My son moving to Vancouver Island

14 March 2022, 10:52

Hi All,

My son Tom is heading to Vancouver Island from the UK as a lumberjack. His forte is tree climbing and working the treetops.

Are there any AR members in this area as it is always good to have a few contacts in hand?

Cheers

Andrew

15 March 2022, 01:20

d.unger

Andrew, I don’t live on the Island but I have a farm just north of Comox. We visit there occasionally.

15 March 2022, 03:33

Grizzly Adams1

quote:
His forte is tree climbing and working the treetops

I don't think He'll fit in very well any more , our logging is highly mechanized, a " lumberjack " usually drives a feller buncher.

Grizz

15 March 2022, 04:37

Skyline

Not on the Coast Grizz. The coastal inlets and Vancouver Island still have some huge cedar, spruce, etc that are way too big to use that equipment. They also log areas that can be incredibly steep and they need to use cable/chokers for extraction...as well as helicopters in some cases. There are still guys running around in hob nail boots with big saws and long bars doing things the old way with big timber.

Certainly not as common as the "old days" due to the amount of logging that has taken place on the coast over the years, but that form of logging is not extinct...yet.

What is more common these days is protesters trying to shut down the logging of old growth timber on the Coast, such as recently occurred at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew.

https://globalnews.ca/news/853...nction-to-next-fall/

15 March 2022, 10:01

Bill Brady

Hi Andrew
If he likes climbing trees we have REAL TREES on the island growing on real mountains. There is also a lot of climbing in residential areas those trees keep growing blocking the sun and getting in the way of all kinds of stuff. I’m in North Saanich just north of Victoria he’s welcome to call me (William J Brady) in the Victoria Ph book.
Take care. Bill

15 March 2022, 10:21

fairgame

Thanks all. Tom was scouted as a climber which is his forte and qualification. So we will see what is in store for him apart from the weather.

15 March 2022, 10:26

fairgame

quote:
Originally posted by Grizzly Adams1:
quote:
His forte is tree climbing and working the treetops

I don't think He'll fit in very well any more , our logging is highly mechanized, a " lumberjack " usually drives a feller buncher.

Grizz

Thanks Grizz I am not sure lumberjack is the right term. Currently, he removes difficult trees in residential areas. Working from the top down. He also sets up the harness stuctures for other climbers and cutters. He is very excited about this opportunity and to explore a bit of Canada.

16 March 2022, 04:39

WoodHunter

I am just across the Straits of Juan De'fuca on the US side. Still a lot of big timber on both sides of the border.

My front yard:

140 feet up to the climber. Much bigger timber in this are, and up on Vancouver Island.

Stihl 090, 42 inch bar

66 inch bar

16 March 2022, 04:52

WoodHunter

quote:
Originally posted by Skyline:
Not on the Coast Grizz. The coastal inlets and Vancouver Island still have some huge cedar, spruce, etc that are way too big to use that equipment. They also log areas that can be incredibly steep and they need to use cable/chokers for extraction...as well as helicopters in some cases. There are still guys running around in hob nail boots with big saws and long bars doing things the old way with big timber.

Certainly not as common as the "old days" due to the amount of logging that has taken place on the coast over the years, but that form of logging is not extinct...yet.

What is more common these days is protesters trying to shut down the logging of old growth timber on the Coast, such as recently occurred at Fairy Creek on Vancouver Island near Port Renfrew.

https://globalnews.ca/news/853...nction-to-next-fall/

Yep. Same thing here on the Olympic Peninsula of Washington State. Most of the logging in this area is high lead cable, steep canyons, big saws.

Oldie but a goodie. McCulloch gear drive I have 36, 42 and 60 inch bars for this beast.

076 Stihl, 36 inch bar

16 March 2022, 05:06

Skyline

WoodHunter...not too many guys these days have seen the saws used for big trees. Packing those around on your shoulder up and down steep terrain and often along and over big trees that are already on the ground really separates the men from the boys.

Years ago when I was guiding for grizzly on the coast of BC I had lunch one day with a friend that is a faller. We were sitting in a notch he had cut out at the base of a big tree he was falling. We had our backs against the back of the notch and our feet were not out to the edge of the tree.

Falling, trimming and bucking that one tree was a long full days work.

Thanks for posting the pictures. Brings back memories.

