Husqvarna game of logging 2003

A Rottne forwarder is used to get the wood out of the forest. The combination of hand-felling and the forwarder is one that John tailored to match his ideas about what makes a safe and efficient cut-to-length operation. Moving the wood with the forwarder makes for cleaner logs since they are not dragged on the ground. The men limb and buck the trees where they fall, then they are picked up by the Rottne machine and moved to a landing for sorting and pick-up by contract haulers. Clean wood does not exact a toll on a saw chain that mud-caked logs do, he noted.

Without skidding, John can invest more in sharpening. John did not develop the idea of pairing hand felling with a forwarder from some sort of armchair theory. It grew out of his significant experience in logging. The Maine native grew up next to a farm and began logging in the winters and farming in summers when he was a boy.

That was 20 years ago. John spent seven years with the logging company that brought him to the Green Mountain State and Chester, a town of about 1, Then he decided to launch his own business. From the start he decided to use chain saws and a forwarder. He began with a four-wheel forwarder but quickly switched to another machine because he wanted a forwarder with more floatation and better stability.

The purchase began an association with Blondin Inc. When I looked before, all their courses were fully booked almost through the end of the year, but at the prompting of our foresters, I checked again.

Amazingly I was in luck - a new course had just been announced, and I was able to enroll. The original focus wasn't safety, but productivity - he pioneered new techniques that allowed loggers to cut more efficiently, using less effort to cut more trees in less time.

But a productive logger needs to be safe - an injury or worse! And so it quickly became apparent that there was a big overlap between safety and productivity. The modern curriculum for the Game of Logging places a strong emphasis on working safely, and that was its big appeal for me. One aspect I didn't fully understand until taking the course was the "game" element. A deadly chainsaw doesn't seem like something to be playing with! Having completed the course, it makes a lot more sense.

It's a game in the sense that it's competitive. While there are actual competitions that you can enter I won't be doing that any time soon! Loosely speaking, each operation is separated into two parts: preparing the plan, and executing the plan. Afterwards, you can look back and evaluate the operation. Was the plan correct? Did you follow the plan correctly?

By scoring yourself after each attempt, you can incrementally improve your skills. This approach really appeals to me! I'm not going to try to recreate the training here in the blog post - but I will cover the highlights of what we were taught. In the morning, the big focus was on safety - the safety equipment, and safe handling and operation of a chainsaw. It was reassuring to learn that we had all the right safety gear already particularly the forestry helmet and chainsaw chaps.

While much of what we were taught I'd already picked up from my own research, there were definitely some new lessons and some subtleties that I otherwise wouldn't have been aware of - e. It was also very helpful to have things broken down into simple checklists to ensure nothing gets missed.

We'd also mark out with a stake exactly where we wanted to tree to land, then use the lean information to position a separate stake that we'd aim for to compensate for the lean. The goal was to get as close to the target hit stake as possible. But why is it done this way? With chainsaws, we're not constrained by this though. The Game of Logging curriculum teaches a different technique. A bore cut is then created behind this notch by plunging the chainsaw straight into the tree.

This leaves a hinge of uncut wood behind the notch, and a trigger at the back of the tree. Until that trigger is cut, the tree is completely stable, and a quick and easy cut through the the trigger is all that's needed to fell the tree. This order of operations makes the felling very predictable.

You're not just cutting from the back until it starts to fall, you know exactly when it will fall - when you cut the trigger. It also helps to reduce the opportunity for dangerous events such as "barber chairing".

Did the tree land where we wanted it to? If not, why not - was our aim stake in the wrong position or was our aim off? What about the stump itself? Was our notch the right angle and width? Did the two cuts meet nicely without bypass? Felling - getting an upright tree on the ground where you want it, when you want it, and in the manner you want it - cries out for some type of planning process.

We reccomend the 5-Step Felling Plan. Bailey's - Wide variety of logging supplies. Usually will have some type of sale on bar and chain combo's with prices hard to beat. Grand Forest, Inc. They will custom make chaps or pants to fit anyone, short or tall, extra large or extra small. Labonville, Inc. Madsen's - Large variety of logging supplies, Madsen's Blue Ox wedges are the best wedges you can buy and the price is unbeatable.

You can usually get hard to find items at Madsen's. They are known for their technical support and tips. They have people on hand to answer most any question that you may have. Comstock Logging Supplies, Inc.