Inexperienced feller looking for advice.

[bitzer]

Nice work man!

The extra chip is for movement. It keeps everything going. Just like this, but in reverse with a conventional face.


Crap! Randy beat me to it!

View attachment 213719

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Beautiful. Those pictures provides a clear detail of how it works. Thank you.

A lot of these trees are very straight to the base. Not many with flares but I'll play around with it because these trees are VERY wet in the center. So much so that once some of the trees are over, the water freely flows from the pulled fibers. Once the tree is coming over, the hinge just bends and it barely breaks so I'll play with the snipe to see if it will helps things go smoother.

Thank you guys.

 

[slowp]

That chip's proper term is "snipe" and will cause the butt to jump away from the stump. It provides a clean, straight edge for contact at the stump. It is useful when felling trees with considerable swell or flare at the base.
]

This is probably a stooopid question, but would that snipe add any speed? Ooops, I just answered my own question that I was going to ask about limb locked trees but if they can't get going, the snipe is worthless.

Sorry, back to you. Good night all.

 

[bitzer]

Beautiful. Those pictures provides a clear detail of how it works. Thank you.

A lot of these trees are very straight to the base. Not many with flares but I'll play around with it because these trees are VERY wet in the center. So much so that once some of the trees are over, the water freely flows from the pulled fibers. Once the tree is coming over, the hinge just bends and it barely breaks so I'll play with the snipe to see if it will helps things go smoother.

Thank you guys.

It looks like you are cutting a lot of red (slippery) elm, which means very stringy fibers. Unless you cut them nearly all the way up they will stay on the stump or you have to set the face up for the hinge to break. The snipe should help with that. Those are fun to swing because they stay on the stump forever. Those do like to hold water.

 

[hammerlogging]

3 cheers for improvement!

I guess that'd be beer, jug wine, and whiskey.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

It looks like you are cutting a lot of red (slippery) elm, which means very stringy fibers. Unless you cut them nearly all the way up they will stay on the stump or you have to set the face up for the hinge to break. The snipe should help with that. Those are fun to swing because they stay on the stump forever. Those do like to hold water.

A lot of these trees have red streaks through them. I think those are mulberry? Anywho, I'm definately going to play with adding a snipe. Can't wait to see how they help.

3 cheers for improvement!

I guess that'd be beer, jug wine, and whiskey.

That would be 2 shots of whiskey, preferrably Crown, and a chaser of Shiner Bock. Not much of wine drinker here...

 

[hammerlogging]

the improvement is drastic, and refreshing. I know I can't take credit for being helpful, but it is most impressive to see the progression on this thread. It appears as though you actually looked and listened and applied, carefully and thoughtfully. Thanks from me for caring and being worth the effort, that at least others showed.

 

[OH_Varmntr]

hammer, I wasn't going into this to jerk you guys around, that's for sure. When I said I needed advice, I fully intended on listening, learning and applying it. :msp_thumbup:

Thanks for all the advice so far guys/gals. I'm going back today, but I'm going to limb and buck because I'm down a spotter.

 

[coastalfaller]

If I can speak for Hammer, I think where he was coming from is that this site has seen its fair share of the "other" type of people looking for advice. You are certainly the exception, not the rule! Good job!

 

[Gologit]

If I can speak for Hammer, I think where he was coming from is that this site has seen its fair share of the "other" type of people looking for advice. You are certainly the exception, not the rule! Good job!

Yup. It's really refreshing when somebody asks our advice, takes it, applies it, and then lets us know how things worked out.

Too many times a person asking advice is just asking us for validation on something he's already decided to do. If we don't agree with him, and sometimes we don't, he gets all bent out of shape. Too bad. The collective knowledge and experience in this forum provides a wealth of information.

The OP has done well. He's the kind of person we don't mind helping.

 

[coastalfaller]

Yup. It's really refreshing when somebody asks our advice, takes it, applies it, and then lets us know how things worked out.

Too many times a person asking advice is just asking us for validation on something he's already decided to do. If we don't agree with him, and sometimes we don't, he gets all bent out of shape. Too bad. The collective knowledge and experience in this forum provides a wealth of information.

The OP has done well. He's the kind of person we don't mind helping.

Absolutely, Bob, well said! Hope things are well.

 

[Gologit]

Absolutely, Bob, well said! Hope things are well.

Things are great. If nothing horrible happens I'll be fully retired by the middle of June. Except for a few little side jobs. :smile2:

I always said that I'd keep working until that 660 that Treeslingr did for me wore out but I think that darn thing is going to run forever. Maybe I'll just keep it for a pet.

