Earl whips my, er, hind end

[Bill in Oregon]

Went juniper thinning with EarlM yesterday. We drove out past the tiny locality of Post, Oregon, which Google might not even be aware of, to a ranch where Earl has a juniper thinning contract, loaded up our day packs, gas and chainsaws, hopped on the four-wheeler and had at it. Temp was low 30s with a skiff of snow on top of the mud, and we had alternating sun and snow all morning. Job is to eliminate ALL junipers, from big old nasty things to tiny 6-inch whips hiding in the sage. Terrain was hilly. I was running my little Husqvarna 345 with 20-inch bar, and Earl was slinging a pair of serious Stihls with much longer bars.
Well, we got to it and I very quickly dulled my chain digging for the smaller junipers -- you can't leave anything green on the stump, no matter how small. So the first lesson from Earl is how to sharpen a chain with a saw file. Yeah, I know, I'm all growed up and still thought the way you sharpen is to take your chain to the saw shop.
Well, Earl quickly "larned me" how to do her.
Back at the junipers, cutting, dulling, sharpening. This went on for several hours with a break or two, but after a time, my arms and forearms were getting very tired. I'm not used to this, so I admit same and take additional break time -- I'd rather sheepishly admit fatigue than get careless with a running saw--while Earl just keeps working. We finally knocked off about 1:30 after about five hours of cutting, having done a pretty good job scalping a section of hill. My saw was probably running for about half that time, while Earl's kept up a constant growl, followed by the crack of a falling juniper.
I was feeling pretty darned sheepish about this disparity, as I am a mere toddler of 60 while Earl is 9 years my senior. But it got worse when I was helping unload the saws and I realized Earl's weighed about three times what mine does.
There's a lesson or three here somewhere.

[BrentD]

There's a lesson or three here somewhere.

Don't arm wrestle Earl for beers?

[FWiedner]

Self-enlightenment always seems to occur about the same time one measures them-self against a good man.

[madman4570]

Can just see it now Hi Earl here to help you, (with my little Stihl 260 pro 16" bar)got my auto gauge sharpener too.

He says, No thanks son!

Earl, you rock dude!
Bill, you rock too dude for manning up telling it real!

Good on both of y'all

[Mescalero]

Juniper is tough on chains, later in the day; when the brain returns to normal?
I will remember what kind of chain I have on mine.

[Mescalero]

Brain engaged......... chipper.

[pwl44m]

U killed Me with the -30 degree thing. Homey don't go out unless it's 50 or better. How are U feelin today ?
Perry

[octagon]

Bill you are smart to run a lighter saw. I like big saws with big horses if felling big trees, but smaller is better if in real thick stuff like I am ( mesquite). My chainsaw season will start as soon as the weather turns cold and the rattlesnakes go on vacation. Chainsaw work never stops at my place as the mesquite chokes the roads and many miles of fence lines. It is full on man work, and I applaud you for helping your friend. My only help is my boy (11) who at 87 lbs is not stout enough to run a saw, but is a great help loading firewood all day without complaint which I admire. One day when he is full size dude like me (270) I will sit in the shade and drink beer while he does the hard work.

[Mescalero]

octagon,
Think I can con you into sending me some pieces of mesquite big enough to make pistol grips out of?

[Bill in Oregon]

Thanks for the words, fellas, kind and otherwise. I have learned one or two things in the last six decades, and one of them is, where chainsaws are involved, leave your ego back at the truck. It was humbling to realize that I was once reasonably fit, but no more, having spent much, much more time in recent years typing on a computer keyboard than doing useful labor. What was that line from the old Zager and Evans song, "In the Year 2525"?

"In the year 5555
Your arms hangin' limp at your sides
Your legs got nothin' to do
Some machine's doin' that for you"


Pathetic!

[Mescalero]

Bill,
At least you got out and did it.
At 61 I still do it, not as fast as I used to be, but still do it.
The old widow women need wood too.
My wood cutting partner is Gramps, ( not related ) he is 92!!!!!!!!!

[octagon]

Mescalero, no problem. I have seen a few burls at the ranch, but I don't recall precisely where. When it gets cold, I'll be out there a lot in December and January, especially after deer season, and I'll be glad to send you some, as I'd like to carve a few sets myself. I admire the fact you help folks out with firewood, I never sell it, just give to old folks and friends that can use it.

[Mescalero]

I have a complete wood working shop, and a small machine shop.
In N.M. after the coroner pronouces death you have 24 hours to get them in the ground.
Since retiring I have built 3 coffins in that shop.
Saved the families many thousands of dollars.
A death in the family should not burden the family with a ton of debt!

[Modoc ED]

What amazes me after cutting a good amount of juniper is the amount of water that shows up. It's not surprising to see a spring bubble up or the flow of water in a creek increase after shedding a field or hillside of juniper.

I gave up cutting wood a long time ago. I now buy it (Juniper)
split, 16" long, for between $120.00 to $175.00 a cord and use that wood in our wood stove. In a good cold winter here with temps dipping as low as 30º below zero, we'll usse between 4 and 5 cords a winter.

Bill married a gal from my area (Alturas) so he knows just how abundant Juniper is here.

[piller]

I have a complete wood working shop, and a small machine shop.
In N.M. after the coroner pronouces death you have 24 hours to get them in the ground.
Since retiring I have built 3 coffins in that shop.
Saved the families many thousands of dollars.
A death in the family should not burden the family with a ton of debt!

I fully agree with you there. I think funerals are just too expensive.

