Pacific north west bar and chain

[Timbercruiser]

Hi I've done lots of cutting in average size wood. I'm going to try and get into cutting in Canada west coast.  I have some large saws like a 390 husqvarna.  What type of bar and chain combo do I plan on getting. Do in need a 28 inch bar  for felling Vrs a bucking combo. I see the larger chains go to a .63 gauge Vrs a .58 . Do guys always run a skip chain ??  Help would be great

[sawguy21]

It depends where you are working. There is still some big timber on northern Vancouver Island and the upper coast but for the most part 3/8x.058 skip tooth, Oregon 73JG, on a 28" bar with a full wrap handle should serve you well. The Stihl guys run .404x.063 on their MS880'S but that is about all. You will need a course before you can fell professionally in BC, check with http://www.worksafebc.com/.

[Timbercruiser]

Thanks I'm just looking for some info and sent some emails.  Is it necessary to lug around a 90 cc saw in second growth wood ??  Or can a guy use smaller 70cc class saws ?

[HolmenTree]

A 576XP or a MS461 would be minimal with a 28-32" b/c. Anything smaller towards 70 cc production on the scale would require woods porting and a well maintained square ground or filed chisel bit chain.

[Big Wood]

   i run a 36" stihl light on my 70cc and 90cc saws here on the island. all are ported but even a 70cc saw not ported runs the 36" ok. depends on where you want to fall. here on the island or the mainland coast most companies will TELL YOU your going to be running a 36" and then give you heck if you show up with a 33". can't be certain about inland BC but i'd imagine a 28" would do ya just fine. the 115DL 36" is perfect for me keeping my back straight so that's what i run regardless of what i'm cutting.

  as mentioned, it's not a matter of deciding your gonna fall in BC. it's a dream for most as even if you can afford the 30k course that doesn't buy you into a Job. i know alot of guys who have came here from Ontario with a dream to be a faller. some with saw experience and some with so little they look like a 4 year old girl just trying to hold onto their saw let alone cut with it. then even if a guy has the saw experience he usually has no idea how steep the terrain is. my suggestion to people looking to get into it is take up some work bucking on a landing or for heli before you make that step to pay for the course. it's expensive and they don't give you your money back just cause you change your mind 3 days in.

[HolmenTree]

Summer of 1988 I was competing at a timbersport competition at Sayward,  Vancouver Island.  A manager for MacBlo came out of the audience during my break after hearing from the MC that I was a faller from Manitoba.
He asked me if I was interested in apprenticing as a faller in the area.
I looked up at the surrounding mountains, also thinking about my 14 years unionized seniority and the good piecework  $ I was making in Manitoba. I turned the offer down but took his card just in case...one of the bigger decisions I made in my life. :D

[Big Wood]

Summer of 1988 I was competing at a timbersport competition at Sayward,  Vancouver Island.  A manager for MacBlo came out of the audience during my break after hearing from the MC that I was a faller from Manitoba.
He asked me if I was interested in apprenticing as a faller in the area.
I looked up at the surrounding mountains, also thinking about my 14 years unionized seniority and the good piecework  $ I was making in Manitoba. I turned the offer down but took his card just in case...one of the bigger decisions I made in my life. :D

ya, these days apprenticeships can only be had if a guy has done that course or holds a valid enform fallers ticket. alot of people don't like it but there is a silver lining to it all. for one and perhaps the most important, it keeps the idiots out of the woods. also keeps the current fallers rates up. it even keeps some ego's out but some get through. i can't stand a big ego but it's just something a guy has to get used to being in some of those camps. alot of guys think they are a prize because they are a faller but then alot of those same guys can hardly read lol

[HolmenTree]

My camp life days are long over .I like being home every night with my family. 
My first young family I wasn't so lucky.

[Big Wood]

My camp life days are long over .I like being home every night with my family. 
My first young family I wasn't so lucky.

i don't mind camp if it's a good crew. i prefer working for guys who got alot of work in a certain area. some of these guys are hopping around to different camps 3 times in a shift. with all your clothes, gear including a square grinder and stand it gets real old real fast . i got a few buddies working up spiller inlet/ocean falls central main land coast area. for me that would be 8hrs driving each way and then the flight is over an hour each way. might go up that far one day but for now i'll just avoid it.

[HolmenTree]

We had a great camp called Kissinew Lake camp.
Satellite TV,  1 man per room, baseball diamond with lots of great games in the evenings. Sitting on a lake with some of the best walleye fishing in the world.
And only a hour drive from the nearest town so isolation wasn't a big deal if you wanted to get out on a Wednesday night.

[Big Wood]

We had a great camp called Kissinew Lake camp.
Satellite TV,  1 man per room, baseball diamond with lots of great games in the evenings. Sitting on a lake with some of the best walleye fishing in the world.
And only a hour drive from the nearest town so isolation wasn't a big deal if you wanted to get out on a Wednesday night.

1 man per room is the norm. i'd be doing nothing but home work if i had the sleep in the same room as other guys all the time. most of the camps here are remote and are only really accessed by boat mostly. they also float with with a heli pad on the barge itself, on an attached dock, or close on land. not much to do but i don't care cause i'm to beat after work anyways. usually just eat, play on internet, and text the wife. good enough for me.