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General Forestry => Chainsaws => Topic started by: sablatnic on April 11, 2017, 06:42:56 AM

Title: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: sablatnic on April 11, 2017, 06:42:56 AM
Stumbled over this today!

It doesn't quite belong here, so moderator, just delete, if you feel like.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8HhWVzzcVc
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: weimedog on April 11, 2017, 09:54:26 AM
Excellent historical perspective and interesting to me as it brings back memories. Interesting as well is the notch, back cut & wedge approach obviously has been done a long time. in the late 1960's early 1970's  my folks would send me (and my brothers) to Alabama and one of the activities was helping cut, limb, buck & load  pulp wood. That Pulp wood operation during those summers was an interesting blend of resources between a logger/trucker named "Looney Martin" and my grandfather. Was a positive lesson in life as well & I will never forget, it was a different time. Also a lot more interesting than the other tasks that usually were about hauling peanut hay and clearing fence line in the swamps! By then a "Poulan" with a bow blade is what we used. And the fellow I worked for had a similar truck with an electric winch setup. That was back breaking work....:) Was exciting for a young kid..
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Kbeitz on April 11, 2017, 09:34:08 PM
Talk about memories... Wow... I got one of those Root mowers in the barn.
We used it for years for cutting fields of Christmas trees. I loved that video.



 (https://forestryforum.com/gallery/albums/userpics/39553/Roof_Mower.jpg?easyrotate_cache=1491960830)
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: sablatnic on April 12, 2017, 06:48:09 AM
I'm glad you like the film - I was slightly concerned as there isn't a lot of chainsaws in it.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: thecfarm on April 12, 2017, 06:58:34 AM
But it has something to do with cutting trees!!
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: weimedog on April 12, 2017, 07:32:43 AM
Quote from: sablatnic on April 12, 2017, 06:48:09 AM
I'm glad you like the film - I was slightly concerned as there isn't a lot of chainsaws in it.

It is about life harvesting trees. And its really about the history of that industry. And personally really close to home for me.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: petefrom bearswamp on April 12, 2017, 08:57:11 AM
Only got half way thru last night I'll finish tonight.
I did notice a few  things tho.
The neighbors GMC truck turned into a Chevy in the next shot.
Also the kid was limbing very dangerously and standing in front of trees while they were being felled.
He looked to be about the same age as I was in 52 and I wonder how long he lived if indeed he was a loggers  kid and not an actor.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: HolmenTree on April 12, 2017, 10:54:56 AM
 Great video, almost brought a  tear to my eye reminding me of a few times long ago on the family farm.
Interesting old saw, would like to know more history on it.
In 1952 a machine like that looks like it would get the job done, on what looks like a level ground pine plantation.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: mad murdock on April 12, 2017, 01:29:56 PM
Way cool film!! Thanks for sharing!!!
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Skip on April 12, 2017, 02:11:50 PM
Wow, great, A lot better "Reality" show than axe men huh ?  ;D They sure don't make em like that any more . Thanks for posting.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: pineywoods on April 12, 2017, 10:18:08 PM
OOOHHH boy, did that bring back a bunch of memories.  ;D Them folks could have been any one of a bunch of my neighbors. It wasn't just Georgia, the pine woods extended westward all the way to east Texas. I never worked in the woods, but my dad did. Early on, it fell my lot to keep them old ford trucks and buzz saws running. I learned to grind the teeth on the sawblades and hammer them when they became unstable. Ground and hammered a many one of them blades for $5..The buzz saws didn't work too well for felling, but really shined when it came to bucking the logs to length. I was grown before I found out about skidders, thought all logs were skidded out with 8n ford tractors. Jeff, did you catch the shot of the 8n with tracks ? I well remember them. And what about the studebaker pickup hauling the fire fighters..Oh, the truck was a 49 ford...one of the others was a 51...
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Ljohnsaw on April 13, 2017, 01:27:56 PM
Quote from: petefrom bearswamp on April 12, 2017, 08:57:11 AM
I did notice a few  things tho.
Also the kid was limbing very dangerously and standing in front of trees while they were being felled.
He looked to be about the same age as I was in 52 and I wonder how long he lived if indeed he was a loggers  kid and not an actor.
Yeah, more than once standing where the tree was about to fall!

Wow, talk about a dangerous looking saw!  In the last shot of the saw, it cut away from the operator but I thought I saw in the field that it was pulling into the cut...

Funny though, the other guys were able to get 3 loads a day to their one.  They had equipment and like 2 or 3 times the man power.  Seems like they should have been getting a whole lot more!  I liked the log loader, too.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: GrizG on April 13, 2017, 02:12:34 PM
The engine on the saw looks like a Wisconsin engine. We had a couple of them around when I was a kid. One was on a 2 wheel tractor and the other on a generator. The generator is still in the storage shed at my parent's house... Heavy cast iron engines with lots of torque for their HP. I had my arm jerked back quite a number of times with the "wrap the rope around" pull start. Other than the one in the shed I haven't seen one in 25-30+ years.

P.S. I want a truck like that! 
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Kbeitz on April 13, 2017, 07:04:06 PM
I think I have a Briggs engine on my Roof mower. Yea they was dangerous.
We would lock the dogs up before we used it. No workers was aloud in the
same field when the saw was in use. Sometime the handles would get ripped
right out of your hands if the blade caught just right.

I have a few of the old Wisconsin engines around yet. I one 14hp long stroke that's new old stock.  I also have around 20 Wisconsin engine magnetos on
the shelf.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: GrizG on April 13, 2017, 10:00:41 PM
Quote from: Kbeitz on April 13, 2017, 07:04:06 PM
I think I have a Briggs engine on my Roof mower. Yea they was dangerous.
We would lock the dogs up before we used it. No workers was aloud in the
same field when the saw was in use. Sometime the handles would get ripped
right out of your hands if the blade caught just right.

