A day in the life...

[Burnham]

The hazard tree

Ok, all's well that ends well...not an auspicious beginning to a tale, but sometimes the truth is less than flattering .

Young Brent needs more practice, clearly. But with sufficient coaching he got the face to a generally satisfactory shape, and in truth, from the getgo his gun was accurate. I left most of that coaching to his boss, the Hotshot super. Took long enough for me to get antsy, I hate that part of it. About the only thing I suggested was gutting the hinge to make sure it would wedge over easily...probably not really needed, as he'd ended up with a deep hinge anyway.

He was running what appeared to be a nearly new 460 with a 28 inch bar. The tree was about 36 inch dbh...I'd guess about 175 feet tall, maybe a little more. He double cut the face, and quarter cut the back. I offered him my 066 w/36" bar, but he declined...don't know why, but no matter.

It went over with a little nudging and right into the lay. It was a narrow spot, and had to brush through the crowns of a couple of good sized red cedars to get there.

Here's some pics. First is the tree, then the historic house and garage, then the intended lay.

 

[Burnham]

Some more pics.

 

[sotc]

Wow, looks way deep in the one pic

 

[Burnham]

A few more.

 

[Burnham]

I wanted to make a special post for this one picture. When the snag pushed through the crowns of the adjacent trees, as expected a bunch of limbs broke off it and rained down. We'd all beat a retreat...and it's a good thing.

Look at the chunk of limb impaled in the ground, right where Brent was standing as he finished the cut.

That piece of wood could kill a man.

The stump is not a good place to stay after the tree commits.

 

[Burnham]

Wow, looks way deep in the one pic

Yes, far too deep. That's what happens when you have to beaver at them to get your face properly shaped, often anyway. Demerits earned .

 

[sotc]

Alls well that lands well

 

[pete mctree]

Good pics. He we learn, we all had too & it's a process that never stops

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hinge? We don't need no stinking hinge!

 

[sotc]

When would you step in on a tree like that Burnham? I think once I knew the depth was going to be anywhere near that bad and I had tagets like that I think I would have said, sorry, I had better finish putting this one down

 

[stig]

Sure, he needs some more time behind a saw.
But I bet he got a thrill out of the whole thing since it ended well.
Good deal!

Burnham, that building and the setting looks familiar.
Is it the one that you showed me.
The one built entirely out of straight grained old growth doug fir and only a single knot in the whole thing?
The one that would be something to show to Jay?

 

[Burnham]

When would you step in on a tree like that Burnham? I think once I knew the depth was going to be anywhere near that bad and I had tagets like that I think I would have said, sorry, I had better finish putting this one down

That's a really good question, and one of the hardest for me to answer, as I wrestle with it myself.

I guess it ends up being a gut feeling about the tree. I knew this one had a favorable lean, in so far as risk to the buildings. Not heavily, but enough for me to have the sense that it didn't really want to go that way at all. I knew from the test bores and could see from the face cuts that the wood was sound as a dollar, and was big enough to still be strong even with a deep face. I was able to see that the top of the tree was staying still, no sway or pitch from removal of the face.

All together, I felt it was stable...and that the back cut would not be as complex as the face for him to achieve. There was still plenty of room for wedges behind the bar for security, without getting scary close to the hinge.

So you hope your judgement is good and keep your hands in your pockets. It can be the hardest thing to do.

 

[Burnham]

Sure, he needs some more time behind a saw.
But I bet he got a thrill out of the whole thing since it ended well.
Good deal!

Burnham, that building and the setting looks familiar.
Is it the one that you showed me.
The one built entirely out of straight grained old growth doug fir and only a single knot in the whole thing?
The one that would be something to show to Jay?

No Stig, this one is on the compound where my office in Zigzag is located. Quite a bit smaller. But it was built in the same time frame and with many of the same design characteristics as the Ranger's house at Clackamas Lake, which we toured. That really is a stunning building, isn't it? I bet this one has similar quality wood in it.

 

[squisher]

That's cool, I bet the dude got a buzz cutting that one down.

And there yah have it in the one pic, beat feet for sure. Standing around the stump and looking espescially at a snag falling through timber is not where I'd be.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Nice pics. Good for you for keeping the young guys out of trouble, B. Confidence is a good thing, that fellow's must have gone up a few notches.

 

[Cobleskill]

It looks like he worked up a pretty good sweat. I know it took me a while to learn how to make a decent notch. I know how hard it is to watch, especially when you can see a mistake being made. Tries the patience a little. Good job standing back and letting him learn.

 

[Burnham]

He does know how to make a good facecut, and does so fine on smaller stems. He's a FS B level faller, so for the most part he's been limited to diameters less than 24 inches. It takes some experience to translate that into accurate work on trees a fair bit bigger than your bar.

The most important thing, of course, is that he knows what he's striving for in a face, and is willing to work at it to get it right. The S-212 course we've spoken of before is a great basis for that sort of mindset.

His boss sees aptitude and promise in the young man, and this is the only way to get him up to journeyman status eventually.

 

[Old Monkey]

This thread needs a soundtrack.

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[Cobleskill]

Good idea. I used to love that album. It was the first "concept" album. I should get my stepson to burn it on a disc.

 

[SkwerI]

I have that one on vinyl.

 

[sotc]

I thought it was setting back a tad. Makes sense to keep watching then

 

[Altissimus]

that piece of limb would go right through a hardhat

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Great pics as always Burnam. As well as narrative

 

[gf beranek]

I once told one of my foreman, I'll never learn a thing if you cut all the big trees". He told me, "I can't risk having a green horn cut'em" I came back, "Well I guess I'll never learn a thing then."

After that he started letting me tackle a biggy now and them. Same thing went with sharpening the chain saw. I had to keep getting on his case to let me try it so I could learn. Eventually he let me start. But if I didn't push the issue I never would have had the chance.

Simple as both things seem to me today I can seen his point back then. Later when I became a foreman I came up against the same issues with my own young crew. Turn in the barrel, I guess. Learning in the field with someone over your shoulder. The learning curve and the return. it plays out many times every day.

 

[kikori]

There is definitely some soul building that occurs when you are working solo.