Tree fall study - lesson 2

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Joe Kuhn

Hobby Repairman
Joined
May 17, 2020
Messages
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Location
Illinois, USA
Fell my first tree the other day. Listed it in the homeowner's section.

Today the Township was doing their yearly cull, so I watched with interest as they took down a tree right outside my house.

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The guy in the basket would make a short cut on the fall side of the bigger branches, then cut from the other side downward towards where he wanted it to fall. Most times he would finish the fall with a push from his hand. He did that over and over again. He would carefully wait for the crew to pull branches away to chip 'em up. Everybody was aware and watching out for each other.

When he did the trunk in the picture, he didn't do a notch at all. He cut from the South side of the tree (left in pic) and when he had gone far enough they put two wedges in his cut opposite the fall. Hammered them in good and then finished the cut. Right at the end 2 guys pushed on the trunk from the South side. This trunk didn't fall to the North. It fell to the East, probably because of the branch stubs on that side. Oops. Nobody was hurt. It fell towards the guy with the yellow vest, but he and the truck had been moved by then.

No wedge cuts all day.

Here he is finishing one of his bigger branch cuts on a different tree.



The crew would tie a line around the biggest pieces, drag them over to the chipper and up and in, sometimes reconnecting the far end of the log and pulling it the rest of the way in.

Here he is dropping that last big piece. Right after I stopped taping, the one guy pushed on the trunk and it fell towards the street. Again, notice the angle of the cut towards the fall.



The method seems to work for these guys. Thoughts?
 
I think you will recognize the technique you describe if you search youtube for "arborist snap cut". Plenty of videos for that.
I appreciate your note since I'm so new at this. Many have been helpful here even though I'm such a raw beginner. For that, I'm grateful. I like to learn new stuff. The hinge concept and all it's varieties is brilliant. Would love to find a summary of the different variations and when each one is appropriate.

I have worked on homeowner saws in my small engine repair hobby and I will say I'm not impressed with these guy's saws. They must have pulled on one 50 times before they got it to start. If they come back to my neighborhood today, perhaps I'll ask them about it...I think I hear them now.
 
I don't do arborist work. I don't know anything about an arborist snap cut. I call that a slash cut and don't do it whenever directional falling is important.

I'm not very qualified

I notch and back-cut everything, often even when bucking so I can control the fall or drop of the tree. Did it just yesterday on a dead hanger/blowdown that needed to miss a gas meter.

Anyway, you'll be far safer learning how to notch and backcut properly than cutting anything like that guy did.

Find the "worksafebc" videos. They are a decent tutorial on proper cutting techniques. Safe, accepted practices.

That guy will teach you nothing.

Ps, there are no shortcuts with trees.
 
That fellow could very well be quite experienced. You don't get that way by taking shortcuts. And he made a mistake by losing control of his tree. If he's any good, he will never do that again. Or he will carry on until somebody gets hurt, or the close call is so scary that he scares himself, or somebody tunes him in.

Anyway, it's great that you are paying attention to what you see!
 
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