Shoveling trees

[Bill_G]

Well we are supposed to be getting 2 feet of snow , so now the shoveling around trees starts . The good news is it's so cold the snow will be light !

[Autocar]

I remember my first shoveling exsperance around trees. It was the blizzard of 1978 and I had this red oak job ,big trees I cut the first one and it had a hole in the center of it and I looked in the hole and here I was about four feet above the ground  ;D . That was the only time in my life I wore snowshoes carrying my saw to the woods.

[1270d]

I sawed on snowshoes one whole winter.  It was actually pretty handy for walking over brush.  Never had to shovel around trees though. A good stomping around did the trick good enough.

[rick f]

At least with this snow maybe we can get a smoother road into the woods. Bare ground and stumps make for a rough ride. I just stomp the snow down or run the blade by the tree.

[Seaman]

What is this " snow : thing you are speaking of?

[thecfarm]

Seaman,stay where you are. You don't want to know.  :D

[David-L]

Three years ago we had 30" plus of snow, I was on a cordwood job cause thats all
I had for income. Cut the stick and retrieved the tops after mud season. when you shovel cordwood trees I can attest there is no profit to speak of. Did it cause thats what I know how to do.

                                                                              David

[UN Hooker]

 Seaman

     It's all in their imagination, there's no such thing as "snow", it's Global Warming !!!  :D

[woodmills1]

one year I was cutting firewood hand to mouth(cut dead trees and burn right away).  We had so much snow that year, that in the spring I went back and cut two more 16 inch lengths off of the still standing butts.   :D :D

[lumberjack48]

In the 60's strip cutting Spruce or Tamarack, i remember wading in snow waist deep. Then ever once in a while I'd fall in a hole with one leg, up to my arm pit in snow, water running in your boot, this made for a good day. Your tools were a chainsaw, gas an oil jugs, measure stick and a pick/axe, o-yes, and lots of sandwiches. I started doing this when i was 12, went to school 3 days a week. This is when you could stay home to help out. At 16 i quick school and went to logging, i carried many cords of wood on my shoulder in deep snow.

When i bought a skidder in 68 the snow got deep. I hired a guy i knew that had experience falling for a pole skidder. When he showed up he'd brought two more guys with him which i knew. He had the saw and they each had a shovel, this was his team. I have to tell, boy did they lay the timber down and a beautiful job doing it. 

Back in the early 80's, i had beautiful patch of hardwood. The snow got about 3' deep, it was a lot of work tramping the snow down. So on the weekend i brought all four kids out, handed them a shovel and showed-em how i wanted it done. I paid them 25 cents a tree, with a 5 cent bonus if they did 100 trees and another 5 cent bonus for who did the most.

The best method i found was to fall in to the timber when the snow is deep. This knocks the brush down to, makes for good going. And another thing is every time your coming back with the skidder take a different route. I also backed the twitch up into the standing timber to limb it, this is on a clearcut.

One winter we were cutting Tamarack, the snow got so deep that every twitch was a battle. The guy i was working with brought his 1010 JD dozer out to make trails with. He would zig-sag the area that we were going to log the next day, it solve our problem.

[ClarkF66]

lumberjack48, great idea having the kids shovel around the trees! It would make them appreciate what you do for a living (and the value of money).

We had a bad snow winter in 1994. Starting on a new tract in late january, there where 4' on the landing and a little more up in the woods, and it kept on snowing. On the first morning I used 4 houres and about 50 gallons of fuel in the Cat 528 to work my way the half mile up to where the timber was. Pulling a load back down made a beautiful skidding road, in a few days it was almost like a bob-sleigh run. I had three guys felling and delimbing, and still had time to help them shovel snow around some of the trees. You would think before going off the tracks with the skidder, I made a few feet of new road every turn as the fallers worked. We had a 1972 Clark 666 with 18,4-34'' tires as a back-up, but it couldn't handle the snow. We worked the tract for a month. I don't think I have ever been so glad finishing a job.   

[timberlinetree]

One year we cut 8 miles of saplings in 2 ft of snow under power lines.come spring we had to go back and cut all the stumps.my back didn't like that!