Oh yah, here is a more typical falling of a tree using springboards to get them up above the higher width of the base (smaller diameter to cut by hand).
Here are some early chainsaw loggers, using a 2 man chainsaw. Note the way they are levering the crap out of the saw using their full weight. This is a sugar pine being felled in OR Later the early 'one man wonder' chainsaw that we know today came to be. This early one had bicycle handlebars. This is in the Oregon Coast Range (cutting Doug fir):
Yah, there were no fat loggers in those days, like there are now. Note all the skinny people in all of these photos. I do not see a single fat person in any of them. Calories were critical and even eating tons of food they lost weight. I can attest that when I was doing a lot of falling and skidding, I was down to fighting weight and skinny as a rail.
Not sure how I missed this thread ! ! ! ! ! Very cool pics. When I was little we had an older gentleman who lived down the road that was an old time logger. He had to have a hundred different axes and saws all manual. He passed a 20 years ago now but when they had the yard sale there where hundreds of tools. Long story short a Michigan museum curator showed up and purchased everything he could get his hands on. The Michigan museum now has at least half of his stuff and some is on display. It really gives you a lot of respect for the early loggers !
I also seen where it was stated that the quality of the food played as much part in the cutters staying at a particular camp.They wanted the top wages sure,but if the camp's had a bad cook or the food itself was bad - no amount of money would keep them from moving on....
One thing you will notice in those old pictures . There was not a pot belly to be seen in any of those old pictures ! Maybe the odd stove.
It's sad that not much of that old growth was saved for future generations to see. I'd love to walk through a forest with trees that big! Thanks for sharing the pics guys! It is always neat to see history like that.
That's terrifying. What if it doesn't fall the way you want. You are up high and still have to get to the ground before you can move.
Rare to see a "one log load" anymore. Might see one now & then in Oregon or Washington. Mills not equipped to handle that size anymore.
This isn't real old but it gives a good idea of what a faller does on an average day. There's a whole series on YouTube about left coast logging. t
Typical 044R saw, long bar, logger tape, wedges, axe, tin hat, calked boots, Humbolt face cuts, looks like alders being felled there with the Dougs. Looks like the same terrain that my ex has in Southern Oregon and the sale type of mixed species.
There is an art in building monster loads that most people do not see! Once you get past the top of the stakes, absolute minimum lay is used for two reasons. 1 It helps in obtaining more height which is obvious. 2 But more important is what most do not see. With minimum lay should the truck start to go over, say in a heavy lean in the road, the top of the load will roll off allowing the truck and load to stay upright! The modern rule of all loads being secured with binders has taken away the built in safety feature for monster loads, so a smart driver on the Fat Trucks will refuse to haul one.
