Today's Job...

[MCW]

Just a quick update on what I've been up to or lack thereof
Haven't done any more felling as I am waiting on what the corporate farm wants to do in regard to using a non caged excavator to push improperly cut trees over. I spoke to the main manager and the farm's project manager about some of the felling procedures an employee on this property that I mentioned is using and am yet to hear back. They are downright dangerous practices and comes back to the old saying that the only thing more dangerous than someone who doesn't know what they're doing is somebody who "THINKS" they know what they're doing.

One thing I have done though is enrolled for my felling ticket with a Forestry training group. I am going to do the following courses as they become available as they are done in groups of four trainees...

FPIHAR2202A Harvest trees manually (Basic) « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc.
FPIHAR3202A Harvest trees manually (Intermediate) « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc.
FPIHAR3212A Harvest trees manually (Advanced) « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc.

Some people may ask why as I have no intention of working in forestry but to me it is quite simply the experience at the hands of proper trainers. I was speaking to Andy Cusack who is the manager of the training organisation and he was an extremely interesting guy to talk to ( Staff Profiles « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc. ). He was also very keen to see guys that are interested yet not intending to work in forestry.
The basic course involves trees around 24", the intermediate course involves trees up to about 40", and the advanced course involves trees over that size. He was pretty quick to ask what experience I had and was very interested to hear what I've been up to. We were on the phone for quite a while. Unlike the large tree felling course I did in my area I will actually learn a lot from these instructors, unlike the local course I did where I knew far more than the instructor did.

You do need your basic chainsaw competency certificate which I already have and it isn't really cheap. All up the 3 x 3 day courses will exceed $3000 in fees alone (not including accomodation and meals etc as the courses are held anywhere from 3-5 hours away from where I live). The closest forestry to me where accreditation like this can be used is in the Adelaide Hills about 3 hours away. These are basically all softwood Pinus radiata plantations, mostly mechanised.
The basic course can be run in the Adelaide Hills (3 hours away) and the intermediate and advanced courses are run down around Mount Gambier in the south east of South Australia which is about 5 hours away.
I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll also be doing a fair bit of milling over the next few months so will get some photos of that too. All Redgum.

I stuck my foot in my mouth today as I was in at the chemist's and I heard him asking a fellow customer whether he knows anybody that does milling locally. I came over afterwards and said I have a mill and can do up to about 52" and asked what he intended to mill? He said he has a pile of old Box fence strainer posts at home and his wife wants them milled so he can make a table out of it for her...
I might as well have volunteered to mill some concrete posts as not only are these things as tough as steel, but also full of sand. I think I'll have to bail...

 

[Stihlman441]

Good one Matt thanks for the update, i would love to do those feling courses but the money is a bit out of my reach bugger.

 

[MCW]

Good one Matt thanks for the update, i would love to do those feling courses but the money is a bit out of my reach bugger.

It's out of my reach too mate but hey, you only live once
Biggest issue I'll face is not so much the felling side of things but the theory as I am certainly not familiar with the processing side at all. It will be very interesting though.

Oh and I put a bloody Bronzewing Pigeon straight through a 3 week old $250 Hella HID spotlight on front of the work ute. Pretty pis*ed about that - those things are like bricks with wings...

 

[Stihlman441]

Talking about processing i have been lucky enough to do a deal on a HUGE suger gum platasoin that will take two of us years harvest.
A 261 is looking good for this,most of the trees are about 18'' and the odd one 25'' to 28''.
I notice you have larger felling spikes and a roller chain catcher on yours dont suppose you have the part numbers champ ?.

 

[tdi-rick]

I missed out on doing my RFS saw course a bit over a month back.

I wanted to do the cross cut and felling on the same weekend and they won't let me. (It never hurts to ask, though)
The training co-ordinator is trying to get me into another course somewhere else in the state.
At least it doesn't cost us for this (except time and travel) but i have to re-qualify every two years :bang:

The advanced fire line felling course is by invitation only, 3 or 4 instructors per pupil.

[edit]

and bail on that milling job, trust me, you don't want to be cutting those old crappy posts up....

 

[MCW]

Talking about processing i have been lucky enough to do a deal on a HUGE suger gum platasoin that will take two of us years harvest.
A 261 is looking good for this,most of the trees are about 18'' and the odd one 25'' to 28''.
I notice you have larger felling spikes and a roller chain catcher on yours dont suppose you have the part numbers champ ?.

