trail + bridge building--post yer picts!

nice..is that first one a spruce and second one a fir? yea when they are leaning like that they can present a few extra things to think about..when you get a couple on top of each other things get even more good times.. :)

That was my guess but my tree ID skills aren't great.

The leaner was getting rotten and really needed dealing with. I'm not sure how long it had been dead but the direction of lean had become worse since I looked at it last year. Thankfully I was able to direct it away from the cabin and dropped it exactly where I wanted it.

The 2nd log was a recent windfall and had me wishing for a mill.

Some new work we have been doing on Fat Tug in Pemby over the last few weekends.

Nice work guys!

Do you see a bench in this picture, I do

Taking shape. Lots of materials close by.

My cordless power planer (pictured on left) helped greatly shape the seat and backrest.
Its actually very comfortable, as you can see.

Lucky the stump was still pretty solid. Just a little rot as you can see

Lots of cedar shavings

Not much of a view today from the stump bench with a layer of fog over the city.

Looks like Grizz is giving it the seal of approval.

Haha he does, as well as my tools, seem to get into a lot of my trail building pictures.

Thanks goes to the builders for letting me build it beside their trail.

that turned out awesome, great job!

Makes sense for a foot bridge, I guess I prefer to carry a lighter pack into the trail and do the extra work of squaring stingers with hand tools.

when splitting a larger log into quarters from stringers it makes good sense to use the saw to do the work. you can try and split it but there's not guarantee the split is going to run true and there's a good chance you'll end up with twisted stringers. i thinkit makes more sense to take the time to use the saw to get straight(er) stringers and not run the risk of wasting material.

personally, i've moved away from using young blowdown for stringers, the wood just deoesn't last as it's too immature. it's better to take the time to quarter or half an older log and get a high quality stringer that's going to last long enough to have the slats replaced a few times.

it's more prep time but you end up with a better product.

personally, i've moved away from using young blowdown for stringers, the wood just doesn't last as it's too immature. it's better to take the time to quarter or half an older log and get a high quality stringer that's going to last long enough to have the slats replaced a few times.

:werd:

i have been getting 10+ yrs outta mine so far….

i have been getting 10+ yrs outta mine so far….

it kinda depends on the size, but the more mauture/seasoned wood is a better choice. besides, it's an reason to run the saw for a while if you're cutting beams out of logs.

yeah lots of cedar will grow with a twist at the base especially. i rather carry in a bow saw some wedges and an axe then hew any twist out of the stringers. it can produce a lot of waste if you read the grain wrong or only have twisty cedar near by but i was use to building with lots of good wood close by, now im an hour away from any cedar. been taking the time to stop and look to see how trails are built around here, its all chainsaw work so maybe ill get some practice in with a saw and start using that method.

it's also a pain dealing with any knots when you're splitting. i used to split logs lengthwise as well and do a plunge cut all the way through every 4-5ft to help keeps things straight but find it's better to just let the saw do the work. i'm lucky that i have lots of cedar available close by.

it kinda depends on the size, but the more mauture/seasoned wood is a better choice. besides, it's an reason to run the saw for a while if you're cutting beams out of logs.

that does make sense…