Trail work tools

[carole]

I have used a few saws (a bow saw, a folding saw, and a fold up type bow saw) while doing trail work but have recently been using a new one that finds me looking for blowdown just to use it. This is similar though I have the 13” version and found it cuts through some good size blowdowns and limbs with so much less effort. It is also light and easy to carry. Who thought a girl could get so excited about a saw!! Any one else have a favorite tool for trail work?

 

[RGF1]

Could not resist

Carole,
Loping shears are fun too! As are bars used to roll and move rocks . great for exersise! But my all time favorite is in the photo below It cuts though even the biggest Blowdowns when I am allwed to use it . Actually do not even think of using a MS 880 unless you have lots of training and skill . BTW your saw is great for cutting limbs while in a tree. Yep goes through them quickly. There is also a tool used for cutting roots and digging waterbars . useful around the home too espcailly with all the rain it can hepl divert water and possibly prevent a basement from flooding . Trail work pays off in real life .

 

[rhihn]

Carole,
Loping shears are fun too! As are bars used to roll and move rocks . great for exersise! But my all time favorite is in the photo below It cuts though even the biggest Blowdowns when I am allwed to use it . Actually do not even think of using a MS 880 unless you have lots of training and skill . BTW your saw is great for cutting limbs while in a tree. Yep goes through them quickly. There is also a tool used for cutting roots and digging waterbars . useful around the home too espcailly with all the rain it can hepl divert water and possibly prevent a basement from flooding . Trail work pays off in real life .

I just did my first trail work ever this past weekend (ADKs). Lots of fun! The only tool(s) I had were alternately a shovel and a hoe (best) for clearing water bars. Better than either were my own two hands (talk about being a kid playing in the mud again!).

 

[MadRiver]

Although I carry the standard hazel hoe, loppers, and shears, my most recent purchase was a rake. I find that a small rake used in the garden clears out the fall leaves from the water bars with a minimum of effort. It’s light to carry and is also useful cleaning the small pebbles off of rock steps. I do like your saw and plan to pick one up in the near future.

 

[peakbagger]

My favorite has to be a swedish safety ax. Easy to sharpen and good for cutting up to a 8" tree if needed. Its lighter than a standard ax. Works well in place of a machete and is a lot easier on the wrists. With a bit of practice, its good for prungin lower branches on trees.

One downside is that it is not as good as a pruning tool for cutting off small stuff close to the ground as it leaves a pointed cut.

 

[Double Bow]

Lopers and swizzle sticks are my favs although a good ol' fashioned pick axe is fun too!

 

[el-bagr]

Choice #1: Gransfors-Bruks Small Forest Axe -- my baby
Choice #2: 16-lb. rock bar

 

[NewHampshire]

I think I like Pete Hickeys toys better .
Brian

 

[David Metsky]

If I only am carrying one tool, it's usually a pullaski or a grub hoe, but I tend to do a lot of ditching and rock work. For brushing I like a bowsaw and pair of clippers. Lately, prep'ing trails for ski season, I carry a pole saw and that's unwieldy enough that I don't carry anything else.

If I'm on a trail for a while, I stash rock bars near the site of the most work.

-dave-

 

[BrentD22]

If you like that axe...

Choice #1: Gransfors-Bruks Small Forest Axe -- my baby
Choice #2: 16-lb. rock bar

Your axe looks nice, but you should really check out a safety axe. It was my primary tool when working inside wilderness areas.

 

[RGF1]

I think I like Pete Hickeys toys better .
Brian

Hey What about My " Toys"
Try this for making a XC ski trail



The Water bar tools are always fun . I have a photo But I cannot up load not on my pc yet taken in the recent rain. I ook like a swamp monster. I am soakedand am hloing id sort of like the sterotype of the devil with a pitch fork am coverd with mud and sawdust.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

Any one else have a favorite tool for trail work?

Oh, so many to choose.. I like my 6 foot, 20 pound rock bar. Makes a good walking stick, too.

I also like things that cut. Such as:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/sawman.jpg

and things that can cut and won't bind, such as:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/axeman2.jpg

But I've got a basement full of things. Enough supplies for a crew of 20 doing either rockwork, blowdown clearing, or sidecutting. Oh yeah.. Larry (friend) welded together a combo-tool that is pretty good for clearing drainage ditches. Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture. Kind of a combo hoe and rake. It's a bit too lightweight for me. I tend to like tools that can cause damage

And Carole... A girl getting excited about trail-tools? You have to meet Becky. I think she lives in VT these days.

 

[Pete_Hickey]

How about my new chainsaw:

http://newmud.comm.uottawa.ca/~pete/tmp/chainsaw2.jpg

 

[carole]

Okay, I'll bite. Pete Hickey what will you cut with that chainsaw!??

PS - MadRiver, I got the saw at Home Depot for under $20.

 

[BrentD22]

Oh, so many to choose.. I like my 6 foot, 20 pound rock bar. Makes a good walking stick, too.

I always had to carry the damb rock bars. I think my arms where much longer after a days work (at least they felt that way).

As far as the cross cut saw you are pictured in the link. When your in a wilderness area and you need to cut a really big tree there really isn't much else that will do the job like one of those. The only problem is straping it to a pack. It's almost impossible not to hurt yourself while hiking in or out with it.

Once on a crew we had to hike a cross cut in and cut out a couple of trees. One tree was so large it was almost sad to see it on it's side. It couldn't carry the wieght of all the ice. After making 2 cuts the piece we cut out would not budge. It jammed up. We had to jump on the other parts of the tree until it wiggled out. It hit the ground with a giant thump. I have no idea of how much that 4 foot section of the tree wieghed, but we had to use rock pry bars to move it off of the trail. It was the kind of thing that when it feel if someone was under it you would have evaporated instantly. Sorry went off on an old "one day during trail crew story"...

 

[moose_mckenzie]

I like a hoe for waterbars. Recently, on Black Dome range trail maintenance, in a 2.0 mile section, we cleaned out 33 waterbars -- not just leaves, but soil and rock, as well. For waterbars that have not seen action for a while, I use a pointed garden shovel.

I also do lean-to maintenance in Catskills and Dacks. Often I can fit folding saw, work gloves, plastic bag, clippers, trowel and hammer (for removing dangerous nails) in a fanny pack. Oh, and lunch, bug spray and other items.

Moose

 

[Tuggy]

I have one of those little Gerber saws mentioned several times above and it works very well on small jobs.

 

[Lawn Sale]

While I have not been on a hiking trail cleanup, a lot of people who off-road use these and seem to like them. I bought my brother one years ago and they are well made. They are all attachments that hook to the axe.

Pete_Hickey, this seems right up your alley!

 

[Greg]

Trail maintainance tools

My favorite tool, for drainages, is the McLeod fire tool, from Ben Meadows under the fire fighting section. 10" wide, it has a hoe on one side and a rake on the other. It's perfect for those drainages in the Spring that are full of old leaves and stones, and just the right width. I've always found shovels to be not the best tool, and hoes have a limited use, but this tool seems to do it all as far as drainages go. I do use a regular leaf rake in the Fall to clean out maintained drainages, though; less weight.
I still haven't decided what I like the most for clearing blow downs, but I'd have to say an axe works the best for me. I hate seeing a 2' thick tree across the trail. I have a question;what size axe do most of you use? I've used my double bit axe and a 3 1/2 lb one, and don't seem to favor one over the other. What do you use?