gf beranek
Old Schooler
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #26
Now you're talking.
Chainsaw Hell
- Thread starter gf beranek
- Start date
- Replies 46
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Levi
Guest
I need to get me one of those, I only have the one with a pick on one side, a polasky?
flushcut
TreeHouser
I think a polaski is a full sized axe bit.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
Nah, Pulaski. Axe on one side, grubbing hoe on the other
flushcut
TreeHouser
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.
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Levi
Guest
Thanks for clearing that up.
sotc
Dormant hero!!
SeanKroll
Treehouser
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,.
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Levi
Guest
Thanks Sean. I remember the Pulaski story, my dad was a big fan of his.
SeanKroll
Treehouser
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.
SeanKroll
Treehouser
Pick Mattock, contrast cutter mattock, which has a semi-blunt cutter for roots, in place of the pick.
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Levi
Guest
The tool I use has an adze on one side and a pick on the other.
SeanKroll
Treehouser
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'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.
chris_girard
Treehouser
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?
Hey Jer, didn't you end up breaking your leg cutting one of those big stumps?
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
I prefer to refer that shat out and let someone else handle it. But that's just me. 
flushcut
TreeHouser
I prefer to refer that shat out and let someone else handle it. But that's just me.
Lazy!
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Practical... I got trees to slay
gf beranek
Old Schooler
- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #45
Chris, I broke both ankles just a year apart on that right of way job, and I'm paying for it today. Ouch!
flushcut
TreeHouser
chris_girard
Treehouser
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.
