Advice on felling some pines...

[BlueRidgeMark]

that's inaccurate, you want the holding wood to stay attached as long as possible,

???? I know that, so I dunno what I was thinking, or what he was saying. Maybe just that the holding wood is holding, until the wedges drive the tree over.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

I'm gonna pick on you now, so brace yourself coz it's gonna be straight talk.

Straight talk is good! That's what I like! Blast away! I do have some pics. I just didn't post them because I figured I had taken up enough bandwidth already. But you asked for it, so here they are, and let the criticism rip. BTW, I did the dirty deed with my John Deere (Efco) CS52, 20" bar.

Here's the cut (click on pics to see larger view):



Hesitation marks. It started to lean, and I backed out, then it stopped moving so I went back in. A bit sloppy, I know. Could have used a bit more bar, perhaps.


Here's a side view of the cut:



As you can see from this, the hinge wood was reasonably strong. (Please excuse that ugly thing off to the side there.)



And here's a good pic of the stump after the hanging log was removed. I just cut a bit of hinge wood and down it went.



I hope from that you can see how deep my notch was. I make it about 1/4. It worked, but was it optimal? Should I have gone shallower or deeper? I think it was good, but you tell me.

Also, when I made the upper notch cut, I didn't meet cleanly, so I had a dutchman to clean up. I DID clean it up - before AS I wouldn't have known to do that, so thank you all!


Final result: It went where I wanted it, and at no time did I feel anything was unsafe or out of control. I was surprised at how slowly it went down, and it did start sooner than I had expected.

What can I learn here?

 

[THALL10326]

Straight talk is good! That's what I like! Blast away! I do have some pics. I just didn't post them because I figured I had taken up enough bandwidth already. But you asked for it, so here they are, and let the criticism rip. BTW, I did the dirty deed with my John Deere (Efco) CS52, 20" bar.

Here's the cut (click on pics to see larger view):



Hesitation marks. It started to lean, and I backed out, then it stopped moving so I went back in. A bit sloppy, I know. Could have used a bit more bar, perhaps.


Here's a side view of the cut:



As you can see from this, the hinge wood was reasonably strong. (Please excuse that ugly thing off to the side there.)



And here's a good pic of the stump after the hanging log was removed. I just cut a bit of hinge wood and down it went.



I hope from that you can see how deep my notch was. I make it about 1/4. It worked, but was it optimal? Should I have gone shallower or deeper? I think it was good, but you tell me.

Also, when I made the upper notch cut, I didn't meet cleanly, so I had a dutchman to clean up. I DID clean it up - before AS I wouldn't have known to do that, so thank you all!


Final result: It went where I wanted it, and at no time did I feel anything was unsafe or out of control. I was surprised at how slowly it went down, and it did start sooner than I had expected.

What can I learn here?

You have learned one thing with that tree that I learned years ago. It hit the ground, did no damage to anything and thats the name of the game, job done. I doult the tree really gave a hoot in hell how well you cut it,lololololol

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Tom, we've got to teach you how to use the REPLY button, instead of always using the QUOTE button!

:hmm3grin2orange:

 

[THALL10326]

okkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

I do have a habit of that don't I. I always use the quote button to make sure the person I'm repling to knows I'm repling to them, ya know so ya know it's you I'm repling to, like now, who am I talking to, you thats who,lololololol. I'll try to do better, you can quote me on that,,:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[THALL10326]

Don't be too rough on Tom. It's how he sneaks content into his postings.

Yeah we know all about sneaks indeed..:hmm3grin2orange: :hmm3grin2orange:

 

[Husky372]

The holding wood the wedge is suppose to break is just that holding wood. Not hinge, holding wood. It is in the back of tree away from hinge. Also called a backstrap.

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Ah! Yes, that clears it up. Thanks.


Always important to use the correct terms, otherwise confusion reigns!

 

[Ekka]

OK

I have noted some areas where you can improve and make your job a little easier and safer.

I paid money to have this type of critical analysis in front of a class.

Practice doesn't make perfect you know, perfect practice makes perfect otherwise you are just reinforcing bad habits and settling for less.

I know that there's gonna be guys who say, WTF, it fell where I wanted it to so it'll do ... but do you want to settle for near enough is good enough or do you want to eventually be close to perfect every time without thinking about it?

Yes the notch could have been a little deeper but what I'm looking at here is some simple improvements. If in your minds eye you know exactly what to expect then sure as eggs your cuts will follow. Relief cuts are a good idea on pines. Also your bar may have been short due to the bumper spikes etc.

If you are unsure of how to fell trees larger in dia than the length of the bar then there's a few techniques.

The tongue and groove
The 1/4 cut
The bore in and go round. as shown here www.palmtreeservices.com.au/video/lightingtip.wmv
and www.palmtreeservices.com.au/video/bartoosmall.wmv

 

[farmboy53]

I use the wedge to keep the bar from getting pinched. Remember if the wind blows the wedge can fall out, as the tree starts forward out it comes only to have the wind bring the tree back with no wedge. If the tree has a back lean and the wedge falls out as described the saw gets pinched, the hinge breaks and major damage may occur. The wedge is no guarantee. If the tree has a back lean and you attempt to use a wedge to lift, while pounding you can break the hinge.