do not know much about felling trees but i suppose they cleaned up the bottom cut on the log to meet the 20 foot mark or so
but the stump portion that is visible seems to also be cleaned
maybe the photo just does not show enough and the stump is ragged but it does seem like it is cleaned up
maybe they do that just to make it easier to haul the logs out
interesting photo no matter what
Musta been a honking big chainsaw! ;>)
"G. Ross" wrote in news:ucudndhPZMqVfcnInZ2dnUU7- snipped-for-privacy@giganews.com:
Date's 1915, so all that cutting would have been with handsaws...
To EC's point, there's no garauntee the stump in the foreground has any connection to the logs. Obviously the trunk has been cut to convenient lengths for transport (and, as you note, the end of the log cut clean), however that would not necessarily be done where the tree was felled.
In that era, the popular practice was to find a stout tree more or less in the middle of the area to be logged, strip off the branches, strap some blocks on near the top, and set a winch and steam donkey engine at the bottom. The loggers would haul a line thru the blocks and out to the tree they'd felled, and the winch would then pull it back thru the forest. At the winch site they'd then cut it to length to be hauled to the mill by ox-team or railroad.
John
Yes, and the son of a "itches" left a holy mess in the Redwoods. No care for anything, streams, animals, vegetation. Just come and take the forest, burn down the slash, and leave.... Following this assault they again logged about 3 times, and with continuing selectivity as to what the market would bear. Now when you go in an Old Growth forest, there are few and far between trees left. We wonder why the salmon spawning grounds are slack, and the forest is struggling to survive... Yes, they left a mess. I am cleaning up a logging operation from about 1950 on my property. They came in with bulldozers and pushed over trees in the way, oaks, and redwoods, firs, rhododendrons, etc. to take what trees/logs were left from the first and 2nd assault. Leaving the old skid roads there, and the trees upover. Some have grown back sideways, and out of the logs pushed over....it is a mess. I am clearing the oaks that grew like wheat grass, and cleaning up the stumps, and crooked bent trees, salvaging the forest, and making it a bit more healthy for the redwoods, and also the large amount of wood that grew that poses fire threat. I always wonder what went across their minds when they cut down these giants..... I know, they were starving and hungry, and making a living...... Thank the lord we now have some forest practices, that help not only make a viable timber industry, but save the forest for the future. john in Redwood Country.....
"Electric Comet" wrote in message news:mj2i95$vls$ snipped-for-privacy@dont-email.me...
do not know much about felling trees but i suppose they cleaned up the bottom cut on the log to meet the 20 foot mark or so
but the stump portion that is visible seems to also be cleaned
maybe the photo just does not show enough and the stump is ragged but it does seem like it is cleaned up
maybe they do that just to make it easier to haul the logs out
interesting photo no matter what
You must judge events of the past by the paradigms in effect at the time the event happened. You can judge by today's paradigms, but it is not legitimate.
You can learn from past events, and try to improve your future action based on those historical events, but you can not criticize a person who live in the past and made the decisions they did. You don't have the same facts they had at the time of the event.
I good example is the removal of the Indians from the Indiana. From the point of view of the people who lived there and and been subject to Indian attacks for the previous 100 years it was the most logical and humane way to handle the situation. The alternative would have been to continue the Indian wars for another 100 years.
I used to live in the Redwood forest in Ca.
I've seen the big stumps and have a nice history / picture book of those days.
The big logs were halved or quartered in the field.
The stumps were left 6-8 feet into the air due to the buttress flair that was not useful. Also slots for spring boards were sawed into the stump so men with double handle saws could slice through.
The saws were tough but sharp as skinning knifes.
Logs pulled out by sled or wagon using mules and horses.
In steep hills, the smaller diameter, taller height coastal species were shot down slouse (sp) lines that ran down the mountain near a river that feed water to the slouse. Downright dangerous having a massive log coming down a mountain and ending up into a pond near the mill. The slouse is gone, the mill and the big barns is still there.
Mart>
Some of the big saws still exist. I saw a brand new 30' arc saw in the main office of the San Lorenzo Lumber company. They had wood guards to protect people from the teeth. It was one of the saws their company used many years before - but just kept this one new.
Today there are two man chain saws that are large, but they are rare.
Mart> Electric Comet wrote:
Look in the front right - the large tree and the man arm out.
The wedge cut by axe from both sides so a thin wedge remained in the center. They then sawed that wedge off until it fell - Might have cleaned the split out of the base, but the base in the foreground is a massive one spreading out in the left foreground. That was so large, it isn't likely the same stump.
Mart> Yes, and the son of a "itches" left a holy mess in the Redwoods.
If they were of the same constitution as locust they'd probably still be standing there... a lot harder to chop and saw. Since the red wood was nice and soft they were hacked down...
...a blame the victim philosophy!
i think the word is sluice not sure though
amazing trees and amazing wood
all the physics involved in those living marvels is really interesting
the internal fluid pressures capillary actions etc.
the redwood i last saw at home depot was a joke most of it sapwood which termites love
the properties of the wood is also their fault
beauty and termite/weather resistance
doubt they went to the gym after work
bet those trees were fun to climb probably needed special gaffs to do so extra long for that bark
what a view
must have been amazing to see that operation going on
Electric Comet wrote in news:mj5b9q$kva$2 @dont-email.me:
"Sluice" is the correct spelling, but loggers on the West coast would not call it that, they'd call it a "flume" (having picked up both the name and the design from the gold miners).
Flumes were more commonly used to move rough-cut lumber from the sawmill to a finishing mill, than they were to move logs. Some of them were large enough to float a small boat, and the lumbermen would knock together crude boats from the rough lumber and ride down when they had a day off.
Googling for "lumber flume" should get you some pictures.
John
Redwoods are officially a Hardwood. It is used extensively in beams and structures. A nice low end is decking.
If you ever had one like myself - can't burn the stuff - but one has to saw or chop limbs and trunks when they fall. The outside bark is sponge with air - fire proof. but once into the heart wood it is tough and strong.
Mart>> Look in the front right - the large tree and the man arm out.
Termites eat the centers out if the log is lying on the ground. They also eat the cream colored wood on the outside under the deadly outer bark.
We used to have a Tree near us that was a Blue Jay tree. They would peck and push a hole in the outer bark and then press in a acorn. The acorn typically had a worm in it. The whole mess would sit and cook all year and the birds would come back to eat the pickled worms and nut while making more holes. The tree looked like it was shot with a machine gun - a 50 cal - massive array of 1/2" holes that were darker than the other wood.
The bark has Tannin in it - used to tan leather goods in vats. Otherwise oak was used - there is a Tannin Oak.
Mart> >
i saww one in action in a video recently
they were cutting down the remains of a diseased elm
they pulled it over with a big rope hooked to a pickup it was more like a 20 ft. stump
before the internet what else could they do
sounds fun
today the lawyers would gasp and babble on about liability and so on and so forth
probably scrub jays which are a lot like blue jays they are the ones that plant oak trees since sometimes they stash the acorn in the ground and forget where they put it
next thing you know you have an oak tree
smart birds and gregarious luckily their memory it not so good
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