# I Saw That 🌲



## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

In the Willamette National Forest, they want you to get certified before you do any chainsaw work in the woods. There are (rare) classes, and you need to be able to perform some basic tasks, each level is a bit tougher to get.

A couple weeks ago I got a Class A cert. That means I can saw in the forest, but only under the guidance of a Class B or C Sawyer. Today was my first day out in the woods really applying that knowledge and taking instruction from one of the local greats. I managed to clear a whooping ~50 yards of future trail along a new route which is being built over the next couple years in Oakridge.

This is the before/ after shot. The gentleman in the bottom shot is about 10 feet behind the gentleman in the top shot. He's about 6'8" tall and probably wouldn't be visible if he were in the first shot.










Paul standing in the same spot from the opposite angle.










Paul, still in the same spot from the complete opposite end of the work section. Doesn't look like much, but in addition to the big cuts there were about 80 vine maple shoots and trees popping up in here and we had to make the corridor 10' wide. There will likely be a couple S curves in here.










I'll be heading out again on Friday and over the weekend.

My goal this spring is to get my Class B so I can get out there without dragging another Sawyer out (you always have to bring someone along for safety).

While I've done fairly basic saw work previously, I've never done anything near this scale.


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## Taroroot (Nov 6, 2013)

Awesome work! Mad props to you!
So were you singing the “I’m a lumberjack song”?


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Cool beans Ogre. Some of those bigger snags in challenging terrain take some serious nards! 

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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

Taroroot said:


> Awesome work! Mad props to you!
> So were you singing the "I'm a lumberjack song"?


I'm honestly so focused on not screwing up that there isn't a ton of room in my head for anything else. If the spinning chain of death and the multi-thousand pound logs weren't enough, trying to remember the bits of technique that will make or break me on my next certification check kills me. Keep the thumb tucked, keep the face out of the chain-line, keep the motor below chest level... etc etc.



WHALENARD said:


> Cool beans Ogre. Some of those bigger snags in challenging terrain take some serious nards!


Thanks. I let Paul drop the scary 150 foot tree which was suspended over the whole thing. The big thing with a complex snag like this one seems to be walking the whole thing and doing the cleanup and least consequence cuts first. This had a bunch of overlapping stuff, but no big widow maker type branches.


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

Nice work! Definitely a lot of sweat equity going on.

Rode Oakridge area a few years back, was a great week.

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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

Shark said:


> Nice work! Definitely a lot of sweat equity going on.
> 
> Rode Oakridge area a few years back, was a great week.


Well then maybe you will understand what we're doing. We are deleting 4 miles of shitty forest road from ATCA and replacing it with ~6 miles of single track. Going to be glorious.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Ogre said:


> Well then maybe you will understand what we're doing. We are deleting 4 miles of shitty forest road from ATCA and replacing it with ~6 miles of single track. Going to be glorious.


Aw sick! I didn't know that's what that was from! Awesome
Will be nice not to burn all that descent on the road.

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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

Coolage! The Cloverpatch Connector begins!
Way to go, Ogre 👹. Play it safe, watch for tension and let Paul do most of the work. 😬
And please keep me in the loop. I may have moved but not so far away that I can’t come down to join the trailwork parties once in a while.

That said, Cyn & I have been doing quite a bit of work up thisaway, too. I got a BOB trailer axle for my Trek Rail ebike— it’s a godsend for getting the heavy equipment into the backcountry. “No trail too steep” is my new motto. 😊

Hope to see you soon,
=sParty


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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

Sparticus said:


> Coolage! The Cloverpatch Connector begins!
> Way to go, Ogre ?. Play it safe, watch for tension and let Paul do most of the work. ?
> And please keep me in the loop. I may have moved but not so far away that I can't come down to join the trailwork parties once in a while.
> 
> ...


Paul did exactly one cut.

But he was an awesome swamper.

Do you have a current Class B? I'd love to get out there once a week but until I get my B I'm kind of stuck waiting on others.


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

Ogre said:


> Well then maybe you will understand what we're doing. We are deleting 4 miles of shitty forest road from ATCA and replacing it with ~6 miles of single track. Going to be glorious.


I'd have to look back to see what we rode, I do remember a lot of gravel climbs though, no shutting loved the trails there.

