Do you cut wood alone?

[Tar12]

Having a cell phone is not a false sense of security, it is a safety tool, no different than having gauze to pack a wound or a tourniquet to attempt to stop bleeding. No single one of these items are help you all the time,especially when you go into shock, and you will. But they are better than nothing, including an untrained 2nd person with you in the woods. If you sever a major artery, your outlook is very grim regardless of cell phone, emergency supplies, or a second person. I have a friend that faints at the sight of human blood, he can gut deer and elk all day and not blink and eye, but make that blood human, and his mind flips, and he goes down. He, unfortunately, would be useless as a second person to have in the woods when I'm cutting should something happen.

I think we are saying the same thing...only you explained it a little better than I!

 

[Sodbuster]

For some reason I think I work safer when I am alone. That is because I can work at my own pace. I often take 5 or 10 minutes to evaluate and look at all options when making a difficult cut. If there is another person present, for some reason I seem to think that I should rush the work. Whether to keep from wasting the other persons time, whether it is some type of competitive thing, I do not know. All I know is that when cutting alone, I take all the time in the world to make each cut safe. Not so when another is present.

Totally agree Montanalocal, as I get older, I really take the time to study a tree before felling it. Sometimes, after looking at it for a while, I walk away, and decide it's not worth the risk, especially dead ones, where I don't know how rotten the bottom or top is. I have a neighbor across the street that decided to take a 80-90 year old Hickory down one Saturday morning. It was next to the road, which is something the county takes care of, so I'm not sure why he was screwing with it. He got about halfway through his initial cut, and the whole bottom shattered, pinched his saw and it fell, fortunately in the right direction. The number of ways he could've gotten hurt or killed in this situation are many. About the only thing holding that tree up was some bark and outer wood.

 

[Anduril]

I appreciate all the responses. I'm pleasantly surprised to see I'm not the only crazy solo wood cutter. For me, even though there is risk, I've found I love the solitude and the meditative state the work brings enough to risk it, as some of you have said. I guess in many ways I prefer it.

 

[KindredSpiritzz]

thing i hate most about cutting alone is when i inevitably get that tree that hangs up and i have to sit and cut the legs out from under it til it decides to topple. That always makes me nervous and i wish someone else was around in case things go south on me.

 

[highanddryinco]

You might consider a log arch. Works great for those situations. I built the one in my avatar...Log Rite sells a few sizes but a little pricey for my tastes.

 

[Hardtopseadan]

Hi all. I've been cutting/processing my own wood for 6-7 years or so, and I have been getting most of my supply from a National Forest permit. This usually involves four or five trips to the local mountains each season for chainsawing a mix of down and standing dead trees. About 80% of the time I'm faced with going alone, except when one of my sons can go. I realize using a chainsaw alone is not recommended. I do use the appropriate safety gear - chaps, gloves, helmet when felling, etc. I also try to limit the size of trees I take. But my cutting spots can be pretty isolated - sometime I see no one all day. I keep a good first aid kit and sat phone with me. Just curious how many of you chainsaw solo, or do you always make sure to have someone nearby?

I cut by myself 90 percent of the time, my wife doesn't like it and I don't recommend it. We do what needs done, be careful and always tell someone where you are going AND WHEN you expect to be home.

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

 

[Jeffm1]

Hi all. I've been cutting/processing my own wood for 6-7 years or so, and I have been getting most of my supply from a National Forest permit. This usually involves four or five trips to the local mountains each season for chainsawing a mix of down and standing dead trees. About 80% of the time I'm faced with going alone, except when one of my sons can go. I realize using a chainsaw alone is not recommended. I do use the appropriate safety gear - chaps, gloves, helmet when felling, etc. I also try to limit the size of trees I take. But my cutting spots can be pretty isolated - sometime I see no one all day. I keep a good first aid kit and sat phone with me. Just curious how many of you chainsaw solo, or do you always make sure to have someone nearby?

I’m pretty much exactly like you. I make sure I have a good belt with me I can use as a tournequit. But most importantly I hope to never get to that point so I am very careful and have the chaps, helmet, gloves, steel toe boots face shield, goggles, cell phone, etc. I Tell my wife exactly where I will be at and give her a time I will be back by. I work slow and methodically and take breaks when starting to feel fatigue. Also I try to be extra conscious of having good footing when cutting. And when in very remote areas we have bear and mountain lion so I have been known to have my sidearm in a holster on my hip as well.

