I'd like to see some before and after photos of the areas you have cleared and then revisit in a couple of years to show how the project evolves. Keep up the good work.
So impressed how professional and organized your forestry operation is. Compared to a US logging TV show I saw called Ax Man, where they were just "cowboying" with high risk and rush to get things done badly, it's a nice relief. Granted, I know it's a different kind of logging.
wojomojo - "Ax Men" is not real logging, just a bunch of hype and drama for a TV show. I can't stand watching that show. What's even scarier is the thought that someone watching will think that's actually how it's done and try it themselves.
I really enjoy your Channel you always take the time to explain things. There's so much on RUclips that is just awful and it is really nice to find a channel that actually is interesting brings back memories of my childhood. May God bless you and your family and keep the good programs coming I love them.
Simeon, et. al., (because I know this happens because of your wife, children, family also) everyone makes what you do possible! Thanx to you all. Just keep going guys! My sense is God Himself gets a "kick" out of watching your videos (He doesn't really need to watch them obviously), but (hopefully) you get my meaning! GoGoGoGuys!
It is nice to see you guys working safely and using proper technique. On many peoples channels you often see them without any safety gear, which makes me cringe. Good work, keep it up!
it must be a great feeling to have brothers that help and care about each other. I would like to be closer to my brother but it will never happen.....I guess we are too different.
You almost need to have the saw in front of you, because most people aren’t aware you need to match the gauge to the bar and the pitch to the sprocket.
Had the same flashback hearing the chain saws rev in unison through the under-wood ... the silence and the birds in the woods are wonderful, but so are productivity ...
I actually found your channel several months ago demonstrating the chain saws you use but I stayed for the homestead . Great video as usual , blessings from Illinois U.S.A. !
I came upon your channel a couple of days ago and I cannot stop watching it. I really love your home, family and values. TY for sharing your lives. Absolutely beautiful and fantastic. Question, I just watched the video of you and your brothers felling trees, clearing some of the forest. How do you tell the age of a tree and how do you know which to cut and which to keep?
rumi geiger There are two parts to a saw chain. The cutting teeth and the rakers. If the teeth have been sharpened repeatedly, they actually get shorter (from the bar, the only way I can describe it). The rakers are for removing the wood chips. You need to shorten the rakers as well. As you wear down the cutting teeth by repeated sharpening. Perhaps that is why your cuts are slow. Your saw engine should bog down if your chain is sharp and cutting at it's maximum. Many people forget to file down the rakers every 5th sharpening of the cutting teeth, or so. Flat file.
It depends too on whether you are cutting hardwood or softwood. Softwood allows for shorter rakers (more ‘grab’ by the teeth). I was taught that after you file the teeth you make one pass over the rakers which takes off maybe a thousandth of an inch. If you lay the file across two adjoining teeth inline with the bar, you will have a raker in the middle. You should be able to see daylight between the file and the raker, about the thickness of a dime.
Have you done a video on all the types of trees on your property and their characteristics (hardwood, good for burning etc.)? Enjoyed as always from South California.
All you need now is to yoke up two of the Highland cattle, load the poles onto a log sled, and tow the load out of the forest to the pile where you will let it dry. lol
The birch tree in one part of the video looks super tall. How tall are they? Imagine the Hugel beds and mounds you can build with all that extra stuff you are cutting off. Wow. Tennis elbow anyone? Yeah. When I pick up my coffee mug it's okay but when it's filled with coffee it's a bit of an ouch. The shoulder got into the pain game too. At least I know how I did it and was in a gambling mood. I guess I lost that bet with my body. Started back in autumn 2016 and it still reminds me everyday how I can still at my age do stupid things. The arms are strong for adducting. Not so much for abducting. Push away with force and the tendons or ligaments decide they don't like you anymore.
Hey Simeon, Tim and brother. Do you follow any thinning regimes or do you just go by the "eye"? To me it looked like a rather "soft" (1st) thinning, but maybe you plan to come back in 10-15 yrs time. And I'm happy your "brother" finally found his timber tong ... :)
And the tree he wanted to leave for insects is [Goat] willow (Salix caprea) with grey knotty bark, not to be confused with [Quaking] aspen (Populus tremula) with a smoother greenish bark as young.
