Mike, I'll bet he was cutting probably close to his bar length from the top. I'll ask him about it. And if so, I will discuss with him our concerns. He has two young boys and a beautiful wife that need him more than folks need a little firewood. Ron
Yes I would have much rather been falling them. It was some prime hardwood and there was a lot of waste and dangerous as he'll. A lot did not blow over and where leaned at 30 to 45 degrees.
As soon as I got done with that tract I moved onto a tornado salvage it was way worse.
Question for you guys that cut rootwads. I very seldom have to make that kind of a cut like the guy in the picture. Is he standing in the right place? If he finished his cut and the rootwad stood up it might be a hell of a ride.
On the other hand, if he made his cut the other way, between himself and the rootwad, he might have to bail out when the trunk dropped. Or is there something I'm missing here?
Let's discuss this here and not in Chainsaw or Firewood. I'd rather hear what the real cutters think and not have to listen to the ankle biters.
I hate having to do this. ... I feel worse for the loggers than the cutters in those messes.
Owl
Nice to see you 'round.I guess Muffin Top would be better than Done Lap lol
Unless its under a lot of tension, where an alternative might be developed (top back using standing trees as defense) then 1. he has a lot of cutting to do and its finished from the ground, and 2. its not that big of a deal, stump flops up and stem drops to ground, not that exciting, typical circular bucking cut. If I'm concerned about the rootwad on steep ground, I'll butt it off further down the stem so the wasted butt will prop the root wad from rolling. Remember when 2dogs said he got rolled over on day? don't want that! If its real sketchy I do a locking cut and hope it breaks free for the loggers. Worse than that, I walk away. best last case scenario to never forget is an option.I hate having to do this. This is what I do. Tape it off from a good start at the stump. Then I cut the logs off from the top down to get rid of some of the problem/wait. If you think a chair is bad in a normal way, it's spooky as hell on the ground. Things will break, roll, twist, and plain ole be in a bad way all at once, usually a few going at the same time, in opposite directions. A standing chair you have some idea of what is going to happen, on the ground you have the immovable ground in the mix now. If you can break it down before you get to the stump a lot of weight is gone and less apt to go wild and with less force. When that wind came through on '07, there was a lot of this happening down way of the coast. Don't forget stuff on the ground when it gets to moving will chase you, depending on the ground, it may chase you for a long time. Be for sure you have more than one place to go when things get to happening, they seem to happen faster when your working this nightmare.
A couple tricks. If you can drop something(big) behind the root ball, helps keep it from having so far to go. Drop something on each side, helps keep the rolling to a minimum, buck all that stuff up first.. Kind of crib it up. If nothing else it will give you a possibly better place to stand when the inevitable comes and you have to make your cut at the stump. If you have to, short log the butt section, take the wait off the top and if you short log it sometimes it will stand up a tall stump you can cut normal. Short logs be darned if it makes it better and safer.
I don't know if this helps anyone. I do know at the end of the day you will wish you was still a drinker sometimes though, and you will flat whipped. One good thing though, it's already a pile of pick-up sticks, so what you do won't make it much if any worse. I feel worse for the loggers than the cutters in those messes.
Owl
we have some sandy ground but its not usualy steep. some here will slab but if that happens you didn't start right. poplar will bust wile bucking if a guy don't know what hes doin but generaly ya just ruined a log.Bob the eastern hardwoods I have delt with are a lot different. They usually have a fairly wide canopy that stops them from rolling and the steeper ground tends to be sheltered from the wind. The ground is also almost always a clay base they the football is firmly imbedded in. The root ball just does not tend to turn loose sideways and roll down hill as much as it does in the loose sandy soils.
The trees simply aren't as big on average and don't have the size and weight to them.
That stand of prime hardwood had an average dbh of about thirty inches and was exceptional because we could get two clean sixteen foot logs out of most of the trees. There where a few that had been skipped over in the last harvest about sixty inches dbh.
They don't split and rail and slab out like west coast trees do but they make vicious spring poles and mouse traps because they are more flexible and spring like.
cut the logs off from the top down to get rid of some of the problem/wait.
So will your west coast softwood slab off if you cut in till the bind then finish from the opposite direction? In a bucking cut.
So will your west coast softwood slab off if you cut in till the bind then finish from the opposite direction? In a bucking cut.
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