Chainsaw Hell

I have a mattock on the truck, don't use it that often but when ya need it, ya need it. Good tool.
 
I need to get me one of those, I only have the one with a pick on one side, a polasky?
 
I was comparing the Pulaski, that's how it's spelt, to a cutter mattox with it's smaller axe bit side. I b a master of sentence fragments some times.
 
I need to get me one of those, I only have the one with a pick on one side, a polasky?

A Pulaski is the the tool to compliment a cutter mattock.

Pulaskis have an ax blade and an adze.

Double-bit axes are meant to have one super sharp side for chopping clean wood, and one not-so-sharp side for dirty chopping, like roots.




The pulaski is a special hand tool used in wildland firefighting.
The tool combines an axe and an adze in one head, similar to that of the cutter mattock, with a rigid handle of wood, plastic, or fiberglass. The pulaski is a versatile tool for constructing firebreaks, as it can be used to both dig soil and chop wood. It is also well adapted for trail construction, gardening, and other outdoor work. As a gardening or excavation tool, it is effective for digging holes in root-bound or hard soil.
The invention of the pulaski is credited to Ed Pulaski, an assistant ranger with the United States Forest Service, in 1911,[1] [2] although a similar tool was first introduced in 1876 by the Collins Tool Company. Ed Pulaski was famous for taking action to save the lives of a crew of 45 firefighters during the disastrous August 1910 wildfires in Idaho. His invention (or reinvention[3]) of the tool that bears his name may have been a direct result of the disaster, as he saw the need for better firefighting tools. Ed Pulaski further refined the tool by 1913, and it came into use in the Rocky Mountain region. In 1920, the Forest Service began contracting for the tool to be commercially manufactured, but use remained regional for some years. The tool became a national standard in the 1930s.[3]
Raising the tool above head height while swinging is discouraged as this wastes energy and creates a safety hazard.[4]
An initialed ("E.P.") tool, which purportedly belonged to Pulaski himself, is part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution at the Wallace District Mining Museum in Wallace, Idaho,.
 
Thanks Sean. I remember the Pulaski story, my dad was a big fan of his.
 
I was comparing the Pulaski, that's how it's spelt, to a cutter mattox with it's smaller axe bit side. I b a master of sentence fragments some times.

PULASKI https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/...File:Head_of_Nupla_PA375-PASG_Pulaski_Axe.jpg

Cutter Mattock https://goo.gl/images/p3jV43

Mattock versus pickaxe (what I call a railroad pick) https://www.wonkeedonkeetools.co.uk/media/wysiwyg/M-Mattocks-Ben/MR1-What-is-a-mattock/M-1-5.jpg

Pulaskis look like little mattocks, but mattocks handles slide through the head. The more you pry, the tighter it gets. The tool head "knocks-off" easily for packing up at "knock-off time", or so I've been told about the expression from an Aussie trail builder.

With a Pulaski, mounted like an ax, slipped into the head from the bottom end of the head, then shimmed, levering hard with the tool will pull the head off/ loose.
 
The tool I use has an adze on one side and a pick on the other.
 
Pick mattock.

I've dug a fair bit of mountain trail. Digging out a small stump is nothing compared to "levitating" a big boulder out of the tread path. Those start out about 6" above grade, leaving you to find out how big they are later, after a lot of digging. Specs are specs.

A 5' rock bar ( with the right positioning and fulcrum),does a lot to lever against roots to break them intact, or partially cut. A battery powered Sawsall does a lot.
Leverage with a tall stump and MA, too.

I was impressed with a grip-hoist/ Forfor ripping a 12" dbh fir out at the roots. No stump to deal with. Probably set the pull line standing on a wheelbarrow.
 
I'm sure most of the Treehouse members know this (or maybe not), but Jerry has a wonderful CD Rom that goes into great detail of his days clearing the right-of-ways. Along with the great stories, are some really incredible photos of the work that was done. To see the size of these Redwood stumps that were cut is awesome!

Hey Jer, didn't you end up breaking your leg cutting one of those big stumps?
 
Good posts, know I realize I have a Pulaski not a mattock. :thumbup:
 
Chris, I broke both ankles just a year apart on that right of way job, and I'm paying for it today. Ouch!

Ouch is right! I guess its true when they say that our bodies are like rope and we only have so many "cycles to failure" ourselves and the body remembers every injury.
 
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