A Felling Question

[rwoods]

Someone go to home Depot and buy a closet rod and get to work with a hack saw.

Mike, the problem with that is scale, dry wood and no butt flare or fibers. I believe scale would be the biggest issue and lack of an appropriate cutting edge. On a 32 to 1 scale, the kerf would be about the thickness of 3 sheets of ordinary 20# copy paper.

I have sent you a scale saw in the post, it's an Armstrong brand, don't forget to burp & fart before starting it to decompress the power unit.
Thansk

Are you sure Jon can start it? He says his wife starts his other saws for him.

Ron

 

[bitzer]

I had already put in a standard dutchman when this happened. I could see the stem lean was about 90 from the intended lay, but with the tight canopy I couldn't see the top. It leaned back. So I threw in a couple more kerfs in the face and nipped a little from the front. She came right around. I tried to get a pic of it opening up, but I couldn't get my phone out fast enough. Don't worry I had an eye on the top. Its funny how oppertunity knocks. I probably haven't used these cuts in a year or more. Now twice in a week.

Sat tight.

Sittn tight back. View to the lay.


Laid out.


Stump shot


Basswood is soft so there would be marks if I cheated.

 

[bitzer]

Curious. Is something like red oak more difficult to turn because the fibers separate so easily? Or is it easier than something that holds together like elm?

Red oak is funny. Some hold better than others. I often have to do things differently with it to get them to swing. Elm will stay on the stump all day if you let it. Long fibers there.

 

[bitzer]

This may be the biggest harwood I have cut to date. Its a Sugar Maple, and if memory is serving correctly it was 48 at chest height, I was gonna say breast height, but I didn't want to make anybody think that I was a tit. That was my claim to fame and 15 minutes of it!
JohnView attachment 432033View attachment 432034

Nice maple John! Is that a lake in the background?

 

[weedkilla]

I had already put in a standard dutchman when this happened. I could see the stem lean was about 90 from the intended lay, but with the tight canopy I couldn't see the top. It leaned back. So I threw in a couple more kerfs in the face and nipped a little from the front. She came right around. I tried to get a pic of it opening up, but I couldn't get my phone out fast enough. Don't worry I had an eye on the top. Its funny how oppertunity knocks. I probably haven't used these cuts in a year or more. Now twice in a week.

Sat tight.
View attachment 432184
Sittn tight back. View to the lay.
View attachment 432171

Laid out.
View attachment 432176

Stump shot
View attachment 432180

Basswood is soft so there would be marks if I cheated.

View attachment 432183

Whatever way this thread goes from here - that's some nice cutting.
Getting it to move when it has set back is hard enough, but having all the next cuts right so it keeps moving is harder again. Well judged and well executed.

Honestly, I doubt I could make that cut in a repeatable fashion. It's also probably my 4th choice to get my backside out of that sort of problem, so here's to hoping I don't have the reason to find out anytime soon!

 

[pdqdl]

... when an over cut is made they pinch & stuff the bar real good real quick.
Thansk

I never heard that expression. What does one do when you "pinch & stuff the bar real good"?

 

[weedkilla]

I never heard that expression. What does one do when you "pinch & stuff the bar real good"?

Swear.

 

[pdqdl]

Ok. Got me there.

What has one done when your bar has been "pinched and stuffed"?

I think I know pinched. Not so sure about stuffed.

 

[weedkilla]

Stuffed, knackered, rooted, buggered, no bloody good anymore.

Rails pinched closed (at best), twisted beyond repair (at worst).

 

[Bwildered]

Mike, the problem with that is scale, dry wood and no butt flare or fibers. I believe scale would be the biggest issue and lack of an appropriate cutting edge. On a 32 to 1 scale, the kerf would be about the thickness of 3 sheets of ordinary 20# copy paper.



Are you sure Jon can start it? He says his wife starts his other saws for him.

Ron

You have delegated the test already we see! LOL
Thansk

 

[Bwildered]

Stuffed, knackered, rooted, buggered, no bloody good anymore.

Rails pinched closed (at best), twisted beyond repair (at worst).

And for us that's another $110 stihl bar gonski, 3 slabs worth, enough to make a grown man cry.
Slab = carton of beer
Thansk

 

[rwoods]

You have delegated the test already we see! LOL
Thansk

Had to - I am not skilled enough to make such precise cuts. Only chance I would have is if we scaled up the project to give me a larger margin of error. Even then I would need, of course, a big saw and a long bar with a stinger and bitzer on one end or the other. Ron

 

[Bwildered]

Had to - I am not skilled enough to make such precise cuts. Only chance I would have is if we scaled up the project to give me a larger margin of error. Even then I would need, of course, a big saw and a long bar with a stinger and bitzer on one end or the other. Ron

The thing with doing a small scale test is the worst thing that can happen could be a nasty paper cut & we've heard how serious they are for some! LOL imagine a real injury from going full scale, scary!
Thansk

 

[Moparmyway]

The thing with doing a small scale test is .............

20 tons is not 20oz.
It could never be a realistic test

 

[Bwildered]

I'm wondering how much you could twist a rubber tree?

1.5 turns but then when they hit the ground the bounce back upright & you have to fall them again. LOL. Not quite as quick to bounce as a rubber cheque.
Thansk

 

[Bwildered]

20 tons is not 20oz.
It could never be a realistic test

It actually is proportional, the only difference is with a small scale you can't get the thin sapwood layer around the truewood & sapwood is the strongest part of the tree in HWDs, I don't know about SWDs, if you use a sapling it's all sapwood & if you use a broomstick it's all heartwood & seasoned which is stronger than unseasoned heartwood.
The centre of gravity never changes with the lean & the direction it goes when the fibres are cut a true representation of the physics involved. That's why it's such a good cheap safe tool to experiment with, used in engineering & design world wide in this day & age.
Thansk

 

[Gologit]

That's why it's such a good cheap tool to experiment with, used in engineering & design world wide in this day & age.
Thansk

Not in my neighborhood, even in this day & age.

 

[Bwildered]

Not in my neighborhood, even in this day & age.

The simplest things are often the hardest, like the first step of a journey into another age.
Thansk

 

[bitzer]

The simplest things are often the hardest, like the first step of a journey into another age.
Thansk

You get that off a cat poster? Ok so with your broom theory, the wood doesn't need to be strong it needs to bend and the fibers need to stretch. Red oak is very strong, but the fibers usually break easily. Basswood on the other hand is not very strong, but bends really well. Dead dry wood doesn't bend or stretch very well at all. Also there is no momentum to initiate movement in your broom scenario, no top weight. The entire experiment you describe would be like making a matchbox car jump off a ramp and prentending that it simulates a real life scenario. If you are too afraid to try it on a little tree say 10" dbh or so, then make a video of your broom handle experiment. It seems simple enough right?

 

[Gypo Logger]

No, not a lake. It was the timber I wouldnt get if the tree went into the field. Lol
I couldn't lift it enough with wedges so I refelled it to go parallel with the fence,hence the butchered butt.
It scaled over 1000' on the doyle, but was only a sawlog because it was all heartwood.

Nice maple John! Is that a lake in the background?