Bucking Small Logs - See Diagrams

[rb142]

Here's another suggestion in addition to what has already been mentioned. If you go to the Stihl web site and look in the video section, there is a set of short videos there on basic chainsaw techniques. They have some good examples of cutting logs in these different types of tension/compression scenarios. You might want to check those out too. It's always easier to figure out when you can see someone do it.

It's definitely worth having a couple plastic wedges with you. You can make some wood ones on site if necessary. A rock or chunk of wood can drive them if you don't have an axe or hammer.

Before cutting anything, think through the stresses. Figure out which side is in tension, which side is in compression, and cut accordingly. Watch out for the cut pieces rolling (stay uphill), sliding, or uprighting.

 

[MtnHermit]

One thing to try before you get to work at 12000 feet, is test your saw is tuned to actually run well at that elevation. Quick car ride up a mountain pass nearby for the test will save some you some frustration later on. What works at 9000....

Good idea, I'll test it at the trailhead prior to lugging it up the hill.

BC Faller Training Standards, Part 2 (PDF) is available online and will likely answer some of the terminology on bucking along with providing examples of bucking.

That was the document I was seeking when I Googled "bucking". Great illustrations and lots of terms I'm unfamiliar with, like pivot point. Not an issue on flat ground, but a real concern on a hillside. I'll read it several more times and especially the day before.

Here are some variations of the original sketch you posted. Bucking from the top down may or may not be a practical or 'safer' approach.

View attachment 195034

You're quite the artist. The last, slide is one of the reason I want to leave the root ball attached. Of course I'll now evaluate the potential of tip up, never would have thought of it before that video.

Good luck on the job.

Thanks, I'm feeling more comfortable with all the tips in this thread.

 

[MtnHermit]

Some "slabbing." I am the slabber.

Still don't understand "slabbing" but some pretty trees. Did you drop those or did the wind put them down?

Thanks for trying.

 

[slowp]

Still don't understand "slabbing" but some pretty trees. Did you drop those or did the wind put them down?

Thanks for trying.

Wind and snow. I don't fall trees.

 

[hammerlogging]

You're back again? You have a bad attitude dude! Don't expect any help from me or most of the people on this forum. Go to expertvillage.com for your chainsaw advice.

No mention of the day the root wad rolled over you after you cut on the stem?

15 professional fallers tell him a handful of things any pro would take to the same situation and he won't do it, then never mind.

To be helpful, mtnhermit, make sure you look at whatever is on the ground around you, what the log will hit when it hits the ground, causing a chain reaction to smack you with something.

 

[RandyMac]

12,000 feet elevation? From my expierence in the Sierras, not much of anything grows at that height. Are the Rockies that much different?

 

[madhatte]

12,000 feet elevation? From my expierence in the Sierras, not much of anything grows at that height. Are the Rockies that much different?

Your point is... how you say..."solid"?

 

[RandyMac]

Your point is... how you say..."solid"?

As batholith plutons are.

 

[Steve NW WI]

I've been watching this thread since it started. Most of the guys on here are too polite to tell ya to F,,, off, so I'm gonna do it for them. You have no business running a saw, cutting deadfalls and blowdowns, alone, miles from help with no experience except a couple of internet threads. If you want to kill yourself, I suggest a .45 between the eyes, do it outside so you don't ruin the wife's carpet.

You are arrogant (asking if a pro logger that's been posting here for years has ever done this), obstinate (refusing to make an extra trip to carry supplies that will make your job far easier and safer), inexperienced (I've only felled one tree), and flat out stubborn (I'm going into the wilderness to do something I've never done before, alone).

You, sir (or maam) are the reason that every product you buy today costs twice what it should and carries 4 pounds of warning stickers. You, judging by your vocabulary, are not a stupid person, but there isn't any sign whatsoever of common sense.

Please, either give up this idea of clearing trails, or just go away (something that's likely to happen when the first log that you cut pins you under it and you die, alone, slowly and painfully.

Note that I am NOT a professional logger, and don't pretend to be one, but I've heated my place all my life with wood, and I've learned what I can and can't do through experience, something you don't have and don't seem willing to get.

Have a nice life. How long that life will be is entirely up to you.

