Your first tree...
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woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Poor fella....
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
If that is a wedge in his back pocket, wonder why he didn't want to use it?
tophopper
The resident asshole
Somebody got fired that day!
Burnham
Woods walker
Probably what he's asking himself in that last pic.
Edit: last pic from the Madsen's site, Butch linked as source. First pic here.
Edit: last pic from the Madsen's site, Butch linked as source. First pic here.
Burnham
Woods walker
It was the faller's own truck...maybe he fired himself.
tophopper
The resident asshole
The grill is in good shape yet
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
That had to hurt at least an ego or bank account ... OUCHY
NickfromWI
King of Splices
My first was a blue spruce. Maybe 50' tall. I have it on video!
We were supposed to climb it and rope it. It was right next to the house.
I got there and told the guys (who were all stoners) that I was going to fell it and they said they wanted to see it. I'm sure they wanted to see it go into the house.
It was supposed to be an all day job. We did it in two hours. I went home and took a nap- the other guys went to the bar. We met back at 4 and headed to the shop!
It's on VHS. How do I get that on YouTube?
We were supposed to climb it and rope it. It was right next to the house.
I got there and told the guys (who were all stoners) that I was going to fell it and they said they wanted to see it. I'm sure they wanted to see it go into the house.
It was supposed to be an all day job. We did it in two hours. I went home and took a nap- the other guys went to the bar. We met back at 4 and headed to the shop!
It's on VHS. How do I get that on YouTube?
Paul B
I dig hammocks.
have to get the tape digitized Nick. If you have a video capture card you might be able to do it. Otherwise, play the vcr on the tv and record the tv screen with a digital video camera.
Tree Reb
TreeHouser
It was an old Peppercorn and I never hurt it, I used to just about live in it.
But you know what they say about the quiet loner type, I went on to kill thousands of innocent trees.
I'm doing my penance for that now, living in suburbia and doing takedowns in tight spots with no access, trimming hedges and pruning shrubs.
NickfromWI
King of Splices
What is this VCR you speak of? I'm not up to date on the latest fan dangled technology.
Is VCR an app!
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
I can remember almost every second of my first side job... A Big black walnut, taking pieces I know now were way to big, way to fast.. all on a retired rock climbing rope I found in the woods of Kentucky. Got paid $500 for 5 hours of work. Lucky I didnt kill myself, the house and everyone watching.
flushcut
TreeHouser
Red River Gorge?
bonner1040
Nick from Ohio
Yep Roadside Crag
Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2
HolmenTree
Banned
It was 1966 and I was 8 yrs old. Being a busy farmboy I decided to go off on an adventure without telling mom or dad. I packed dad's 42" bowsaw and a hatchet about a mile into the bush. I was gonna make a dugout canoe out of the biggest white spruce I found standing.
Found the tree but decided I'd have better luck using the bowsaw if I got some bark off first.
Can't remember how many wacks on the tree I got in with the hatchet but I do remember the big wack that glanced off the tree and into my right knee to the side of my kneecap. I hobbled all the way home and gave mom a shock of her life. It was then 80 mph to the hospital in the '61 Plymouth.
Here's a pic of the scar today.
Found the tree but decided I'd have better luck using the bowsaw if I got some bark off first.
Can't remember how many wacks on the tree I got in with the hatchet but I do remember the big wack that glanced off the tree and into my right knee to the side of my kneecap. I hobbled all the way home and gave mom a shock of her life. It was then 80 mph to the hospital in the '61 Plymouth.
Here's a pic of the scar today.
Attachments
HolmenTree
Banned
But later that summer in 1966 I did get some trees down.
My way of thinking was if I could operate the tractor at age 8 I could operate my older brother's Homelite chainsaw.
Mom and dad were gone to town and my older sister was doing a poor job keeping an eye on me. In the shop I figured out how to get the Homelite going and snuck behind the barn with it and proceeded to fell about 10- 8" bhd aspen.
When dad got home he found the mess but I can't remember any discipline from him, I think he was shocked and proud at the same time.
Different story with mom though
My way of thinking was if I could operate the tractor at age 8 I could operate my older brother's Homelite chainsaw.
Mom and dad were gone to town and my older sister was doing a poor job keeping an eye on me. In the shop I figured out how to get the Homelite going and snuck behind the barn with it and proceeded to fell about 10- 8" bhd aspen.
When dad got home he found the mess but I can't remember any discipline from him, I think he was shocked and proud at the same time.
Different story with mom though
HolmenTree
Banned
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I waltzed my way across the road onto county recreational land when I was 13 with a stihl 460 with a 28" bar and whacked a 26" sycamore into a creek. My old man FLIPPED. I believe the tree had a fair lean and went over easy even with my version of saw work at that age.
I worked on a ranch in Colorado for a summer when I was 16 and did flop some monster cottonwoods with a poulan and a backhoe to push them over. Looking back, that was lunacy.
I worked on a ranch in Colorado for a summer when I was 16 and did flop some monster cottonwoods with a poulan and a backhoe to push them over. Looking back, that was lunacy.
