AT Maintenance Tools
I got into maintaining last year, and am planning on devoting a large portion of next summer to volunteering. What types of chainsaws axes, shovels, packs and such do maintainers use?
According to a recent survey that I just made up, a fire rake, a pruning saw and a pair of loppers will take care of 95.3% of trail maintenance needs.
You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you.
I like carrying the 17 inch Fiskars PowerGear loppers (image at DWM's link), they fit in an ordinary daypack or hook through a belt loop well. I buy them at WalMart - until last year they said Made in USA but now are Made in China.
I also carry a Corona folding hand saw from Home Depot. Understand PATC issues them to their maintainers.
Sky's the limit for the other 4.7% of the time. Could be anything from a Husqvarna arborist chain saw to a laser level to a couple of llamas.
Last edited by ki0eh; 09-02-2008 at 11:32. Reason: added a bit more
When I am just walking my section I have folding loppers that can take bown pretty good size sapplings, A Bow Saw, and I have a folding army trenching shovel. If I am going out for a specific reason I'll carry maybe my Mattox if its dirt work or a Power weed eatter if its weed work. Part of the area that I have is full of an invasive reed. The only thing that works on these is a good sharp Machete.
Know that before you operate a Chainsaw on the trail you are supposed to be Certified through the AT office by taking a class. This is due in part to the fact that the trail is under the Park Service.
So the tree I saw across the trail yesterday that I couldn't even get over north of Tray would fall under the other 4.7% of the work done?Originally Posted by Dances with Mice
Those nylon handled Fiskar loppers with the ratchet action are amazing.
On our last group maintenance weed-thru of the DRT I was handling the sweep and a newbie fell behind on an uphill. I didn't want to loose contact with him so I stopped to wait beside a pine tree with all sorts of branches poking at the trail. The branches had been pruned before but it looked like an overgrown pincushion. So to kill time while he caught up I took out the Fiskars and lopped few branches further back. When I had removed every branch from ground to 8 feet high all the way back to the trunk I decided to walk back and check on our straggler. He decided he couldn't make the rest of the hike and went back to his car. When I passed the tree again I realized how much foliage I had removed. It wasn't bad, no hurt to the pine and that big brush pile might be used for cover by wildlife. And I guess it indicates that you're on a trail better than any blaze.
The point is, you can quickly do a lot of work with little effort with those loppers. They're really great.
The fire rake acts as a rake, hoe, shovel, rock lever, brush chopper and yellowjacket nest locator. And it comes apart for packing.
You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you.
Exactly. That's when you need to bring out the crew serviced weapons.So the tree I saw across the trail yesterday that I couldn't even get over north of Tray would fall under the other 4.7% of the work done?
You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you.
Just for my information because I am curious...........How long does it take to get a crew together to get a tree like that off the trail? Will it lay there a week, two weeks, a month? Just curious?
It will probably require 2 sawyers using a crosscut saw, because if my memory serves me correct, that area is wilderness. No chainsaws.
It'll usually be gone within a month. Sometimes sooner. Sometimes not.
'All my lies are always wishes" ~Jeff Tweedy~
Could be any of the above. Here's why: Back in the old days, Sonny, the maintainer would just run out with his chainsaw and let'er rip. Those were the good old days.
Now the maintainer gets a user report of a blowdown, or maybe the Ridgerunner will report it, and the maintaner gets out when he has time to check the situation. Then since it's in a Wilderness Area it'll have to be taken out with the big two-man crosscut saws. So if he's a registered sawyer he'll get someone else, and if he's not he'll have to find a team and then they negotiate a time when they're all free to go clear the blowdown. Maybe it gets cleared on the first trip, maybe it just gets eyeballed and a second trip is scheduled. So it could be anywhere from a week to a month or more.
You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you.
I've used many kinds of loppers over the years. The rachet Fiskar are by far the best. They are both light weight and have vastly superior lopping power.
Weary
Speaking of loppers.....................
which type is most versatile, and useful, for trail maintenance, by-pass or anvil type.
Anvil is for dead branches. Bypass works on both live and dead. Hence I carry a bypass and don't even own an anvil lopper. You do need to watch twisting a bypass lopper on cutting marginally large stuff. Once the blades separate they don't bend back and cutting works far less well regardless of sharpness.
My section in Shenandoah NP has thin tree cover resulting in heavy undergrowth. I use the Stiehl FS 85 weedwacker owned by the PATC and stored in an NPS toolshed. Takes about 2 days to cover the section which I do twice - early June and mid-July.
I'm not chainsaw-certified but my hand saw has taken care of many limbs & branches.
Don't you think that an arborist's saw is a bit small for some of the heavy-duty work? Yes, it's lighter in weight than a "regular" saw, but for anything larger than 5 or 6 inches in diameter, they don't have enough power....Sky's the limit for the other 4.7% of the time. Could be anything from a Husqvarna arborist chain saw to a laser level to a couple of llamas.
(Alright, I admit it - I use my arborist's saw more than my big saw, but only because it IS smaller and lighter in weight than my big saw, and I'm getting lazy in my old age!!!)
Life isn't about waiting for the storm to pass - it's about learning how to dance in the rain!
I wish I could get away with the weed eating only twice a year. My section through the Great Swamp as you approach the AT train stop in NY needs attention just about every two weeks with the weed eater and more often with Machete to control the reeds
Y'know I coulda sworn my Fiskar pruners were bypass.
I had an opportunity to look at them yesterday while pruning and whacking a 5 mile portion of the Duncan Ridge Trail.
They're anvil. And they still work great.
You never turned around to see the frowns
On the jugglers and the clowns
When they all did tricks for you.
OK, you're getting me to admit I have 2 chain saws - the 335XPT arborist and the 346XP.
However I pretty much do carry the arborist for maintenance, as opposed to initial clearing. That particular saw is fairly fast cutting (at least before the small chain gets dulled by hitting the PA rocks), although obviously slower than something with a larger chain because each tooth carries less fibers. One needs to think and plan the cut but then again one has to anyway for any cut. Unless it's cleanup from a real bad storm, maintenance on a trail such as the A.T. takes a lot less actual cutting than if one were making firewood (it was actually a big firewood cut that prompted me to get the 346XP). I think moving further and faster up the trail tends to outweigh the increased time for the actual cut. Plus even the big guys usually have a lot of limbs that need cutting and hefting the arborist saw around seems to be more speedy than a heavier saw with different two-hand positions.
I've cut a 36" dia blowdown on the Conestoga Trail with the arborist saw. Takes a while but can be done...
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