Ax Men

Do you remember that chainsaw that my dad was fixing with my kids?  Well, he finished and ever since he has been itching to put it through its paces.  He found a couple of trees that fell over in a recent storm and got permission to cut them up.  He wanted me to bring the boys down so that they could help on a mini-logging expedition.

Rip Van Winkle

Unfortunately, the boys are out of town, but since I couldn't go with them, I had a little time on my hands. I really think that my dad was looking at this as his birthday present to himself.  He was so excited for this.  I had to run home for a bit this morning and he actually called me twice to see where I was because he couldn't wait to get started.

We loaded up his truck with both chainsaws and headed for the trees. Fortunately, it wasn't that far away.  We got there and went to investigate.  There were about 3 eucalyptus trees that had fallen over.  The biggest surprise was finding some dude asleep in the bushes.

I'm glad that he woke up as we walked up the hill because he would have woken up for sure once we fired up the chainsaws!

Working with the chain saws was actually fun.  I'm proud to report that the chainsaw my dad fixed (I certainly can't take any credit for it!) worked just fine.  When it ran out of gas, we switched to the new chainsaw.  That chainsaw was bigger, heavier, and had more power.  It went through those trees like a hot knife through butter!

The tricky part was the footing.  We were cutting on a steep slope and the ground underneath was slippery from  the accumulated leaves and undergrowth.  Fortunately, we managed to cut up the trees without losing any fingers or toes!

Always wear ear and eye protection with power tools!

Timber!

Just to prove I actually did some of the work!

Probably the most fun was being able to chuck the logs down the hill.  It felt a little bit like bowling!  The worst part was stacking them in the truck.  It was a pretty strenuous workout!  And it only proved the old adage: "When you cut your own wood, it warms you twice."

Before

After  :-)

All done and ready to roll!