I have run a chain saw a little, and know enough to tell that I am nowhere near good enough to work in Oregon as a lumberjack. Like a firearm, a chainsaw can cause harm if the person using it fails to pay attention.

[Bill in Oregon]

Mescalero, good on you for making family coffins. There is something just so right about that.
ED: Yeah, my wife still remembers the smell of juniper smoke from woodstoves of Modoc County.

[earlmck]

Hey, It has a trigger, and it has a lever, and it is fun to use! Of course the lever is a stop lever instead of a go lever, (put there to preserve that end of the gene pool that doesn't know how to use the opposable thumb) but nevertheless....

Stihl0468598.jpg

As you can tell from his post, Bill is a real good sport and fun to have along on an outing. I tried to tell him that his job was to cut trees just as long as it stayed fun and quit before it became work, but for some reason he felt like he had to keep after 'em. I guess that after you come to realize that these critters are water-sucking S.O.B.'s you can't stop knocking them down when you get the chance.

He did knock off long enough to hike around and find an arrowhead (of which I've been working the area since July and spotted just one, and it was broken). Good eye, Bill!

[.45colt]

Don't be hard on Your self Bill. You got out there and had at it. I know a lot of people who aren't 50 yet that can hardly do an hours worth of even easy work. like cutting grass.
And someone explain about these junipers , are they a big problem?

[Mescalero]

I am going to take 7.62's advice and duracote my Stainless Star .380.
After the gun is dark, a set of mesquite grips should look good.

[earlmck]

And someone explain about these junipers , are they a big problem?

These juniper trees are native to the area and are just doing their "juniper thing". They have become a big problem in large areas of the West because we (Homo sapiens) have screwed up the fire cycle that used to keep them knocked back to a reasonable proportion of the landscape. And once we have a 150-year old stand of juniper trees which has choked out all the understory brush and grass, it takes such extreme fire conditions to burn them that the prudent person is afraid to torch them off. The expensive work-around is to cut them down with chainsaw or knock them down with a cat and then burn them when the needles have turned red and the trees are dried out and we can burn them in just normal good burning conditions.

Unfortunately there is a lot of juniper cutting being done by folks who have no idea that this cutting is just step one of a multi-step process to get the land healthy again, and so there is a lot of short-lived work being done. Much of it with your tax dollars, because the so called "land management agencies" are full of these "folks who have no idea".

[Mescalero]

Earl,
Those boys came through with a tractor that had two fold up/down big chainsaws mounted on it.
Cut down a long wide swath that can be seen from the road.
It is in a wildlife preserve, no motorized vehicles.
Last time I saw a team of work horses was in a movie.
No way to get to it.

[ollogger]

Oh boy Earl you said it all there, no brains & tax dollars at work
Is this on gov. land?
Ive found arrow heads & all sorts of stuff while taking a break from a saw
was even known to get a gun and go hunting
You guys take care & be careful out there


ollogger

[earlmck]

Those boys came through with a tractor that had two fold up/down big chainsaws mounted on it.

Aw, that's for woosies. Real men get right up next to the tree so they can hear it scream when the teeth start digging in.

Is this on gov. land?
Ive found arrow heads & all sorts of stuff while taking a break from a saw

Private land there, so Bill is legal with his arrowhead. And I never seem to find arrowheads, probably because I'm looking at the grass or for critter tracks or how to work the cut and not even thinking of these objects of antiquity.

[92&94]

I had a lot of pinon die this summer, seems like a bunch turned brown right after it started raining in July. So I've been cutting those up this fall, but not at the pace you guys are going

I usually file the chain about every tank of gas - my theory is it won't stretch as quick if its sharp all the time (my theory may not be based on reality, that's been known to happen ) Seems like chains stretch awful fast. I took some in to be sharpened once, came back with half the teeth ground away, and only cut as well as my filed ones - not doing that again!

[92&94]

octagon,
Think I can con you into sending me some pieces of mesquite big enough to make pistol grips out of?

Sounds like he'll get you fixed up, but if it falls through I've got a friend in Tucson who uses a lot of it for furniture and cabinets. I've used up most of the scraps I had when I moved, but grip size bits are easy to come by. Still got some ironwood burl that may turn into vaquero grips one day when i get some free time.

[Mescalero]

92&94,
I will take you up on that.
Still looking for pieces long enough to grip my Katana.

[octagon]

You NM fellas don't know me from Adam, but I can assure you when I say I'm gonna do something I don't "fall through.". If you want scraps instead of old growth burl, cool with me. I think I will cut some burl at any rate, resaw it and carve some grips for some Colts when it cures up good. I have one that should be big enough for a few soprano ukuleles.

[Mescalero]

Nope,
I'll wait for the burl; no problem.

[Mescalero]

I was talking to old Spud Jones about a piece of mesquite in his yard one day,I said that is the biggest mesquite I have ever seen.
He replied, that was a branch that grew to close to an electrical line.
Old Spud is dead now, won't get no wood from him.

[92&94]

No offense intended, just offering an option if ya keel over from all that woodcutting

Ever seen birdseye mesquite? I have one board, only one I've seen. Probably I'm going to die before I find a project special enough for that board

[3leggedturtle]

How many trees do you have to cut to buy a decent M92?

[Mescalero]

A lot

[Mike Armstrong]

Western juniper LOOKS like it would make good fence posts. Does it?

When I lived in upstate NYS, the main place we found juniper (they called it "cedar") was in swamps, a different species from the western ones. Made great cover from the wind for wildlife in winter windstorms and was THE place to look for grouse, deer and snowshoe hares when the wind was blowin' and the wind chill in the minus numbers. So it was good for something!!!!