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Husqvarna 154se?

Started by gman98, October 21, 2017, 08:56:58 AM

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HolmenTree

Good post Walter!
This was my niche in 1979 - '80 when I was 21 years old.
After running  Jonsereds 621 80 90s for 6 years prior there was a new futuristic saw on the market, a Jonsereds 910E.
It was 87cc and weighed 15 lbs, about a 1/2 lb heavier then todays 372XP. Best power to weight ratio big cube saw ever seen before.
Not until 7 years later was the title broken with the Stihl 064AV.
These were the days before Electrolux swallows up Jonsereds and there was a 100cc 910E in development. But of course as history goes a year later when Electrolux takes over... the 100cc prototype model was a threat to the sales of the company's poplar 99cc Husqvarna 2100...so the Jonsered 100cc was cancelled.

Anyway enough of the history of the saw. My history back then in 1979-80 goes like this with the 910E.
Some of my smallest timber like pictured below of small diameter black spruce that I cut for my skidder operator was put in the landing treelength limbed and topped at 3.5 inches.
These spruce in the pic were actually 35-40 feet after topped at 3.5". Wasn't alot of limbing as there wasn't many limbs when topped at 3.5".
This wood we made good money in because our IWA unionized pay rate went up for the shorter treelength wood to make a cord. Compensated for production lost in longer bigger diameter wood.

I was running the 910E with a 16 inch bar with 73LP chain. Cut the stumps near ground level for ease of the skidder. Just clean thick moss on the ground so chain stayed sharp for a long time. Just needed a light touchup at lunch break.
I would zip through the spruce and before it hit the ground I would throw it into straight laid and butt square bunches along my face of the strip. In this thick wood I could bunch up to 6 trees a bunch.
My skidder operator would be behind me back blading the limbs when I was topping .
Every load I was there to help my partner pull out the mainline and help him choke up right to the last choker.
Then the cycle started all over again.
Our smallest wood was 25-30 ft tree length and we had to hustle, our average scale in this wood in a 40 hour week was 150 cords (30 cords a day) over 500 trees a day.
Best 5 day 40 hour scale was 305 cords in bigger 50-55 ft and over wood piled at the landing.


  

  

 
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

pinefeller

yeah buddy!!!! i bet a dollar for dollar  a MOTIVATED chopper puts down more wood for less coin than a mechanical crew. i really get into the nuts and bolts of being efficient and find a certain satisfaction when your running your equipment at 100% efficiency and you got the right tool for the job. really good posts guys even if we are veering off a little lol. x2 on holmen trees posts at 35 im startin to feel it now :) bottom line: theres something to be said for small sharp saws and a good operator!
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

Maine logger88

That's impressive holmen! I have had some good weeks in the past but I can't touch that especially in those little trees! I'd  get over a hundred cord a week every now and then but it's rare and in big wood. Pinesfaller around here the most money you can make per dollar invested is one man 2 saws and a cable skidder. I have recently started to see this getting more mechnised.
79 TJ 225 81 JD 540B Husky and Jonsered saws

HolmenTree

Cut and skid in pine,spruce, fir takes a faller and skidder operator working as a team. Like I explained both guys help either out and with experience you can put up alot of wood.
I never logged hardwood but what I can see it would be slower going as limbing would become bucking.

In my logging area our ground is flat, very little slope and with -20 to -30 below F winters with 2 feet of snow really helps in the skidding and limbing department..
Our company had a policy each 2 man crew had to produce 20 cord a day in any size wood. But I had bad feelings for the company how they pushed the transition to mechanical harvesting in the early 1990's.  They kept the cut and skid crews in the pulpwood and put the feller bunchers and grapple skidders in the saw log timber.
Then when the cut and skid crews were gone they were crying the bunchers couldn't cut the oversize wood so they brought some of the fallers back. And what a crock that was as the fallers were getting ripped off on their scale then ended up on hourly.
Making a living with a saw since age 16.

pinefeller

yep thats me or was anyhow, hand faller on a mechanical crew. now im the one guy, three saws and a cable skidder. ;D i do sub out for a tree company that pays me well to run their skidder/chop solo on urban logging jobs % or hourly depending on job. he keeps trying to get me on his tree crew full time, but i need the flexibility. i do miss the company. i do about 1-1.2 mbf or crd/hr with a 540 sized machine.
for those who say "it cannot be done!" please do so quietly so as not to disturb those who are doing it.

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