Another Bore Cut?

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One more:

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I'm going to have to print these out, laminate them, and take them with me to buck logs. This seems quite complicated.
 
madhatte said:
Learn to "wheel". It's all of those at once without the complicated diagrams. Really what they're all saying is to feel where the tension is first, then release it, slowly and deliberately, so that you are away from it when it moves.
Click to expand...

Cool, thanks. I'll look up wheel. I really didn't feel like remembering all those crazy cuts.
 
I've never seen a written description. It's the sort of thing you have to see done once, then try a couple of times, and then it's second nature. Just feel for where the bar starts to pinch, then move to the other side, and go back and forth until the kerf opens up and you can clearly see where the movement is going to be. Hopefully somebody knows where a video is. I can't think of a good one. Also, whenever possible, work a tree from the small end to the large end, releasing tension on the little stuff that will move most quickly as you go. That way, when you get to the big slow stuff, there won't be any surprises outside of your attention. This is terrible advice for production bucking, where scale is everything, but will serve you well for non-production cutting and storm cleanup applications.
 
madhatte said:
I've never seen a written description. It's the sort of thing you have to see done once, then try a couple of times, and then it's second nature. Just feel for where the bar starts to pinch, then move to the other side, and go back and forth until the kerf opens up and you can clearly see where the movement is going to be. Hopefully somebody knows where a video is. I can't think of a good one. Also, whenever possible, work a tree from the small end to the large end, releasing tension on the little stuff that will move most quickly as you go. That way, when you get to the big slow stuff, there won't be any surprises outside of your attention. This is terrible advice for production bucking, where scale is everything, but will serve you well for non-production cutting and storm cleanup applications.
Click to expand...

I think I get what you're saying. I've bucked trees before, didn't know what I was doing was called bucking. Had a few pinched bars so I'm trying to educate myself now since I'll be cutting wood on a hopefully regular basis with the coming of my new fireplace insert. I've seen and felt the kerf closing but I just started a sawing motion which I just read was another error in my technique. A wedge would probably solve the majority of my pinched bar scenarios and correctly figuring out the compression side should solve the rest.
 
just like every other subject, cutting is one of those "don't know what you don't know".
I had researched the coos bay triangle last year as I have a very large leaner to take down for my neighbor. I'm happy to hear that those with more experience than me recommend it.
Another, I had a single wedge in my saw box that I used only for felling for years. Now I have 5ish and always have at least one in my back pocket when bucking.
Oh, almost forgot, there's that whole PPE thing...
 
Ambull01 said:
This would seem to be rare to me though. After all, you've already done the face cut according to the pic. You would have known the tree was rotted from that unless it's only decayed on the opposite side.
Click to expand...

I have had ONE tree that had a solid face but a hollow back cut. It was of greater diameter than my bar length, and I was going to have to "ring" the back cut. As soon as I plunged in, stumpwater sprayed out. I ringed it in a hurry and all went well. Spooky, though.
 
Ambull01 you're headed down the right trail and getting great info. A couple of things that may help or not just passing along. Timber cutting and wood cutting can be very different animals with their own ways of safely getting the job done. Timber has to be fallen, topped and bucked maybe 20 cuts +or- depending on size. A large oak may take hundreds of cuts each one a possible bind. Timber has a lay where the it needs to be fell. A big oak with some lean is going where it wants so best aim it there. Experienced guys automaticly adjust when going from one to the other. Another suggestion is use a routine, look up as you approach the tree, axe goes here, look up slowly circle looking for dead limbs, bears, lean, start saw, look up, look at the lay, put in face, look up, check escape, look up, clear the area, look up, start back cut, look up, install 2 wedges( trust me 2), look up, check area for idiots, look up, finish back cut watching kerf for movement then yell anything as long as its loud, look up while escaping and watch your masterpiece go over then you guessed it look up and thank the ole bullbuck upstairs that another one is safely on the ground. This is the wood cutter version, the timber version is the same up to finishing back cut to holding wood then beat the hell out of wedges, look up a lot, cuss a lot, look up some more then finish with excuse for why it missed the lay. Moral of the story LOOK UP. Routines will help you learn quicker and error less like training in sports practice for the game cause if you lose in this game it may be forever. Good Luck Ken
 
