Logging in the PNW c 1985 Part 1 Cutting Big Wood

This video highlights an example of logging 30+ years ago cutting big timber that is extremely rare these days. The video was done by a family friend on an old VHS recorder so the quality has degraded over time. I am glad to now have them in digital format for better preservation so folks can see how it used to done.

[@brucew22]

I cut timber with my dad in Roseburg Oregon back in the late 70’s. Set chokers too. Rough job. Thanks for the footage!

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed it. That is my father in law doing the falling. You don't see big wood like this much anymore. I was in SE Alaska pulling rigging and tending hook in the early 70s and have a lot of respect for loggers. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Junorr500]

Bad ass old timers. Makes the few cords of firewood I do each year look like a joke. Those guys are awesome.

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@georgewilliamssr5230]

Loved this video. Reminds me of the old days. I haven't seen timber big enough to cut the heart out of my face in a couple years. Nicely done.

[@elwellboy]

Yep - Don't see this kind of wood anymore in the PNW. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching & commenting.

[@onceANexile]

@@elwellboy it's all gone??

[@TheReal1953]

@@onceANexile Not all of it, but mostly 'protected' unless it's a private timber sale....still restrictions though. Like soldiers coming back from the Sandbox and looking for the 'juice' they left behind.

[@TheReal1953]

I remember working in scale large enough to have a partner like that......springboards too. Silvey hydraulic pacs for the big 'uns. Very lucky to have any of this filmed. I don't remember anybody taking an interest to film or video anything.

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. I was glad to get this video and get it posted for all to see how it was done. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@scottw.2450]

That was a big one, the bark was probably at least 4 inches thick. Looks like they were falling with a Husqvarna 2100 with a 36"- 42" bar and limbing and bucking with a Husqvarna 181 with a 32" bar. I think the 281xp came out in 1986 a year later. Thanks for the videos, a glimpse of the past.

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Could be a Husky 2100. I seem to recall that he was running Jonsred back then but not certain. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@charlesmullins3238]

I have a low top 288 from that time and a nice 064….394 is ported by rich d at myrtle cr saw shop ands a ripper…love have a 2100 2101

[@scottw.2450]

@@charlesmullins3238 I like the low top huskies like that better than the high top. Dang near bulletproof saws the 281s and 288s, the 064s and 066s are pretty formidable as well. I’ve run a couple 2100s, legendary saws. My dad ran one daily back in the day.

[@ragnarjonsson1122]

Big alright! Awesome, thanks for the upload

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Jay-os5vf]

Buster Meece and Cotton Cabe !! Cut with them old boys back in the day !!

[@elwellboy]

Nice. Buster was sort of a timber cutting egend in this area. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@jamesmooney5348]

Those were the days! In some ways, I guess, for a few, they still are...

[@elwellboy]

There is very little big wood like this being cut anymore. It's good to have footage of how it use to be done. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@arborist460]

This is great....I'd love to have been there

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@michaelshay5594]

Thats awsome.

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@grumplepig]

Awesome

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@brianthomas5053]

That's great

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@billcramer9047]

Last of the good wood ,Ran an o56 and a p51 back before then

[@elwellboy]

Yep - don't see wood like that anymore. Glad you enjoyed the video. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@piripikerr8896]

Awsome

[@elwellboy]

You don't see much of this big timber anymore except maybe in SE Alaska or British Columbia. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@renepelletier9065]

Good lumber👍

[@elwellboy]

Yep - Old growth Doug fir - about the best. Thanks for watching and commenting..

[@arborist460]

Sprayin that dust directly ontop of yer head like rainin gold coins....let's me know these guys are doin what they love..I was 8yrs old playin with my pet monster while they were slayinmonsters on the coast

[@elwellboy]

Yes sir. These guys know what they're doing and did it for a lot of years. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@floydlivingston8205]

I miss them days if I would have known we would be drove out I would have took a lot more pics the memories wil always be on my mind but you can't show them I'm a proud. Logger the short time I got to spend logging in the old growth wasn't long enough

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed the video and brought back some good memories. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@d.b.cooper8398]

Diabolical Old school skills not in a hurry and doing a fine job!!! Make it rain sawdust!!!!! #buckinandbrappin

[@elwellboy]

Yep a veteran timber cutter. Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@d.b.cooper8398]

elwellboy you should post more timber-cutting videos if you have them!

