Had to quit first logging job after fitting in perfectly. How should I proceed?

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The SE obsession with grade makes me nervous. I'll take the safety of a good hinge every time. Why put the waste on the log, anyway? Humboldts offer good directional control with very little waste.
the hinge don't hurt grade is what iv learned.......if it was done right and breaks off clean.

and i want my wedges in the back.
 
learn all you can about directionaly falling. Doesn"t matter if you use conventional or humboldt, just learn to aim the damn thing and hit what your aiming for, a tiny bit of fiber pull is nothing compared to breaking the last two logs or getting hung up in a leave tree or crossing the lay and screwing everything else up all day.

For the record I'm all about the humboldt... tall stumps are the norm around here anyway, and its not like you get paid for the root flare.

The GOL/SSD is all fine and good for folks that want to take their time and be as safe as possible, it does work... but if you know what your doing and have a saw that won't scoff at powering through the back cut, a normal face and back cut is by far faster than dicking about with boring waking around the tree, and nipping a strap...

this is a little different but illustrates my point.



enjoy
 
[QUOTE="matthew sparks, post: 4877080, member: 1230 I guess I need to make sure I explain how they bore cut here. I am not saying this is the right way of doing it but this is how they do it. They cut the notch in the direction they "think" the tree will fall and then plunge in 3 inches behind the notch and bore into the middle of the notch and then span the saw back toward the backside of the tree until they are a few inches away from the back. Then they plunge in the same way on the other side. Some start in the back, some in the front on the second side cut. They called it half moon cutting. Just a redneck term I am sure. Then when all but the two small side hinges are cut they go cut down the back to release the tree. The only adjustments I saw them make was they would leave additional wood on one side of one leaning to one direction.

I asked them one day about a wedge. They said they didn't use them so i made a mallet and and wedge out of a limb in order to have a wedge in my back pocket. That seems to be the way everyone does it around here though.[/QUOTE]


Seems like a time consuming, bizzare cut for sure, especially if there isnt much head lean or weight to the lead, but hey, I figured out a long time ago that regional differences are USUALLY done for a reason.
 
i guess i don't get how gol is safe.......you can't change any thing once youve bored it.

I may be wrong... (probably wrong) its supposed to give you time to set the hinge wood and alleviate the danger from a barber chair, it also allows you to pop that trigger strap and be ready to run, rather then sitting there making sure its going where you want it to. Not to mention allowing a guy to start stuffing wedges in there without the tree having any chance of sitting back... although if your worried about sit back the you should learn to start a wedge as soon as there is room anyway.

even in chair prone wood it only helps, I've had a few chair even when using it... not that I use it often... Coos is way quicker and probably just as "safe"
 
I guess I need to make sure I explain how they bore cut here. I am not saying this is the right way of doing it but this is how they do it. They cut the notch in the direction they "think" the tree will fall and then plunge in 3 inches behind the notch and bore into the middle of the notch and then span the saw back toward the backside of the tree until they are a few inches away from the back. Then they plunge in the same way on the other side. Some start in the back, some in the front on the second side cut. They called it half moon cutting. Just a redneck term I am sure. Then when all but the two small side hinges are cut they go cut down the back to release the tree. The only adjustments I saw them make was they would leave additional wood on one side of one leaning to one direction.

I asked them one day about a wedge. They said they didn't use them so i made a mallet and and wedge out of a limb in order to have a wedge in my back pocket. That seems to be the way everyone does it around here though.

Sounds like a painfully long drawn out process to me, not much room for control for terrain and easy skidding.
I get very little fiber pull on my humboldts and its much more efficient for me to make 3 cuts same side of tree.
You just gotta learn technique and what the tree will do and that comes from time in the trenches.
 
heavy leaner......chair prone, i gut it or block it. works for me..............if i bust one its because i didn't line up right. but that ain't happened in a long time.
 
I guess the GOL Is similar to what we use on a hard leaner. Face, bore behind hinge, backcut out toward the back of tree opposite of face. But I dont see the need on most trees.
 
Thanks so much guys. You guys are so much help. I remembered when questioning on this cutting style they said that it kept the wood from cracking and you don't have to use over a 20" bar and the two plunges were quicker than trying to cut the whole tree with a large bar.

Not saying any of that is correct. Its just what they told me.
 
Mike- gun from both sides at a point in the distance. Make sure gap of block at least 4-5 inches so you can get bar back in there vertically to cean it up if you have to. You don't want any bypassing cuts. Once the block is out its easy to clean up if you have too. Severing any fibers either top or bottom will screw it up. The grain can be an issue too.
 
yea i wind up cleaning it up most times on big sticks. i like to block on leaners..........cut several over size soft maple last week, yes they were solid. one was leaning hard.........blocked it and watched it turn 45 degrees without wedgeing and that hinge broke clean just as it hit the ground save for a strip that stayed on the butt.
 

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