Good stuff on that plantation mate Ideal firewood size. Hey as far as my 261 spikes go they are actually designed to fit the MS361. All you need to do is to drill out the 261's clutch cover (the casting indentations are already there) and get some longer bolts.

I missed out on doing my RFS saw course a bit over a month back.

I wanted to do the cross cut and felling on the same weekend and they won't let me. (It never hurts to ask, though)
The training co-ordinator is trying to get me into another course somewhere else in the state.
At least it doesn't cost us for this (except time and travel) but i have to re-qualify every two years :bang:

The advanced fire line felling course is by invitation only, 3 or 4 instructors per pupil.

[edit]

and bail on that milling job, trust me, you don't want to be cutting those old crappy posts up....

Sounds good Rick. When I asked about this course the guy tells me that he knows the Riverland quite well and said "I'm not sure where we'll find any larger trees to run the training on?". I told him that was never my intention and I don't mind travelling to the courses. He thought that was just dandy
And yeah mentally I've already bailed on those posts...

 

[wyk]

It's out of my reach too mate but hey, you only live once
Biggest issue I'll face is not so much the felling side of things but the theory as I am certainly not familiar with the processing side at all. It will be very interesting though.

Oh and I put a bloody Bronzewing Pigeon straight through a 3 week old $250 Hella HID spotlight on front of the work ute. Pretty pis*ed about that - those things are like bricks with wings...

I learned a few things from a b and c rated faller back in the early 90's(though I don't recall if they were actually rated as such back then since it was the Cal DOF). I still keep in touch with those guys. Anywho, I had to take a few courses when I landed in Ireland simply to be insurable. Without a CS-30 and CS-31 cert, very few companies can insure you. The course was 1 week, with a cost of E675 plus a cert fee of E300. ASAP, I will be in for the CS-32 and 33 courses as well as the blow down courses. Here is Kevin Birchall with Tree Care Ireland showing how to do a split level cut on a Scots Pine:

<iframe width="560" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/g6VKQTGtohQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[tdi-rick]

Matt, getting a little OT, have you seen the JM 42" Tsumura/Stihl bar special this week ?
Trav needs a new bar to replace that GB he just bent up

My repairer mate here's just emailed me asking should he get one for his 075, I just told him to get the bar then he can get an 084/088/880

 

[MCW]

Matt, getting a little OT, have you seen the JM 42" Tsumura/Stihl bar special this week ?
Trav needs a new bar to replace that GB he just bent up

My repairer mate here's just emailed me asking should he get one for his 075, I just told him to get the bar then he can get an 084/088/880

Yeah Rick. I have 5 of them in stock that I bought during their last special about 9 months ago. They were even cheaper then
Bloody nice bars. I've got a 44" hard nose GB Ti bar here that might tickle his fancy instead
They're large Stihl mount though, not SN/660 mount (damn it, I'm like a nutter computer nerd that can only talk in code except that I can only talk in GB bar mounts)...

 

[MCW]

I learned a few things from a b and c rated faller back in the early 90's(though I don't recall if they were actually rated as such back then since it was the Cal DOF). I still keep in touch with those guys. Anywho, I had to take a few courses when I landed in Ireland simply to be insurable. Without a CS-30 and CS-31 cert, very few companies can insure you. The course was 1 week, with a cost of E675 plus a cert fee of E300. ASAP, I will be in for the CS-32 and 33 courses as well as the blow down courses. Here is Kevin Birchall with Tree Care Ireland showing how to do a split level cut on a Scots Pine:

Hmmm. I love the little bar I am surprised though that he let the trainees stand directly behind the tree, despite it's small size.
Small trees are tricky though, not much room to work in. If you ever come across a tree that small Wes may I suggest just headbutting it over - leave the saw in the vehicle...

 

[Stihlman441]

Yeah Rick. I have 5 of them in stock that I bought during their last special about 9 months ago. They were even cheaper then
Bloody nice bars. I've got a 44" hard nose GB Ti bar here that might tickle his fancy instead
They're large Stihl mount though, not SN/660 mount (damn it, I'm like a nutter computer nerd that can only talk in code except that I can only talk in GB bar mounts)...

