When the men were MEN. Saw this pic on FB this morning.....A piece of rope as a lanyard, primitive spikes and a handsaw. BOOM.
Even at the height he is working, that stem looks to be 2-3 feet across. Do you suppose he took a seat on the top for a rest before coming back down?
I've seen pics of guys up on the top of those stems relaxing and eating a lunch......lol. that was a generation of real men for sure.
Gawd... that pole he's got left is over 150 feet, close to 200. Make a good mast. Maybe that's what happened to it? Must be quite a ride when the tops pushes off... ... What's your personal highest point in a tree you've taken down with all spikes? Gotta get hairy at some point, even if you've done it hundreds of times.
My guess it was a topped for a tail spar - Have the pulley & cables up in a tall very sturdy tree for yarding the trunks down the mountain or up the slope out of the valley.
The highest I've ever been up a tree is around 85', it was a huge pine and the top I lopped off was around 30' higher than me! Had to cut several 20' logs on the way back down out of the tree..... It's quite a rush when that top flops over.....I love it!
Only been up about 45 feet in a tree,but have been anywhere from 250 to 400 feet + up on scaffolding or top decks of various office towers downtown over the years.The wind up there can be mighty fierce,even if its mostly calm on the ground. Caught a scolding in my early days (wasn't the first one to do it either) by sitting a straddle the crane ball & riding it down some 50 ft to the ground.Try that now & its most likely you get canned on the spot.Now you're in a basket,wearing a harness with retractable cable & lanyard that's hooked to cross bar of basket frame...ah the good old days.
That was a great pic Scotty. Seen a few videos when the top is being lopped off and just at the separation point the top kicks out a bit and shakes the tree a bit, enough to make you squeek out a shard or two.
This smilie says it all... me, holding on at the top of that 200' pole... And, Scottie likes that chit...
No, actually I LOVE IT! Just around 3 weeks ago I was 65' up an old growth hemlock........topped a 30' crown off of it. Here I am at around 50' in that tree....
Hehehe... I get the height thing. Used to hang from an 80' crane doing signwork. It's the cutting of 30' sections above you, with no place to run. You crazy, man...
High mortality rate then. Lost my grate grandfather to a lumbering accident. He left a wife and a huge number of kids. No social services back then. Gives poor another meaning.
Good pictures !! I love collecting and looking at things they used to cut wood back in the day. We try every thing we can to get the best out of our wood but can you imagine cutting a load of wood with a 1 or 2 man saw. Bet the prayed a stick would last for ever.