4 hippy tree huggers dislike the video as they don’t realise you need to this the forest not only for the trees but to reduce wild land fires 🔥 What about putting in a snagging tree for the insects?
As a Vermonter, I agree. I have Swedish relatives who visit every few years. We always send them home with some syrup. One of my relatives brought a Sugar Maple seedling home with him (not sure how he got away with getting that through customs).
It did. this was 6 or 7 years ago, so it will be quite some time before it can be tapped. I'm wondering if he should have taken more than one. I don't think they will pollinate themselves??
What language do you speak when you are all together? Does your language of choice depend on if the children are with you? Also - I know from previous videos you’ve said your family is half American. I know Alex is from Oregon - who are the other Americans? One other question - you mentioned previously that you’re not Swedish citizens yet - have you applied? What is the process and how long does it take? And what citizenship do your children have (is it like the US in that they automatically have Swedish citizenship because they were born there)? Great video - I enjoy your channel very much (Pennsylvania). 😁
kkoup35 I believe they moved from Germany to Sweden. His dad still speaks German better than english. Previous interviews with his dad. About portable bandsaw milling.
Yes - they moved from Germany to Sweden 14 years ago. Alex moved from US to a Germany (so she probably speaks German). The children speak German, English and Swedish (which they speak at school). I was just wondering what language they were ‘inclined’ to speak amongst themselves when the cameras aren’t rolling.
Just for the sake of curiosity - do you plant seedlings to replenish the land as you cut down trees? I love the videos. I've been a subscriber for a few months now and also to your kids channel as well. I really enjoy learning the new things and old ways as well. I've always been a farm boy at heart but never lived it because my parents moved off the farm and to the city before I was born
Sedated By life In a forest thinning project, like what they are doing, there is no need/desire to replant replacements. Actually the whole point of what they are doing is giving the best trees more space and less competition. By selective harvesting there never is a need to replant. The regen is natural. And they aren't disturbing the ground with heavy skidders either.
In all these forestry videos I don’t recall ever seeing use of a wood hook (sometimes called a pulp hook), just the hand tongs or grabbing the log ends with your hand. Are wood hooks not commonly used there?
Usually the person working with the chainsaw has a 2 wood hooks or one wood hook and 1 hand tong. The person carrying together the lumber has just hand tongs.
julie r Actually there is a short shot of one in the video. Tongs in one hand, and pulp hook in the other. It looked flat handled to me though. As in the grab handle was not 90 degrees to the hook. Easier to carry on a belt I guess.
I watched again but didn’t see it. Yeah it’s a pain to carry one , I haven’t found any good way, but I’d be lost without one. Tongs are fine to drag but no good for hooking into the end to toss a short log or manipulate it. Dragging anything over a couple inches by grasping with your hand can lead to carpal tunnel.
So you're using the hardwood tree as a decoy to insects for growing the spruce to maturity? Are you going to keep using the acreage as tree harvesting, or for fields eventually?
Philo-Judaeus this part will always remain forest. The tree we left was not hard wood but a willow tree which is not usable for anything but beneficial for insects.
It is truly ironic (and sad) that I often watch Dow Chemical and Monsanto ads when I watch your videos... But I do let them play so you get the 1/10th cent.
![Megan Thee Stallion - Roc Steady (feat. Flo Milli) [Official Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/HozPPyqW0dY/mqdefault.jpg)
![[Bonus Video] Forest Thinning - 6min 30sec UNCUT](/img/1.gif)
Hard working MEN right there! Amazing to see the specific changes you're making in the forest.
It’s wonderful that your family is close by and willing/able to come by and help. Beautiful forest
Poetic. Love seeing the Brother's working together!
Swedish --Homesteading-- Chainsawing is my favorite channel.
Looks like a regular logging operation going on there. It's always fun to be in the forest cutting wood with the family. Great channel.
'Care and dress the earth.' You guys are doing a great service to the forest. Thanks for sharing
You are really blessed having two brothers around you. And they are too.
The trees on your homestead are beautiful.
I'd like to see some before and after photos of the areas you have cleared and then revisit in a couple of years to show how the project evolves. Keep up the good work.
