Well folks heres the 900s so far.
Jun 2, 2018 13:13:21 GMT -5
lesorubcheek, onlyhomelites, and 4 more like this
Post by RandyMac on Jun 2, 2018 13:13:21 GMT -5
It was hot, even in the shade, probably in the mid 90s, I didn't notice, I had wandered off somewhere. The operator in me just kept working, keeping an eye on the work while I was gone. I was suddenly returned, old Ray, the Master faller had just bounced a small rock off the middle of my back. I found myself atop a 10 foot Redwood log, guiding a bellowing geardrive Homelite through a cut. I had gone into a bucking trance, it happens when I tuned out the noise in the long cuts. Ray was indicating that I needed to stop, his word was nearly God-like, I did exactly what he said to and exactly how he said to do it. The old 900 went silent, the air still rang with it's voice, nope that was Ray "Dammit son, if I knew you wanted to work through lunch, I woulda let ya" It had only been a couple weeks since he addressed me as "son" instead of "boy". Nothing stung worse after that time, than to be called "boy" again. In addition to the glorious day wage of $50, lunch was on Ray, part of the job so to speak. Ray's wife made killer lunchs. Not a word about work was spoken during lunch, not until Ray finished one of his hideous cigars, nasty black stubbies. I will forever picture him, sitting on a stump, rolling a lit cigar between his fingers. Ray, coughed, spit and stood up, it was lesson time. We walked down the length of the tree a bit, he pointed out that there was going to be "a hell of a bind" on the third cut. He lined out how to go about it, with the usual comment about the wedges (for falling only) With that, he grabbed his saw to finish the cut I was working on, I did the sawing from the top, he worked from the ground. I was pumped, the log was getting to the point where I could use my own saw, instead of a droning old Homlite. I fetched the 797, I was pretty sure the 48" bar would have the reach needed. The third cut was exactly the bastard I was told it would be, bound at the top with the added attraction of wanting to roll down the hill. Besides the obvious problem of getting the bar stuck, you do not want to slab off any wood, proper release of tension was critical.
It still makes me laugh, whenever I lit up a McCulloch, Ray would wince at the sound, even over the roar of a big Homelite geardrive.
Redwood bark is full of chain eating grit, the dust is asbestos like. Redwood logging could be slow and tedious, nothing moved very fast, even the damned trees took their time falling to the ground. I bucked for hours on end, I worked from the topside, the Master at ground level. First, you have to get up there, dragging the chainsaw with you, then drop a plumbline over the side where Ray (the Master) would line up the cut. I would drop the saw over the side, line up and retrieve the cord, set the spikes and commence. I used to crouch along the left side of the saw, left thumb on the throttle, right hand pushing the end of the pistol grip, right foot on the front bar, the big geardrives loved the pressure. Sure as shootin', there was buckin' in a bind, which I learned to do without wedges, as sometimes the big ones would just squeeze them into the wood. Geardrives were tricky in a bound cut, they would keep on sawing long after a direct drive would stall, and yes Virginia an 090 will stall long before a geardrive would. If you missed the change in engine tone, the thing would come flying out of the cut with the speed and force of a torpedo.
I ran the Master's big upright cylinder Homelites a fair amount, he had a dozen or so at any time, 9-whatevers, 900 series geardrives, the shortest bar he had was 60", standard, for him was 72". I am a McCulloch fan, and I will give those old Homelites their due, in some minor ways, they were better than the same class (dreadnaught) McCullochs, but all chainsaws have their weak points, starters were Homelite's.
It still makes me laugh, whenever I lit up a McCulloch, Ray would wince at the sound, even over the roar of a big Homelite geardrive.
Redwood bark is full of chain eating grit, the dust is asbestos like. Redwood logging could be slow and tedious, nothing moved very fast, even the damned trees took their time falling to the ground. I bucked for hours on end, I worked from the topside, the Master at ground level. First, you have to get up there, dragging the chainsaw with you, then drop a plumbline over the side where Ray (the Master) would line up the cut. I would drop the saw over the side, line up and retrieve the cord, set the spikes and commence. I used to crouch along the left side of the saw, left thumb on the throttle, right hand pushing the end of the pistol grip, right foot on the front bar, the big geardrives loved the pressure. Sure as shootin', there was buckin' in a bind, which I learned to do without wedges, as sometimes the big ones would just squeeze them into the wood. Geardrives were tricky in a bound cut, they would keep on sawing long after a direct drive would stall, and yes Virginia an 090 will stall long before a geardrive would. If you missed the change in engine tone, the thing would come flying out of the cut with the speed and force of a torpedo.
I ran the Master's big upright cylinder Homelites a fair amount, he had a dozen or so at any time, 9-whatevers, 900 series geardrives, the shortest bar he had was 60", standard, for him was 72". I am a McCulloch fan, and I will give those old Homelites their due, in some minor ways, they were better than the same class (dreadnaught) McCullochs, but all chainsaws have their weak points, starters were Homelite's.