In the Willamette National Forest, they want you to get certified before you do any chainsaw work in the woods. There are (rare) classes, and you need to be able to perform some basic tasks, each level is a bit tougher to get.
A couple weeks ago I got a Class A cert. That means I can saw in the forest, but only under the guidance of a Class B or C Sawyer. Today was my first day out in the woods really applying that knowledge and taking instruction from one of the local greats. I managed to clear a whooping ~50 yards of future trail along a new route which is being built over the next couple years in Oakridge.
This is the before/ after shot. The gentleman in the bottom shot is about 10 feet behind the gentleman in the top shot. He's about 6'8" tall and probably wouldn't be visible if he were in the first shot.
Paul standing in the same spot from the opposite angle.
Paul, still in the same spot from the complete opposite end of the work section. Doesn't look like much, but in addition to the big cuts there were about 80 vine maple shoots and trees popping up in here and we had to make the corridor 10' wide. There will likely be a couple S curves in here.
I'll be heading out again on Friday and over the weekend.
My goal this spring is to get my Class B so I can get out there without dragging another Sawyer out (you always have to bring someone along for safety).
While I've done fairly basic saw work previously, I've never done anything near this scale.
Well then maybe you will understand what we're doing. We are deleting 4 miles of shitty forest road from ATCA and replacing it with ~6 miles of single track. Going to be glorious.
Our group has six spots in a saw class coming up next month. We had four certified three years ago, and they extended the certain due to COVID.
In the aftermath of mountain pine bark beetle and spruce bud worm waves a decade ago, trail work here consists of continuous cutting and swamping. It’s not too bad close to town or in stands of P-pine. But in Lodgepole... Every spring is a huge effort on the continental divide. Sometimes we get lucky and have a hotshot crew or two that needs something to do early in the season. That’s how we got most of a new four-mile corridor cleared in 2019.
For any Oregon locals interested in logging or digging on the new Cloverpatch Connector, we are doing regular work-days on Thursdays and Sundays to log this out. PM me for details.
I'm honestly so focused on not screwing up that there isn't a ton of room in my head for anything else. If the spinning chain of death and the multi-thousand pound logs weren't enough, trying to remember the bits of technique that will make or break me on my next certification check kills me. Keep the thumb tucked, keep the face out of the chain-line, keep the motor below chest level... etc etc.
Thanks. I let Paul drop the scary 150 foot tree which was suspended over the whole thing. The big thing with a complex snag like this one seems to be walking the whole thing and doing the cleanup and least consequence cuts first. This had a bunch of overlapping stuff, but no big widow maker type branches.
Coolage! The Cloverpatch Connector begins!
Way to go, Ogre 👹. Play it safe, watch for tension and let Paul do most of the work. 😬
And please keep me in the loop. I may have moved but not so far away that I can’t come down to join the trailwork parties once in a while.
That said, Cyn & I have been doing quite a bit of work up thisaway, too. I got a BOB trailer axle for my Trek Rail ebike— it’s a godsend for getting the heavy equipment into the backcountry. “No trail too steep” is my new motto. 😊
Coolage! The Cloverpatch Connector begins!
Way to go, Ogre ?. Play it safe, watch for tension and let Paul do most of the work. ?
And please keep me in the loop. I may have moved but not so far away that I can't come down to join the trailwork parties once in a while.
That said, Cyn & I have been doing quite a bit of work up thisaway, too. I got a BOB trailer axle for my Trek Rail ebike- it's a godsend for getting the heavy equipment into the backcountry. "No trail too steep" is my new motto. ?
-That makes no sense to me. Those diseased tree's are dead-timber. Leaving them to decompose further will create a raging inferno given the opportunity.
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