I took the saw out for the first time this spring last week....(north idaho)









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## Sparticus (Dec 28, 1999)

Ogre said:


> Paul did exactly one cut.
> 
> But he was an awesome swamper.
> 
> Do you have a current Class B? I'd love to get out there once a week but until I get my B I'm kind of stuck waiting on others.


I'm a 100% uncertified sawyer.  
=sParty


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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

Shark said:


> I'd have to look back to see what we rode, I do remember a lot of gravel climbs though, no shutting loved the trails there.
> 
> I took the saw out for the first time this spring last week....(north idaho)
> 
> ...


Love the saw mount, I need one of those.


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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

Sparticus said:


> I'm a 100% uncertified sawyer.
> =sParty


No worries, I can always use another swamper


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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

Our group has six spots in a saw class coming up next month. We had four certified three years ago, and they extended the certain due to COVID. 

In the aftermath of mountain pine bark beetle and spruce bud worm waves a decade ago, trail work here consists of continuous cutting and swamping. It’s not too bad close to town or in stands of P-pine. But in Lodgepole... Every spring is a huge effort on the continental divide. Sometimes we get lucky and have a hotshot crew or two that needs something to do early in the season. That’s how we got most of a new four-mile corridor cleared in 2019.


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## Taroroot (Nov 6, 2013)

Awesome work! Mad props to you!
So were you singing the "I'm a lumberjack song


Shark said:


> I'd have to look back to see what we rode, I do remember a lot of gravel climbs though, no shutting loved the trails there.
> 
> I took the saw out for the first time this spring last week....(north idaho)
> 
> ...


No ones going to be tailgating/drafting you!


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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

Taroroot said:


> No ones going to be tailgating/drafting you!


It's a good point, I think a blade cover would be a good idea for safety. Even setting aside other riders, I know a few guys who have crashed while carrying a saw.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

Nah!!
Ride with'er runnin, trigger locked. A good ride while bucking the side brush. Multitasking, man. 

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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

Ogre said:


> It's a good point, I think a blade cover would be a good idea for safety. Even setting aside other riders, I know a few guys who have crashed while carrying a saw.


Yes I do keep the plastic bar cover on, I just grabbed a pic after I removed it safety first!

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## Fleas (Jan 19, 2006)

When I see the treacherous messes that our park sawyers deal with, I'd say training is no joke! So good for you.
Stay safe out there.

-F


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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

My group's 2021 sawyer class:


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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

National Trails Day was four miles of this on the CDT. Three sawyers and six swampers, and just under 10 hours.


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

Yikes, a lot of work! What section of CDT? I only pass through while driving to work, so usually only time to ride homestake/Pipestone etc

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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

Macdonald Pass. It’s a popular Helena ride. But beetle kill mortality has made the last ~5 years of clearing really heavy work.


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## Shark (Feb 4, 2006)

Gotcha. Haven't been that far north yet.

Thanks for the work!

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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

That is awesome. Saw gets pretty damned heavy after that much trigger time.


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## DMFT (Dec 31, 2003)

Damn that's a LOT of fuel!!! Is anyone dragging that stuff out???


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## Ogre (Feb 17, 2005)

For any Oregon locals interested in logging or digging on the new Cloverpatch Connector, we are doing regular work-days on Thursdays and Sundays to log this out. PM me for details.


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## evasive (Feb 18, 2005)

Ogre said:


> That is awesome. Saw gets pretty damned heavy after that much trigger time.


My hands are still sore.



DMFT said:


> Damn that's a LOT of fuel!!! Is anyone dragging that stuff out???


No. There's no point. The entire landscape looks like that. Parts of this Forest and the one to the south saw >90% mortality from the bark beetle.


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## WHALENARD (Feb 21, 2010)

While slash is still fuel it doesn't produce a raging inferno like stands of dead timber. 

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## DMFT (Dec 31, 2003)

WHALENARD said:


> While slash is still fuel it doesn't produce a raging inferno like stands of dead timber.
> 
> Sent from my Pixel 4a (5G) using Tapatalk


-That makes no sense to me. Those diseased tree's are dead-timber. Leaving them to decompose further will create a raging inferno given the opportunity.


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