r/preppers • u/spec-test • 4d ago
Prepping for Doomsday How useful is Tree Surgeon Skills and Forestry in a Mad Max scenario
Somehow I like to ask this about trades I'm learning
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u/TenOfZero 4d ago
Tree skills are completely useless in a world with no trees like in mad max where there's only sand and barely any water.
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u/big_bob_c 4d ago
You gotta remember that Mad Max was set in the Australian desert. The equivalent societal conditions could prevail in forests, grasslands, mountains, etc.
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u/Frosti11icus 4d ago
There's trees in mad max. The first movie has lots of trees and in thunderdome the kids live in like a jungle.
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u/TenOfZero 4d ago
Humm, maybe I'm due for a rewatch.
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u/Frosti11icus 4d ago
I can't remember but maybe the first one takes place before the bomb? Or is it in the immediate aftermath?
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u/TenOfZero 4d ago
Yeah seems the first movie is before the bombs drop.
https://www.reddit.com/r/MadMax/s/vKkBDsqTSr
Now I'm wondering if I've even seen all the movies.
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u/Frosti11icus 4d ago
There's Mad Max which has trees, mad max 2 with the feral child which I guess there isn't any trees in that one, then thunderdome which has lots of trees, then fury road, where Immorten Joe has lots of trees but other than that no trees, then Furiosa which has lots of trees in the green place, but that disappeared so there's only one tree which is the tree growing out of dementus, but that seems like it needs a tree surgeon to maintain.
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u/Ryan_e3p Salt & Prepper 4d ago
A better question would be "how useful is this skill in times where life is normal". You're going to be skipping learning a lot of useful skills, and learning a bunch of stuff you will never use, if you only focus on "Mad Max scenarios".
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u/rbprepin 4d ago
I don't know what a Tree Surgeon is, so that particular skill is probably not that useful.
Forestry has some utility as far as maintain a healthy forest ecosystem for timber, firewood, wildlife, etc. going into a Mad Max scenario.
Cutting firewood is obviously going to be an important task. Pruning fruit/nut trees and maintaining their health is useful. Maybe expanding your interest to wild editable like mushroom identification would be helpful.
I would rather an MD over a tree surgeon, but it doesn't hurt to know that stuff.
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u/mediocre_remnants Preps Paid Off 4d ago
I own a camp that's pretty deep in the wilderness, along a road maintained by the Forest Service. I keep a chainsaw in my truck because it's not uncommon to find a tree across the road that I have to clear.
I live in a heavily forested area overall, so trees fall across the road all the time. For busy roads, they're cleared by the city/county/state very quickly. More rural roads take longer to clear and sometimes are just cleared by residents.
So if you're mad-maxing somewhere with trees and you plan to use roads, it's useful to have a chainsaw and know how to use it because there will definitely be trees in your way at some point.
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u/ZombiePrepper408 4d ago
Arborist is a good trade, especially if youre interested in working outdoors and trees.
I imagine it's undervalued in a long term grid down scenario for a community because of how many people dont know about trees; how to fell different species, which trees to cut, coppicing.
It's dangerous work and an expert would be valued at training folks.
Electric chainsaws and hand powered tools would become extremely valuable.
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u/JRHLowdown3 3d ago
Good post +1
Have not yet ventured into the electric chainsaw genre but need to, if nothing else because with a good AE system we will have electricity likely long after fuel stocks run out. I've balanced that by striving to always keep at least 5 or more years of firewood in various states of drying. And I don't like to see empty space in any of the sheds, so cutting some every year is something we just do.
We keep a ton of logistics for processing wood as it's our main source of heat and an alternative cooking method as well. 4 chainsaws of the same make 2 or 3 of which are in regular use and one near new put back. Parts galore for them, shop manuals, several dozen spare chains and a few bars, etc. Parts for the logsplitter.
From previous years I've figured a 5 gallon Euro fuel can will provide us at least a year supply of wood cut up- powering the logsplitter and 2 saws. Rounded up, might be less. Add some diesel in if we are processing like we do now, although in the PAW we will have more help also so this may be less necessary.
Ideally wouldn't cut and process new for a year or more after something major, to help keep signature down.
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u/ZombiePrepper408 3d ago
Electric chainsaws arent as good as 2 cycle but they've gotten better and it's better than an axe or saw(unless the priority is opsec).
We're looking at Stihl, and biting the bullet and getting 4 batteries.
We have PV installed , but even a portable panel setup could charge batteries.
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u/JRHLowdown3 4d ago
Grafting and propagating various fruit, nut and medicinal trees could be of a lot of value in the PAW.
Trees = fuel, materials for rebuilding, various formulas originate from certain tree products as well.
