Trail Maintenance Man

“Whoo-hoo!
I went and ordered me some trail maintenance tools!

I ordered a Pulaski (foresters axe) from Ben Meadows Co., $57.52 w/sheath; and a Swedish heavy duty pruning saw (BIG teeth; cuts both strokes) from A.M. Leonard Co., $38.63. I might someday decide that I should prolly procure a top-o-the line folding pruner, too.


It's weird...
I carry essentially the same gear in my new Camp Trails Blackjack pack as I did in the CT Catskills, but the weight difference is considerable. I did some bushwacking last weekend with little notice of the pack - I could wear it all day. So, the addition of the saw will be fine - weight wise. I would carry the Pulaski in my hands.

I intend to carry the tools on every hike that I can. With The Friendly Ranger, I learned that one can still make pretty good miles even when stopping constantly to saw-off a fallen tree or grub-out a water bar.

Stoppin' for choppin' actually acts as a breather from hiking. Put the pack back on, and yer ready to roll.

In addition to parking fees, I will "pay my way" by means of making the trail a little tamer for the next person.

Heck, I could prolly get the parking fee waived if I notified the powers that be of my maintenance intentions...

Who amongst youn's has done maintenance?
Any pointers?

Feel free to shower me with praise for my efforts, too - hehehee!”

“Good idea gojo. We've done some maintenanceduring trips in the Beartooths; pick up trash and reclaim old fire pits.”

“I admire trail maintaina's. It be sump'n I will start t' do also. Between yo' ass an' da damn otha's I haih' rap o' it around dis hea house, I kin no longa' sit back while otha's do da work.”

“I'm in CA so most of my hikes go uphill... I tend to pick up stuff... too many cig butts up there... broken glass too... how'd the morons get all those beer bottles up there??? go figure”

“I speak jive”

“Donman, yo' ass be some jive brotha'? I feel so's dug.”

“Luther -
don't get off your sorry ass on my account.


I (okay... Belle) pack out trash, too. I bust-up fire rings sometimes if they're in areas where fires aren't permitted.

But now I will be REEELY able to "erase a trace" - or leave one (depends on yer perspective I reckon).”

“gojo- There was a wilderness ranger up in the Beartooths that was a legend! His name was Blaise Dilulo and he used to track down people who dropped trash. He would literally go on search and destroy missions for so much as a candy wrapper. I've known people who have suffered his wrath. He'd go in with a huge pack for a couple weeks and come out with 80 lbs. of garbage! They guy was an ex-football player built like a fire plug. He really taught a lot of people "Wilderness Etiquette". Things have gone a little downhill since he retired.”

“Sounds like Drill Sgt. Hartman has a solid new career when he retires from the Corps”

“Where be Drill Instructa' Hartman today anyway?”

“gojo, you could wear fire-resitive cotton and a hard hat then you could hire on as a firefighter during your hikes. Pulaski is my favorite tool, chainsaws are to heavy to pack. good job!”

“This will be cool!
I could do a hike in, say, Cohutta Wilderness. I could hike in a few miles, make camp, and buzz down the trail all slack-packed with my tools. Work til dusk, and return to camp.

Next day, slack-pack down another trail(s) with tools. Work, work work. Return to camp.

Belle could tag along and watch my back for rats and bears.

Slack-packing, I could do lots of miles AND work. I would prolly actually do more total miles than I would on a normal hike.

Yeah -
base camping, slack-packing, and working... sounds like a plan!

Oo!
I almost forgot!
I BUILT a 1.4 mile trail through some greenbelt in a 2000 acre community that I lived in a few years ago. It runs from an old cemetery to an existing trail near the golf course. I bet it could use a little maintenance by now (I haven't walked it in two years).”

“gojo - I specialize in blowdowns in wilderness areas with hand tools so I don't have many suggestions about more general aspects of trail maintenance. That said I would have recommended the 21 inch Corona Pro pruning saw instead of the 14 inch Swedish pruning saw - that is if you got the 3514S part from A.M.Leonard that I think you got. But then it mainly depends on what you are expecting to run into - with the Corona I have done 16 inch solid oak - of which there are too many around here - gypsy moth damage. Things to go with the saw that you may or may not want to use - I usually carry a hammer and a wedge or two to keep the cut open on the larger cuts - often I don't bother on the smaller cuts - I just bottom cut it. For the larger cuts I will sometimes break out what I call my heavy iron - a 5 foot two man crosscut saw that I use without the second handle - this one for sure you would need a wedge or two since it is basically impossible to bottom cut with that saw single handed. Another very useful tool for what I do is a Maasdam rope puller - it lets me move the big stuff so as to avoid having to make a second cut. In a similar manner I will often carry a crowbar - stick under the cut log and life (with your legs !) and you can move some mid size logs easily. The crowbar is also useful for hooking things to pull them without having to bend over as well as for minor digging. On unusual situations I will also sometimes use a small hydraulic jack I have just to lift a large log out of the dirt so I can cut it. As an alternative to a wedge I will sometimes use a cheap hand ax (rather dull) sometimes useful for trimming small stuff like poison ivy away from the area of the cut in addition to acting as a wedge. Lastly I do have an el cheapo 7 inch folding saw that I sometimes carry when I am just hiking around just in case I see some little stuff to take care of.

