Cutting bushel is hard!

[MatthewMMeckley]

Got into some bigger wood

 

[gf beranek]

That don't look bad. Laid out real nice, Matt. Almost a truckload in itself.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Nice!
You and Katelyn stay safe. Nice break from the fire zone I would imagine.

 

[Al Smith]

I'm certainly not a feller and never saw a redwood nor a Douglas fir .However I never could hit a wedge with the butt end of an axe .All I did was destroy the wedge and thus a 4 pound dead blow is my weapon of choice .

 

[davidwyby]

I’m sure you know of hotsaws, but I just saw this vid and thought of your thread. I’m sure he has more.

 

[gf beranek]

Boy he worked pretty hard getting that clump down. Looked painful.

 

[MatthewMMeckley]

I didn’t realize how hard and stupid this clumps actually are. I keep thinking about packing my jacks down but my hike is an hour long and about a mile of steep broken brushy ground. Dropping down into it would be the worst. We are using ropes to help get in there. As Sureshot Turcott says” welcome to helicopter cuttin”

 

[gf beranek]

Before heli's it was all yarder ground.

I know most of that area. What watershed / creek are you in?

 

[MatthewMMeckley]

I believe it’s called Big Stitz Creek. Just outside scotia.

 

[stig]

Scotia, the happy little Pacific lumber town that Maxxam killed!

 

[gf beranek]

Yep, just above Shively Road, South Fork of the Eel. Right across the river from the Avenue of the Giants, Pepperwood area. see the map (upper left hand corner).

 

[MatthewMMeckley]

We actually bought your redwood book at a shop in the avenue of the giants. We brought it with and are actually going to ride bikes around then today. The map is handy and we will be sure to explore some more. I know I said I’d call here in a few days and I will. Finally getting settled and making a buck. I’m understand the clumps and what to do with trading or just not cutting it. I won’t let pride get in the way of making money 😂. I’ve been watching the working climber videos again every night as I pass out. So much knowledge and love watching all the fellas work. I really got some questions about the ciro brothers and Mike Davis. That Mike fella looked like a rare specimen of genetics.

 

[stig]

Wow, that map really shows how unique the Rockefeller forest is!
The density of it.

 

[gf beranek]

Yeah, it really stands out in the Sat-maps. Contiguous old-growth forest.

Big dark patch. Same with Prairie Creek and Jedidiah Smith.

 

[cory]

More Mike Davis and John Ciro stories!!

 

[gf beranek]

Yeah, Mike and John. Different breed of humanity there. Incredibly strong workers.

 

[flushcut]

“ I have to do this just so I can say with some qualification I was here” priceless!

 

[gf beranek]

Yeah, that was Mike.

 

[Al Smith]

Dang and I thought my 4 foot oak trees were giants .Wow !---mere pecker poles

 

[MatthewMMeckley]

Small update


Love being out here that’s forsure, finally understanding what I can and can not get away with. Really glad to learn about the trade tree

 

[davidwyby]

Dang and I thought my 4 foot oak trees were giants .Wow !---mere pecker poles

They have a lot of branches and canopy to deal with, that’s for sure!

 

[Al Smith]

Those west coast giants I'll be first to admit are way above my skill level . A 3 foot oak and a 12 foot redwood don't even belong on the same page .

 

[Eric H-L]

What is a trade tree? (If it’s not confidential)

 

[gf beranek]

I can chime in on that.

All depending the company / forester, in select-cuts, a timber faller may be granted permission to cut other trees in lieu of the ones marked for harvest.

For many practical reasons you can't always fall the trees that are marked for harvest. So you trade for another tree in the vicinity. One that you can get.

Some outfits do not allow the faller to trade trees. No matter what. It's a firing offense.

You got to be careful with some fallers cutting bushel, because they'll cut every big tree around a small one that is marked harvest. And they'll say, "I traded it." In that case your select-cut harvest plan can end up looking like a clear-cut. Really piss off a forester.

My friend John Ciro was notorious for doing that. Laughing all the way to the bank. His pay checks were always bigger.

 

[cory]

You got to be careful with some fallers cutting bushel, because they'll cut every big tree around a small one that is marked harvest. And they'll say, "I traded it." In that case your select-cut harvest plan can end up looking like a clear-cut. Really piss off a forester. My friend John Ciro was notorious for doing that.

I first saw that logging in Maine in 1977. I never heard the term 'trade tree' but yeah makes sense. I don't know if trading was an agreed-upon thing, and I think I witnessed alot more of the John Ciro approach than judicious trading, lol.