A chance meeting with a Laois chainsaw supplier has led a timber carver to attempt a Guinness World Record attempt in time for this year’s National Ploughing Championships.
John Hayes – brand ambassador for Oleo-mac Garden Machinery – is currently in the process of producing the world’s largest timber sculpture using only chainsaws.
The piece is being carved out of a single piece of timber a 75 foot tree that Waterford man John sourced from Coillte.
John is carving the 270 year history of the Viking Triangle in Waterford onto the Viking Sword in a tapestry type design and will be completing the sculpture over the three days at the ploughing in an attempt to break the current Guinness World Record.
The final adjudication will take place live on the last day of the ploughing championships in Tullamore with a representative from the Guinness World Record Office.
This is expected to be a huge national attraction at the ploughing this year and is sponsored by Waterford Co Council where the sculpture will be erected in the city after completion.
Things could have been very different for John, were it not for a chance encounter with Paul Carney from Camsaw, Portarlington in the sunny south east.
Paul was delivering to a shop while John was in getting equipment repaired.
The shop owner told Paul “you should talk to this man” as he knew John was a timber carver.
It turned out that Camsaw were looking for someone to do carving work for them and John ended up using their equipment at a small stand at the ploughing championships to demonstrate his carving.
Since then he has become a brand ambassador and his business has grown so much that he had to take on staff.
“If it had been 5 minutes later, I would have missed him,” John said.
Break
“It would be nice to get a Guinness World Record for Ireland at the ploughing, as I got my big break at the National Ploughing Championships,” he said.
Doing carvings on site at the ploughing sparked an interest amongst people attending and his orders built from there.
Before that he was an unemployed joiner until a back-to-work scheme set him on his way.
“I now work full-time in a business which employs four people. It is nice to be able to go back to the ploughing and take this on,” he said.
He said Anna Mae McHugh of the NPA has been very supportive of him, along with Paul Carney.
John hopes to see as many people as possible at their stand at the ploughing, and while he says he will be focused on achieving the record, he still will have time to interact with people.
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