Dont suppose ya got a GB Ti 50'' sprocket nose for large Stihl mount gust laying about ?.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Good stuff, Matt just wanted to say hello to you, and the Aussie gang. I still enjoy the thread keep it going! That course look's cool. I like to check thing's out, and ask other opinion's even if it is something I know already. It is nice to see how other people do stuff. It's funny we get into alot of unique hazard, tree situation's. I work for county road's. I have been there ten year's. I have talked to guy's that have been there thirty, and never any saw course's, tree's stuff or anything. They recently brought the Dept. Of forestry in for a basic saw class. It was better than nothing for some of these guy's. Luckily the yard's have had a guy or two in each yard who come's from a saw background. When I moved to the yard I am in over a year ago, my boss put me in charge of saw maintenance, shop reapir need's, part's, and all of the tree work. At least the guy's I work with I have seen they are smart enough, to be scare'd, and get ahold of me to size it up. I have seen some real dice'y stuff, during the storm's out there. We get into alot of tree's that have alot of tension, and or almost alway's have phone line's under them. I have learne'd to read the pole's for tension. Seen a few guy's earlier in my career almost lose there head. Like you said Matt, the guy's who think they know are the worst! Talk later have a good one Fella's:msp_thumbup:

 

[wyk]

Hmmm. I love the little bar I am surprised though that he let the trainees stand directly behind the tree, despite it's small size.
Small trees are tricky though, not much room to work in. If you ever come across a tree that small Wes may I suggest just headbutting it over - leave the saw in the vehicle...

Nah, what ya can't see is the fact all the canopies are intertwined. Here's an example of how unlikely that pine was to fall on one of us:

I did threaten to push a few over by hand. They are heavier than they look(but MUCH softer than they look - Scots pine is a worthless wood!):

YouTube - ‪Brian, The Tractor‬&rlm;

YouTube - ‪The Big Push‬&rlm;

 

[MCW]

Dont suppose ya got a GB Ti 50'' sprocket nose for large Stihl mount gust laying about ?.

Nah sorry old son, outta luck.

 

[stihl 440]

Just a quick update on what I've been up to or lack thereof
Haven't done any more felling as I am waiting on what the corporate farm wants to do in regard to using a non caged excavator to push improperly cut trees over. I spoke to the main manager and the farm's project manager about some of the felling procedures an employee on this property that I mentioned is using and am yet to hear back. They are downright dangerous practices and comes back to the old saying that the only thing more dangerous than someone who doesn't know what they're doing is somebody who "THINKS" they know what they're doing.

One thing I have done though is enrolled for my felling ticket with a Forestry training group. I am going to do the following courses as they become available as they are done in groups of four trainees...

FPIHAR2202A Harvest trees manually (Basic) « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc.
FPIHAR3202A Harvest trees manually (Intermediate) « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc.
FPIHAR3212A Harvest trees manually (Advanced) « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc.

Some people may ask why as I have no intention of working in forestry but to me it is quite simply the experience at the hands of proper trainers. I was speaking to Andy Cusack who is the manager of the training organisation and he was an extremely interesting guy to talk to ( Staff Profiles « Logging Investigation and Training Association Inc. ). He was also very keen to see guys that are interested yet not intending to work in forestry.
The basic course involves trees around 24", the intermediate course involves trees up to about 40", and the advanced course involves trees over that size. He was pretty quick to ask what experience I had and was very interested to hear what I've been up to. We were on the phone for quite a while. Unlike the large tree felling course I did in my area I will actually learn a lot from these instructors, unlike the local course I did where I knew far more than the instructor did.

You do need your basic chainsaw competency certificate which I already have and it isn't really cheap. All up the 3 x 3 day courses will exceed $3000 in fees alone (not including accomodation and meals etc as the courses are held anywhere from 3-5 hours away from where I live). The closest forestry to me where accreditation like this can be used is in the Adelaide Hills about 3 hours away. These are basically all softwood Pinus radiata plantations, mostly mechanised.
The basic course can be run in the Adelaide Hills (3 hours away) and the intermediate and advanced courses are run down around Mount Gambier in the south east of South Australia which is about 5 hours away.
I'm really looking forward to it.

I'll also be doing a fair bit of milling over the next few months so will get some photos of that too. All Redgum.

