Chainsawing with Jensen

I recently got to put into practice a plan of mine: getting wood to heat my house from the forest with a truck and a chainsaw. I gotta tell you, it was awesome.

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Alison and I went on our own and managed to get a couple of bits in our truck. Not a total wash, but a small amount. Her little, brand new, Stihl kicked butt. While my big ol’ 044 Stihl not so much. I forgot to put bar oil in it, and it got try and stopped spinning the chain. Thankfully I didn’t destroy it.

But then, later on, I went chainsawing with Jensen. That kid is lucky, I’ll tell you what! We stopped the truck twice, and managed to get a half load each time. By the end of the late afternoon, Jensen and I had piled that truck about as full as I’d ever want it to be. I need to get a net or something so I can pile higher, and still tie it all down. I have other plans for making life a little easier too. Here’s an awesome picture of my plan.

pull log planI’m going to get some rigging stuff, and use it to haul these little logs down (or up!) to the road. Then I can chop them up right there next to the road and it’ll be way easier on my back. This last time Jensen and I went, I had to throw the same stump like four or five times to get it into the back of the truck. Lots of hunching over, picking up, and chuckinDrew and Jensen selfyg.

Once I got my 044 back from the shop, got all the right fluids in it, and I had even been out chainsawing once before, everything went much smoother. Jensen and I went up there in a late afternoon, and in a couple of hours killed it. We filled the back of the pick up. Jensen had followed me out there, so he was able to just keep on driving home back to Seattle. What a great weekend I had with him. It’s so great to be close to family.

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