Gum Tree

[Stihl Alive]

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Here's a gum tree I took down a few days ago. the home owner is my best friend and his father in law used to be a logger. It was rotting and his wife really really hates gum balls, so they thought it would be great for practice. I forgot to take any pictures beforehand. I climbed about 15 ft into this one and took out about 3 branches on the shed side to relieve some weight. And you can't see it through the trees but we tied off and tensioned the line with a truck about 100 ft out. All criticisms welcome.

 

[Ted-RI]

What's up with that stump?

 

[Mike PA]

Are you happy with how you did?

Very good decision to cable it down, especially that close to the shed and when you are just learning. Based on the pics (last one), it looks like that could have been a bad situation without the cable.

Get your friend's FIL to critique it. I assume he wasn't there?

 

[treeseer]

It was rotting ... All criticisms welcome.

Where was it rotting? That little hole in the middle?

Gumball loathing strikes NC again. :censored: Was the loss of benefits worth the loss of litter?

 

[Stihl Alive]

Where was it rotting? That little hole in the middle?

Gumball loathing strikes NC again. :censored: Was the loss of benefits worth the loss of litter?

yeah, the hole in the middle. from the camera POV, if you walk around the right side of the trunk it was hollow from the ground up.

The wife has wanted it gone for years, she saw no benifit other than the shade it would cast on the dog pen. The friend plans to build a small lean to from the shed to make up for that.

 

[tomtrees58]

man look at your cut ?? did the old logger help you not . tom trees

 

[ddhlakebound]

It looks like it landed 20 - 30 degrees left of it's intended lay....

All the hinge wood is severed on the camera side, with a thick hinge on the back side. There have been stumps posted that were more carved up, but not too many. As mentioned above, good thing you had a pull line in it.

How high up was the pull line placed?

Were you using a big enough saw? Was it sharp?

 

[Stihl Alive]

It looks like it landed 20 - 30 degrees left of it's intended lay....

All the hinge wood is severed on the camera side, with a thick hinge on the back side. There have been stumps posted that were more carved up, but not too many. As mentioned above, good thing you had a pull line in it.

How high up was the pull line placed?

Were you using a big enough saw? Was it sharp?

the reason the hinge is cut toward the camera is because the "logger" took my saw and cut out that part intentionally. It kind of scared me because directly behind the camera is the house about ten ft away. I was planning to make 2 back cuts to the hinge, because I had a 25" bar, then use two wedges to fall the tree. He told me he was cutting away that part to assist in the direction of the fall but it instinctively looked/sounded wrong to me. That's one reason I wanted to post the pic. The chain was sharp, all equipment was perfect, so all errors were human. I think the downward direction of the back cut was simply my inexperience cutting into such a large tree.

 

[ddhlakebound]

the reason the hinge is cut toward the camera is because the "logger" took my saw and cut out that part intentionally. It kind of scared me because directly behind the camera is the house about ten ft away. I was planning to make 2 back cuts to the hinge, because I had a 25" bar, then use two wedges to fall the tree. He told me he was cutting away that part to assist in the direction of the fall but it instinctively looked/sounded wrong to me. That's one reason I wanted to post the pic. The chain was sharp, all equipment was perfect, so all errors were human. I think the downward direction of the back cut was simply my inexperience cutting into such a large tree.

Ah, I see....Two people trying to fell one tree with two different game plans doesn't sound very fun....

Sounds like he really didn't care where it went, as long as it wasn't towards the house. Thats why he severed all the house side hinge wood.

Sometimes I walk away happy with how a stump looks, sometimes more need for improvement is obvious...perfect felling cuts every time take a fair amount of skill.

 

[Dadatwins]

Messy tree but probably would have been around for 20-30 years with that little bit of decay. Horrible notch, multiple cuts show me a short bar and/or bad eye. When starting out notching trees take a small cut and expand it, about 1/3 max into the tree especially with a line in it. When you gain experience you can play a bit more. Better to make small cuts and expand it then make a bad first cut. Back cut should always be slightly above the notch and not a fan of that angle back cut. Straight cutting on a horizonatal line will come with experience look at the saw and think about the cut.