 

[blacktail]

I cut with my dad about 50% of the time. The other 50% I'm alone, and that's usually on usfs land. I wear chaps, steel toes, gloves, eye & ear protection. We can only cut trees that are already down.

 

[DaveInPhilly]

I cut with a buddy. I'm relatively new to the area, he knows all the good spots.

 

[lost in the woods]

one thing I will say regarding the topic of having a cell phone- even if you have no service you can have your cell and leave it on. I have a police officer buddy that told me if they have a search and rescue, the police can ''ping''? your phone and get your last location. so if a person neglects to tell his wife or friend where he is cutting wood, the search and rescue people would at least have some type of a starting point. I dunno this is 2nd hand info

 

[zig]

I try to drop and cut alone because I would rather get hurt than one of my boys. Now loading the truck is another matter. Seriously anything that involves getting up in the morning is a risk so do your best.

 

[Hasufel]

For some reason I think I work safer when I am alone. That is because I can work at my own pace. I often take 5 or 10 minutes to evaluate and look at all options when making a difficult cut. If there is another person present, for some reason I seem to think that I should rush the work. Whether to keep from wasting the other persons time, whether it is some type of competitive thing, I do not know. All I know is that when cutting alone, I take all the time in the world to make each cut safe. Not so when another is present.

I'm also a loner when it comes to tree work, but then again I generally work on stuff that mother nature has already dropped and only within a few hundred feet of my house. It's easy to be aware of risks when you're cutting but I worry more about surprises, like a log shifting unexpectedly or a branch dropping from a nearby tree. In that last case the threat is no different than if I were just walking through the woods, except that if I'm cutting I at least have a helmet on.

The only time I had a real problem was when I was splitting crotches and the ax bounced into my shin. My wife wasn't home so I put my hand over the wound, hobbled into the garage, duct taped some paper towels over it, and drove to urgent care 10 minutes away. After that I got better at bringing a phone with me when I was working outside.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

Wow, i didn't realize that i am the complete opposite of everyone else. I cut 95% of the time with my kids, they help me the majority of the time. I am the only one who uses the saw and does the cutting, they mostly Drive the machinery and move things around. I find it very rare that I am cutting alone, I believe I only cut alone once last year out of all of The Cutting days I like to have my family involved and teach my kids on how to do this. Plus we like to be in the woods together. Sometimes its just better there, we loke the woods.

 

[Zack R]

Wow, i didn't realize that i am the complete opposite of everyone else. I cut 95% of the time with my kids, they help me the majority of the time. I am the only one who uses the saw and does the cutting, they mostly Drive the machinery and move things around. I find it very rare that I am cutting alone, I believe I only cut alone once last year out of all of The Cutting days I like to have my family involved and teach my kids on how to do this. Plus we like to be in the woods together. Sometimes its just better there, we loke the woods.

When my 8 month old is big enough I'll have her come out and help (as much as safely possible). I have my friends kids (3 and 7 years old) help stack and carry small pieces firewood when they come visit. I chop the wood and their dad helps show them how to stack it.

In the meantime she gets to spend her time playing on the carpet in the living room enjoying the warmth from the stove. Currently around freezing with a light snow, a very cozy day for a fire. Looks like the trend will continue.

 

[Woodsplitter67]

When my 8 month old is big enough I'll have her come out and help (as much as safely possible). I have my friends kids (3 and 7 years old) help stack and carry small pieces firewood when they come visit. I chop the wood and their dad helps show them how to stack it.

In the meantime she gets to spend her time playing on the carpet in the living room enjoying the warmth from the stove. Currently around freezing with a light snow, a very cozy day for a fire. Looks like the trend will continue.

View attachment 215103

My son age 9 in the trac. My daughter age 11 in the Kubota... i love it when were out there. This is good family time. Thay stack wood, but enjoy driving the equipment around much more. I enjoy it, love to see them doing this. My son dosent know this yet but this year were putting a grapple bucket on his machine....he'll think that's totally cool.. i am enjoying all that i can while there here, they will eventually be off to college and we will be spending less time together.

 

[fbelec]

touching on the phone thing we have 5 phone carriers here in mass. even if your carrier doesn't have phone service where you are 911 will work regardless of carrier

 

[mountain man 2]

I have always cut alone. Not because I want to, its because of any of my so called friends are always to busy doing something else when I may need a hand. My wife n I do all the splitting together. After this routine went on for a while I beleive that I would rather have it this way anyhow. Its nice to start when you want to n also quit when you want to. Most of the time I'm cutting within 100 yards of the house so the wife knows where I am at.

