wedges

[VTclimber]

Not an injury to me, but to one of my co-irkers. He was teaching a chainsaw course to some newbs and was driving a wedge in his backcut. The wedge flew back out at him and hit him square in the face between his eyes. 20 stitches. An inch or so in any direction and he'd have eye, nose, or tooth injuries. Its pretty gnarly looking, but my real reason for posting is to find out how common this is. I've never seen a wedge fly out of a cut like this must have to cause such an injury. Does anyone have experience with something like this happening?

 

[A100HVA]

he struck the wedge too hard and it bounced back out of the cut in tree.
don't hit it so hard it will work better.

 

[VTclimber]

it would seem to me that there would need to be more force involved than just oddly striking the wedge. his face is pretty messed up.

 

[Wismer]

Use WINTER wedges with the cleats on them, it should help a bit

 

[clearance]

Hit him between the eyes??? WTF? Where was the backcut, at face hieght I guess, whatever, stand with your head above the wedge, and if you are hitting it with an axe, you will be standing to one side, where you should be anyways. And this guy was teaching people, great.

 

[VTclimber]

yeah well no one ever said he "should" have been teaching. its kinda a long story as to why he was. I'm not really sure of the exact situation, since I wasn't there. Just trying to get a feel for how common something like this is. thanks all!

 

[tawilson]

The question was has anybody have any experience with the wedge flying out of the backcut. I've wondered about this myself. Apparently no one has ever seen it happen?

 

[clearance]

The question was has anybody have any experience with the wedge flying out of the backcut. I've wondered about this myself. Apparently no one has ever seen it happen?

Yes I have seen it, a few times, that is why you don't stand there looking right at it, just like you don't look right down on your bar when you are bucking.

 

[tawilson]

Yes I have seen it, a few times, that is why you don't stand there looking right at it, just like you don't look right down on your bar when you are bucking.

Did it happen when the wedge was being hit, or did it just squirt backwards by itself?

 

[clearance]

Did it happen when the wedge was being hit, or did it just squirt backwards by itself?

Hitting it, often happens when you stack wedges as well.

 

[tawilson]

I'm just wondering what the chances are of having one pop out when wedging a tree over and having the tree come back and doing crazy things. I've never had it happen to me, but I have thought about it.

 

[clearance]

Its a good idea to use two wedges, hit them one after the other. You need to have three wedges always, at least three. If you have to stack, one will hold while you put the others together.

 

[tawilson]

Its a good idea to use two wedges, hit them one after the other. You need to have three wedges always, at least three. If you have to stack, one will hold while you put the others together.

Good advice, thanks.

 

[FSburt]

Dangerous Wedges

I have been hit once on the chin with a piece of a wedge that flew back and hit me in the chin. At the time I didnt think I was cut that bad so I went back to cutting and while bucking blood dripped down on my saw so I went back to the truck to see how bad it was and it had tore open my chin. I bandaged it up and went back to work and now have a scar for my decision not to get it stiched up. Oh well its not like my mug is going to be on TV or anything. MY mistake was not hitting my wedges sqaurely, I had hit them at kinda downward/side angle and it snapped the wedge in half and it flew back and hit me. Another close call was with Hard Head wedges. One of my coworkers was working up a backleaning tree and was hitting on a wedge pretty solidly but he was not hittting it square and bling the whole metal piece broke and shot back towards me and missed my head by a good 5 ft. Luckily I was standing off to the side or else Iwould have been pretty f%**($#up because I would have been hit square in the face. Pretty sketchy stuff. The main reason I see cutters have issues with wedges if not hitting them squarely and starting a set of doubles way too soon. I will not start a set of doubles until I have a set of singles almost all the way buried so the kerf is opened up quite a bit. Using some K&H single taper are good wedges to work as doubles because they have a slim taper and mate well to get into a kerf.

 

[clearance]

The main reason I see cutters have issues with wedges if not hitting them squarely and starting a set of doubles way too soon. I will not start a set of doubles until I have a set of singles almost all the way buried so the kerf is opened up quite a bit. Using some K&H single taper are good wedges to work as doubles because they have a slim taper and mate well to get into a kerf.

Very good point.

 

[smokechase II]

wedges getting revenge

One thing I've heard is that cutting with 58 or 63 gauge is better because the slightly wider kerf is so much easier to work with wedging.

Starting your wedge as soon as you can, prior to any set-back is obvious.

I hate to say this, but the boring back-cut, aka open face Scandinavian stuff, can have an advantage here. On a back leaner bore near the hinge and cut toward the rear - SOP, establish your insurance wedges snuggly by the hinge, (don't drive them hard there or you'll get the pop out or damage the hinge), prior to finishing the rear cuts if space allows. The reason this can be of value is that you stop any set-back and can get your wedges started with a kerf that is high enough to accept a wedge.

Back cuts prior to face cuts, generally, will not settle as fast on most trees as a standard back cut after the face. Clearance was pointing out their advantage recently.

Wedges that don't angle as sharply are easier to start. Maybe you should carry a couple different types of wedges. First with the flat one, even though it will not work on a smaller tree.

The points about wedges side by side, working as a team and sure stikes are important.

 

[smokechase II]

wedging stuff again

There is a point when you're starting a wedge and it just feels too tight and that you are about to get it to pop out or maybe even break it.

1) Stop,
2) New plan.

If you're in that situation consider putting your bar part way back in the back cut kerf and cutting out. Put a gentle angled pressure on the bar to slightly widen the kerf. Have the bar cutting at a non-kickback angle.
Think about which side you do this on. DO NOT widen the entire back cut kerf if you will just get your bar pinched etc.

Now get a wedge going and lifting there. Then back to an unwidened portion of the back cut kerf for the next wedge and you are where you should be.

Practice this on a short tree or stump where your focus on what you're learning will not interfere with awareness of the world above you.

 

[treebogan]

Stacking wedges

I've had wedges pop out of back cut many times,somtimes straight into my shin!When I feel like I need some extra jacking power,I'll have one wedge started,then perhaps at the "six o'clock" from the Scarf (face cut) bore intowards the Scarf,under my backcut a couple of inches under the back cut.Place a wedge in the bottom cut,another in the back cut and drive both together.This has the effect of three wedges in hight as the wood above the bottom wedge pops up and you really get some jacking power.I am felling some large Spruce today and will try and post some photos.Can anyone tell me how to do this as this site always tells me my photos are too large.

 

[tawilson]

This link will take you to Windows Powertoys download page. The image resizer lets you right click on an image and make a copy resized to whatever you want. 640X480 works good for me. There's some other neat programs there too.
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/xppowertoys.mspx

 

[Gologit]

I'm just wondering what the chances are of having one pop out when wedging a tree over and having the tree come back and doing crazy things. I've never had it happen to me, but I have thought about it.

It can happen. FS Burt made a good point about starting a wedge too soon but you can also start, or try to start, way too late. If you wait too late you'll have to beat the hell out of the wedge and that's when accidents happen. Most of the wedge accidents I've seen (and had happen to me) were because of hitting the wedge too hard and not hitting it squarely. And if a wedge ever spits out of the back-cut and that tree starts to move...well, just get out of there. Quick.