 

[coastalfaller]

Things are great. If nothing horrible happens I'll be fully retired by the middle of June. Except for a few little side jobs. :smile2:

I always said that I'd keep working until that 660 that Treeslingr did for me wore out but I think that darn thing is going to run forever. Maybe I'll just keep it for a pet.

Haha! Right on, congratulations!You'll have to take it out every now and then to keep the sawdust moving through the veins though!

 

[OH_Varmntr]

The collective knowledge and experience in this forum provides a wealth of information.

Yes, it's awesome! It's one thing to read about doing something and the many different ways to do it. But it's a completely other thing to discuss it with folks who do it day in and day out, who know what works and when to use it, why it works, and most importantly, how to make it work.

You guys/gals are awesome. I can totally understand what you mean when it comes to helping people who don't really want your help. I moderated a 4 wheeler forum for a while and there were people who had no idea which end of a wrench to use, yet they were splaying useless information telling people how to do things. Granted working on 4 wheelers isn't always life or death, but you can understand what I'm saying.

I'm glad I'm not one of "those guys".

 

[Dalmatian90]

(Firewood dude interjecting here...)

One thing I've been doing OH is trying to make more a "game" out of it to see how accurate I can be. Not just "I want it to go in that direction" but "I want it right exactly there." Saw the trick of using a wedge as a target on the bore cut thread and I think I'll try that with the next round of trees I have to drop. It looks like a good training wheel idea for those of us who aren't masters.

Something I noticed big time this year compared to a couple years back is I cut really flat now. I was NEVER as bad as your first cuts here but I often had a small amount of unplanned slope to them...I'm really not sure when I crossed the line, and whether it's just muscle memory or I'm doing a better job squaring up the saw to the tree with my eye before I commit to the cut, but even stuff I *don't* care about like simply taking stumps down to ground level when I'm done are coming out flat level. Part of that is looking at the whole saw and not just my bar when I'm lining things up.

There's also "sight lines" on the chainsaws on both the starter and sprocket cover sides:

Those let you check to make sure you're making your cuts perpendicular to the direction that you intend to drop the tree which helps avoid having face cut be slightly off or having your hinge end up thicker on one end then the other (yeah, I know there's some advanced tricks that sometimes you want the hinge to be uneven.)

Here's a pic I found through Google of a guy checking to make sure the sighting lines parallel the direction he wants the tree to fall:

 

[Billy_Bob]

...Saw the trick of using a wedge as a target on the bore cut thread and I think I'll try that with the next round of trees I have to drop...

More fun is an upright empty soda pop can, then the tree falls on it and squishes it!

 

[OH_Varmntr]

Dalmation, no excuses for why my stumps were pure ####e to begin with other than I just didn't care. All I wanted to do was get wood on the ground and I wasn't really trying to do it properly. I'm no longer in that mindset though.

I've seen the sightlines but haven't used them. One more thing to throw in there sometime to practice with.

I've learned a LOT so for now I'm going to try to hone my "skills" and go from there. I'll keep adding pics along the way to show progress.

 

[indiansprings]

Big improvement, great you come to the right place, ole Randy Mac and the rest of the west coast crew provide great advice on falling. Don't get in to much of a hurry, be safe.

Thank God they banned HBRN before he could have given some of his "professional" advice. lol

 

[OH_Varmntr]

LOL they finally banned him?

 

[avason]

(Firewood dude interjecting here...)

One thing I've been doing OH is trying to make more a "game" out of it to see how accurate I can be. Not just "I want it to go in that direction" but "I want it right exactly there." Saw the trick of using a wedge as a target on the bore cut thread and I think I'll try that with the next round of trees I have to drop. It looks like a good training wheel idea for those of us who aren't masters.

Something I noticed big time this year compared to a couple years back is I cut really flat now. I was NEVER as bad as your first cuts here but I often had a small amount of unplanned slope to them...I'm really not sure when I crossed the line, and whether it's just muscle memory or I'm doing a better job squaring up the saw to the tree with my eye before I commit to the cut, but even stuff I *don't* care about like simply taking stumps down to ground level when I'm done are coming out flat level. Part of that is looking at the whole saw and not just my bar when I'm lining things up.

There's also "sight lines" on the chainsaws on both the starter and sprocket cover sides:

Those let you check to make sure you're making your cuts perpendicular to the direction that you intend to drop the tree which helps avoid having face cut be slightly off or having your hinge end up thicker on one end then the other (yeah, I know there's some advanced tricks that sometimes you want the hinge to be uneven.)

Here's a pic I found through Google of a guy checking to make sure the sighting lines parallel the direction he wants the tree to fall:

Gotta be honest. I've been cutting for a few years now and have heard of sight lines but never knew where they were. Thanks!