I like that idea too
me 3
If it wasn't so cold I would almost gladly live there.
Very educational. You are good caretakers of this beautiful blue & green gift from God.
So impressed how professional and organized your forestry operation is. Compared to a US logging TV show I saw called Ax Man, where they were just "cowboying" with high risk and rush to get things done badly, it's a nice relief. Granted, I know it's a different kind of logging.
wojomojo - "Ax Men" is not real logging, just a bunch of hype and drama for a TV show. I can't stand watching that show. What's even scarier is the thought that someone watching will think that's actually how it's done and try it themselves.
I really enjoy your Channel you always take the time to explain things. There's so much on RUclips that is just awful and it is really nice to find a channel that actually is interesting brings back memories of my childhood. May God bless you and your family and keep the good programs coming I love them.
Simeon, et. al., (because I know this happens because of your wife, children, family also) everyone makes what you do possible! Thanx to you all. Just keep going guys! My sense is God Himself gets a "kick" out of watching your videos (He doesn't really need to watch them obviously), but (hopefully) you get my meaning! GoGoGoGuys!
Improving the forest and getting wood to heat your homes is definitely a win-win. Thanks, Simeon. :>)
Great to see brothers that can get along. Mine not so much!
Good work, wish i had a forest like that to look after and harvest firewood, birch is king of the fire....
Cool. looks like fun. It's neat that you got a forest like that to work on and be a good steward of the land.
It is nice to see you guys working safely and using proper technique. On many peoples channels you often see them without any safety gear, which makes me cringe. Good work, keep it up!
it must be a great feeling to have brothers that help and care about each other. I would like to be closer to my brother but it will never happen.....I guess we are too different.
We will be starting our forestry just after Easter (way further north), good time, good workout and lots of fun. Stay safe and enjoy the spring!
Working together with your family, gives more satisfaction to the task at hand. Thanks for sharing your day.
Nice lumber Jack, there in the snow. A Sally update, we want to know. Where is the girl, is she Okay? Rally for Sally, hey, hay, hey!
I was doing the same thing today. Love this sort of work.
Very good video! Danke schön!
Awesome, enjoyed it very much.
As a former Blount employee I appreciate all the Oregon® logo flash. Great video, well done editing.
You almost need to have the saw in front of you, because most people aren’t aware you need to match the gauge to the bar and the pitch to the sprocket.
Beautiful video. Love this kind of forestry.
Tack för en bra video mvh Magnus mera tack 😉👍
Hello Tim! Good team!
Great job tinning the forest . . . brings back some memories . . .
Had the same flashback hearing the chain saws rev in unison through the under-wood ... the silence and the birds in the woods are wonderful, but so are productivity ...
Stiff Wood
And limbing spruce and balsam in the hot summer ... sucks. Lol
Been there, done that.
I actually found your channel several months ago demonstrating the chain saws you use but I stayed for the homestead . Great video as usual , blessings from Illinois U.S.A. !
Great quality videos, love the music and the editing as well as the content! Cheers
Yes, the primary production is sweat :) Good job guys, it will pay of when the forest matures.
wonderful video and great memories of my young life in the woods.
We are given Dominion over all the Earth, good work fellas.
Thank You
an efficient team as always, thanks for sharing
You guys are hard workers. Great video.
Nice weather in Schweden.
Nice to see Tim in a video again
thinning is very important.
I came upon your channel a couple of days ago and I cannot stop watching it. I really love your home, family and values. TY for sharing your lives. Absolutely beautiful and fantastic. Question, I just watched the video of you and your brothers felling trees, clearing some of the forest. How do you tell the age of a tree and how do you know which to cut and which to keep?
Bra jobbat gubbar! 😉
The speed you cut through a 6inch tree is amazing, with my saw it takes 5 times that, and that's with a sharpened chane.
Try it with a sharp hand saw. That's what I use for anything less than 8".
