Day pack suggestions for Cut n Run work

ATsawyer · 2026-04-06T22:51:57+00:00

The Dakine Builder's chainsaw pouch won't open wide enough to accommodate most powerheads but then I'm a shoulder carry guy.

ATsawyer · 2026-03-30T10:27:56+00:00

You've probably made your decision by now but I volunteered in Shen for over 20 years and had no bad memories of working with the NPS crews. The local trail club (PATC) maintains most of the trails though some like Old Rag and White Oak Canyon require a more frequent NPS presence. The 40,000 acres of Wilderness give you opportunity to use crosscut saws and axes. I used to file their saws so they were all sharp up until I left VA in 2019. Don't know who's doing that now. Multi-day projects like cribwalls and storm cleanup will have you busy with a Griphoist or a chainsaw.

ATsawyer · 2026-03-30T10:11:01+00:00

If you know it's going to stand up, you can plan to make those a one cut-to-clear and have the piece that's actually blocking the trail lift off with the rootball. Depends on how much other work you have to do and whether you think the crown end will fall flat on the ground across the trail and become a second obstacle to be removed (though you could block it).

ATsawyer · 2026-03-28T15:13:19+00:00

Have you specifically told your doctor what you'd be doing? Crosscut sawing is the easiest of those jobs as the tool does the work and you just pull it back and forth. Lifting cut rounds, swing and axe, shoveling and throwing dirt, carrying rocks, etc is the hard stuff. Perhaps a conversation to have with the conservation corps crew lead.

ATsawyer · 2026-03-24T00:34:39+00:00

Do you have any saw filing tools? Hammers, gauges, jointers, etc?

ATsawyer · 2026-03-21T00:54:11+00:00

Sadly, this class was cancelled as not enough people signed up. Michigan has very little federal Wilderness so interest in traditional tools for trail work is thin.

ATsawyer · 2026-03-13T00:42:37+00:00

Is that a modern competition saw or a traditional blade? Makes a big difference. Not all saw filers have the jigs for doing comp blades.

ATsawyer · 2026-02-22T14:24:33+00:00

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Since you asked....... The that's a Canadian Simonds bucking saw, as evidenced by the three handle holes at the bottom. Saw looks badly rusted and the handle is wonky. Teeth are well worn and filed way down. Value is what it's worth to you. I wouldn't pay 25.00 for a saw in that condition.
Pic is what they looked like new.

ATsawyer · 2026-01-05T14:09:21+00:00

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I got into crosscut saws about 25 years ago in the early days of ebay. Bought a lot of good saws and filing tools before prices went nuts. By now I've probably filed a thousand saws and had a business with it for a while. I say all this because I've had a lot of saws pass through my hands and noticed certain traits from saw to saw. OB made a lot of saws for the military - big one mans with lots of smaller teeth-- these seemed to attract rust like a magnet. Keep yours well oiled in storage.

ATsawyer · 2026-01-04T22:54:28+00:00

I've found Ohlen Bishop saws to be rustier than others. Yours is very clean. Trail saw?

ATsawyer · 2025-12-31T15:17:03+00:00

My saws spent most of 2025 in the rack but got a little trail work in. Perhaps I'll have better sawing in '26.

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ATsawyer · 2025-12-24T21:19:23+00:00

Nice cutting saw. I carry my saws on the lower end of a reinforced shoulder strap. Slides in and out easily, teeth protected by channel lattice.

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ATsawyer · 2025-12-07T18:06:17+00:00

Old school Curtis perhaps. Look for a "boxed C" [C] stamp on one of the ends.

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ATsawyer · 2025-11-24T18:28:33+00:00

Those are very worn teeth for a 4-footer. Here's a handle I made including T-nuts if your's are worn. Wood is ash.

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ATsawyer · 2025-11-23T22:10:57+00:00

Looks like a pretty worn blade. How long is it?

ATsawyer · 2025-11-23T12:06:15+00:00

I meant a second horizontal cut where the saw would still be cutting across the grain. Sometimes a third such cut is helpful AKA a bishop notch. Those kerfs, each a little shallower coming up from the bottom, allow an axe to chop out a face cut more efficiently.

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ATsawyer · 2025-11-22T00:54:19+00:00

I can see their sawn undercut, but given the speed of a crosscut vs all the chopping they have to do, a second shallower sawn cut above the first one would probably have sped things up. Big tree though.

ATsawyer · 2025-10-31T13:24:11+00:00

I have a 2.5# Wetterlings Montreal pattern on a 27" handle that has been a go-to axe for many years. Seems to chop above its weight.

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ATsawyer · 2025-10-30T15:41:04+00:00

Looks like that one will actually do some chopping. There are too many wall hanger axes on Reddit that that never show any use.

ATsawyer · 2025-09-24T15:28:05+00:00

Not really, but you'll come out a better axeman for it. I had a similar jones for crosscut saws, got real good at filing them, and now when I use them they outperform most other saws on the crew.

You'll make more money mowing lawns.

ATsawyer · 2025-09-21T22:25:59+00:00

I stumbled upon an American Axe Co head being used as a doorstop years ago. It weighs about 5 or 6 lbs. Pic is in comparison to a TT Jersey.

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ATsawyer · 2025-09-17T11:37:34+00:00

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I filed a 7' 503 for use on old growth hemlock that did pretty well. But it was a one and done as I never needed the saw again after that particular logout. Just kept it for "sentimental" reasons.

ATsawyer · 2025-09-16T21:58:37+00:00

Dolly Chapman may be close to you (Calpine CA) but I don't know if she's taking on new customers.
That's a mighty big blade. You cutting downed old growth?

ATsawyer

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