timber cutting

[southern fox]

was lookin at some old posts on here and I see where a lot of you out west work in the woods cutting timber, I am a owner of a tree service here in south ga, we have some nice pine trees but nothing like what you guys have, I watch ax men on tv , you guys really know how to get it done, and the shape you have to be in to do your job, that would kill a man from over here cause we have nothing that even comes close to what you guys do, yall must be in some kinda good physical shape, I could watch for hrs in amazement, cause I wouldn't last a hour climbing up and down the side of those mountians, I have 32 years exp, and couldn't imagine climbing up and down like yall people do !! my hats off to all yall over there cause you sure are gritty

[Jkohnke]

Yeah southern fox those guys work in some rough country. I've been climbing ,trimming and topping trees away from transmission power lines for 19 years. Are you in the private residential tree service ?

[southern fox]

yea all mine is residential, we work only in yards, worked with ga power, for 22 years, started my own business abt 10 years ago, done ok with workin for my self its either wide open or aint doing much just enuf to pay the bills, my old self is about wore out , but still have no problem of tooling up and going to the top, old man used to work with that trained me was a professional, seen him climb one at 72 years old, had hands of leather and was tough as a lightered knot, he had hands so tough he could strip briars with bare hands didn't believe it till I saw it

[Patrick]

I set chokers and handled the drop line/hooks for a cable side (cable yarder) for a summer about 20 years ago. I had just come out of high school and was in top shape, and it sure was a good thing. Still took a bit to get aclimated to dragging cable on very steep slopes, fighting brush, and digging under logs all day long.
Would make a guy pucker when we'd break a cable, the car and cables would come crashing down, and cables would be singing through the brush. Or when a log(s) would break loose and come bouncing down the slope at you.
The boss man wanted me to stay on at the end of the summer, but getting on with my schooling still sounded like a better path.
Not long after I left they flew out two of the guys I had been working with. On young white guy with a broken leg, not surprised as he wasn't too sharp. One middle aged very experienced mexican guy, he was working the landing and the loader operator pinned him against the yarder and smashed his leg good.
The bulk of those guys would shut down the bar every night and work all day.
Remember one new guy they threw in with us one morning. After a couple hours he just disappeared, gone. Days later found out he had dropped down to a road and caught a ride to town on a logging truck.
My best friend was tough and fearless. He would free climb anything, including the yarder with a torch, in his corks, to get cable untangled. Also saw him lay out the yarder operator when we climbed back to the landing after a long tough day (he'd been screwing with us all day).
It was one fun summer.