Redwood Fall 10-30-11

[gf beranek]

Went out to the woods yesterday to shoot a pull tree on private ground. Kind of reminded me of the old days, you know. Climbers, ropes, tail hold blocks and rigging, timber fallers and chainsaws. The sound and smell of the equipment warming up. And certainly the smell of fresh broken earth for the lay.

It was the full Monty. Pull tree layout at its finest. The crew did pretty darn good. I didn't stick around to get the final report on the scale, but guesstimated 30,000 bf.

Never thought I'd see one like this ever again.

 

[canadiantreeman]

Sweet!

 

[gf beranek]

I figured out how to post the pics in order. It's not so hard. After uploading just drag the icons where they should go and the others move out of the way. Of course I did start my numbering from 0001. So it was easy to keep track of the order.

 

[Old Monkey]

How tall was it?

 

[gf beranek]

Just guessing 250. It was taller than the layout.

 

[lumberjack]

Awesome pics and job! What do you figure that tree was worth?

 

[High Scale]

Lovely pictures.

 

[Porkbrick]

so cool!

 

[gf beranek]

Rates today are pretty low, Carl. Logger is only getting about .15 per bf. Land owner you can figure about a $1, camp run. And the mill will triple that between the clear logs and knotty top logs.

This has typically been the breakdown for old growth over the last 10 years.

 

[pete mctree]

Fantastic pics. Tree work on a whole different scale to my day to day work

 

[treebogan]

Fantastic Pictures,would have loved to see it in real life!

 

[flushcut]

Please tell me you have video of that? I would love to drop one that big.

 

[gf beranek]

When the big trees fall in the parks during storms, across roads and trails, the park service hires some private individuals with the saws and the know-how to buck the trees so they can be managed.

I have a collection of photos of just such trees and bucks. Who ever does it is right on the dime with their technique. Perfectly smooth and square cuts without overlaps or mis-matches. Many over 100 inches.

On the other side of the coin now,, some of the routine trail clearing in the parks is done by maintenance crews with small saws, short bars and dull chains. Their bucks can be pretty ugly.

 

[blue]

Nice pics, bet it bought back some memories

 

[stig]

Great pictures, Jerry.

A dollar per boardfoot seems ridiculously low for such wood.
I bet the mill makes a killing when it it sold as lumber.

 

[Tommy_B]

Very very cool pictures Jerry. Thank you for posting

 

[woodworkingboy]

Jerry, what did you pull the tree with?

 

[sotc]

Looked pretty heavy on the back side. Anything to worry about back there if the rigging broke?

 

[thattreeguy]

jay, did ya see the big cat in the background....?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Man! Great pics, Jerry!

 

[gf beranek]

I'm surprised some criticism's have yet been posted. I have some feelings about it all. Romantic and practical feelings,,, for the most part. I can't help that. It's where I come from.

The pull was well planned, Willy. Losing the tree was not likely.

I hear the logs will be loaded on a low bed to transport them to the mill. I may leave early in the morning to record that.

And so as you can see the odd big tree is still felled here now and then. Nothing like the old days for sure. I hope I can make it out to record them as long as I get the leads to be there in time for each one. Great trees, stories, people, places. None of which should be forgotten.

far and few between nowadays.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I see the cat now!

Well, Jerry, you might have yourself to thank for the lack of complaints about the tree having to be felled. People that know you and your love for the big trees, can only assume that since you are involved in the operation to some degree, there was good reason and purpose to it behind the loss. Some sensitive and insightful reasoning went into the removal. There can be no other way to see it.

Now that you say that you have your own feeling to the contrary, it allows us to look at it that way too.

 

[forestryworks]

Glorious!!! Thanks for sharing, Jerry!

Damn, just to have been there to watch it all in person, I'd-a thought I died and gone to heaven.

 

[gf beranek]

Jay, the story of the tree was in the air some months ago. all local rumors. My camera and I just happened to show up because I got a phone call the night before it happened.

Oh, with all the issues about cutting old growth today I see it all in a much different perspective than when I was young and in it everyday.

Lucky to grow old and gain new appreciation for all life. Still I will never forsake the ethic of the working class that struggles everyday to make ends meet.

from here on what we do with our resources as a whole is all political.

In the meantime long live the worker bees. I'll have my camera at hand.

 

[sotc]

The pull was well planned, Willy. Losing the tree was not likely.

Yeah, i'm just certain I would have that present in my mind till the tree committed!

Who here can criticize?!