Forest or arb?

[Will Heal]

Who makes the best tree workers?

My mate said years ago that forestry workers made better cuts and had sharper chains than pure arbs, he started as a cutter then went to merrist wood and did arb when he was 20. He was one of the best tree fallers I ever seen.

And what would people rather do if they had the choice forestry or domestic tree work?

Thanks will

[TimberCutterDartmoor]

Who makes the best tree workers?

My mate said years ago that forestry workers made better cuts and had sharper chains than pure arbs, he started as a cutter then went to merrist wood and did arb when he was 20. He was one of the best tree fallers I ever seen.

And what would people rather do if they had the choice forestry or domestic tree work?

Thanks will

 

Dunno about the better cuts and sharper chains; speed is the highest priority for me now, getting sticks to the harvester; can get sloppy if not careful. File stays in the truck; it's an incentive not to put the saw in the dirt - punishment being a long walk back to the truck! By the end of a day it's dulled off a bit but during the said "walk" I could get another 40 sticks down so I carry on lol.

 

Arb vs hand cutting; definately arb altho brash ratting and feeding a chipper while keeping the trucks locked in an urban setting zzzzz yawn

 

Arb vs mechanised harvesting; deffo the latter.

 

That's just me tho. Arb definately earns more money.

[Tom D]

Forestry cutters are rare these days, but if you meet a good one they will pi55 all over the average arb guy. Production cutting on a tonnage rate will weed out the pussies in a matter of days, those same pussies will be dragging conifer and feeding the TW150 for years.

 

Forestry is way harder than arb work. I'll bet the forestry sharpening is better too.

[Peter]

If you want a lot of sticks decked quickly and neatly then you need a forestry cutter.

 

If you want a tidy reduction then you need an Arb.

 

They are increasingly divergent industries, the only thing in common really is the chainsaw, and even that is getting left behind as forestry becomes more mechanised.

 

Having done both, I would say hand cutting is consistently harder work than Arb, however a slippery tall ash reduction in the rain is harder than felling a few easy trees in a plantation.

[Marc Lewis]

Forestry cutters are rare these days, but if you meet a good one they will pi55 all over the average arb guy. Production cutting on a tonnage rate will weed out the pussies in a matter of days, those same pussies will be dragging conifer and feeding the TW150 for years.

 

Forestry is way harder than arb work. I'll bet the forestry sharpening is better too.

 

Weed em out in a morn I rekon Tom. Agree forestry is harder, that's why I switched to arb and the money of course.

[Scott Walker]

Id defo say forestry is harder, never really been involved in forestry myself always been a climber, but my dad was a cutter for 30+ years before he set up on his own doing arb. forestry is all about speed to try and make some money plus they would load the timber lorries by hand in the early years one pushing and one pulling. A pic of me as a kid when id go to work with him.

[3dogs]

Dunno about the better cuts and sharper chains; speed is the highest priority for me now, getting sticks to the harvester; can get sloppy if not careful. File stays in the truck; it's an incentive not to put the saw in the dirt - punishment being a long walk back to the truck! By the end of a day it's dulled off a bit but during the said "walk" I could get another 40 sticks down so I carry on lol.

 

Arb vs hand cutting; definately arb altho brash ratting and feeding a chipper while keeping the trucks locked in an urban setting zzzzz yawn

 

Arb vs mechanised harvesting; deffo the latter.

 

That's just me tho. Arb definately earns more money.

 

 

I always had a file on my tool belt or in the lunch box sandwich and a sharpen:thumbup:

[Rob D]

Dunno who you would say is best - both very different...

 

On the whole though foresters are better chain sharpeners I'd say - they need to cut fast, they're cutting clean wood, they and only they tend to use their own saw and so a near to perfect chain goes with the territory....

 

Arbwork lends itself to average chain sharpening - after all why get a chain perfect when you hit a nail or similar just afterwards! Or when the customer doesn't want to pay for the stump to be ground out but wants it 'as close to the ground as possible' or when your cross cutting it's easier to just go through to the ground rather than near the ground then roll the log!... or the new lad is on the saw and insists on using it as a rotovator:sneaky2:

 

[Cuttup]

I followed the same route as the guy you described - think I went to Merrist Wood at age 22. You definitely learn your cuts and how to sharpen (or avoid killing) your chain in production forestry.

 

I've worked with arb guys who have been doing 5 years plus and their felling cuts still make me nervous. Definitely different industries but if I had 2 guys wanting a start in arb and one had forestry experience and the other arb I would go forestry. Anything after forestry is comparatively easy. (maybe not sheep shearing - that's tough too)

[spuddog0507]

Oh so me and my small team are rare,all we do is hand cut where the harvester cant get like on steep banks and yes it is hard going,we have had a few lads that have come and gone in very short time, 1 very fit and able young lad abt 22ish lasted till 3pm had to go home not feeling well,then later said there was no way on earth that he would ever keep up with us and watching craig (my main cutter) made him dizzy.i have worked with arb lads in the past at private houses and it is not for me sorry but to much time spent looking up trees, give me a saw and 50 stika,larch or duggie fir and i am happy as a pig in s**t.