 

[Jlarnard]

All I can say is yuck.... Buy a lotto ticket, it's your lucky day.

 

[RedlineIt]

Stihl Alive,

Backcut below the facecut = Underwear outside the pants.

That WAS a facecut, right?

Remember folks, this is the fella that could not figure out how to strap on a set of spurs until he posted for advice. He now figures it will be a cinch to top out pines for satellite dish clearance.

I would not want anyone to be in any tree with this level of saw skill, regardless of their level of climbing skill, which in this case can only be described as vacant.

Stihl Alive is going to get lucky for 10, 20 maybe even 50 attempts, and then he will be a statistic.

He does not even know what he does not know.


RedlineIt

 

[BC WetCoast]

You still have a high stump. Take the opportunity to practice by making a new notch and backcut. Then post the pic to show us how you have improved.

 

[Stihl Alive]

Messy tree but probably would have been around for 20-30 years with that little bit of decay. Horrible notch, multiple cuts show me a short bar and/or bad eye. When starting out notching trees take a small cut and expand it, about 1/3 max into the tree especially with a line in it. When you gain experience you can play a bit more. Better to make small cuts and expand it then make a bad first cut. Back cut should always be slightly above the notch and not a fan of that angle back cut. Straight cutting on a horizonatal line will come with experience look at the saw and think about the cut.

I should have taken pics when the tree was still up after my 2 face cuts and back cut. that would be before the FIL started cutting. I notched it out at first, then decided to notch it further about 6" on the shed side. He owns quite a bit of that farm land and said he had a few smaller trees I could practice on (with no targets). That should give me a chance to practice placing the tree on the ground without a cable, and by myself.

thanks for the input.

 

[Rftreeman]

Stihl Alive,

Backcut below the facecut = Underwear outside the pants.

That WAS a facecut, right?

Remember folks, this is the fella that could not figure out how to strap on a set of spurs until he posted for advice. He now figures it will be a cinch to top out pines for satellite dish clearance.

I would not want anyone to be in any tree with this level of saw skill, regardless of their level of climbing skill, which in this case can only be described as vacant.

Stihl Alive is going to get lucky for 10, 20 maybe even 50 attempts, and then he will be a statistic.

He does not even know what he does not know.


RedlineIt

and I guess you were born with your knowledge, sure he needs practice as we all did even you rather you like to admit it or not or do you get it perfect every time?

Stihl Alive.....you need to work on your notch skills something bad, if that guy is going to let you practice on some no target trees keep the saw out of his hands no mater how hard he pulls on it and get the practice you need, you will never be perfect (as some here think they are) but with practice you'll be dam close.........

and take some pictures of stuff as stated before so we can compare to see if you are learning anything.......

 

[Stihl Alive]

and I guess you were born with your knowledge, sure he needs practice as we all did even you rather you like to admit it or not or do you get it perfect every time?

Stihl Alive.....you need to work on your notch skills something bad, if that guy is going to let you practice on some no target trees keep the saw out of his hands no mater how hard he pulls on it and get the practice you need, you will never be perfect (as some here think they are) but with practice you'll be dam close.........

and take some pictures of stuff as stated before so we can compare to see if you are learning anything.......

will do Treeman. Thanks.

 

[RedlineIt]

Rftreeman,

Born with knowledge, no.

But I was raised in a logging town in British Columbia, Canada.

My Dad was no logger, but he was a schoolteacher and understood the value of some proper training before attempting anything with risk involved. He had a logger show him how to safely run a chainsaw, read a tree and safely drop it with a facecut and wedges.

I got the same training session, but at age 8, I had to replicate the chainsaw moves with an axe for the face cut and a swede saw for the back cut and bucking up the firewood. Wasn't allowed to touch the chainsaw until I sprung a beard. Gathering firewood gave me the chance to engineer some cool dirtbike and snowmobile trails through our woodlot.

