?? Humboldt Notch ?? Does anyone know how to make this?

Arborist Forum

Help Support Arborist Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Greenstar

ArboristSite Operative
Joined
Mar 3, 2008
Messages
205
Reaction score
7
Location
Watertown/Boston, MA
What is a humboldt notch, and how do I make one, and use it?

I have looked everywhere and cannot find any data, diagrams, or video describing this felling cut. A friend of mine out west (in Boulder, Colorado) was shown it two years ago and talks about it all the time. He swears by it. He says it is the most accurate, and safest cut he uses all the time. But no matter how hard he tries to describe it, I cannot figure this out.

Is it really that great? :greenchainsaw:
 
Its a reverse conventional notch , where your top cut is straight and your bottom is angled up ....., why do you want to learn that you a logger...
 
Here in the land of the big Doug Firs... a Humboldt is pretty much all I use... I didn't even know there were different types of cuts other than the Humboldt until was about 18 y/o. Heck... I'm 41 now... yikes! :laugh:

Used mainly to get every inch of BF out of a tree... plus it helps with stump shot, when you wanna "jump the stump" depending on your lay... also when takin' down a 40"+ dbh tree... the notch slides right out... and in wood that big, that farkin' notch is heavy!

Gary
 
Last edited:
When dealing with very large wood, its useful because you can slide the piece off and gain some extra control towards your landing area.

Mainly though its for logging as others have stated
 
I've been doing them for years, sometimes.
But just learned what it was called lately from my buddies here. :cheers:
 
Oh, ok. I've been using it too..

Sorry, I thought it was something different. He was talking about something with some sort of "plunge cut" where he then cuts out i think..but definitely a plunge cut,. with great accuracy, even with counter leans.. etc.
 
In some timber you will get more saw log with a Humboldt, but not always. Around here the pine comes pretty much straight out of the ground with very little butt swell. With a conventional notch the horizontal cut and the backcut can both be as close to the ground as you dare cut and the wood is still good. There is just no way to make a Humb. that low.

I believe that (assuming you are using the same backcut method) no matter what face you use (if the depth is the same and they are clean cuts) that the tree will fall exactly the same with any notch.....until the face closes. And that is when you may or may not need one type of undercut over another.
 
I smell a bore cut discussion, but don't let that bore cut give you a concussion, there may be some fussin, don't mind the cussin.
 
A Humboldt does not include a "bore cut"...

You're prolly talkin' about a Coos Bay cut... which there are variations to that as well... which is a whole new ball game. If you're new to fallin' trees... just stick with a conventional face cut...

Trust me... you'll thank me later.

Gary
 
A Humboldt does not include a "bore cut"...

You're prolly talkin' about a Coos Bay cut... which there are variations to that as well... which is a whole new ball game. If you're new to fallin' trees... just stick with a conventional face cut...

Trust me... you'll thank me later.

Gary

I'm not new to falling trees. I am very good. Its like a science to me. I've been felling trees professionally for 13 years.

Lets start a Coos Bay discussion!
 
I'm not new to falling trees. I am very good. Its like a science to me. I've been felling trees professionally for 13 years.

Lets start a Coos Bay discussion!

Ive been practicing the Coos Bay for a while and getting good at it I think. Give me your opinions on my notch.


S9-SFO-13-day10Pic.jpg
 
whats a humboldt with a large kind of square taken out at the back of the face all about?? seen a few pics on large red woods being felled like this...
here in the uk all are felling is pretty much done using a conventional face or harvester!
 
whats a humboldt with a large kind of square taken out at the back of the face all about?? seen a few pics on large red woods being felled like this...
here in the uk all are felling is pretty much done using a conventional face or harvester!

I'm not a logger but my guess would be the square is cut out to use a hydraulic jack to jack the tree over. Got any pics?
 
its cut out of the face not in the rear if that makes sense,no pics im afraid theres plenty in high climbers and timber fallers though.
 
its cut out of the face not in the rear if that makes sense,no pics im afraid theres plenty in high climbers and timber fallers though.

that's the block out style humboldt.

used on old growth redwoods.

face is a gap (big) instead of in a pinch.
 
I use the humbolt sometimes when cutting tops.Seems like the butt comes off cleaner ,and more predictable,with the depth,and degree being decided by how I need the pc to land,ie; flat,flipwith butt landing away from trunk or spearing when drop zone is narrow.

Never use it on the ground though.
 
what do you call the notch made in the rear, ive seen some pics, it appears it's used to drop a tree on a house?
 

Latest posts

Back
Top