You might want to find the video where Tim shows how to sharpen a chain. I thought I knew how to sharpen chain before I watched that video.
rumi geiger There are two parts to a saw chain. The cutting teeth and the rakers. If the teeth have been sharpened repeatedly, they actually get shorter (from the bar, the only way I can describe it). The rakers are for removing the wood chips. You need to shorten the rakers as well. As you wear down the cutting teeth by repeated sharpening. Perhaps that is why your cuts are slow. Your saw engine should bog down if your chain is sharp and cutting at it's maximum. Many people forget to file down the rakers every 5th sharpening of the cutting teeth, or so. Flat file.
It depends too on whether you are cutting hardwood or softwood. Softwood allows for shorter rakers (more ‘grab’ by the teeth). I was taught that after you file the teeth you make one pass over the rakers which takes off maybe a thousandth of an inch. If you lay the file across two adjoining teeth inline with the bar, you will have a raker in the middle. You should be able to see daylight between the file and the raker, about the thickness of a dime.
julie r
7.55 in the video. A flat pulp hook. I guess easier to keep in their leg pockets.
Have you done a video on all the types of trees on your property and their characteristics (hardwood, good for burning etc.)? Enjoyed as always from South California.
What a cool video, thanks. 👍
All you need now is to yoke up two of the Highland cattle, load the poles onto a log sled, and tow the load out of the forest to the pile where you will let it dry. lol
Doing the exact same thing in my yard. Taking a day off. It's hard labour when you reach your 60's!
Good stewards of trhe forest.
1st today! Have fun and be safe, looks to be a beautiful day to be in the woods.
Hej, Simeon! Please show us how you pull the timber from the forest to the shed yard. Is it with a sled or a wagon of some sort? Tack Sa Mycket!
They have a couple of videos of that already
How do guys keep tack of where you been. Just signs of where you been. Glad see the hand and elbow are better.
Like the logging pants,amazon?
The birch tree in one part of the video looks super tall. How tall are they?
Imagine the Hugel beds and mounds you can build with all that extra stuff you are cutting off. Wow.
Tennis elbow anyone? Yeah. When I pick up my coffee mug it's okay but when it's filled with coffee it's a bit of an ouch. The shoulder got into the pain game too. At least I know how I did it and was in a gambling mood. I guess I lost that bet with my body. Started back in autumn 2016 and it still reminds me everyday how I can still at my age do stupid things.
The arms are strong for adducting. Not so much for abducting. Push away with force and the tendons or ligaments decide they don't like you anymore.
What team you and your brothers are Simeon. :-)
Hey Simeon, Tim and brother. Do you follow any thinning regimes or do you just go by the "eye"? To me it looked like a rather "soft" (1st) thinning, but maybe you plan to come back in 10-15 yrs time. And I'm happy your "brother" finally found his timber tong ... :)
Is there a reason you are not loading these onto a trailer to haul out to eliminate an additional step of lifting them later?
Monique Melanson
The kids were in school. :-O
See their other videos for how they move the wood out of the forest. They have a rather efficient operation
Beautiful forest! Looks like you have some nice dogwood (what we call them by me) your taking down.
No dogwood in Sweden!
TheodorEriksson what kind of tree is the white barked tree they were cutting down? If could share with me please.
That's birch! Mostly Betula pendula, some of it might possibly be Betula pubescens. :)
TheodorEriksson silver birch possibly?
And the tree he wanted to leave for insects is [Goat] willow (Salix caprea) with grey knotty bark, not to be confused with [Quaking] aspen (Populus tremula) with a smoother greenish bark as young.
4 hippy tree huggers dislike the video as they don’t realise you need to this the forest not only for the trees but to reduce wild land fires 🔥 What about putting in a snagging tree for the insects?
The snow makes a great cushion for felling trees. Do you have any Maples? This is "Sugaring Season."
Sugar Maples are not native to Sweden. Where we use Maple Syrup in the US and Canada, they are likely to use Lingonberries.
John McNerney - Thanks, I never knew. But, no maple syrup? It's not right.
As a Vermonter, I agree. I have Swedish relatives who visit every few years. We always send them home with some syrup. One of my relatives brought a Sugar Maple seedling home with him (not sure how he got away with getting that through customs).
John McNerney - I certainly hope it took root. We in the New World don't know how good we have it. 😁
It did. this was 6 or 7 years ago, so it will be quite some time before it can be tapped. I'm wondering if he should have taken more than one. I don't think they will pollinate themselves??
