Product Description

Product Description
For every man who has ever conjured up a picture of himself felling trees in a roar of chainsaw noise and power, The Backyard Lumberjack is an account of dreams fulfilled. Father and son lumberjacks Stephen and Frank Philbrick have enjoyed the thrilling destruction of felling, bucking, and splitting timber for hundreds of cords of firewood. Together they bring practical instruction and first-hand advice to every man with a chainsaw.

Before there can be any felling of trees or satisfying shouting of Timber!, every potential lumberjack must choose the proper saw. The Philbricks offer buying advice based on the quantity of wood to be cut and the amount of time to be spent on the job. Diagrams of chainsaw parts, functions, and maintenance requirements; tables and charts of saw specifications and firewood volume; and personal cautionary tales of on-the-job injuries arm potential lumberjacks with the necessary tools to make informed choices.

Chainsaw in hand, father and son move on to detailed instructions on managing a woodlot, felling and bucking, splitting and stacking, and even include fun facts on burning. For every lumberjack chore they offer advice on equipment (chaps, helmets, felling wedges, hatchets, mauls, peeves), careful procedural instruction, safety and efficiency strategies, and always their humorous anecdotes and tales of tree adventure.

For the rural lumberjack with acres of woodland, the suburban guy with a cord of wood to split and stack for the fireplace, or the urban guy who just likes to think about chainsaws, The Backyard Lumberjack is as much an engaging read on the legends and experiences of lumberjacking as a practical reference guide. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (18)

The only book that you'll need to feed your woodstove!
This is the single best book that I've found for this subject - it covers *everything* that you'll need to know to cut, size, and split your own wood safely.

A Guide, but Hardly "The Ultimate" One
I read several less than stellar reviews on this book before I bought it - but bought it anyway - hoping that the specific flaws those reviews pointed out were the only ones. (Ironically, I paid full price for this book at a convention - shame on me - I should have bought a "used" one on Amazon for half the new price.)

The storytelling IS good, but for a book that bills itself as "THE ULTIMATE GUIDE" - there is simply not enough detailed, specific information. You could pretty much pick up what this book "teaches" by reading a page or two our of Storey's "Basic Country Skills" book. Frankly, no one area out of felling, bucking, splitting or even stacking is covered in "ultimate" detail.

It is a fun book to read. A fast read. I enjoyed the stories, but I will need to find another better book.

I can't and won't argue the wisdom or even safety of the 45 degree vs 90 degree notch cut to fell a tree. I use the 90 and find that it sometimes leaves me with tree that are still attached to the stump and under tension when it is down. This makes for some dicey surgery to relieve that tension before the tree can be limbed and bucked. Perhaps the 45 degree notch (that another reviewer blasts as horribly unsafe) actually has some positives as the tree snapping off once it passes 45 degrees could be a GOOD thing. After all, you shouldn't be standing around that area anyway, and the "hinge" can't do much guiding past 45 degrees anyway. (Hey, if that tree is falling the wrong way past 30 degrees, you're already in trouble!)

The authors also seem to have a problem with finishing their little stories. I found myself waiting for a moral or a punch line many times.

Perfect book for the Novice "Lumber Jane"
Lots of good information presented in an easy-going style, sprinkled with plenty of humor. It really helped to take some of the mystery out of the wood cutting and stacking process for me. Written for anyone who merely wants to insure they have plenty of wood for their own wood stove this winter -- all the way to anyone who wants to take it to the next level and start a business.

Has some good info, and more importantly, some BAD info.
The Good Woodcutter's Guide: Chain Saws, Woodlots, and Portable Sawmills
I have read The Backyard Lumberjack and I feel that some of the felling information is very poor and could be dangerous.I would suggest buying the book "The Good Woodcutter's Guide" by Dave Johnson instead.

Pretty coffee table book
Lots of pretty pictures and cute writing. 23 full color pictures of the authors swinging splitting mauls. Lots of pictures of them doing all sorts of things. A really eccentric felling style. I wouldn't try it. There are much better, safer and more accurate methods in general use. ... Read more

Product Description
Lumberjack - Inside an Era in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan was awarded First Place as the Best Biography/Memoir of 2002 at the Midwest Book Awards of the Midwest Independent Publishers Association, St. Paul MN -- May 14, 2003.