GASoline71
'cause chicks dig scars
HAHA! The old sayin' used to be, "Park your truck where the fallers park theirs." Guess not in this case though!
Gary
Peter
Treehouser
Glad I'm not the only early starter.
Free climbed and delimbed my first sycamore when I was about 11 or 12. Did lots of those over the next few years, then decided it was time to get some proper training and went to college.
Free climbed and delimbed my first sycamore when I was about 11 or 12. Did lots of those over the next few years, then decided it was time to get some proper training and went to college.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
When my dad was going to build a new house, he was saving money by enlisting me to do the tree work required to clear the land, mostly lawn. Three trees had to go. He gave me a long safety meeting...something to the effect of "keep it away from your leg, and try not to get it stuck in the cut".
Tree one was a crabapple with my stepmom's Homelite. Not a big deal, and got me primed. Next was ascending into some tree with my rock climbing gear to get some weight off away from the house with a bow saw. Don't remember how I felled that, but it came down fine, presumably with the small Homelite.
Then it was time for the big boy. It was an elm or something of the sort. Using a borrowed step-relative's Stihl. I don't know how big the bar was, but I recall that the powerhead was meant to pull a big one. I feel like it was set up with a 28" or 32" bar that day. The tree was bigger than the bar we had. Would have been tough to double-cut my first facecut, luckily we didn't know what a facecut was. Good old sloping backcut from both sides, steel splitting wedge in the kerf, rope attached to my uncle's car, wheels spinning free as he'd get some pull away from the tree and less weight on the rear end. Got it down, without getting me killed. I do recall taking a limb or two off that last tree, and a bent extension ladder. I climbed up the tree with rock climbing gear before limbing it, so I didn't go down with the ladder.
Years later, after working a little while (like a month and a half) for a tree removal company to see a little bit of climbing, I undertook a side job, my first real climbing removal. I had my ms 361 for chunking, and a little Mac vibration machine for limbing/ topping a 28" doug-fir for a guy that I'd done some odd jobs for, previously. What would take me a couple hours tops now, took me two days then, using my rock harness (oh, so comfy), a static rope and a climbing rope for my tie-ins. Part way up I saw the water knot on my say lanyard come untied, watched the slow motion saw plummet, landing right on the tip. Bent the bar, and everything else. HO offered me his little electric chainsaw and long extension cord. HAHA. Got it topped, thought. Nerves were spent, so I came back the next day to chunk it down. Reasonably open dropzone once I cleared the retaining wall, using the brush to keep rounds from rolling downhill into the lake. I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to chunk a bit, then drop the spar, because of the neighbor's precious lawn, so I spent a long time pushing rounds off. Seems like they were seriously heavy to push off by the time I was getting lowerer. I must have been spent from working a week of dragging and chipping, then being oh-so-efficient
with my climbing technique for two days. Probably had 10+ hours into that tree.
Tree one was a crabapple with my stepmom's Homelite. Not a big deal, and got me primed. Next was ascending into some tree with my rock climbing gear to get some weight off away from the house with a bow saw. Don't remember how I felled that, but it came down fine, presumably with the small Homelite.
Then it was time for the big boy. It was an elm or something of the sort. Using a borrowed step-relative's Stihl. I don't know how big the bar was, but I recall that the powerhead was meant to pull a big one. I feel like it was set up with a 28" or 32" bar that day. The tree was bigger than the bar we had. Would have been tough to double-cut my first facecut, luckily we didn't know what a facecut was. Good old sloping backcut from both sides, steel splitting wedge in the kerf, rope attached to my uncle's car, wheels spinning free as he'd get some pull away from the tree and less weight on the rear end. Got it down, without getting me killed. I do recall taking a limb or two off that last tree, and a bent extension ladder. I climbed up the tree with rock climbing gear before limbing it, so I didn't go down with the ladder.
Years later, after working a little while (like a month and a half) for a tree removal company to see a little bit of climbing, I undertook a side job, my first real climbing removal. I had my ms 361 for chunking, and a little Mac vibration machine for limbing/ topping a 28" doug-fir for a guy that I'd done some odd jobs for, previously. What would take me a couple hours tops now, took me two days then, using my rock harness (oh, so comfy), a static rope and a climbing rope for my tie-ins. Part way up I saw the water knot on my say lanyard come untied, watched the slow motion saw plummet, landing right on the tip. Bent the bar, and everything else. HO offered me his little electric chainsaw and long extension cord. HAHA. Got it topped, thought. Nerves were spent, so I came back the next day to chunk it down. Reasonably open dropzone once I cleared the retaining wall, using the brush to keep rounds from rolling downhill into the lake. I didn't realize that I wouldn't be able to chunk a bit, then drop the spar, because of the neighbor's precious lawn, so I spent a long time pushing rounds off. Seems like they were seriously heavy to push off by the time I was getting lowerer. I must have been spent from working a week of dragging and chipping, then being oh-so-efficient
with my climbing technique for two days. Probably had 10+ hours into that tree.
MasterBlaster
Administrator Emeritus
Watching your saw plummet to the ground SUCKS!!!
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