Homemade felling wedge idea?

[cedarman]

Hey guys,

I hear alot of talk about plastic felling wedges. they seem like a good idea for you dont want to hit a steel one with your chain but...

Why not make them yourself out of wood? Ive got a couple scrap 2x4's that i could cut into several nice wedges. they would be better than a steel one (dont want to mess your chain up) and basically free!

anybody tried this?

Oh by the way, my name is Ross and this is my first official post. I recently installed a woodstove in my garage and really didnt want to depend on buying wood so I bought a husqvarna 455 and started cutting some hardwoods myself. Now I'm hooked!!! I use my atv as a skidder, my father in laws splitter and a homemade choke chain and im set!!

wierd thing is, when i was very young I used to help my stepdad cut wood and hated every minute of it. Now theres nothing else I'd rather be doing.

:newbie:

 

[slowp]

Yes, there are some folks who have made their own. I believe they prefer to use oak.

I use plastic. The bright colors are cheery.

 

[gwiley]

The plastic wedges are very cheap at $4-10 depending on their length - they don't split and work well. Because they last longer you can carry fewer of them with you into the woods (I carry 4 when cutting b/c it is unacceptable to have to run back to the truck for a wedge with a try almost down).

If you really think it is worth while to make your own felling wedges I would use a hard wood - pine will probably just splinter and mushroom after one or two trees and I doubt it would work felling a large hardwood.

 

[ray benson]

I have made a few using oak pallets.

 

[Gologit]

I make a few wedges every winter...good rainy day project. I usually use oak or almond but any hardwood will probably be okay.

The nice thing about making your own is that you can make any size and taper that you need and they don't cost anything but your time.

I use plastic wedges, too, but the wooden ones get a lot of use.

 

[cedarman]

Thanks guys. I have a load of oak pallets that i use for kindling. I'll take a couple of oak 2x4's from them pallets and widdle me out 4 or 5.

thanks again!

 

[stihl sawing]

How do you guys make them so they don't bust up, The last ones i made out of oak and i busted all of them up hitting with a small hand sledge. They would take about five hits and that was it. They were fine for bucking where i just had to tap them in the log to keep the kerf from pinching the saw, But for felling where i would hit them pretty hard they would bust.

 

[cedarman]

that was a question I had in the back of my mind? I figured a softwood like pine wouldn't be as brittle as oak. I dont know....... No need to:deadhorse:

I'll make a couple of each and find our the hardway

 

[Gologit]

How do you guys make them so they don't bust up, The last ones i made out of oak and i busted all of them up hitting with a small hand sledge. They would take about five hits and that was it. They were fine for bucking where i just had to tap them in the log to keep the kerf from pinching the saw, But for felling where i would hit them pretty hard they would bust.

Hmmmmm...manufacturing flaw? Application error? :greenchainsaw: LOLOL...there's a reason why they make and sell all those plastic wedges.

Try hitting them real square. It's easy to be off your mark when wedging and you're standing at kind of an awkward angle anyway. A wooden wedge won't take much side load, even oak. I've found that if they're too long and thin, with too much gradual taper, they'll bust up pretty quick. Try some stubby ones but watch out if you're using them in the back cut. On small trees they'll give you a lot of lift in a hurry...sometimes too much. On bigger stuff they're good to steer with, though.

 

[southbound]

Make sure you have the grain going the right way too....

 

[stihl sawing]

Hmmmmm...manufacturing flaw? Application error? :greenchainsaw: LOLOL...there's a reason why they make and sell all those plastic wedges.

Try hitting them real square. It's easy to be off your mark when wedging and you're standing at kind of an awkward angle anyway. A wooden wedge won't take much side load, even oak. I've found that if they're too long and thin, with too much gradual taper, they'll bust up pretty quick. Try some stubby ones but watch out if you're using them in the back cut. On small trees they'll give you a lot of lift in a hurry...sometimes too much. On bigger stuff they're good to steer with, though.

LOL, yeah they may not have been hit square every time. Also they may have been too thin, i thought about that when i was smackin em. I did have one pretty thick but couldn't get it started, Kept bouncing out. Not enough taper i guess. I hear ya on lifting smaller trees too quick. Some good advice i never thought of. Thanks

 

[Ductape]

How do you guys make them so they don't bust up,

Don't hit them?

 

[stihl sawing]

Make sure you have the grain going the right way too....

Yeah i did that.

Don't hit them?

LOL, That would definitely work.

 

[John Ellison]

I like the plastic ones. I've got this mental image of me hurriedly grabing a splintery wooden wedge out of my back pocket and........

 

[riesenbr549]

We make em outa willow wood . That stuff is tough!! made some extra planks for the outriggers on the bucket truck also . been usin em for over a year still holding up! The plastic wedges are great when you can find one they seem to walk off like the bar wrenches. i had 2 put a rope on the wrench we keep on the back of the bucket truck . so far it hasent walked off yet . lol

 

[Gologit]

I like the plastic ones. I've got this mental image of me hurriedly grabing a splintery wooden wedge out of my back pocket and........

That happens. I don't worry about the splinters in my "pocket area" too much but I sure hate it when one gets rammed under my fingernail.

Like I said, there's a reason why most folks use plastic wedges. I just kinda like to mess around and make stuff like that. Keeps me in the shop and out of trouble.

One good thing about wooden wedges is that if you lose one in the woods and somebody like Slowp finds it, you don't get busted for leaving trash in your strip.

 

[Jon E]

Elm. Cut on the bandsaw, leave 'em rough, they get a grip on the tree that way. You break, mushroom, cut, or split them - leave them in the woods. Hickory or hornbeam works well too. I save straight pieces for such a use. Plastic wedges cost money, but I have a few just in case.

 

[steveb76]

Hey guys,

I recently installed a woodstove in my garage and really didnt want to depend on buying wood so I bought a husqvarna 455 and started cutting some hardwoods myself. Now I'm hooked!!!

Same story here, down to the same saw.......weird....lol

 

[unclemoustache]

Why use plastic or wood? I use steel. Lasts longer than either.

(but they don't seem to work very well for some reason.)

 

[Nosmo]

Table Saw

I use southern yellow pine 2 x 4 . I have a jig I use on my table saw to cut the wedges. Some of them can be used a second time.

The good thing is they work, cost very little to make and being wooden they don't hurt the tree. hah

Nosmo