A firsthand account of the lumbering era during the white pine boom years of the late 1800s - early 1900s in the northern U.S. Millions of board feet of logs were cut in deep woods camps, driven down the rivers to the sawmills and shipped by schooner and barge to build a nation.

This 50th Anniverary Edition of the original book has been redesigned and expanded, with 78 historic photographs and illustrations, glossary, editors' notes, author bio, map. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (8)

Fabulous!
The history of Upper Michigan's lumber days - great detail and wonderful photographs.An extremely interesting read covering a sometimes harsh, but beautiful area of the North.

7 STARS
I LOVED THIS BOOK..I WISH I COULD HAVE BEEN ONE OF THE OLE SHANTY BOYS !

Lumberjack Story
The book is ok, just a little tedious in parts.It's more of a historical rambling, with interesting anecdotes.

A classic Upper Peninsula logging memoir, now amply illustrated
First-hand accounts of the dramatic "big cut" by participant-observers are always illuminating. William S. Crowe's reminiscence of his years in the woods and the early days of Manistique, at the north end of Lake Michigan in Michigan's Upper Peninsula, was a classic in the 1950s. His granddaughters Lynn McGlothin Emerick and Ann McGlothin Weller have done a real service by republishing his book with ample photos and notes. Their book led to a WNMU public TV special and DVD on Upper Peninsula logging. Its success inspired and helped fund subsequent public TV productions on other aspects of U.P. history. These specials help preserve and disseminate stories of that distinctive corner of American landscape and culture.

Lumberjack: Inside an Era in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan : 50th Anniversary Edition
I have lived in Michigan all my 69 years, and I've observed the remains of the 19th century logging era in both the lower part of the state and in the Upper Peninsula where logging is still a major part of the economy.Of the books I have read Lumberjack: Inside an Era... provides a fresh view inside life in the logging communities in the late 1800's.It is the only book I know of written by an author who knew the workings of the logging industry by having worked from an office boy to owning the company.Crowe did not himself ride the logs down the rivers, but he certainly was well informed on every aspect of the logging business.He also gives us a taste of what day to day life was like in Manistique, Michigan.For example, some of the bicycle adventures described would be a challenge on a new 21 speed mountain bike, let alone a 19th century vintage one-speed.We often read of how rowdy the lumberjacks were, but Crowe describes Manistique as a very civilized community.Although the men that worked in the woods were a tough and hardy bunch, who did enjoy a good time, they had little time to party while working dawn to dusk in the lumber camps, and when in Manistique they behaved as law-abiding citizens.Lumberjack: Inside an Era is an important addition to the history of logging in the Great Lakes region, and I would strongly recommend it to anyone interested in the history of that period. ... Read more

Product Description
When William Kurelek was young, he went into the bush to work as a lumberjack twice. Realizing that the traditional life of a lumberjack was disappearing, he decided to record in pictures and text a job that helped to make Canada the country it is. Kurelek takes readers through a day in the bush, from the first wake-up to breakfast, to the different phases of cutting wood, to how the men spent their free time. Hardship and pleasures were shared in the creation of these unforgettable paintings. ... Read more

Product Description
Originally published in 1965 as the initial book published by North Country Books. Rev. Frank Reed lived and worked in lumber camps for many years and was an eyewitness to the changes that occurres in the Adirondacks throughout the middle of the 20th century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A wonderful book
I enjoyed this book and DVD sooo very much...My Mother comes from Lyon Falls and reportedly was married by the the Sky Piolet so this made it even more special...The service that I recieved when buying this was wonderful as well >>>Thank you so very much ... Read more

Product Description
Describes lives of eight people who played a significant role in the exploration of territory and founding of settlements in the American Midwest. Includes Antoine Cadillac, Charles Langlade, Jean du Sable, George Rogers Clark, Rufus Putnam, Julien Dubuque, and Josiah and Abigail Snelling. ... Read more

Product Description
A play about several loggers who meet and recount their outlandish adventures with Paul Bunyan and his blue ox. ... Read more

Product Description
Twelve-year-old Gus McCarty struggles at school with an obnoxious classmate named Al until an accident sends him back in time to a lumber camp with an equally troublesome lumberjack named Alex. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great read aloud!
I read this book to my fourth grade class and they loved it.It is about a conflict between a good boy, Gus, and a trouble maker, Al.Gus gets hurt and during his recovery, he dreams he is in a lumbercamp.It's kind of like the Wizzard of Oz in that the characters in his real life become characters in his dream.It depicts the life of a lumberjack right down to the foods he eats, the sleeping quarters, and the hard work it takes to run a camp.The boys love the gross desciption of chewin' and spittin' tobacco, the pungent smell of unbathed lumberjacks, and the disgusting bed bugs!Great supplement to our Michigan history unit!