Doing all that work with a swede saw made me appreciate how important a sharp saw is, what kerf is, how to sharpen my axe and saws.

When it was time to move up to the chainsaw, I got some training. Community project, right place at the right time, free but thorough.

Then when I wanted to climb, I went to a school, a college that taught those skills. Footlocking, Bodythrust, hitches, spurring, rigging, the whole schpeal.

No one is born with knowledge to do this, and a very large percentage of people doing this work, even ISA Certified Arborists, have no formal training in the actual function of climbing and cutting.

This is why our insurance rates are outrageous.

This is why you read reports of climber dies on the job.

Stihl Alive wanted critique of his cut.

It sucked.

Stihl Alive wants advice on how to put his spurs on so he can climb and cut.

Not on my crew he wouldn't.

How about yours?


RedlineIt

 

[Rftreeman]

Then when I wanted to climb, I went to a school, a college that taught those skills. Footlocking, Bodythrust, hitches, spurring, rigging, the whole schpeal.

No one is born with knowledge to do this, and a very large percentage of people doing this work, even ISA Certified Arborists, have no formal training in the actual function of climbing and cutting.

This is why our insurance rates are outrageous.

This is why you read reports of climber dies on the job.

Stihl Alive wanted critique of his cut.

It sucked.

Stihl Alive wants advice on how to put his spurs on so he can climb and cut.

Not on my crew he wouldn't.

How about yours?


RedlineIt

book smarts huh, I learned it for free over high voltage lines and even got paid to learn it and Stihl Alive will learn for free most likely...........


William Hung had no "formal training what so ever" but he still sold an album....."SHE BANG, SHE BANG, OH BABY"............


insurance is high due to fraud...........


when climbers die, they usually got over confident and made simple mistakes that cost them their life............


yes his cut sucked and I pretty much told him that...........


I'd put his butt in a tree in a minute and if I thought he had potential I'd teach him the easy way to do this work..........

but when it's all said and done, he accomplished what he wanted, he got the tree down with out injury or property damage............

so I guess the point you are trying to make is that, because you went to college to learn to climb and cut then that makes you better than the people who didn't pay to learn the skills...........

good night.......

 

[Stihl Alive]

Rftreeman,

Born with knowledge, no.

But I was raised in a logging town in British Columbia, Canada.

My Dad was no logger, but he was a schoolteacher and understood the value of some proper training before attempting anything with risk involved. He had a logger show him how to safely run a chainsaw, read a tree and safely drop it with a facecut and wedges.

I got the same training session, but at age 8, I had to replicate the chainsaw moves with an axe for the face cut and a swede saw for the back cut and bucking up the firewood. Wasn't allowed to touch the chainsaw until I sprung a beard. Gathering firewood gave me the chance to engineer some cool dirtbike and snowmobile trails through our woodlot.

Doing all that work with a swede saw made me appreciate how important a sharp saw is, what kerf is, how to sharpen my axe and saws.

When it was time to move up to the chainsaw, I got some training. Community project, right place at the right time, free but thorough.

Then when I wanted to climb, I went to a school, a college that taught those skills. Footlocking, Bodythrust, hitches, spurring, rigging, the whole schpeal.

No one is born with knowledge to do this, and a very large percentage of people doing this work, even ISA Certified Arborists, have no formal training in the actual function of climbing and cutting.

This is why our insurance rates are outrageous.

This is why you read reports of climber dies on the job.

Stihl Alive wanted critique of his cut.

It sucked.

Stihl Alive wants advice on how to put his spurs on so he can climb and cut.

Not on my crew he wouldn't.

How about yours?


RedlineIt

There is a reason I post the pics publicly instead of just sending PMs to the members who I know will on criticize constructively. I have degrees in Psychology and Creative Writing but when members of my staff ask me to proof reports they've written, I don't tell them how to wear their underwear. But I find your sarcasm entertaining. Who knows, out of every 100 words, I might find one usefull. Thanks to ALL for your input.

 

[Climbing Cutter]

If you try to top out pine trees with similar cuts you will be dead or in a wheelchair.