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.

Zen and the Art of Chainsaw Management

These days I'm chainsawing trees either for mill logs or fuelwood.

Because the trees in Deerwood are so tall and close together, they'll tend to fall into one another instead of falling to the ground when I cut its trunk. That means the tree is 'hung up' and getting it down is one of the hardest and dangerous tasks in logging.

I've bought and used a cable come-along to try and hand winch cut trees off their stumps, but it's damn hard if not impossible sometimes.

So, in order to solve the problem, I cut the already severed trunk in a series of extreme angles that is my best chance of getting the tree vertical and possibly falling out of the tree its hung up on. Cutting into an already cut tree is very unpredictable and just plain dangerous.

You really don't know where the tree will fall once it's cut through as the unsupported stump will fall in another unpredictable direction.

I found myself repeating a sort of montra, "I'm ready to die...I'm ready to die...". But the scarier part is realizing that I probably wouldn't die (at least not right away), but be trapped and crippled instead. It would probably take half a day for someone to find me. And for those twelve hour and beyond, I'd likely prefer death.

But as "I'm ready to die...I'm ready to be maimed..." doesn't roll off the tongue so well, I finally went with just, "I'm ready...I'm ready...I'm ready" which may be of some comfort unless you're actually not...ready.

Chainsaw Season!

I hereby declare the start of Chainsaw Season!

From the beginning of September till the end of March, it's chainsaw season in the woods.

The wildlife have had their time to raise their young, and now it's my turn to log for milling and fuelwood.

This season, I plan to clear most or all of the forest trail paths in Deerwood as the main development project.

First order of business is to get a store of wood cut for the office heating this winter. I'll cut mostly standing deadwood for this as it has already dried some.

Chainsaw vs. Mountain Lion!

Seeing as I'm in a defending myself against wild animals mood, I was much amused by an Associated Press article:

Ex-Marine uses chain saw to fend off attacking mountain lion

So, that's pretty awesome, right? Mountain lion, AKA cougar, AKA puma. Here's some choice lines....

Dustin Britton, a 32-year-old mechanic and ex-Marine from Windsor, Col., said he was alone cutting firewood about 30 metres from his campsite in the Shoshone National Forest about 43 kilometres west of Cody when he saw the 45-kilogram lion staring at him from some bushes.

The 6-foot-tall, 170-pound Mr. Britton said he raised his chain saw and met the lion head-on as it pounced — a collision he described as feeling like a grown man running directly into him.

“It batted me three or four times with its front paws and as quick as I hit it with that saw it just turned away,” he said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press.

Which Way to China?

At Karen & Dave's I cut some tree roots from a deck post hole.

Shack Attack

Karen kindly sent along some photos of yours truly cutting a tree at The Shack.

It's nice to see that orange goes with everything, but those trou just don't flatter my girlish figure. Better go back to the chaps....

Clearin' Land

I was off to Burk's Falls, over at Karen and Dave's place, for a few days.

There was some land clearing to be done down by the lake to make way for their future sauna/boathouse compound. The hard work was eased by thoughts of gourmet meals and hot tubs at night.

Dave and I went over to Gib's chainsaw emporium off Hwy 52o for a couple new chains. I asked the proprietor how much he'd charge, say, for a used 90 cc - if I was to come by some time. He looked around the scattered saws and parts at his feet. He half lifted a Husky I thought was a goner for sure. "Have to put on a new muffler...two-fifty." $250 is darn good when I'd easily pay a grand for a new one.

Think I was still talking to ole Gib when he just turned around and walked back into the farmhouse.

See ya later!!

Dave tries out the new saw chain.

Dave gives the birch an attitude adjustment.

Scene of the carnage.