Don't forget you safety stuff either - the minimum I use is safety glasses and shoes. Sometimes I also use my broad rimmed hardhat if working in denser than usual stuff where there is some possibility of falling branches. Always evaulate each site carefully - look carefully for widow makers / fool killers in addtion to the small stuff like poison ivy.”

“I got the 24" saw - #7078.

I can make do with the aforementioned tools. I can use logs for fulcrums and levers, and split wedges from wood (or find the "just right shaped" rock). I may decide to cop a couple of aluminum wedges, tho. I would prefer to travel as light and little pieces free as possible, however.

I'll have at least shades for safety eyewear, but may decide to pack safety glasses.

I've done lots of framing, masonry, etc, by myself. I've learned to improvise over the years. I may end up getting a yoke for Belle, tho - LOL!”

“OK that #7078 looks like a reasonable saw.

wrt safety glasses - strongly recommended especially if you are going to do any chopping with that Pulaski.

wrt to the wedges - let Belle carry them possibly along with the hammer - it would be about 5 lbs total.

wrt the use of logs for levers this is a possibility - I have often used broken stripped maples (typically brought down by the same blowdown that I am working on)for levers. Using logs for fulcrums is OK in some circumstances but usually it is better to slide the lever under the log to be moved and lift up using the ground as the fulcrum - the ground has the great advantage of not moving on you.

wrt wooden wedges - it can be done - dogwood works the best IMO - only problem is finding a dead dogwood to use - the dogwood blight has probably killed 95% of them in the forest leaving only those that are near the edges.”

“Truthfully, I've always been a little afraid to do trail maintenance. Like I'll get fined for 'molesting' the flora without a permit or something.

Who knows the laws in New England? Seems like everything else is illegal.”

“Violin - if that bothers you I would suggest looking up one of the trail maintenance clubs in your area - for example one of the clubs that maintain the AT. Join them on some of their trail maintenance trips - often it is almost as good as one of the TT trips (grin).

I personnally did not go that route because I like to work at my own speed and because of the attitude of some of the managers in the local ATC club. If I am working in their area I will email them to tell them what I have done so as to avoid people going out to cut blowdowns that I already took care of. Unfortunately the information flow is all onesided - I tell them stuff but their policy is to never tell an independent maintainer jack schit about trail conditions or in my case the location of blowdowns.”

“Actually I did contact the NY/NJ Trail Conference and told them I wanted to come out for the next trail maintenance day and to please let me know. They told me there was a waiting list for maintenance positions. Not exactly the response I expected.”

“Violin - not the response I would have expected I must admit - the club in this area welcomes people that just happen to show up - don't even need to be club members I think. Perhaps they misunderstood and thought you were asking about an overseer position - I could understand there being a waiting list for that. I would recommend checking the club's calender of events if it is available on the web and then just show up ready to do some work. If the calender is not on the web (somewhat unlikely) call the club back and ask about "group projects" that you could contribute to. The accent is on "group" this should help the managers to get their head in the right place and suggest some project that you could contribute to. On the other hand - club attitude may keep the managers head where it all too often is - a warm tight dark and smelly place.”

“What?! Base camp? Sissy, did you hear that?! LOL Congrats, Joe, I know you will have a goooood time.”

“Thanky, baby.

That episode at the workstation last week got me thinkin'...
could you tell?

Fair warning!
If you hike with me - be ready to earn yer keep!
hehehee!”

“Yep, noticed that. Kinda figured then that was what you were going to do, and it's a good idea! Sounds like fun. I thought I earned my keep last hike in entertainment value and good suppers...I mean, how many people do you hike with that falls that much??? LOL”

“I've gotten some pretty bad responses about trail maintenence over the years too,, groups can get too cliqueish and defensive of "their space?".I like to take the lesser used trails so I usually carry a collapsable bowsaw and hand pruners to cover blowdowns and just plain overgrowth. I don't try to completely clear the path too much, just make it safe and passable. Whenever possible, I like to let the bigger obstacles lay to make a barrier against quad bikes, I don't mind them in their place, but not to have them rip up the wild places.”

“I don't neccessarily care to work with a buncha cliquish strangers, either. I thought it would be nice to have my own stuff and do it alone. Heck, it adds another dimension to bp'ing other than just walkin' and gawkin'.

