My late father roofed til he was 65 after a lifetime in the trade and still helped me after that. When he had his first hip replacement at age 77 the doctor said he shouldve been in a lot more pain. I took his business over when i was 20. When i sold my house in 2010 my mid life crisis hit and i phased it out. I still do a little here and there, mostly small work, repairs, some carpentry, chimney work. I work alone for the most part.
Fair enough, each situation is different. We usually cut in the National Forest, where the trees fall, not as predictable, and some times, I NEED to move Fast, I try to avoid that as much as possible, but the unexpected still has a way of happening Stay Safe Doug
I mostly worked alone also.. Its great that your dad was able to do roofing until 65.. To be honest at 40 I started to feel pretty good it at ..LOL I cant do what I did back then. Sorry about your dad passing Brad. Sounds like he was quite a worker and a tuff man..
I bend over to cut and it's hard on my back, that's why I'll only cut 3 or 4 logs to size and then split and stack them before cutting again. Waist high cutting sounds great. Using a small mini excavator with a thumb would only leave one cut to be made on the ground and if you had a small enough bucket, no ground cutting at all.
Yes in past 95% of my drops are from tree line to open field. Now all are trees that have fallen into trails of farmer field or across trails. Reasonably flat here, in lake basin not at all like Oregon. Been there 5 times never saw top of your mountain.
I’m having a meniscus tear repaired on the 13th and yesterday I got my head slammed into a big limb that had a stub on it that entered my eye socket. If I hadn’t had a helmet and safety glasses would have worse. Feeling like a million bucks heading into the long weekend. Boo
I only cut longer logs on my bale fork which is basically like a forklift at that point. I just cut the rounds starting on the ends of the log which is beyond the forks, this leaves the shorter log spanning the forks, at which point it just depends but eventually, I have to make the last two or three cuts on the ground, same with the grappler. Oh! and I also will sometimes hook on with my winch on my side by side and pickup one end of a log and basically cut back to the winch, this works pretty good as my winch is high up on my side by side, but mostly, I just cut wood where it lays, and roll it with my foot or cant hook and finish the cut, if it's all of the way down on the ground.
Got to say, I have never cut on my knees, I would think for me I would not feel comfortable doing that, plus my knees don't do well keeling for any langth of time. Cutting biger rounds doesn't bother my back to bad, cutting a pile of limb wood does.
I agree. I'd do it your way as well. However, the whole cutting on my knees may give me a feeling of being in a vulnerable position. I dunno, never done it that I can remember. When I cut bending over I usually rest my right elbow on my right knee area to support my back.
Do what you like, as your mind stays focused on the task vs uncomfortable positions. If you can lift the log, you can always sit one end up on another log snd undercut. A bit of a forearm workout though. I try to use an excavator thumb or tractor. Just set the stub piece on the cut rounds for height. I personally do not like the knees due to saw kicks. Keep in mind that was lesson from the old no chain brake mccullough though.
I too have issues with my lower back. Forks on tractor work best for me. I can’t even get through one tank of gas on my saw standing bent over to buck. I have kneeled before with some short term success I guess if I didn’t have our tractor I would have to figure something like that out. I always try to use the lightest saw I have for the size wood I’m cutting which perform best with a shorter bar. I wonder if using a more powerful power head with a longer bar would be any kinder to my back. I do love the fact that I can sharpen my 66dl 16” chain on my 346 in just a few minutes. No offense intended to any of the previous posts but it also gives me some satisfaction in that I’m not alone in having lousy lower back. Misery loves company & all that.
I do it both ways but rarely have I ever got onto my knees. I don't like that position for cutting and because os 3 hip replacements it is difficult for me to get back up. The back hurts bad from bending but I just have to tough it out.
My mom used to tell me “ old age ain’t for sissy’s “ Dennis I never really knew what the heck she was talking about back then but it’s all beginning to make sense as the years go by.
I can see where you're coming from if its a tree that's on unlevel ground. I won't cut on my knees until I'm left with the trunk and I'm confident it's not going anywhere - I live in south Jersey which is really flat so I'm hardly ever on any incline at all.
I’m glad you posted this question. It gives a lot of valuable information about how people process they’re firewood with back issues. Thanks JRider.
It's obvious (as it should be) we all do what is most comfortable to us. And it also seems, our bodies indicate what is comfortable and uncomfortable for all of us. At 44 years old, I am still very flexible. I can easily bend down and not only touch my toes but I can almost palm the floor. I try to stretch routinely as it helps keep me loose, especially my lower back. Although I can bend over easily, trying to work like that gets very tiring on my hamstrings. Sitting on my knees doesn't bother me at all so I guess that's why I adopted that method of cutting when I don't have the tractor where I'm cutting. Any way you go at it, just keep on going everyone!
