Lumberjacks Trivia

1. As the name suggests, a lumberjack deals with lumber or logging or wood. Where did the term originate?

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Canada

The term "lumberjack" stems from Canada where previously a timber worker was known as a logger. Both a lumberjack and logger are forest workers who do not use power tools and historically used saws and axes. It was a dangerous job, where the workers had to scale trees with ropes and proceed to cut the tree limbs until they could finally fell the tree.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: chainsaw

Monty Python performed "The Lumberjack Song." It went something like this: "I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay. I sleep all night. I work all day. Chorus : He's a lumberjack, and he's okay. He sleeps all night and he works all day. I cut down trees. I eat my lunch. I go to the lavatree On Wednesdays I go shoppin' And have buttered scones for tea." The rest of the song gets a little racy. It includes lines about pressing wild flowers, wearing womens' clothing and being a girlie like his dear Papa.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Tree Lopper

Tree Lopping Lumberjacks had a dangerous job. They were required to climb a tree to the top and then proceeded to cut the branches and limbs as they worked their way down. Today, the tree is lopped and the branches are cut from the tree when it is on the ground.

From Quiz The Manly Profession of the Lumberjack

Answer: To cut off branches before cutting down the tree

A high-climber was a lumberjack that specialized in climbing vertically up the tree and cutting off all branches before the tree was felled. It was one of the most dangerous parts of the lumberjack's job because a fall meant almost certain death. Loggers today remove branches after the tree has been cut down.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: Either burn it when safe to do so or delimb all the trees at a central, cleared area to contain the slash.

Wood chips, bark and small branches can become a fire hazard if left in place. A conscientious lumberjack either burns the slash on the spot or hauls all the felled trees to be delimbed in a cleared central area where it is easier to clean up the slash. It can be burned there or hauled away.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Whistle punk

A steam donkey is a term for a person that looks after the steam powered winch. Therefore, the whistle punk was in charge of looking after the safety and operation of the steam powered winch.

From Quiz The Manly Profession of the Lumberjack

Answer: Plaid shirt

Flannels were an alternate name for the heavy wool plaid shirts popular in Canada and the northern parts of the U.S. Although worn by many people with outdoor jobs, they have become part of the iconic image of the lumberjack, whose image is mostly folklore- and media-influenced. Flannels also came in a lighter weight version made from cotton.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: When the end of the saw contacts a solid object and the saw kicks back.

When the tip catches a solid object it can literally cause the chain saw to "kick back" at you. This can be deadly dangerous. It is always best to keep the tip guard in place when using a chainsaw. Other safety measures to guard against kickback are to keep a firm hold on the saw, keep the saw teeth sharp and be careful where you cut. Some chainsaws come with kickback guards or chain brakes.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Skidder

Skidders is the term for the workers that remove the trees from the ground. The first skidders used oxen, mules or horses. Later mechanical winches were used that were mainly steam powered, large and cumbersome machines that completed the work efficiently and gave less stress to the labour intensive work that was required prior to this innovation.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: Conifers

The white pine is the largest pine tree in the US. It can grow to 230'.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Log flume

The term log flume is used to describe the transport of the logs down from the mountains to the sawmill by water. Whether by the use of man-made channels or rivers, the logs were sent down by water quickly and cheaply without the need to use animals.

From Quiz The Manly Profession of the Lumberjack

Answer: Railroad ties

Tie hackers specialized in choosing specific trees, usually those that were very straight, and cutting them into railroad ties. It was a specific skill that most lumberjacks never mastered. A tie hack used hand saws to cut down the chosen tree and then shape it on all four sides with a broad axe. The making of railroad ties was vitally important to keeping the railroad industry growing and expanding.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Cross cut saw

A two-handled saw is, as the name suggests, used by two people. The crosscut saw was used also by two people but designed to cut the wood perpendicular to the wood grain.

From Quiz The Manly Profession of the Lumberjack

Answer: Wisconsin

Many a lumberjack came from the Scandinavian stock that settled much of Wisconsin. Each year, the city of Hayward, in the northern part of the state, holds the world largest lumberjack championship. Complete with log cutting, log rolling and pancake eating, the festival lasts for three days in the summer.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: 4 feet by 4 feet by 8 feet

Wood for use in fireplaces is sold by the cord. A cord is 128 cubic feet, or about 2 full-size pickup loads or 4 compact pickup loads. There also exists a measurement called a rack of wood. A rack is a pile consisting of one row of wood stacked 4 feet high and 8 feet deep. If the wood is cut 12" long, a rack of that wood would be 32 cubic feet.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: 1920s

The first chainsaws were produced in the 1920s in Germany and needed to be operated by two people. In the 1950s, the first one man chain saw was produced which changed the usage of the machine especially in forest harvesting and lumberjacking.

From Quiz The Manly Profession of the Lumberjack

Answer: Female lumberjack

A lumberjill was one of the very, very few females who worked in the field. It was a very difficult life, as there were few women in a lumberjack camp. Those who were there tended to be the wives of lumberjacks, who performed the jobs of cooking, cleaning and nursing. There were very strict rules and a code of honor that forbade one lumberjack from any undue interest in another lumberjack's wife. A lumberjill did not have this protection and was expected to work at the same level as a man. They were usually not seen except in times of war or in Europe.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: Remove them after the tree is down.

Removing branches is called "delimbing." The safest way to delimb is to remove the branches after the tree has been felled completely and is lying on the ground. Trying to delimb while standing on a ladder is dangerous because you could fall while trying to cut off the branch or the branch could knock you off the ladder after you cut it off. Dynamite is never used in logging.

From Quiz We're Lumberjacks and We're OK

Answer: Skid Road

The term 'Skid Road' started with the logging industry as a description of loggers using a path to send logs down a road or path. Over time it has become known as a road that the down and out or outcasts from society live.

From Quiz So You Want to be a Lumberjack

Answer: Paul Bunyan

In folklore, Paul Bunyan was a giant of a man. He was usually accompanied by his giant blue ox "Babe". Paul Bunyan is credited with inventing many of the methods and tools used in logging. The tales claim that Minnesota's 10,000 lakes were created when Paul and Babe walked across the state before a rainstorm. The rain filled up their footprints and created the lakes. The Grand Canyon was created when Paul walked around Arizona dragging his axe. Mount Hood was the result of Paul piling rocks on his campfire to put it out. Several cities claim to be the birthplace of Paul Bunyan. Among them, Brainerd, Minnesota boasts of a "life-sized" statue of Babe the ox and a mechanical Paul Bunyan at Paul Bunyan Land. The latter is, purportedly, the world's largest mechanical man.

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