20 or so of those high stumps eventually add up to a log & makes getting around a lot harder.
Doug fir ( which looks like he was cutting )in my experience does not cut well flush to the ground ,fibers are real tight ,up a foot or 2 it cuts real easy though so you will see most guys cut them high ,if removing the stumps after ,the high stump gives the operator pulling them some leverage also ,I have cut a few stumps flush after the tree was fell for firewood ,wood splitter would barely split them for firewood ,my axe would just bounce off too trying to split them .
All I know is I'd rather the $ in my pocket , probably 10% or more just by getting them as low as possible, the butt of the log is where the volume is.
Not always, even cutting stuff low especially fir or cedar they have a nasty habit of flaring which will get you deducted for that high grade log as well as size being an issue for exports.
In the stuff you are cutting i can see why the stump is cut low ,the useable logs are shorter ,but does a conventional face cut devalue the log at all ? I know here they want then flat across the stump like a humboldt face cut gives you .