16 March 2022, 10:33

Cougarz

Looking at those pictures of that Stihl 090 makes my back ache.

Many years ago I worked with a guy doing both falling and residential tree service. Occasionally some of the trees where 8-9 feet plus in diameter so the 090 got a workout mostly bucking.

16 March 2022, 11:26

fairgame

quote:
Originally posted by WoodHunter:
I am just across the Straits of Juan De'fuca on the US side. Still a lot of big timber on both sides of the border.

My front yard:

140 feet up to the climber. Much bigger timber in this are, and up on Vancouver Island.

Stihl 090, 42 inch bar

66 inch bar

Impressive. Did'nt know saws got that big!

17 March 2022, 21:22

Biebs

I thought my Stihl 066 with 36" bar was big....geeez!

18 March 2022, 02:11

WoodHunter

quote:
Originally posted by Biebs:
I thought my Stihl 066 with 36" bar was big....geeez!

One of my timber beast buddies is a faller in California Redwood country. He has several 090's with 84 inch bars.

I got tired of hand filing chains so I bought this:

About time for me to sell the big saws, the darn things are putting on weight and at 75 years of age I am having trouble starting the high cube saws not to mention picking one up.

795 Mac from the early 1960's.

The big Mac's were king in the Pacific NW until the big Stihls showed up.

404 pitch full skip chain for the big timber:

18 March 2022, 03:33

Bill/Oregon

My nephew spent several years working for a big timber firm out of Vancouver and one of his jobs was analyzing aerial recon to search for "heritage trees" -- usually western red cedars -- that were marked to be saved for First Nations users -- for canoes, totems, that sort of thing. Pretty cool job.
Man I miss fly-fishing the mouth of the Oyster for pinks in August.

02 April 2022, 02:48

scruffy

Yo, Andrew,

I am sure that Tom will be having the greatest of times in that beautiful part of Canada. We really enjoyed his help on our Zambian safari in October of 2019.

I live in Alberta which is one province over from British Columbia. If the chap ever decides to come out this way we will certainly wine and dine him.

If he needs any kind of assistance from a Canadian .. just give me a call.

All the best!

Richard (Scruffy)

02 April 2022, 10:44

fairgame

quote:
Originally posted by scruffy:
Yo, Andrew,

I am sure that Tom will be having the greatest of times in that beautiful part of Canada. We really enjoyed his help on our Zambian safari in October of 2019.

I live in Alberta which is one province over from British Columbia. If the chap ever decides to come out this way we will certainly wine and dine him.

If he needs any kind of assistance from a Canadian .. just give me a call.

All the best!

Richard (Scruffy)

Much appreciated Scruffy.

11 April 2022, 10:42

georgeld

Impressive saws for sure.

In the Army I had a 36" air powered saw with a 3/8" kerf. That sucker sure would eat the wood. It threw chips big enough to draw blood when they'd hit bare skin.

The amazing part of that saw was how light it was, about 10 pounds. Worst part was dragging that blasted hose around.

Y0u guys with the big toys, how wide is the kerf on those?

From some of the pictures I've seen of tree's up
in that area. A 9'dia tree is just a sprout!

Andrew, best wishes to Tom. I hope he enjoys working in the rain.

George

19 April 2022, 03:50

Grizzly Adams1

Here's what he's in for.

https://globalnews.ca/news/876...st-vancouver-easter/

Grizz

19 April 2022, 20:57

Skyline

Yes, the professional protestors of all things never stop. Between the protests against police actions, logging, mining, trophy hunting, wolf culls, bear hunting, etc....it never stops. Then factor in the NDP working hard to give most of the province over to the First Nations and Metis, along with control of most natural resources on "their" land or "traditional territories" and the future in this province looks rather gloomy for non-indigenous people who pay taxes and have to buy a licence to hunt, fish and trap.

22 April 2022, 05:10

Michael Robinson

Hi Andrew -

If Tom ever makes it to the East Coast of the USA, I hope he will look us up. We would be happy to show him around. He is an impressive young man and both Lindy and I really think highly of him.

BTW, we have a crew coming in July, with a 150 ton rig, to take down and haul away seven huge pine trees and one maple tree on our property, at a cost of a mere US$5,800.

That's a deal around here.

Not a bad business!