 

[derwoodii]

This accident is very sobering for this threads learning & thoughts

[video=youtube;bRwkL7Nd9ys]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bRwkL7Nd9ys&feature=related[/video]

 

[slowp]

I have been at 9000 feet where Pinus Monotonous grows. That was in Arizona. I have skied at 10,000 feet in Collyraddy and yes, there are scrubby spruces and lodgepoles there. I do believe a 12,000 foot hill in AZ looked to be tree covered. Couldn't go there because I am not Apache.

Perhaps there are trees there.

 

[Gologit]

To date I've only bucked logs cantilevered, supported at one end only. I need to learn proper technique for bucking a log supported at both ends and often on a slope.

I'll be carrying the saw a mile or more from my vehicle at 12,000 feet, so I'll be bringing just the chainsaw and a small hand saw, no other tools.

Thanks

You've been given some good advice here. Again. Why not use some of it? If you're going to be a mile from your vehicle you're also going to be a mile from the first stage of help if anything goes wrong. Wrong as in an injury or worse.

You've been advised as to what your minimum amount of equipment should be. Again. You've argued about that and refused to take informed and well meant advice.

You are obviously not experienced at this kind of thing. That's no problem, we all started from zero. But most of us had the sense to listen and make good use of the advice we were given. You don't want to listen, you just want validation of what you've already decided to do. You're wrong to ask that of us...it's insulting.

What you seem to be looking for is the same old "if I do this, the tree will do that" guarantee that everyone wishes he had. You've been given some good basic information but none of it comes with a guarantee.

I really think that you need to find somebody near you with experience that will help you. Or at least take somebody with you who can go for help if you get hurt. If your manhood needs validation by using the minimalist approach to cutting wood maybe they can cheer you on while you bumble through your task.

 

[slowp]

I wonder. Is this part of hunting season? Like you can't carry proper gear for sawing because you have to have all your hunting gear? I'm curious.

 

[Gologit]

I wonder. Is this part of hunting season? Like you can't carry proper gear for sawing because you have to have all your hunting gear? I'm curious.

Might be, but I doubt that this guy is a hunter. All that walking and carrying stuff, you know. :msp_biggrin:

 

[Gologit]

Mtnhermit...

And one other thing, as long as I'm grumbling anyway. Be sure to take some thumbtacks with you. They'll come in handy to fasten those sheets of paper, with the diagrams on proper cutting technique, to the log. That way you'll have your tutorial right there where you can see it. Three or four thumbtacks shouldn't be too heavy for you to carry. I hope.

 

[slowp]

Which is lighter? Scotch tape or tacks? :msp_biggrin:

Duck tape is way too heavy.

 

[2dogs]

12,000 feet elevation? From my expierence in the Sierras, not much of anything grows at that height. Are the Rockies that much different?

Cody and I have backpacked in northern New Mexico at over 12,000' twice. The trees can be of decent size at that elevation, up to 24" DBH IIRC, though most are much smaller and gnarled.

 

[MtnHermit]

12,000 feet elevation? From my expierence in the Sierras, not much of anything grows at that height. Are the Rockies that much different?

Depends. In N Colo timberline is closer to 11K, where I live in central Colo it is 12K, but there is north vs south facing variability. I've been backpacking in the Rio Grande NF with substantial stands of timber at 12,200'. Some of the biggest trees grow just 100' below timberline, benefiting from the extra sun and moisture. Of course the line is nothing more than permafrost above and not below.

The Sierras get substantially more snow which tends to deepen/and prolong the permafrost.

 

[MtnHermit]

I just wanted to give you a heads up of the advice to come.

I see what you mean, some quite nasty too. Not experienced that form of absolute "my way or no way" on any forum before. Ten years ago I would have been devastated by some of the post in this thread, today my skin is a bit thicker and I just shake my head and realize it takes all types.

Stay safe.

Thanks, I intend to. I've already learned a lot.

 

[MtnHermit]

This accident is very sobering for this threads learning & thoughts

Thanks, another eye opener.

Most of what I intend to do is straight forward, but one group of tangled small, 4", deadfall will require a lot of study. Potential springing and pivot points I would not have been aware of before this thread. I'm sure I'll study, cut, stop, repeatedly so I get it right.