24 miles from the mtn. Not only is it in the tree, it's in the bark. If you dig in my front yard you'll find about 2" of ash very packed and hard.

 

[little possum]

Nice picture.
Thanks.

Yall may have the moss, but I got to chop the poison off a old home place oak tree. Trying to see if it had any rotten spots
Probably 5' across the stump, but think we are gonna leave that to the pros Too much risk of widowmakers and those "what if" situations

 

[nw axe man]

It doesn't look like much from a distance. This gives you a better idea of the size of the tree. Nice fir about 250" tall in a campground. Had a space about 10" to put it between a two permanent tables about 200' out. It's still laying there rotting. That's my kind of fire wood.

 

[paccity]

It doesn't look like much from a distance. This gives you a better idea of the size of the tree. Nice fir about 250" tall in a campground. Had a space about 10" to put it between a two permanent tables about 200' out. It's still laying there rotting. That's my kind of fire wood.

thats some fun stuff there:msp_thumbup:

 

[nw axe man]

Yeah, that was fun stuff. The not so fun stuff was when that dang thing blew and the only jobs to be had were over in the blast area. Not sure I've ever despised being a cutter as much as I did then. Chains were constantly dull. You'd take out 5-6 chains a day and just change them when they got to the point you weren't producing anymore. The worst cuts you had to make were the trees that blasted over and had anywhere from 6-24" of ash/pumice stone covering them. You had to dig them out as close to the butt as you could to get them cut off. Then you had to take the bark off as much as you could. Those were not fun jobs but they were about the only thing going. I can remember eating lunch one day and counting about 27 yarders that I could see in one drainage. That's not taking into consideration several helicopter sales running simultaneously. Lots of action in a big mess.
Falling hazard trees like this is nothing but fun.
Here's another interesting one.
In 94 I was called in for a tree on fire after a lightening storm. The guy who called said that the tree was 72" plus so I took a 66 with a 36" bar up. Turns out it was 8 1/2 feet through. All the time I was cutting it it was throwing down coals on my back. Makes you dance while your cutting. Had a guy watching for anything bigger coming down. I don't normally like that but in this case there was just too much work to be done on the stump.

 

[slowp]

Goodness. I'm always amazed that there are any hazard trees left in those campgrounds. Some big wood came out in 87 when we sold timber in them. In the North Fork, my pickup along with the loggers, came close to getting smashed. A little hemlock pulled and fell backwards but landed beside our pickups.

The logger was Fast Eddy and we made a bet for apples if a tree would hit an outhouse. I measured it (lucky for him) before it was felled and it would have hit it.

In the Iron Creek Campground, they brought up go carts on the weekend and turned the campground, behind the locked gate, into a gocart racing track. Some of the trees cut in that campground took a while for Eddy to get on a log truck as they were too big for his loader to lift them easily.

They have started checking the campgrounds this week for hazard trees. Got your saw ready?

I believe I will have more coffee.:coffee::coffee:

 

[RandyMac]

I always liked the interesting trees that brightened up your day.

I wasn't undergunned with this one, used a 660 with a 48".
I was about 8 feet away, the back of my shirt was almost smoking.

 

[nw axe man]

Smokin, man!
Don't you just love the ones that challenge you?
I remember the first tree that I fell that was on fire. It was a slop over on a clearcut. It was a hemlock about 4' on the butt. As we walked towards it we noticed that we heard a jet going over. Trouble was it just kept getting louder as we got closer to the tree. When we got there it was a catface like the one you have in your pic.
Up about 50' there was a knothole that acted like a chimney exhaust and that was where the jet engine came from. Found out on that tree that chain oil doesn't hold up too well when placed in a furnace. Talk about dry!
Great Pic! Gotta love it!

 

[OregonSawyer]

Great stories guys! I love the older pics, or just bigger timber in general.

Just a quick side-note... to put a picture directly onto your post you can also click the "image icon" (between the movie film and envelope icons) it has a picture of a tree on it. It will then bring up a window that asks for the web address to link the photo to and you can just copy the link in your browser from the website the photo is posted on and paste it into the requested address on AS. I hope that was of a little help at least. I know some of you guys/gals struggle with it a bit... Just trying to help out.

Keep the pics coming though! That's predominately what I get on here for. That, and the great old logging stories that are sometimes shared...

I'll go ahead and embed the picture nw axe man posted