My 14 year old dropping a dead ash. Could not get the video to load but here are a few pictures




He is still learning and a touch nervous on bigger trees so I scared out a line for him to follow for his notch and a line not to go below or past on each side on his cut to the notch. Went perfectly and he made a clean unhurried exit as the tree started to go and got clear of the but end like a pro. Gaining confidence every day.

Cutting firewood was of my favorite things to when I was that age. I never wore any safety equipment back then. It's good to see your son suited up properly.

Keith

I didn't either only started myself when I decided I better set the example for the kids. Getting older I realized I'm not bullet proof and 100$ for chaps is very cheep insurance and I'm brain dead if I don't put a pair on. Way to easy just to slip and loose balance or just not pay attention. Only takes a single Time and split second to have a very bad day. There have been time it has let slide with all of us in the past but no longer.

Right on. I buy the chap inserts from Madsen's and have the missus sew them into my jeans (or buy the ones Madsen's sells that are made to accept the inserts) that way my chaps are in my pants and I don't have buckles and straps getting snagged in the brush (plentiful in most of AK). It also makes it really difficult to forget my chaps lol

I like that especially since you're cutting every day probably all day. Sure avoids the well I will be OK just to make a few cuts situation when protection is built into your pants. that is something I didn't know was an option.

What's funny about that is, most of the time people's reasoning for not putting on chaps is that it was just a few small cuts they had to make...nobody ever cuts themselves bucking a decent log or falling a good sized tree, it's always a limb, bucking a top out of a road, falling one small whip, etc. Because I'm a larger cut your bar is buried or at least dawged in so if you slip up or it kicks back the chain is buried in wood, not your leg. When the same slip up or kick back happens when you're cutting brush or small trees you're usually cutting at a weird angle down by your legs and fully supporting and controlling the saw with your hands/arms

Edit: I have had chains break inside of a large cut and come shooting out in a big tangled wad and hit my thigh at mach 3

I have been using a chainsaw since I was 10 years old. It’s always satisfying to see a big tree come crashing down.

My cousin almost had his finger cut off by a chainsaw two years ago. It’s a long story but his fingernail and a couple of tendons were cut. Miraculously he made a full recovery and is using it just fine.

Good job teaching the youngster to cut

I may need to look into those inserts and sewing to a pair of jeans
My main reason for not wearing chaps in the warmer months is they are hot

When it is cold they are no problem

Good job

Awesome! Good to see PPE especially chaps. A good chain hitting those things at full bore and the weight of the saw buys a guy a few minutes to tell his wife goodbye.
I always tell people when they ask what the most dangerous thing a lineman does is driving and running a saw.

Good for him. Safety No. 1

That hard hat with muffs and face shield I will say at first I thought was not necessary but I was at the saw shop getting chains and new chaps( cat pee on the old set in the shed) and the guy that owned the shop pointed out the echo kit that was the hard hat and chaps foe not much more than the chaps so I thought I would give it a try.

The hard hat is to shallow for my big head but the ear muffs keep in place. The muffs are better than plugs and ear pro is 100% necessary especially with my loud Saws with the mufflers opened up. It could possibly help with a widow maker some. The face screen keeps some crud out of our face but can make it hard to see especially wit low sun angles when it reflects off of it..

I think I'm going to get some snap on ears for one ofnmy hard hats that fits my head better. I don't care much for the added weight in the factory but it's not an issue when on and in the woods.

I don't own a hard hat so will not cut dead ash trees, the way they break off is death to a few folk. When I retired 7 years ago I dropped all the green ash in my yard, still alive then, the ash next to the fields I wait till they drop and do the cutting then, I do not burn any wood.

looking good , there are some great videos for fellers available on YouTube it is the British Columbia fellers training , good stuff for the kids to watch.

I find myself doing a lot more of the Humboldt under cut than the open these days man is it fast easy and 95% done from behind the tree

especially if your saw has a big set of dogs it is a stick and rip

felling is all about the prep work get it all laid out right and don't rush.

I would have gotten rid of that little on in the way as it needs to come down any way with that missing bark near his head in the first picture

I think a lot of people discount pole wood as not for good heating but it needs no splitting and given a little time to dry burns fine.

always clear your work space as best you can.

they are looking good they will be great as they keep learning.

Hired, send him over and I'll send him back as a climber.

hard hat saved me big time , when the tree I wasn't even working on dropped a limb , it was behind me and dropped a hanging limb that had been up there a year or more through many a wind

I was working on some brush , it fell the Y hit me on both sides of the hard hat tossed my forward and pinned me down to the ground
the sides of the Y were 3-4 inches each and the limb about 6 inches

bruised all down my back , glasses nocked off pants ripped out from taking a knee very forcibly in getting pinned to the ground.
had I not had the hard hat on it would have been at minimum a bunch of stitches to close my head up , if it didn't kill me , I stayed conscious the entire time and had the saw pinned to the ground and was able to turn it off first thing.

I gave him a quick and dirty lesson on using a becket hitch when I had to take a dieing mapel over the house down. They are good with clove hitch & bowline

Sign him up for GOL 1 and it will polish his knowledge/skill.

not sure what them boys want to do for work , but you and 2 of them working you could do really well as a tree service , maybe let them get to 16.

a cousin and his son did this , he has his girlfriend working for him now also . the wife was cheating and had to go bye bye about 2 years ago

I saw him this summer he said more work than he can ever get to he has been buying trucks and equipment to expand keeping labor down to

he has a bucket lift on tracks that can fit through a single fence section , he removes a fence panel and drives it thru and can take out those trees in small back yards that have to come down in little pieces.

I started dragging brush for my uncle when I was 9. started doing jobs with my cousin when we were 16. Went to work for a few line clearance companies around 19 to 21. Did trees on the side untill about 10 years ago.

I have thought about doing just what your talking about but at this point I would rather keep my feet on the ground and not be hanging from a rope in questionable tree over a high dollar house roping limbs out.

So if I would do something like that in would be easy trees lawns and light land scape. Maybe grinding stumps and putting down mulch. I'm over the inaccessible monster removals overhanging houses and with power lines.

I have no clue on modern pricing. I was blown away when one of the guys the kids shoveled snow for told me his lawn guy charged $75 a cuting and was so busy he turns work down. I thought 45 would have been kind of high.

But I would much rather be doing things at home with the kids so really need to get started on it. Best start will be get them to pick up more yards.