Soren Eriksson - Where is he now?

[HolmenTree]

Rock on.

Thanks Butch, here's a few more.
The first picture is one of the skidders loading the first 2 chokers of 20, the last picture is of my logging buddy little Nick LaRouche who hails from Quebec. He was always it seems working the next strip to me, and I never could keep up to this guy. It was like a race every day. Nick was Bruce Lee ripped and just as fast.
Back in the late 1970s in a good month of production Nick could make enough money to go to town and pay for a brand new Pontiac Trans Am in cash.
Guys like Nick I give credit to for all I know how to work piecework.

 

[forestryworks]

Always faster going in clearcuts on flat ground, lol.

 

[HolmenTree]

Always faster going in clearcuts on flat ground, lol.

Yes table top flat for millions of acres here in northern Manitoba. Only time we shut down is for heavy rain, which we get very little of. Our weather is very stable.

 

[stig]

Those ain't trees, Willard.
They're toothpicks.

Obviously only a complete idiot would use a bar that couldn't reach through the tree for that kind of felling.

On a more serious note, did you guys ever use the chainsaw driven pneumatic felling "wedge" that the Swedes developed for that kind of work back in the 70es?

 

[HolmenTree]

did you guys ever use the chainsaw driven pneumatic felling "wedge" that the Swedes developed for that kind of work back in the 70es?

Stig I don't think they came this far west in Canada. I remember Nick and a few other of the Frenchmen talked about trying them in Quebec in the early '70's. But in our small skinny timber all we carried was our saw. Alot of times just a quick slash for a facecut, backcut completely through and handbunch the trees into neat bunches before they hit the ground.

With one skidder the best pulpwood production I had in 25 ft.-30ft. treelength was 150 cords in 40 hrs [30 a day] Lots of fiber and alot of trees.
Sawlog timber: 305 cords in 40 hrs with one line skidder.

 

[stig]

I guess your trees are too skinny at that.
It was developed for those who felled for the Logma, the first processor.
It couldn't fell, but did everything else.

That was the prototype of the mechanical harvesters that are killing off the loggers here.
I saw the very first model in a forestry museum in Sweden 5 years ago.
When no-one was looking, I went and took a leak against one of the wheels

My feelings towards harvesters must be similar to what the dinosaurs felt about the first mammals.

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/goy0Yud53Ps" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[HolmenTree]

Obviously only a complete idiot would use a bar that couldn't reach through the tree for that kind of felling.

Our top crews the French guys from Quebec ran Partners from about 1969 then in '76 they started using the Husky 162 then the 480, 266 all 16-18" b/c.
Most of us English guys stuck with the clunky Jonsered 621, 80, 90 saws. Not until 1979 was when I ran the Jonsered 910- 16-18", beautiful fast light saw. 1982 I got my Jonsered 630 [162]. Tried a 038 too slow went back to the 630. 1986 was the year of my best saw, Stihl 064 85cc 14 lbs with 16-20" b/c. Best production in sawlogs with that saw.

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My feelings towards harvesters must be similar to what the dinosaurs felt about the first mammals.

In the early '90s when I got forced out, I felled for a grapple skidder for a week with a Stihl 066-20". I got my scale slip for the 40 hrs but it was real "tight", the company didn't want to make me look good compared to their new processors. On a good scale I estimated 400 cords. Only got 275.
Then I was off to the sawmill ...................

 

[Tucker943]

A cat skinner!

Here in my area, mechanized logging operations are tough on the small, manual logging outfits. The mill wants their wood, and wants the operations who can get it to them quickly.

 

[stig]

Those were the days, Willard.
When Jonsered, Partner and even Jobu were great saws.

Too bad that Elux killed them all.

I still to this day wonder how the American saws managed to kill themselves in a 30 year span, with no help from Elux.
How do you go from being ( almost) top of the line to obsolete in such a short time.
What went wrong?

 

[RIVERRAT]

Stig, how big are some of your hard wood trees over there?
You have any different species than we do here?

 

[stig]

'Bout like this :




Not very big. We are too far north for stuff to grow really big.

Beech Fagus sylvatica is the dominant hardwood species here.

 

[Tucker943]

Elux saws are NOT junk Stig. I can't speak for the quality of yesterdays saws, as I was too young to know about that. They sound impressive. I make my living with a pile of Husqvarna saws, and Stihl saws as well. There is no doubt my Husqvarnas are well built, strong, reliable machines. Truth be told, for as outstanding as my stihl saws are, they give me more trouble. I have several husqvarnas that are 10 years old, and older, that have only needed a few spark plugs and fuel filters after seeing demanding use logging and on tree jobs.

It was like you insulted my children Stig!

 

[stig]

Have you run a Partner lately?

And why even keep the Jonsered brand alive when they are nothing but Huskies with a different color?

I'd never insult those cute kids of yours

 

[Tucker943]

No, I've never run a Partner. I meant my Orange kids Stig. I've never run the saws of yesterday. I don't even chime in on those conversations because I know nothing really about them. I've heard stories of old Jonny saws, and talk of old Pioneers that were the saw to have in my area way back when. But that's the extent. The jonsered/husky deal is plain odd. I really don't get it. The only thing I see is that jonsered ergonomics are night and day to husky ergonomics.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Stihl did have a variety of saws that are basically trouble free, but nowadays they are considered heavy.

 

[RIVERRAT]

Thanks for the pics Stig. Always neat to see stuff from other places.

 

[HolmenTree]

I still to this day wonder how the American saws managed to kill themselves in a 30 year span, with no help from Elux.
How do you go from being ( almost) top of the line to obsolete in such a short time.
What went wrong?

Starting out as Poulan, then Beaird Poulan Inc., then Beaird Poulan/Weed Eater and now today back to Poulan and Poulan Pro.
The company developed pro saws like the top of the line 8500 up into the mid 1980s.
Electrolux took over Husky, Jonsered, Partner in the late 1970s, then the Canadian saw company Pioneer in 1983. Pioneer and Partner were then joined together as Pioneer/Partner building pro saws.

Poulan/Weed Eater kept growing considerably in size before being bought out by Sweden based AB Electrolux in 1986. In 1988 Pioneer/ Partner was renamed Poulan Pro .
In 1993 all the Canadian Poulan Pro operations moved to the US division Shreveport, Louisiana and is still called Poulan today.
Poulan doesn't make a competitive pro saw today, neither does Partner International.

Here is Poulan/Weed Eaters last fight to the death in advertising to keep its self all American with these ads in 1985 and 1986 before being bought out by the Swedes in 1986.

 

[HolmenTree]

Elux saws are NOT junk Stig. I can't speak for the quality of yesterdays saws, as I was too young to know about that. They sound impressive. I make my living with a pile of Husqvarna saws, and Stihl saws as well. There is no doubt my Husqvarnas are well built, strong, reliable machines. Truth be told, for as outstanding as my stihl saws are, they give me more trouble. I have several husqvarnas that are 10 years old, and older, that have only needed a few spark plugs and fuel filters after seeing demanding use logging and on tree jobs.

It was like you insulted my children Stig!

Well said. Electrolux does make good saws. They only own the ones with no future in the pro market like the Poulan, Pioneer Partner to make millions selling at Walmart to homeowners. They may sell for a low price ,but alot more are sold then the XP and other pro saws.
I like my Huskies , especially my 372, but my favorite is a 1993 272XP with only a few tanks run through it. Looking forward to the 560 or 562XP and the new top handle T540XP.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I love this one.