A LOOK BACK : Early Days of Tree Care
When I started doing tree work in about 1945 , we used two-man crosscut saws to fell a tree . We had several types of handsaws , a regular handsaw about 24 inches long and a bull saw with the same type of tooth that the two-man crosscut had . These hand saws cut on the push and later the common hand saws that cut on the pull came into use . Scabbards for the hand saws didn ’ t come into use until the 1950s .
The ropes that we used were mostly manila half inch rope for climbing and five-eighths or three-quarter inch manila ropes for lowering limbs .
It was stressed that all cuts should be painted with tree paint which we carried in a paint pot attached to our belt . This pot would leak paint and get on our pants and ultimately onto our leg .
Chainsaws didn ’ t become a regular part of equipment until the 1950s . I bought my first power saw in 1953 which was a rebuilt Homelite 26 LCS for $ 275 . At that time , I was charging $ 3.00 per man hour for tree work and paying between $ 1.25 to $ 1.35 per man hour .
The majority of the loading of wood and brush was by hand . Logs were to be lifted by hand or if they were
by Ellis Allen , MCA ( RET .)
too large for that , they were rolled up on to the truck with the use of a plank . The majority of trucks did not have dump bodies at that time , so brush was loaded and balanced in such a way that it could be dumped off easily .
It was rare for a man starting out in the tree business to buy new equipment . Trucks were purchased used , which meant five to ten years old , and then eventually a newer truck was purchased and finally a new one .
Chippers didn ’ t come into use until the late 1950s and back then they were the type where you just tossed in the branch and ducked out of the way so as not to get slapped by the whipping end .
My first stump removal machine I purchased in the early 1960s . Before that we either dug out the stump by hand or hired a backhoe to dig out the stump and then transported it to the dump .
Happy Holidays and may the New Year bring good health , happiness , peace & prosperity !
~ Your friends at the MAA
DecemBer 2020 MAA NEWS 13