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Geoff, one fact that stuck with me from GOL training is that 70% of logging fatalities come from dropped limbs. Thanks for the reminder.

George

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I welded a plate on a bottle jack I had kicking around and jacked over 2 back-leaners today. It worked great and saved a lot of pounding on wedges. As I jacked up the tree, I set wedges, just in case the jack kicked out. So far so good. It is a lot faster and a lot less work. It is too early to say that I am “jack happy”, but I am leaning in that direction.

George

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Farrier, I agree with you assessment on the position of wedges. When I wrote my GOL instructor said it doesn’t matter, he clarified that it would lift the tree no matter where it was positioned. The difference, as you wrote, has a lot to do with leverage and resistance. When I feel like I can bring a tree over with just wedges and no shims, I’ll position my wedges closer to the hinge and might thicken my hinge a bit. I have broken a hinge this way and it is scary. On a differnt note, how come you bore through your notch all the way to the back of the tree? I do that on larger trees where my bar doesn’t reach to the middle of the tree when boring from both sides. How often to you hit your first shim when doing your side bore cuts? Finally, where do you get your steel capped wedges (I am tired of mushrooming mine)?

Scott, regarding the jack, I envision carving out a little cubby in the side of the tree to hold the jack. The top and bottom of the cubby, perpendicular to the length of the tree, would be parallel with the sides tapered toward the center of the tree (is this what you meant by “pie shaped”?)

Lastly, when I have hung up trees stuck in the dirt, I position the chain in such as way as to roll the tree and pull at a 45 degree angle to the lean. If it doesn’t come down in one pull, I will reposition my horses and chain and pull from the opposite side. It has worked well so far. I am hoping for no more hung up trees this year (something to strive for), but will certainly try the approaches mentioned here when I do.

George

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Lots of food for thought here. Carl, when you use that short section of log, does the tree ride up on it and roll? Also, when pulling down hung-up trees do you have any concern about being so close to the but? I have found that on the last pull before the tree is freed it can fly forward and I use a long chain b/c of that.

Benjamin, I am intrigued about the the jack. Kristan asked the other day “what is all that tapping? I thought you were out logging!” Wedging over a tree for 30 minutes is not my idea of a good time. However, I still can’t picture how you use this jack. Do you have any pictures?

George

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Scott:

Per your post, I am going to add some blood stopper bandages to my list. I am looking at wedges and wondering what the difference between single, double, and triple taper are and their advantages/disadvantages. I am also realizing my 7.5″ K and H wedges are small and will order some large ones. When you mention large, do you mean 12″? I also saw some 10″s as well as a 15″!

Carl, I forgot to ask how you dealt with the large trees that “sat back on you”. Just when I think I am a competent feller, I hang up a tree. Pulling down hung-up trees with my horses is not my/their favorite activity. So far, I haven’t hung up a really big one (knock on wood).

George

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Carl:

Thanks for the tips. Some wedge questions: Where do you get your Sandvik wedges? What do you have for a wedge pouch (I have a skimpy nylon pouch w/velcro that I am not happy with)? How many wedges do you carry (I usually carry 2 and find I sometimes need 3 when I bury both wedges thinking I can tip the tree w/2 and then have to go back and get a third to use with a shim/biscuit.)?

George

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Bill:

You might consider a Jack Russel terrier as a long term solution. We routinely find dead rats, weasels, mice etc. scattered about the farm – all results of our JRT.

George

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Being a goat farmer, I have to put in a plug for them. Off-taste in goat’s milk is almost entirely due to not cooling it down to below 40 degrees in a timely fashion after milking. If you can do that, you should not have any off flavors. Having milked a Jersey for a couple of years, it made me appreciate how much easier goats are to handle. They hop on an milk stand and you are ready to go. Unlike a cow, they rarely (if ever) deficate or urinate while being milked. Also their udder stays much cleaner as their feces are pellet shaped and much drier that cow manure. I remember trying to milk our cow in January trying to contend with manure caked and frozen on her udder despite our best attempts to keep her well bedded. If I were looking for milk for my family, I would milk one or two goats once daily, not twice (same with a cow). The animal will adapt fine, especially if you are not feeding a lot of grain (if any). The only thing I miss about milking a cow is the cream. Like Ixy mentioned, it is right there on top ready for skimming. This is not like goat’s milk which is naturally homoginized.

[Does’ Leap]

Rod:

Nice work. How do you load your firewood on the forwarder? How much wood do you figure it can hold?

George

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I want to offer up a strategy I use in the woods that might be a compromise between dropping the lines and holding them at all times. I use a 20′ retractable dog leash (here’s the original post: http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?t=2906&highlight=leash). I have been ground-skidding spruce recently in some tighter woods where I can’t get my arch easily. The leash also works well in this situation. I have both hands free to chain logs, move brush etc., but my lines are always nearby in case.

George

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Both Kristan and I read the book and enjoyed it a lot. As an added bonus, they are horse farmers. Here’s a link to buy the book:http://www.amazon.com/Dirty-Life-Farming-Food-Love/dp/1416551603/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291139624&sr=8-1

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Carl, glad to hear you found a place for the lever bit. One of our geldings was like your mare. He would get all amped up and pressure the bit especially when logging. We set him down a notch lower than our other gelding and eventually cured him of this tendency. He still gets amped up when pulling, but he doesn’t pressure the bit unduely and stands well. We run them both on 1 notch below the snaffle ring with a lose curb chain now.

George

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Thanks for the responses. I will try what you mentioned.

@mitchmaine 22233 wrote:

when you say plunging through the hinge, do you mean cutting out the center of the tree?

Mitch, yes I meant cutting out the center of the tree for the reason you described (too big for 2 lengths of the bar). I don’t have any spruce like that, but I’ve had to do it on some bigger hemlock.

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John:

Can you elaborate a bit? I have plunged through the hinge on large trees but am unclear on how that helps with fiber pull. Most of fiber pull happens on the edge of the hinge. @jac 22222 wrote:

Hi George sometimes I did a bore cut from the front or the hinge side and that way the fibres are cut clean before the back cut goes in..
John

Scott:

I will give that a try. Yes, I am cutting as close to the ground as possible in order to maximize yield. For whatever reason, game of logging bases their standards on DBH.

Thanks for your replies.

George

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Right-hand model.

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