GW-Jeff NF Peters Mill/Taskers Gap Trails Work Day - Saturday, March 16@9:30am (1 Viewer)

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Finished up the class today.
Walked some of the trail that we are supposed to clear. The amount of trees on the ground is staggering FWS says it has been some of the worst they have had in years with the rains, ice, wind blowovers and blights the trees are in poor shape.
On a good note it was really pretty after the storm last night.

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What tools do you think will be most useful? Do you think we will mainly be dragging stuff off of the trail? Or mainly cutting?

I don't have my tools on this side of the country at the moment, but I could buy something if needed. A few options I could pick up:

  • Bow saw
  • Foldable hand saw
  • lopper
  • hedge shears
  • hand held pruner
  • Hatchet or axe

- Any recommendations for the best type/s of tools for the types of branches down?
 
I would think you could cut with your saws but I would leave the heavy stuff to the chainsaws and just support them by pulling out the cuts to the sides to the trail.
 
Heavy leather gloves and eye protection are a MUST HAVE! I suggest a heavy canvas shirt and pants as well. because the thorns can be wicked. A hard hat is required if we are working on anything higher than shoulder height.

Toolwise- Lopers are more useful than hand pruners or machetes; the growth we will be cutting back is covered with thorns so it helps to have some reach. Blowdowns will require power saws and chains to drag the pieces off the trail. If you are certified by the USFS to operate a chainsaw in the National Forest you have to have the requisite cert card with you and you should know what to bring. A timber jack or a large prybar might come in handy if we are dealing with downed trees and not just branches. Cordless reciprocating saws are handy for limbing the stuff a loper can't quite handle.

Spades and shovels will be needed if we find washouts.

We usually need one posthole digger to reinstall sign posts that the a**hats knocked over.

We frequently have to refresh blazes, so a couple pairs of latex disposable gloves helps simplify clean-up (that marking paint really sticks to skin and will not wash out of clothing).

I'll check with Wade to see if we are installing or replacing any signs. He usually brings a posthole digger along with the new sign posts and signs.
 
The forest service wants us to ware full PPE. Steal toe boots, leather gloves, eye (and ear when needed) protection, hard hats.
 
Meeting at 9:15-9:30am, try to be there by 9:30am.

We usually finish around 2-3pm, depends on how much work there is to be done.

Keep track of your transit time to/from. We report our hours including transit time to USFS; they get grants based on the Volunteer hours reported worked.
 
My trip was canceled but I have to fix a stuck caliper on the rear of my Wifes Lexus.
 
Next question: who is going (I am).
My wife and I are planning to go. We have leather boots, jeans and regular jackets. We have a hand saw and a bow saw and thick gloves. Is this enough? We don't have hard hats or eye protection (I do have one old ballistic helmet and a pair of oversized eyeglasses), but we don't plan on getting near any chain saws... let me know if we should join or hang back on this one. Alternately I can go without the wife lady.... she would be happy to get rid of me for a few hours anyway.
 
By all means join. Wade will likely have hard hats and glasses in his truck. The more hands the better, we anticipate a lot of blowdowns.
 
CHAINSAW CERTIFICATIONS: Arrive before 9am if you need to re-up your chainsaw cert. Wade will do the recerts before we start.

Hot lunch will be served by WTR in the parking lot at 1pm
 
We'll, that didn't take long... 30ft from the gate. Hopefully, not a harbinger for the rest of the day.
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