clearing a few acres with an axe?

About five years ago I was using my old backhoe to clean up an area. It didn't, but does now, have a roll-type bar.) Decided to push over a dead tree. A large limb come down and hit the top of my head hard enough to push the baseball-type hat button into my scalp. Apparently one end hit the hoe arm, the other the bucket and I got the downward bounce. With a sore neck I went into the chropractor. He said had the limb hit me harder it could well have broken my neck. And where I was working was out of sight of the road so I might have been out there several days before anyone came looking for me.

I think you could summarize the replies, as don't do anything, you might get hurt. Yes, there are a hundred ways to get hurt or killed in the woods. Would be safest to just watch TV shows about cutting down trees.

I wonder how our ancestors did anything. Yes, people get hurt and die. Sometimes I just think we overemphasize safety.

It seems to me to be stating the very obvious that a chainsaw is faster. Is life all about saving time? What for? How did our ancestors survive without more time?

I am considered an "idiot" by co-workers for occasionally riding a bicycle to work. Of course it takes more time than driving. And it takes more effort. As Americans, I guess we are expected to burn more gasoline.

I am also considered by my BIL and my neighbor to be an idiot for not having a gas powered splitter for firewood. I might get one when I get old, but you get old slower without one.

I am considered dumb for not having a snowblower, especially after the 80" of snow we got within 3 weeks this winter.

My neighbor used to laugh at me and my kids for tilling my large garden with shovels instead of a gas-powered machine. But now he has diabetes from being overweight, and is out walking in the morning to get the required exercise.

Yes, machines are useful, but not critical. What you do is up to you and your abilities, not the interests of others. I think there ought to be more support for anyone who takes on the challenge of using his own brawn instead of gasoline. You might learn skills that come in handy in hard times.

As for concerns about damage to your body, just be smart. Work into it slowly over days/weeks to build strength to tendons, joints and ligaments. Spread out the forces on your body by alternating sides - swing right handed for a while, then left. Alternate tasks e.g. fall a tree, then do some brush clearing. This allows different muscles, tendons, ligaments time to rest and heal.

It doesn't have to be all or nothing. You can do one tree with a chainsaw, the next with an axe. Or fall with a chainsaw, limb with an axe.

It's like the guys who say they live too far away to ride a bicycle to work. I tell them they can get a bike rack, haul their bike to within a few miles of work, park and bike the rest of the way. Of course, they still aren't interested.

I often hear:
"how valuable is my time?"
And I must stop and consider it.

As this phrase never makes sense in a homesteading context.

Spending a year clearing land, the next five years working the land to bring it into production, and still each year having to consistently stay in that field working it to make it produce. Is a HUGE monumental expenditure of man-hours.

Even if you work that land for the next 50 years, and you manage to get a nice harvest 40 of those coming 50 years. You will never get minimum-wage for your time.

If you considered it an interest bearing investment. It would be bankrupt even after 50 years.

It simply takes too much labor to bring an acre into farm production.

If you look at it as an accountant, you will NEVER get your time paid for.



"how valuable is my time?" Is a capitalist idea.

As many on this forum discover, few homesteading ventures will ever pay you back minimum-wage for your labor.



Consider modern farmers whose land is already cleared, already in production, already at peak nutrition levels, who already have waiting markets.

Many of them have degrees, many of them have >$1million of equipment.

They should be taking home $40/hour right?



"how valuable is my time?" is an argument that simply can not be sued when it comes to this topic.



Do try and be safe though.

I would give it a try if you are really up to it.
Think about it ahead of time instead of just diving in.

Just remember that an axe head will sink into your shin/leg faster than a chainsaw will.
You can't release the 'Go' button on an axe.

The six year old is too young, but you do need to have some sort of spotter there. If a tree falls on you it would be handy to have someone help push it off. Even just a cell phone could be handy, but that assumes you are conscious and able to reach your pocket after the tree falls on you.

If the exhaust bothers you, it is probably from the oil being burned. Try some castor oil. Entirely different smell than most 2 cycle oils. IMO, I like the smell but hey, I rode motocross bikes back in the 70s and that's all we burned back then. Brings back memories. It is quite a bit more expensive though.