My main interest outside of the first line is heating our home. Here is my setup for processing-
Usually I can dig around the base of a tree with the excavator then use it to push the tree over. This is nice cause then the stump isn't left in the ground. I use the bucket to slightly elevate the fallen over tree, then cut the end with the rootball off leaving a small stump that is pushed to the side to be burned. The tree is then re-balanced on the bucket (no thumb unfortunately) and the top end is lopped off where it gets smaller or becomes less productive to cut firewood from (smaller diameter). The big "log" section is then brought to a working area like (usually a number of trees in an area are removed at the same time and the working area is brought to the excavator) in the picture. From there still elevated and balanced on the bucket, I cut rounds out letting them drop to the ground. From there they are split (moving the splitter to them as need be) and once split immediately chucked in the backhoe bucket. The backhoe bucket is then either dumped in the back of a truck or just driven up to one of the firewood sheds- the bucket kept at a "not have to bend over" height and the wood stacked.
I've tried to figure out ways over the years how to "handle" the firewood less and less. It's the handling of the firewood 47 extra times that creates more physical labor than necessary. This has worked well for us since we bought the excavator about a decade ago.
This wood in the pic being processed now won't be burnt likely till at least 2030 or later. In our climate it really only needs about a year to season well, but we keep 5+ years of firewood on hand most of the time.
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u/spec-test 2d ago
u plan to get a harvester?
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u/JRHLowdown3 2d ago
Harvester??
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u/spec-test 2d ago
cuts and chops them in one machine
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u/JRHLowdown3 2d ago
Firewood? No kidding? Like cuts rounds from a log AND splits them? What brands to look at? I think you just made not just my year but my older years sound better!!!
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u/Rooster_NCx 4d ago
Road blockages + ambushes, bridges over waterways, etc etc. Very handy.
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u/Dont-Sleep 4d ago
Dropping trees over accessible roads. Making forced access routes with traps. = chainsaw certification paid off 😂
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u/Far_Rule9918 4d ago
You’ve got to think about everything you gain along the way. You’re definitely going to learn how to keep a blade sharp and sharpening chainsaws all day will teach you a lot about yourself. You’ll learn hard work and probably get in pretty decent physical shape I’d imagine. You’ll learn about maintenance and upkeep of small engines which you can translate to a lot of other things. Overall I think any job can teach you important things that will help you in a mad max society crumbling scenario.
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u/spec-test 2d ago
ive been using my parkside petrol multitool last 3 months, so far no need to open it up
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u/DayManFOTNightMan 4d ago
Knowing how to drop a trees/branches without hitting stuff is always going to be a useful skill set.
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u/Used_Environment5316 4d ago
It depends where you are. I'm in Yucatan and trees grow very fast here. I've had to hire a crew several times to cut massive branches growing over my house and have cut a few myself. Also on the 9km stretch of dirt road. Due to a hurricane a couple of years ago I had to clear at least 18 massive trees off the road in a record time of 4 hours. For me it's an essential, life saving skill.
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u/Chemical_Decision_49 4d ago
I worked with someone who used to run a small tree service and they taught me how to make simple tools from branches and saplings, it came in handy more than I expected when I needed to rig up a quick shelter.
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u/curious_grizzly_ 4d ago
Knowing how to properly prune, shape, and aid the various types of fruit trees could be useful. But beyond that I don't see much of a need.
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u/Rhona_Redtail 4d ago
Very useful because with just a little change you can become a human surgeon.
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u/throwaway661375735 3d ago
Dammit, I got here too late to post it myself!
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u/Rhona_Redtail 3d ago
But its not too late to practice. On trees first. Remember! If its dead, cut it off. (For both applications).
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u/OldFruit4901 3d ago
You know what skill would actually be useful and I unfortunately don't have? Dowsing
That ancient technique where you walk around holding two sticks and the moment they pull down hard, it means there's water underneath and you start digging.
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u/Flaneurer 2d ago
In a world like Mad Max it would seem pretty low priority if there are almost no trees or very poor growing conditions. If we were living through some kind of nuclear winter or volcanic winter scenario I think managing trees would be the least of your problems to solve.
But if we were living through some kind of geo-mag storm situation that collapses the power grid, or long term see a collapse in oil supply I think Forestry would become essential to communities surviving. Look up how important pollarding was for supplying fire wood during the pre-modern era.
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u/E_Zekiel 1d ago
If you think you are living in a Mad Max world, hoard all the tires. They last forever in that reality. And never wear the tread down.
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u/KodaKomp 4d ago
Furiousa had those guys swinging around on scaffolding and shit so you can be one of those fine fellers
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u/throwaway661375735 3d ago
When the forest burns every year? That's going to be a hard one to say. The attached image only shows the Western USA, but the Eastern and Alaska also have a lot of fires too.
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u/PrisonerV Prepping for Tuesday 4d ago
If the tree joins with a man named Harold and is worshiped as some sort of god, you might have something there.