Wedges Who Uses them and whats your technique

Usually I use a truck and a rigging rope. But I am curious how many of you use felling wedges when dropping a tree. And how do you go about using them.

Currently I can drop trees in the direction they wish to fall. But that isnt going to last forever. any advice?

I normally can make nearly any tree fall where I want it, with or without using wedges.
When using wedges, I make the face cut first, then I start the back cut, and I put a wedge in there to keep the tree from falling back on it and pinching the saw, which frustrates me beyond belief. works wonders on leaners.

stevenb said:

Currently I can drop trees in the direction they wish to fall. But that isnt going to last forever.

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And why is that?

When felling start them in the backcut . When setback occurs drive them in to keep the kerf open. When the back cut is complete drive the wedges to iniate the fall. When needed stack wedges to get more lift. Highly placed pull lines can do more than wedges but sometimes both are needed.When making a final low stumpcut a wedge in the kerf helps prevent bar pinch. When bucking logs a wedge on the compression side can hold the kerf open to complete the cut or be driven in to free a pinched saw when you miscalculate.

i teach and use the open face-bore cutting method. as soon as a wedge will fit in my back cut, i place at least one to protect the hinge. plastic wedges give amazing lift to back leaners and support to side leaners. marty

The few times I get to fall these day's: Yes!

I can drop them anywhere I want because there is virtually unlimited room on the lot right up until now. But, Now that they are framing my house its going to get harder to just look for the natural lean and cut away. I also have trees on a property line which a favoring falling in the neighbors yard, so I am running out of easy options.

I always carry them. If the tree's leaning right, then I'll not use them of course, but they're good for insurance, like Stumper said. If a tree is well balanced, I'll do my undercut, then the back cut, and as soon as a wedge will fit, I'll come in behind the bar, and get one in. Just to keept the tree from settling on my bar, becuause it always seems to want to. Plus, the wedge is then already there if the tree needs some encouraging to go over the right way. There's many other times I'll use wedges, to get a tree to balance, before I make any cuts, to stabilize a tree leaning perpendicular to the hinge, etc, so the bottome line is that wedges can save the day.

Jeff

In much the same way the others have stated, I use wedges routinely for both felling and bucking. I only use chains, ropes, and winch for felling leaners and problem situations.

I was taught that for any decent sized tree there are only two felling situations; those where you use wedges, and those where you wish you had.

These poplars (40 years) were all wedged. Just banged them in at 45degree angle at the undercut at the obstacle side (right)

28 meters poplars and 12 meters width to drop em. Branches near misses Left/Right a hedge and those fences/greenhouses

I dont quite get how you wedged them?

stevenb said:

I dont quite get how you wedged them?

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Ok try to make it clear in a drwnng.

That right row of trees had a backhang and on one side orientated branches over that fence. The left row stood up straight/back/lefthang with one side orientated branches above the bicycle path, they fell with help of a crane that tipped most of them.

BTW, i started young on getting teached how to use wedges

stevenb said:

Usually I use a truck and a rigging rope. But I am curious how many of you use felling wedges when dropping a tree. And how do you go about using them.

Currently I can drop trees in the direction they wish to fall. But that isnt going to last forever. any advice?

Click to expand...

Wedges are great when used the right way, can induce lean, hold open cuts when bucking wood on the ground, great for holding a stump up when making a flush cut at the base also. A word of caution about pulling trees with rope and trucks, the truck will almost always pull harder than the rope is rated and you run the risk of snapping a line someday, usually when you do not want it to happen. Be careful.

Dadatwins said:

...A word of caution about pulling trees with rope and trucks, the truck will almost always pull harder than the rope is rated and you run the risk of snapping a line someday, usually when you do not want it to happen. Be careful.

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And when that line snaps, very unpredictable and dangerous things can happen.

Oh the rope I have wont snap. Its a rigging rope rated for something totally ridiculous. The 150 feet of it cost something close to 3 bills.

I am waiting for my new Husqvarna chain saw this week, I bulldozed my lot today and it looks like the trees have a pretty predictable lean. But a couple I am going to wedge.

So about wedges, do you place 2 in a back cut or one? And I assume you withdraw and shut off the saw during the wedging process correct?

stevenb said:

...So about wedges, do you place 2 in a back cut or one? And I assume you withdraw and shut off the saw during the wedging process correct?

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Two wedges can be easier to work with because as you drive one in, it frees up the other, but I find one is often sufficient for routine felling.

No need to remove the saw to put the wedge in. Just set the brake and let it idle for the short time it takes to drive the wedge. Just have your wedges and maul/axe ready before you begin your felling cuts.

This forum is about the best one I have joined in a while. Lots of good info for an 8 year chainsaw noob like myself.

If you really want to learn about felling, pick up a copy of "Professional Timber Felling" by D. Douglas Dent. Available from Bailey's, Part Number 17309, for $14.95. It was published in 1974, so it's a little dated, but has a ton of good info you won't find anywhere else.

Thanks Dude. I will check out that book.

I cleared a lot of prickers today in anticipation of the new chain saw coming. My property used to be a hay pasture which noone took care of for 20 years, it was so overgrown with prickers and poison ivy it was horrible.

We are cutting down all the undesirable or unsavable trees, some are very painful to cut down because they are so rare where we live. The lot has a lot of cherry trees, but the vines overtook these monsters.

I used two twelve inch wedges and some black tape to put a splint on the broken forearm of my cutting partner. An old broken one is a door stop on my mule trailer. But mainly I use them on trees.

John