Felling a Huge Maple Tree with an Axe, Milling Lumber with Granberg Alaskan Chainsaw Mill, Husqvarna

Description

Felling a huge, dying sugar maple tree on the path to the off grid log cabin, I use an axe to cut it down and a Granberg Alaskan chainsaw mill and Husqvarna chainsaw to mill lumber out of the tree.

This huge maple tree hangs over the pathway and I have been walking under daily since buying the land in April 2017 and I have planned on cutting it down before it falls on it's own. It's almost completely rotten on the south side, which is the direction it leans, and the tree is being completely supported by a thin layer of live wood on the north side of the trunk. The tree is over 20" in diameter but because it is barely alive, I am able to cut it down with just a few swings with my Swedish felling axe. Once the tree hits the ground, I use an axe to limb the tree and my new Husqvarna chainsaw to cut it into 36" logs. I use a new Granberg Alaskan chainsaw mill to cut slabs off the live side of the log. Since most of the wood is dead and decomposing, I have to scoop out the rotten wood to use just the thin strip of live wood to make furniture. The first thing I'm making is a small corner desk for the log cabin, something I can sit at to edit videos, carve wood, sharpen tools, etc in front of the small window facing south over the front porch of the tiny house.

Self reliance is becoming better defined for me as I continue to build the off grid wilderness homestead. I am discovering my limitations this year, one of which is the near impossibility to fabricate my own lumber using handsaws. I just don't have the strength and stamina to make lumber from timber on the property in the quantity that I'm using. I didn't mind splitting some logs and cutting short lengths of wood into small, usable boards from the timber or to rip short boards using hand tools into dimensions suitable for small projects, like the floor boards, but I have reached my limit. The Gransberg Alaskan chainsaw mill will be used along with my Husqvarna chainsaw to cut all lumber from now on, and I'll continue to use hand tools to process the lumber into furniture, building materials for the outdoor kitchen, sauna, workshop, woodshed and more.

Instead of using handtools for everything as I have in the past and since I'm continuing to work alone as a one man construction crew, I will use power tools where necessary to do the bigger jobs safely and quicker, but I'll make sure I continue to develop my skill with hand tools so that I can work and live without electricity and fossil fuels most of the time and when I run out of money or resources to use outside fuel sources. Once the wilderness homestead main infrastructure is built (mainly the buildings) I can slow my pace back down and I won't need power. That will always be my goal.

Links to products I use at the cabin;

Agawa Canyon Boreal 21 Saw

http://amzn.to/2BPV6OF

Mora Knife

http://amzn.to/2BOiv35

Lamp OiI

http://amzn.to/2qz0nZ1

Moka Pot

http://amzn.to/2DEomvO Canada

http://amzn.to/2ndmtw6 USA

Canon 6D

http://amzn.to/2EdaZjs

DJI Mavic Pro

http://amzn.to/2DHuJib

Bragg's Sprinkle

http://amzn.to/2EdouzK

Axe

http://www.torontoblacksmith.com/

To see what I’m up to during the rest of the week, please follow me on my other online channels;

Website: http://myselfreliance.com/

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/MySelfReliance/

Personal Facebook Page (Shawn James) – https://www.facebook.com/shawn.james.msr

Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/myselfreliance/

Mailing Address:

P.O. Box 20042

Barrie, Ontario

L4M 6E9

Canada

Tags: Self Reliance,off grid,log cabin,axe,wilderness,survival,bushcraft,forest,wood,cabin,woods,My Self Reliance,felling tree,maple tree,felling tree with an axe,milling lumber,chainsaw mill,alaskan chainsaw mill,granberg chainsaw mill,granberg alaskan chainsaw mill,husqvarna,chainsaw,cutting with an axe,tiny house,felling a huge maple,with an axe

Video Transcription

[Applause]

this tree behind me you've seen several times over the last year it's been a year actually it's March now we bought the property actually we closed on the property last April but I've been visiting the land here since the last March 2017 and this pathway this old logging road that goes from the road out to the cabin was a few trees along it that aren't very good shape this one in particular I've been walking past it for a year and it's got a heavy lien to it as you can see but I didn't realize how rotten that the trunk the lower trunk is it's all punky wood in fact I don't know what's holding a massive thing up it's been a few storms over there over the year and particularly bad ice storm or to where the ice and snow wet snow piled up on the thing in the higher branches so I don't have no idea how the thing didn't fall amazing how strong it is so the back of that tree the back of that trunk must be solid wood so of course I wanted to fall in controlled conditions I don't want it to fall during a windstorm or a rain or a snowstorm or something and either drop on me or Kali or block the path and make it into median so I'm going to take this thing down today whatever wood it's solid and straight I'll probably make it into lumber oh you said Alaskan chainsaw mill that I bought recently cut some lumber out of it and then the rest will be cut up for firewood [Applause]

I'm gonna keep I think I'll start hacking away at the back of it it's so heavy I'm just going to have to be careful because it's going to want to go as soon as I weak in it anymore because of that heavy lean it already wants to go

let them take much that's pretty good as far as damage concerned knocked off a couple branches off that big maple they're kind of just missed a small one little tiny scuff mark in that tree and a couple of dead ones that it hit up against aw didn't do any damage but it's more rotten than I thought I can't believe it stayed up a couple of solid pieces the branch is mostly that I use for firewood the rest is just complete Punk like it's not good for anything that's completely rotten this is basically all that was alive on the tree this outer piece right here so that's all it took was those few whacks with the axe came in maybe two inches and as soon as it cut through this thin layer of live wood the tree went over from the weight of it because all that's wrought and there's no structural support left in this section at all so I'm making a table leg out of that little piece right there that strip might crack overtime but it's not gonna be supporting much weight anyways we'll be fine

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