Chapter 161 The Tyrant Tree

The scene of timber being lowered is spectacular, but also extremely dangerous.

Before mechanized timber harvesting became widespread, eight out of ten work-related injuries in forestry operations occurred during this period.

If the ice trough is too slippery, or the track is designed to be too straight, the logs will slide faster and faster due to the inertia generated when they enter the ice track.

If you slide halfway down the mountain, you may deviate from the original track and float in the sky, heading straight for the opposite mountain rocks or trees.

The timber, saturated with moisture, half a meter or a meter in diameter, four to six meters long, and weighing up to a ton.

In the frigid temperatures of minus thirty degrees Celsius, it is essentially a giant popsicle, and the wood becomes exceptionally hard and brittle.

If it crashes into the opposite cliff, with a loud bang, the wood will turn into countless thin strips.

They scattered in the air and then fell down the mountain like rain, forming a stack of logs.

If it crashes into a forest, the enormous impact will break or knock down all the trees, causing huge damage.

If a piece of flying wood hits a person, that person is almost instantly crushed into a pulp.

Therefore, when the timber was being laid down, it wasn't just Sheng Xiping who was watching over it.

The forest farm's safety officer and production scheduler are all on site, just in case something dangerous happens.

Fortunately, the valley that Sheng Xiping chose was good, as its slope was not very steep.

There are also a few gentle turns along the way, which slow down the speed of the logs without causing them to slide off the ice track.

Giant logs slid down the mountain valleys and rushed to Lengchang at the foot of the mountain.

Over there, a group of people were specifically responsible for "stacking" the logs that had been slid down and stacking them into log stacks according to their length and grade, so that they could be loaded onto trucks for transport in the future.

The measuring officer would also come forward to measure the wood at this time. Only the wood that had been measured by the measuring officer could be considered part of the work team's output.

When collecting timber, it is done according to the blueprints, transporting it ditch by ditch, and piling it up near several ice channels based on proximity.

During the slide-out process, the material is laid out one trench at a time.

The wood that had been collected over two months took almost half a month to slide down.

At the foot of the mountain, several tall stacks of logs have also been piled up.

When all the timber from the last ditch was slid into the log yard, Sheng Xiping could finally breathe a sigh of relief.

The logging area assigned by the forest farm has already been mostly logged.

Based on the current progress, everyone can take a holiday and go down the mountain to prepare for the New Year before the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month.

On the eighth day after the Lunar New Year, we went up the mountain to cut down the remaining timber, then cleared the forest, and that would complete this year's logging task.

"Xiping, hurry, go check on Li Dazhuang's logging trip. He's run into a problem."

Just as Sheng Xiping breathed a sigh of relief and had no time to feel happy, Zhang Zhijun rushed over and shouted loudly.

"What's wrong? What happened?"

Sheng Xiping felt a chill run down his spine. Was Li Dazhuang going to cause trouble again?

"We came across a huge poplar tree over there, it's so thick," Zhang Zhijun said, panting.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiping immediately understood what was going on.

Almost every lumberjack will encounter a tree called the "King Tree" during their logging career.

This tree is actually the king of trees.

The Changbai Mountain area is dominated by "Hada Yang", which is a very thick poplar tree.

The trunks of these trees are so thick, generally over two meters in diameter, that the chainsaw's guide plate is not long enough, and it's impossible to cut through them in one go.

Of course, this kind of tree is no challenge for clever and experienced lumberjacks.

They would first cut one side of the tree, then turn the "wood ruler" around and connect it to the previous cut on the other side of the tree.

If they still can't cut through, they'll make several more cuts at the top and bottom of the tree to pull out the wood chips.

The chainsaw is driven directly into the tree, making progressive sawing cuts.

Sometimes, it takes a whole day to cut down just one tree.

This type of tree is very labor-intensive and requires highly experienced loggers.

Li Dazhuang had only been a formal lumberjack for two years, and he had only ever seen his master handle this type of tree before; he had never encountered it himself.

He did follow his master's method and sawed through the top of the tree, but the tree just wouldn't fall.

This really worried Li Dazhuang and Wang Jianshe, so Wang Jianshe sent Zhang Zhijun to discuss the matter with Sheng Xiping.

If that doesn't work, you'll have to find a safety officer or someone else to handle it.

When Sheng Xiping arrived, Li Dazhuang was looking at the tall poplar tree that had been sawed through but still stood upright, at a loss for what to do.

"Xiping, what do you think we should do? How about we try throwing a coat down too? Or, how about we pray to the mountain god?"

There's a saying that circulates among lumberjacks.

If you encounter a tree that refuses to fall even though the saw has been cut through, you can throw a cotton hat or coat in the direction the tree is about to fall.

The wind generated by throwing something will cause the log to fall down.

If that doesn't work, then we'll have to burn incense and worship the mountain god.

But these days, as we're breaking with those outdated customs, who would dare burn incense and worship the mountain god?

"Stop messing around, why would you need to worship the mountain god for this?"

Sheng Xiping glanced at Li Dazhuang twice and said, utterly speechless.

"Steward, where's that saw wedge? Bring it here."

The saw wedge that Sheng Xiping mentioned, commonly known as a saw wedge, is generally used when a tree is "turning backward" or is leaning in the wrong direction.

For example, if a tree is about to fall and a sudden gust of wind changes its direction, then sawing a wedge will come in handy.

Place the saw wedge into the saw kerf, aim the steel ingot axe at the tail of the saw wedge, and push it forward to strike.

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