I'm thinking about organizing a TT Maintenance Hike, tho. Mebbe over the winter? Perhaps we could make several of our annual hikes "volunteer vacations" like those cliquish blue-bloods over at the American Hiking Society website.”

“nod - I agree gojo - independent trail maintaining is a lot of pleasure for me - its nice to come back to a trail that if I had not cleared the blowdowns from would probably have been abandoned - makes me feel good to see people using the trail”

“This weekend I took care of a few blowdowns - Sat - came across one close to where I parked the car so I went back and got my tools to take care of it - turned out to be a fairly nasty one to cut - two limbs close together each about 12-14 inch - wet tulip poplar tends to cause the saw to bind so I had to make multiple cuts and chip out between them - it was a forked tree so I was working on one side of the fork in a confined area - once that cut was done I used the rope puller to spread the legs of the fork and the second cut on that part was easier after getting that leg up out of the dirt on another broken branch wedge - by that time it was noon so I stopped for lunch at the South River picnic area - very strange - Sat noon a very nice warm (for Dec) day and absolutely no-one else at the picnic area - must be the fire ban (still in effect per signs) was keeping the folks away - anyways I was too tired to go finish the other half of the blowdown (remarkable neighbors) so I went back home and took a nap.
On Sunday I went to Saint Marys Wilderness and worked on three blowdowns on the Bald Mtn. Tr. smallest was about 12 inch, largest about 20 inch (solid red oak) - the big one I made one cut and then used the rope puller to move it off the trail.
Anyways that is what I did - not much in the way of figures - 3 and a half blow downs but it was enjoyable anyways.”

“I help build on the Cumberland Trail some every year. I believe that EVERYBODY that hikes should get out and do maintenance at least one weekend a year.”

“National Trails Day perhaps?”

“White Mountain Nat. Forest (New Hampshire):
If a person is caught raking the beaches, picking up litter, hauling away trash, building a bench for the park, or many other kind things without a permit, he/she may be fined $150 for ''maintaining the national forest without a permit''.”

“Here's a pic of my USFS crew grubbing out a trail (a few years back, naturally). Some are actually USING their tools, most (including me - furthest away on left side) are leaning on them.



A few more pics of work for the FS.”

“Interesting - do you have a link for that Violin? Is it specific to WMNF or more general in scope?”

“The Pulaski came today. It's a Council Railsplitter (R) - 3.75 lbs.

I'm REEEELY anxious to giv'er a go!”

“In response to the original question. Yeah, I do as much maintenance as I can on my trips. When I was 16 I built a 1.5 mile nature trail at a local city park for my Eagle Scout project. 3000 man hours, yikes!

My scout troop has made it a tradition that we always perform maintenance or some sort of service project at every place we camp or hike. We always pick up trash but we like to do more.

One of the things I do is if fires are allowed I'll send the scouts down the trail to cut out blowdowns to use as firewood instead of collecting any around the campsite. I just have to be sure they don't get too entheusastic.

Hats off to all you who help build and maintain trails and campsites!”

“I can use the ax to sharpen a carpenters pencil now - that pup is SHARP!”

“Yeah, but can you shave with it?”

“Don't accidently clear a trail that they want closed. Likewise breaking up fire rings. Often a few good ones in safe spots are intentionally left.

Last summer some well-meaning but uninformed hikers destroyed above-timberline rock cairns in both Rocky Mtn NP and Glacier NP, thinking they were from free-lancers.

The cairns marked the real trail through scree, designed to lead people around sensitive or unsafe areas.”

“Good points gordon - its one of the reasons I limit my self to trails that I know are open - if I don't know I leave it alone. As for fire rings - the only ones I break up are those in areas like Shenandoah NP where the regs only permit fires at huts, official camping areas or picnic areas. I will admit to being tempted sometimes to do some work on an abandoned trail however there are usually enough blowdowns on the open trails to keep me happy.”

“It just arrived.
24" raker and 4 toothed GT - German made.

I'm reeeely antsy now!”

“Uh oh!
Gojo's got sharp implements AND he's antsy!”

“come trim my trees, dude!

i got beer! LOL!!!!”

“I'll start with your Christmas tree!”

“it's fake!

have at them steel wire branches with yer new saw! LOL!!!!”

“woohoo!!! new trail tools are the best type of new gear to get (grin)”

“Sharp tools, antsy and now beer.

Y'all wanna mix in a chainsaw and a pot of coffee too?”

“a chainsaw and a pot of coffee too?

i tend to use at least TWO chainsaws!”

“Impliments of destruction!”

“a woman after my heart.




















that could be a bad thing....”

“The best trail clearing tool is a Caterpillar D-9 Tractor.”

“primer cord works very well and is more portable than the D-9”

“I agree with HOI,,,primer cord works very, very well.”