KiwiBro
Mill 'em, nails be damned.
I've asked this elsewhere but apart from a few good replies, the bulk has been smart-arse wise cracks from the usual suspects. Seeing how the last leaner thread I read that went spastic when assorted axe-grinders and loose-units jumped right in was in the firewood section, I thought I'd ask in here where I've always been looked after so well in the past. All ass-kissing aside, on with the lesson:
Best I could come up with was boring the middle as much as I dare - and I'll say right now, I find willow really hard to predict - then hammer in a wedge or two and cut down like releasing a strap. If it pushes back on me the wedges are there to allow me to get my saw out.
Is there a better way please? It was a few days of plenty of pucker moments and the worst damage I did to myself was upsetting both a hive of bees and a nest of wasps. Run, Forest, ruuuun.
Thanks in advance for any wisdom.
- Willows.
- Big leans, some over 45 degrees.
- Felling uphill, such that the tops can sometimes load up on the hillside before the trunk has come free. Tension wood becomes compression wood too fast for me to react.
- Electric fence, live, can't be trashed.
- Bucking a 8' corridor along fence line.
- Last guy to work this area tried pushing a leaner over, it broke free, pivoted around a fork and flipped him and his digger into the middle of next week.
- I've completed the job and didn't break anything, remarkably, but want to learn better ways if possible.
- Photos:
Best I could come up with was boring the middle as much as I dare - and I'll say right now, I find willow really hard to predict - then hammer in a wedge or two and cut down like releasing a strap. If it pushes back on me the wedges are there to allow me to get my saw out.
Is there a better way please? It was a few days of plenty of pucker moments and the worst damage I did to myself was upsetting both a hive of bees and a nest of wasps. Run, Forest, ruuuun.
Thanks in advance for any wisdom.