Saving Private Chainsaw Bar

I tossed and turned all night - how will I drop that tree?

Fit a new bar and chain to the chainsaw motor to free the stuck one?

Or, sharpen the axe and do it old school, hardcore lumberjack style.

My macho gave me no choice.

Axe, baby.

On the last chop the top tree suddenly shifted sideways
on the bar. Things happen so fast. That's why there's so
many accidents in lumberjacking. All I could do now
was give it a good push, get back, and hope for the best.
Time almost stands still as you look up, watching as the
tree decide which way it's gonna go. I like it.

One of the complications in axe felling is that with every swing, you shake the small or mid-size tree during the critical, final cuts. This potentially destabilizes the balance of tree above the cut and makes directing the fall not as simple and predictable as using the smooth chainsaw machine.

I got lucky again. The top of tree shifted off and got
held up by surrounding tree branches. The bottom
of the cut tree missed the bar on the drop and didn't
crush it. As the bar and chain was free, I could use
the engine again. Real lucky.

It's easy to get exhausted fast with the axe. The key is to take it nice and easy until your body is conditioned to this type of task. Let the axe head do the work. Pull it out of the trunk with the top hand near the axe head. Then slide it to the bottom hand at the end of the handle on the forward swing in. Alternate 45 degree angle cuts above and below in order to chip off chunks of wood. At least that's what I figure from watching those TV lumberjack competitions.


Boy howdy! There's the long stump (above) and the dropped upper tree with branches held up by surrounding trees. The tree is about fifty feet tall.

With chainsaw reassembled, I began and finished the difficult task of dropping the rest of the tree to the ground in 3 to 4 foot sections. Dangerous. It happens all the time in this dense 'core' forest. That will make a suspense filled video clip sometime.

I swear, I should host a kid's show on the interesting and dangerous things I do in the forest every day. I think young kids would like it in the same way those construction site videos enthrall them. Lumberjack Bill.

Axe Time

While I had a sharp felling axe on the scene, I thought I'd time how long it takes me to chop through the 10" sugar maple trunk - just like I was a real lumberjack.

The first chopped side took me about five minutes. I found that when chopping a tree down, it's best and easiest if you maintain a constant chopping rhythm. It's the same with shovelling gravel. There's a natural pace, then it's just a matter of time until the tree falls.


I found it helped to switch hand positions, side to side of the tree, as I wasn't used to using those particular tree chopping muscles. I should do a DIY instructional video for all those metrosexuals buying fancy designer axes to show how a real amateur does it. All part of my patented Lumberjack Workout Program.


The back side took me about two minutes. Near the end, I always begin to wonder, will this be the final chop? The chops then are directed straight in to the narrowest part of the remaining trunk. Just want to drop the damn thing. Then, on the last chop the whole thing popped off like chopping some one's head off.


And then, just for comparison, I timed how long it took to cut through the tree trunk with the semi-sharp MS 260. Seven seconds.

You do the math - 7 minutes versus 7 seconds.


I'm one guy in a forest that needs to be thinned throughout for improved growth and health. Think of how many trees I could cut down in a day by axe versus chainsaw.

During chainsaw season from September to April (?), it's definitely chainsaw. But in spring/summer, I could see myself swinging the axe and bucking logs with a swede saw. Or...a one-man crosscut saw.