[@jeffreymccarty1388]

Kool

[@elwellboy]

Glad you enjoyed it. You don't see wood like that anymore. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@jacobjones6488]

Was this close to Darrington? My wife grew up out there and her dad and uncle logged. I've got a lot of family on my side lived/still live out there. We live in NC, lots of families left here to move to the PNW for logging. Is there still much work in the woods now? We've thought about moving out there, my wife's sister is out there. Love the videos we've watched them all.

[@elwellboy]

Yes. This was in the Circle creek area out of Darrington. I might know your relatives. Not nearly as much work in the woods as there was - still lots of logging but it has been mechanized and machines now do most of the hard work. Glad you enjoyed the videos. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@jacobjones6488]

@@elwellboy Thank you for posting the videos. I'm going to show them to her dad, he might recognize some people. Her uncle was Woodrow "Woody" Young if that rings a bell. Could you maybe give me the names of some companies that have steady work? I've got plenty of heavy equipment experience.

[@richardyork9495]

Wh3n I was cutting in 80s, we got paid $4.90 or thousand bd ft ,twice that if I had to jack tree. That said, I have no idea how cutters can make money cutting this small shit which is the norm these days.

[@elwellboy]

There isn't much big wood being logged these days. Most of the second/third growth is machine cut and shovel logged. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@TheReal1953]

Me either....when I quit I wound up in CO and it was 25+ logs to the load on some of that stuff. That's nothing more than glorified tree thinning. Actually, that's what the Forest Service expected you to be happy to do. I left the nepotism of western Washington & Oregon for the 'cowboy' loggin' of CO......big mistake. I did get the chance though to cut OG Engelmann Spruce up on the Grand Mesa. Very decent scale and very unusual for CO.

[@diggindiggenit6540]

so when were loggers using the stihl 051? must of been a decade earlier

[@elwellboy]

That's correct. The 051 was an early/mid 70s saw. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@rectorkirk1158]

Yarded many of those big firs cedars and spruce in the 80s.

[@elwellboy]

We were part of a bygone era. You won't see anymore wood like this being logged in the lower 48. Some still in SE Alaska. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@RinkyRoo2021]

Hows a wedge not just get stuck in a tree like that ,did it have a slight tilt?

[@elwellboy]

The wedges do basically two things - keep the tree from pinching the saw and providing a slight lift to tilt the tree. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Kalashniky]

where in the PNW was this?

[@elwellboy]

This job was out of Darrington, WA around 1988 or so. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@thejackel1844]

Cutting the "heart" out of that big ol" Outlaw Fir ...(1:09)

[@elwellboy]

Yep - You don't see that much anymore. Mostly machine cutting on second/third growth these days. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@BoutThatAction]

That's a big ol fuckin fursky YEE FUCKING YEE!

[@elwellboy]

Yep - don't cut any like that anymore. Mostly pecker poles these days. Thanks for watching and commenting. Go Hawks!!

[@joepalanuk5718]

that is awesome, when do i get to cut those big toads .love it

[@elwellboy]

haha - you won't find much big wood like that anymore in Washington state. Maybe BC or AK. Thanks for watching

[@heretohelp1805]

@@elwellboy great video. What was that big tree? Fir?

[@elwellboy]

Yes. That was a large old growth fir. Don't see that much anymore. Thanks for watching.

[@highplainsdrifter9631]

@@elwellboy isn't there still big timber like that across the PNW? Just locked up on Forest Service land from what I understand? I'm curious to see if logging is going to get more active on USFS lands, since Trump pushed through legislation that supposedly opens up more federal lands to logging. It needs to happen, otherwise the big trees will just burn up in the next wildfire..

[@elwellboy]

@@highplainsdrifter9631 There is still a lot of old growth on USFS land but it will likely never be opened up to logging. Also, the kind of machinery needed to log big wood is pretty scarce these days. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@jordangreenwood3153]

Who is doing the falling . Kenny p.

[@elwellboy]

"Buster" is falling - "Cotton" is bucking - nicknames but very well known in the local area.

[@jimhere1]

@@elwellboy Buster Meece

[@leo-.-258]

Homelite?

[@elwellboy]

Using a Husqvarna on this job - don't remember the model. This cutter was a Homelite guy in the 50s and 60s then to Stihl (even had a Stihl dealership) in the 70s/80s but also use Huskys and Jonsreds. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@mikeuyeda2330]

I think it might be a Husqvarna 2100XP. I used a similar saw in 1984 in the Queen Charlotte Is. B.C.