spindrift7mm said:
Ambull01 you're headed down the right trail and getting great info. A couple of things that may help or not just passing along. Timber cutting and wood cutting can be very different animals with their own ways of safely getting the job done. Timber has to be fallen, topped and bucked maybe 20 cuts +or- depending on size. A large oak may take hundreds of cuts each one a possible bind. Timber has a lay where the it needs to be fell. A big oak with some lean is going where it wants so best aim it there. Experienced guys automaticly adjust when going from one to the other. Another suggestion is use a routine, look up as you approach the tree, axe goes here, look up slowly circle looking for dead limbs, bears, lean, start saw, look up, look at the lay, put in face, look up, check escape, look up, clear the area, look up, start back cut, look up, install 2 wedges( trust me 2), look up, check area for idiots, look up, finish back cut watching kerf for movement then yell anything as long as its loud, look up while escaping and watch your masterpiece go over then you guessed it look up and thank the ole bullbuck upstairs that another one is safely on the ground. This is the wood cutter version, the timber version is the same up to finishing back cut to holding wood then beat the hell out of wedges, look up a lot, cuss a lot, look up some more then finish with excuse for why it missed the lay. Moral of the story LOOK UP. Routines will help you learn quicker and error less like training in sports practice for the game cause if you lose in this game it may be forever. Good Luck Ken
Click to expand...

Sounds like great advice, thanks. Normally I kind of hate routines but I'll make an exception for something that has the potential to kill me. Just finished watching all the BC Faller videos and they basically said the same thing, establish a checklist/routine. I cut down a few trees years ago, they were all small though. One actually fell right on my foot because I went from the back cut all the way to the face. Had no idea WTH I was doing. Luckily I wore my Kmart bought steel toe boots that day.

I'm amazed they let people like myself buy chainsaws.
 
There was another thread started awhile back with tons of diagrams for different cuts. I couldn't find it to link here. Maybe one of you better searchers can link it.
 
spindrift7mm said:
Ambull01 you're headed down the right trail and getting great info. A couple of things that may help or not just passing along. Timber cutting and wood cutting can be very different animals with their own ways of safely getting the job done. Timber has to be fallen, topped and bucked maybe 20 cuts +or- depending on size. A large oak may take hundreds of cuts each one a possible bind. Timber has a lay where the it needs to be fell. A big oak with some lean is going where it wants so best aim it there. Experienced guys automaticly adjust when going from one to the other. Another suggestion is use a routine, look up as you approach the tree, axe goes here, look up slowly circle looking for dead limbs, bears, lean, start saw, look up, look at the lay, put in face, look up, check escape, look up, clear the area, look up, start back cut, look up, install 2 wedges( trust me 2), look up, check area for idiots, look up, finish back cut watching kerf for movement then yell anything as long as its loud, look up while escaping and watch your masterpiece go over then you guessed it look up and thank the ole bullbuck upstairs that another one is safely on the ground. This is the wood cutter version, the timber version is the same up to finishing back cut to holding wood then beat the hell out of wedges, look up a lot, cuss a lot, look up some more then finish with excuse for why it missed the lay. Moral of the story LOOK UP. Routines will help you learn quicker and error less like training in sports practice for the game cause if you lose in this game it may be forever. Good Luck Ken
Click to expand...


Well said. Good advice. Except for that "excuse why it missed the lay" stuff. There's no excuse for missing. You know that. Except maybe wind. Or the lean. Or the other lean. Or all the other trees were leaning and the resulting optical illusion threw you off. Or internal defect that weighted the tree to one side. Or maybe a bird landed on the wrong branch just as it started to go. Low flying aircraft can create a prop wash that will move a tree sideways....everybody knows that. An earthquake could have happened. A bad breakfast and belching while cutting will move your cuts just enough for one to go sideways on you. New caulks will change your stance enough to dutch a face and miss the lead. Too much coffee will make you jittery and that shows up in your falling. Having to pee, and having to pee to the point where you're squirming around while backing one up that you don't dare quit on until it goes...well, that's just an absolute guarantee of crossing the lead. Dirt on your glasses, the wrong glasses, completely forgot to wear glasses, or "one of these days I gotta get glasses" are all valid reasons for mismatched cuts and a jackstrawed lead.
There's also the classic "I don't like the guy on the skidder and just thought I'd bust his balls a little".

These are all excuses I've heard from fallers...and a couple I've used myself...when things didn't quite go as planned. I didn't get any more sympathy when I used them than the other guys did. Gotta try, though.
 

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