I have a few of the old Wisconsin engines around yet. I one 14hp long stroke that's new old stock.  I also have around 20 Wisconsin engine magnetos on
the shelf.
It just occurred to me that the generator with the Wisconsin engine was about 20 feet to the left of the chainsaw mill in my avatar... There was a 30" DBH ash, that the EAB killed, about 7" from the shed. I felled the tree and stored my gear in the shed while working on sawing the 3 10.5' logs from that tree. I saw the generator during that task...   
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Magicman on April 13, 2017, 10:34:58 PM
That was a wonderful film, but oh did it bring back memories of pulling a crosscut saw!   :o
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: pineywoods on April 13, 2017, 10:48:26 PM
MM, if you get to hankering for some of the old times, come over, I have 4 of those old crosscut saws. I'll get one out of the barn, sharpen it up, and provide a log or two for practice. on. I could even provide a genuine coke bottle full of coal oil with pine straw stuffed in the neck. BTW, I didn't see any form of blade lube in that film, and best I remember, that was an absolute necessity  ;D
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Magicman on April 13, 2017, 11:00:56 PM
Yup, 'cept we used a half pint whiskey bottle.  It fit into the back pocket when you walked to the next tree.  That hand loading the truck was also just part of the job.

I noticed that they started that first morning with scrambled eggs and Grits, but I was surprised that there were no biscuits.   ???
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: petefrom bearswamp on April 14, 2017, 06:34:43 AM
Still havent finished the video yet.
Lynn did you get to empty the bottle first?
I recall the old misery whip with not exactly fond memories.
When at forestry school in 1958 we did a logging exercise.
State of the art chainsaws for then .
The crew I was on consisted of 3 of us students.
We encountered a 42" Yellow birch which was too big for the chainsaws.
Our instructor, professor Latham was in his early 60s then and he brought the 7' saw and wore all 3 of us out pulling it.
This was the largest hardwood tree we had in this exercise.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Magicman on April 14, 2017, 02:16:52 PM
Quote from: petefrom bearswamp on April 14, 2017, 06:34:43 AM
Lynn did you get to empty the bottle first? 
No, if I had ever had a full whiskey bottle I would still be emptying it, and that was 60 years ago.  Matter of fact a guy gave me a fifth in 1968 and the seal is still unbroken.  :D
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: petefrom bearswamp on April 15, 2017, 07:21:08 AM
Boy Lynn that is some aged whiskey.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: Magicman on April 15, 2017, 08:47:09 AM
OK, I am curious so I will start a new topic in the Food board.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: fishpharmer on April 15, 2017, 10:30:41 AM
Thanks for sharing.  I enjoyed watching that.  Its been within the last twenty years that "shortwood" pulpwood is no longer bought by the local mills.  It was a good honest way to make a living for many hardworking men in this area.

One thing that really stood out to me was the odd absence of fireant mounds.  Not in the fields, roadsides or woods.  When the older boy put his sandwich on the ground, the fireant absence occured to me.  Lil before my time but I read fireants were just starting to spread around the 50's.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: sablatnic on April 18, 2017, 10:24:30 AM
I have to tell you, I didn't actually share the video, I just stumbled over it on Youtube.

Now, talking Youtube, have you guys been messing with one of my videos?
Last year I put up a robotic lawnmower in my garden, and used an old chainsaw to saw the slit in the lawn for the wire. Just for the heck of it I videoed a minute of the mayhem, and put it on youtube - it had had about 800 views a fortnight ago, has over 16.000 today!
16.000 hits on a video of an old guy sawing the dirt!!

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9djrYf7idxI
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: OffGrid973 on April 18, 2017, 01:20:25 PM
16,001...May go back for a 2nd watch, it draws you in :)
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: sablatnic on April 18, 2017, 02:53:58 PM
Quote from: cwimer973 on April 18, 2017, 01:20:25 PM
16,001...May go back for a 2nd watch, it draws you in :)

Yes!   :D

But that many views of an old guy cutting up his lawn, doesn't seem sane!!
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: DDW_OR on April 18, 2017, 03:17:46 PM
that is why the chainsaw is the "red neck saws-all"
cuts wood, ice, dirt, ,,,,,,,,,
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: fishpharmer on April 18, 2017, 10:54:32 PM
I want to see the robotic lawnmower. Sounds like a winner. 
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: sablatnic on April 19, 2017, 01:28:03 AM
Quote from: fishpharmer on April 18, 2017, 10:54:32 PM
I want to see the robotic lawnmower. Sounds like a winner.

I will upload a video of the lawnmower later today. It is too early for it to run  around now - the lawn is all frozen.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: thecfarm on April 19, 2017, 06:09:57 AM
You need education on rocks.  :D  How can you do that?  ;D  I can't really put a shovel in the ground here without hitting a rock.
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: sablatnic on April 19, 2017, 08:14:38 AM
Quote from: thecfarm on April 19, 2017, 06:09:57 AM
You need education on rocks.  :D  How can you do that?  ;D  I can't really put a shovel in the ground here without hitting a rock.

I don't know much about sawing rocks, true, it is mostly sand and gravel here.
:D 
Title: Re: "Men of the Forest" 1952
Post by: nmurph on July 22, 2017, 07:53:55 PM
The saw in the video is a Kut-Kwick. They were made in Brunswick, GA. Yes, that's a Wisconsin motor.

http://kutkwick.com/about.htm