[@kenbirkin7753]

@@mikeuyeda2330 yes 2100, i used to buck big cedar in bc

[@andypettit5869]

Yellow fir...

[@elwellboy]

Douglas fir - Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@joeshittheragman1]

Looks like ye old 2100.

[@elwellboy]

It may be a Husky 2100. He ran mostly Stihls but also had some Huskys and Jonsereds. Whatever it is, it cut like a SOB. Just what's needed for the big wood. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@chick3022]

I bet it was 15,000 board feet in that one tree

[@elwellboy]

You're probably pretty close. There was some really good wood in that tree. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@chick3022]

@@elwellboy yessir!

[@elonmust7470]

More.

[@S-tank_]

I have to admit must have been unbelievably exhilarating to slay a monster like that. But at the same time all these people saying "sure do miss cutting trees like that u just don't see them anymore" I have to wonder if they realize WHY u don't see them anymore lol. Old growth is extinct where I live. That's what inevitably happens when it takes the Earth something hundreds of years to make and we turn a hectare of old growth into field every 4 minutes for a century... I have a 2100 and I'd be lying if I said I didn't wish I had a need for it. But that precise human emotion is ironically the reason I don't have a need for it. I mean I'm not a tree hugger but it's just fact. We don't have them cuz that generation cut them all down.

[@elwellboy]

In my view, what most of the "sure do miss cutting trees like that u don't see them anymore" comments really mean is that cutting trees like that is a bygone era. There is still A LOT of old growth fir around but it's not being logged anymore. What is being logged these days is second and third growth wood. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@S-tank_]

@@elwellboy ok but why is it a bygone era?

[@elwellboy]

@@S-tank_ Bygone era = A) Nobody is logging old growth anymore; B) Most all timber cutting is done my machine these days; C)There are only a few mills (if any) that could cut a log this size. Hope that helps.

[@S-tank_]

@@elwellboy my point is all those things that u mentioned are the symptoms of the problem. Not the cause. It's not that you don't get to cut trees like that cuz none of the mills will take them or cuz no one has a big enough chainsaw and willing to cut it by hand. It's not like loggers are out here saying "na we ain't gonna cut no old growth. That stuff is way too big" lol. There's basically none left to cut. That's why the mills can't take big stuff anymore they have no need to. That's why everything's cut with machines they have no need to cut anything bigger it doesn't exist. There may be a few stands left where u live but there's none within 300 miles of my house. I've seen the last ones disappear within my lifetime. I've seen stand after stand clear cut and turned to field. Monster 300 year old oak stands were few and far between when I was a child, but existed. The only ones left now are in parks. Because they were protected from being cut down. If left to our own devices we'd cut down every stand out there. The redwoods in California would be extinct. I've never been up towards Canada there may be some old stands of fir left. But not for long. It takes nature hundreds of years to grow then and takes us 10 minutes to cut it down. Do the math. It's not sustainable. Like I said I'm not a tree hugger and I'd give a toe to have to buck one that big. But I think it's important that we all realize and face our own role in the extinction of these giants on the average Joe's farm. Hope this helps

[@TheReal1953]

Not so much exhilarating as making sure you didn't drop something like that on a stump or knoll big enough to crack the log. Relieved that no one got hurt and you could finish bucking it. The exhilaration part came from how much money you were going to be paid per board foot on those big 'uns. Honestly, the best money I ever made as a faller was right-a-ways.....clear cutting for power lines etc.

[@jimscott8378]

what kinda oakie undercut is that.

[@elwellboy]

That's cutting the heart out of the center of the tree so the saw can complete the back cut. Otherwise saw bar isn't long enough to cut the full diameter of the tree. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@scottcarter6915]

they cut off the footage right before he got killed.

[@elwellboy]

Clearly one of the most dangerous professions there is. Nobody was killed. Thanks for watching.

[@scottcarter6915]

@@elwellboyclearly! lol that's good. Sorry about being a smart alec. I cut for over 20 years in oregon. Didn't like that log above him when he was bucking! But those guy know what's up. Thanks for the cool video 👍

[@brightstarlit]

Horrible!

[@elwellboy]

Hmmm? Thanks for watching and commenting.