All this talk of tennis elbow, but I've never seen a video of Simeon playing tennis.... or hockey, for that matter :)
Pitching chunks of firewood one-handed is a great way to get tennis elbow (don;t ask me how I know).
What language do you speak when you are all together? Does your language of choice depend on if the children are with you?
Also - I know from previous videos you’ve said your family is half American. I know Alex is from Oregon - who are the other Americans?
One other question - you mentioned previously that you’re not Swedish citizens yet - have you applied? What is the process and how long does it take? And what citizenship do your children have (is it like the US in that they automatically have Swedish citizenship because they were born there)?
Great video - I enjoy your channel very much (Pennsylvania).
😁
kkoup35
I believe they moved from Germany to Sweden. His dad still speaks German better than english. Previous interviews with his dad. About portable bandsaw milling.
Yes - they moved from Germany to Sweden 14 years ago. Alex moved from US to a Germany (so she probably speaks German). The children speak German, English and Swedish (which they speak at school). I was just wondering what language they were ‘inclined’ to speak amongst themselves when the cameras aren’t rolling.
Just for the sake of curiosity - do you plant seedlings to replenish the land as you cut down trees? I love the videos. I've been a subscriber for a few months now and also to your kids channel as well. I really enjoy learning the new things and old ways as well. I've always been a farm boy at heart but never lived it because my parents moved off the farm and to the city before I was born
Sedated By life
In a forest thinning project, like what they are doing, there is no need/desire to replant replacements. Actually the whole point of what they are doing is giving the best trees more space and less competition. By selective harvesting there never is a need to replant. The regen is natural. And they aren't disturbing the ground with heavy skidders either.
Great job! How much firewood do you progress during one day of this work?
In all these forestry videos I don’t recall ever seeing use of a wood hook (sometimes called a pulp hook), just the hand tongs or grabbing the log ends with your hand. Are wood hooks not commonly used there?
what about 'billhooks' then..?
Usually the person working with the chainsaw has a 2 wood hooks or one wood hook and 1 hand tong. The person carrying together the lumber has just hand tongs.
ah, so
julie r
Actually there is a short shot of one in the video. Tongs in one hand, and pulp hook in the other. It looked flat handled to me though. As in the grab handle was not 90 degrees to the hook. Easier to carry on a belt I guess.
I watched again but didn’t see it. Yeah it’s a pain to carry one , I haven’t found any good way, but I’d be lost without one. Tongs are fine to drag but no good for hooking into the end to toss a short log or manipulate it. Dragging anything over a couple inches by grasping with your hand can lead to carpal tunnel.
So you're using the hardwood tree as a decoy to insects for growing the spruce to maturity? Are you going to keep using the acreage as tree harvesting, or for fields eventually?
Philo-Judaeus this part will always remain forest. The tree we left was not hard wood but a willow tree which is not usable for anything but beneficial for insects.
The tree Simeon was talking about was a sallow, which isn't very good to burn and has pretty much no commercial value.
Traditionally willow is used for basket weaving and for furniture where you want to include sharp bends, pretty much no one does that anymore
Different insects attack different trees. Generally, one that attacks softwoods like spruce will not go after hardwoods.
It is truly ironic (and sad) that I often watch Dow Chemical and Monsanto ads when I watch your videos... But I do let them play so you get the 1/10th cent.
T K thank you. Crazy that they advertise my videos.
When will it stop snowing in Sweden? We're still getting it here in Ireland.
Hah !
It stops snowing when it starts to rain.
worst combination to work in - wet & cold BAAAD !
Not sure myself. We had some snow this afternoon again,
It's like something from game of thrones at this stage here and more forecast over Easter. Where are you spring!!!
9 foot firewood? Are you using one of those huge soapstone Swedish stoves? haha I must be missing something.
Easier and faster to load 10' logs instead of 10" rounds
What saws were you using
look like oregon bars w/jonsered saws
I think I saw an orange Husqvarna also.
I'm sure i did !
You guys are experts at not making widow makers.
Also isn't Birch too beautiful a wood to burn?
THX1138 Smith birch here is the best firewood. We drive the 3m wood out of the forest and cut it up by the shed.
Tim-beer..