Excellent book, lots of fun to read and informative. Great!
Great to teach children about the lumber camps of the midwest.Good story-line with lots of great info.Fun, kids will not want to put it down. ... Read more

Product Description
Letitia Hunter works as a clerk at her father's lumber company, but her place in society is well established. When an intriguing French lumberjack comes to work in the office alongside her, Letitia knows she cannot allow the feelings he stirs within her. Her father would never consider him an eligible suitor. From the moment Etienne rescued the boss's lovely young daughter from drowning in a frozen lake, he has not been able to put her out of his mind. Working with her only complicates things. Yet his feelings for her are so strong. Can he overcome prejudice and prove his worth both as an employee and as a man? God works in mysterious ways, His children to bless. Will He make this relationship work? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A Sweet Romance.
I really enjoyed this book.It is an easy read with a very sweet romance at it's center.Etienne and Letitia have a very courtly and respectful romance.I liked how both characters put God first in their lives and their relationship. ... Read more

Product Description

The 19th century spawned a unique breed of men who took pride in their woodsmen skills and rough codes of conduct. They called themselves lumberers, shantymen, timber beasts, les bucherron -- and, more recently, lumberjacks, working in the vast forests of eastern Canada and British Columbia.

Across the country, farm boys would go to the woods, lumbering being the only winter work available. Immigrants -- Swedes and Finns more often than not -- resumed the trades they had learned so well in the forests of northern Europe. They broke the cold, hard monotony of camp life with songs, tall tales and card games.

Within these pages, author Donald MacKay allows us a glimpse into that moment in our heritage when men entered the virgin forest to carve out an industry from the seemingly endless array of pine, spruce, maple and balsam fir found there.

"[Donald] MacKay's book has many virtues. His prose is clean. He lets the surviving pioneers talk for themselves when they have something to say, but never allows them to get too windy. He separates legends and half-truths from facts ..."
-The Montreal Star

"... a superb marriage of text and pictures, a nostalgic but not sentimental discussion of one of Canada's primary industries, logging."
- The Globe and Mail

"It's marvellous material of a type often ignored by historians ... Such books may do more to help us understand ourselves than all the academic tomes together."
- Atlantic Insight

Customer Reviews (1)

It tells about the river men and the log drive.
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Product Description
Chapters: Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Basketball, Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Football, Northern Arizona Lumberjacks Ice Hockey Players, Greg Adams, Walkup Skydome, Bob Beers. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 18. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Greg Daren "Gus" Adams (born August 1, 1963 in Nelson, British Columbia) is a former ice hockey winger who played in the National Hockey League (NHL) from 1984 to 2001. Greg Adams was signed by the New Jersey Devils on June 24, 1984. He played three seasons with the Devils until he was traded to the Vancouver Canucks on September 15, 1987 along with Kirk McLean for Patrik Sundstrom and a 4th round pick in the 1988 NHL Entry Draft (Matt Ruchty). He would go on to play eight seasons in Vancouver. During the 1994 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Adams scored a goal in what many Canucks fans believe to be one of the greatest moments in team history. In Game 5 of the Western Conference Finals against the Toronto Maple Leafs, Adams scored the game-winning goal in overtime, catapulting the team to their second-ever Stanley Cup Final berth. He would also score the overtime winner in Game 1 of that Stanley Cup finals against the New York Rangers. Adams was traded to the Dallas Stars in the 199495 season. After four seasons in Dallas, he moved on to play for the Phoenix Coyotes for two seasons (199899 and 199900). After Phoenix, Adams played one season (200001) with the Florida Panthers and then retired from the NHL. Greg Adams was a decent goal scorer who managed to score more than 30 goals four times in his career and had nine seasons with more than 20. Twice he scored over 70 points, once with the Devils (77) and once with the Canucks (76). Unfortunately, Adams was often plagued with the injury bug and only once managed to play a full season. Adams played...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=2420713 ... Read more