Trapper John speaks on Making Lodge Poles
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I have been asked many times, How do you find poles for a camp shelter. Well, the first thing is what kind of wood for the poles for your camp. Where I live, the best is Doug Fir (Douglas Fir). They can be found on Forest Service land. Get permission to cut first. Make sure it is in writing! Find a place where the fir trees are growing thick. A young stand is good. |
They can be found on the down side of a cut bank, where the dirt was pushed over down the hill to make a road. The best place is where the road is 20 to 25 years old. Many times they grow first and fast. Look for thick tall trees, about 1 inch to 5 to 6 inches on the bottom. They will be hard to walk through as they are so thick. Find a tree that is 4 to 4-1/2 inches on the big end, about 6 inches to 12 inches above the ground.
Stand next to the tree, put your hat on a limb head high. If you have a friend have them stand next to the tree. Stand back about 20 feet, more if you want, with a small stick and holding the stick up at arms length, mark the stick from where your eye has the stick touching the ground and where your eye sees the hat on the person standing there. Me, I am over 6 feet tall. Move the stick up the tree with the stick and still at arms length, mark the tree in your head, and move the stick up again. With me, 3 times that will be about 18 feet. Use your height or your friend's height. It will give you a ruff (rough) guess how long the pole will be.
For a tepee about 18 to 22 feet is a good pole. Make sure the top is at least as big as yourthumb. Look around if one does not make it. There is some out there. Sometimes I only get 2 or 3 out of a patch of trees. Find another patch. Makes a nice weekend with the people you like.
After you cut your pole down (through), many times it will not fall. The limbs hold it up. Now the fun starts. Get a hold of the big end and go straight toward the road. Pull hard and it will come down. Some maybe all the way. Take an axe and cut off the limbs. Start at the big end and work your way toward the top. Like slide your axe along the pole & cut the limb from the bottom going up. That way it will not tear out wood from the pole. You may have to cut limbs and pull the pole, cut more limbs. Once on the ground tape the pole about a foot longer than you need.
Then comes the hard part, loading up the long, heavy pole. Load the small end first, then the big end. Some times you can cut all the poles you need in ah hour, or you may need 2 weekends. I make mine last 3 or 4 weekends. I don't get rushed. Take your time and find what you want.
After you get home and unloaded, set up some saw horses and get your helper to help. Put a pole on the saw horses and start peeling it. Taking off the bark. If you got the poles in the spring, the bark will come off easy. Use the throwing knife is good, a draw knife is better. Get them all peeled. Put them in the shade for about 3 weeks to a month. They will split a little but no big deal.
When dry take a wood rasp and file down the knots down flush with the pole. Cut them how long you want them. Tepee poles are sharpened on the big end so they stick about 1 to 3 inches in the ground after you get the tepee set up. Tent poles are cut square on the end. Once cut and dry you can put a couple of coats of linseed oil on them or spar varnish. That is up to you. I don't use nothing. They don't last any longer one way or another. If you can, when they are not in use, keep them out of the sun and weather. They will last 10 years or more. That is also on how much you use them. Mine last about 7 years.
One other thing: The smaller the growth rings at the end of your pole, the longer they last. I have some going on 15 years. Have fun. I will write more on this later.
Trapper John