I stuck my foot in my mouth today as I was in at the chemist's and I heard him asking a fellow customer whether he knows anybody that does milling locally. I came over afterwards and said I have a mill and can do up to about 52" and asked what he intended to mill? He said he has a pile of old Box fence strainer posts at home and his wife wants them milled so he can make a table out of it for her...
I might as well have volunteered to mill some concrete posts as not only are these things as tough as steel, but also full of sand. I think I'll have to bail...

It may seem like an expensive price...but how expensive is life?....i dont believe you can buy it. I believe your a smart man to take the course...it may seem like a steep price but i bet you learn a tremendous amount while you are there and alot about safety. Some people dont have the luxury to be taught like i was...it may be free...but so are the A$$ chewins...it may have seemed pointless when they where yelling back then but now i know those guys where right....they where doing it to keep me safe. And it worked...and i prolly wouldnt have listened quite as well if they didnt make me know that they MEANT what they where talking about. The guys that taught me alot really took pride in how they taught someone and how they cut and taught someone the same things....they didnt want to go through all the work and teach someone how to cut and how to do it safely...and then see them get killed or hurt for any reason. Life is more important that ANY piece of wood hitting the landing...if its you are the tree comming out i want it to be you.

 

[MCW]

It may seem like an expensive price...but how expensive is life?....i dont believe you can buy it. I believe your a smart man to take the course...it may seem like a steep price but i bet you learn a tremendous amount while you are there and alot about safety. Some people dont have the luxury to be taught like i was...it may be free...but so are the A$$ chewins...it may have seemed pointless when they where yelling back then but now i know those guys where right....they where doing it to keep me safe. And it worked...and i prolly wouldnt have listened quite as well if they didnt make me know that they MEANT what they where talking about. The guys that taught me alot really took pride in how they taught someone and how they cut and taught someone the same things....they didnt want to go through all the work and teach someone how to cut and how to do it safely...and then see them get killed or hurt for any reason. Life is more important that ANY piece of wood hitting the landing...if its you are the tree comming out i want it to be you.

Thanks for the response mate.
To me it will be like a $3000 holiday except I'll come out of it wiser and won't be 20kg fatter
I've done a reasonable amount of felling but in all honesty what I've done is relatively simple in comparison to what some of the forestry guys do. There are many more tricks of the trade I want to learn, regardless of whether I ever use them or not
Another interesting thing is that a part of the business that will train me is involved in investigating felling accidents and deaths. These guys know their stuff.

 

[stihl 440]

Thanks for the response mate.
To me it will be like a $3000 holiday except I'll come out of it wiser and won't be 20kg fatter
I've done a reasonable amount of felling but in all honesty what I've done is relatively simple in comparison to what some of the forestry guys do. There are many more tricks of the trade I want to learn, regardless of whether I ever use them or not
Another interesting thing is that a part of the business that will train me is involved in investigating felling accidents and deaths. These guys know their stuff.

No problem...i believe you are 100% right on to want to learn new tricks even if you think you will never use them...but i bet you will...it seems like whatever you learn in the woods you will use again somewhere else on another tree...even though you thaught that you would never use it again...you eventually do.

 

[NORMZILLA44]

Good stuff, Matt. I hope for report, and full story of your'e class, Looking forward to it in your'e thread.

 

[MCW]

Just had to tell a funny story I heard today from a customer interstate. He bought a 365/372 muffler off me on eBay about a month ago and rang today wanting another one. He runs a tree crew in the ACT and has been cutting chemically killed Willow Trees away from a lake's edge with his 372XP. They run a few of these saws and apparently one muffler was due for a replacement then yesterday the muffler came loose on his other 372XP, fell off, landed on the running chain, and shot it about 5 metres out into the lake where it sank within seconds. I laughed my head off and luckily he thought it was funny too. Not sure how a muffler managed to get that loose considering those things have at least 4 bolts to come loose

Oh and the basic forestry felling course is being run on the 9th and 10th of August so will keep this thread updated with the goings on. Other than cutting a few things with my 353 I haven't touched a saw in weeks I have split about 15 tonne of wood though after finding bastard termites in my pile of logs - two different species as well A solid soaking in Bifenthrin will stuff 'em...

 

[tdi-rick]

You go get those little white fella's Matt.

I know it isn't good for my karma but, hey, I'm only human.