 

[venator260]

I don't fell alone. Not since I took a dead branch to the head. Little bit of blood that made me go light headed, but it could have been worse. Any time I'm cutting down, my dad is around. He's usually running the tractor, but is no more than a 25 minute trip away. I do most of the chainsaw work and all of the felling for he and I. He refuses to cut down (bad things happen when he tries). I won't do it alone. Any other part of the process (dragging in, cutting up, splitting) we will do ourselves. Over the last 3 years, our least productive year was 10-15 cords using the above system. That was this year; as of now, we've stacked full both of our storage areas.

It's interesting what we perceive as saftey issues. Those of you out there cutting alone would scoff at my wood cutting sneakers that I retired not long ago. And I don't wear chaps or a helmet, just ear plugs, saftey glasses, and sometimes gloves. But I refuse to cut trees down by myself. My grandfather would think us all soft. He did the whole process himself into his early 80's with just his work boots and prescription glasses. His kids and grandkids would help when they could, but he liked to be doing something while everyone else was at school/work. And he was out in the woods alone even after heart attack number 2. He may have been onto something... he died in his sleep at 96.

 

[BrotherBart]

Did it alone for 40 years. Not these days. Too old and feeble. If I had a snag fall on the 65cc saw and drive the running chain into my leg like in 1986 i wouldn't be able to drag my leg out of the woods and to a neighbor's house down the road for the trip to the emergency room anymore. Not to mention when the chainsaw exploded into flames in my hands in a bucking cut a couple of years later and set my shirt on fire.

Not up to doing that stuff alone anymore. The more the merrier.

 

[Beldin]

Did it alone for 40 years. Not these days. Too old and feeble. If I had a snag fall on the 65cc saw and drive the running chain into my leg like in 1986 i wouldn't be able to drag my leg out of the woods and to a neighbor's house down the road for the trip to the emergency room anymore. Not to mention when the chainsaw exploded into flames in my hands in a bucking cut a couple of years later and set my shirt on fire.

Not up to doing that stuff alone anymore. The more the merrier.

Man! You have luck like my own. I unfortunately have known quite a few people killed or injured while logging or even cutting rails here. I cut mostly alone too. I won't drop a tree or snag when my trapping dog is out of the truck. I am going to start wearing a hard hat again. I always have my phone so that they can ping me. If I get hurt bad enough where I cut it will be a recovery mission anyway. I move slowly, and am careful.

 

[Tar12]

Did it alone for 40 years. Not these days. Too old and feeble. If I had a snag fall on the 65cc saw and drive the running chain into my leg like in 1986 i wouldn't be able to drag my leg out of the woods and to a neighbor's house down the road for the trip to the emergency room anymore. Not to mention when the chainsaw exploded into flames in my hands in a bucking cut a couple of years later and set my shirt on fire.

Not up to doing that stuff alone anymore. The more the merrier.

I am with you! Had a couple close calls in my youthful years.I was very lucky then.I just won't push my luck anymore! There is usually 3 of us. We are all business and keep a eye out for each other and there is no playing around. You're odds of surviving something bad are increased greatly with someone else there IMO.

 

[beatlefan]

To be honest, if I were faced with traveling any distance for cutting firewood, I would not likely cut alone. I do cut alone much of the time as I process firewood but I am cutting within a few hundred yards of my home and I always in cell coverage. That being said I should have more of a first aid kit with me when I am cutting.

+1

 

[cptoneleg]

I'm by myself 95% of the time.

Me too

 

[max384]

I have cut alone the past 20 yrs and i never wear safety equipment beyond gloves.. Few close calls here and there but im probably safer cutting wood than i am riding my motorcycle. When my times up its up, wont matter if im cutting wood or sleeping in bed so i dont worry about it to much.

It's not just about when your time comes up. It's about keeping yourself from becoming disabled and relying on others for care. As a physician, I can tell you that I've seen many, many macho men with similar attitudes that regret spending the rest of their lives relying on others for their care.

Gearing up is a pain, but sweat wipes off much easier than blood. I'm speaking just as much about chainsaws as motorcycles. About four or five years ago I wrecked my motorcycle on the highway going about 70 mph. I was wearing full gear. My gear was toast, my helmet was cracked, but I walked away with just a few bruises.

 

[CheapBassTurd]

I don't have a working saw. LOL

Does scavenging and splitting alone count?

Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeap