The bore cutting rage/fad

[clearance]

well,,,obviously,,,with the bore cut method,,,you tree feller has the chance to look at the current surroundings and look out for the public,,,if the public is present at anytime of the felling process,,,proper safety measure should already been in place,,,if you are a professional,,,so,,,better chance with the public being safe in the bore cut method than the traditional method,,,as of always,,,,safety is number one

If you are falling around the public, you will have signs, cones etc. and groundsmen to keep people back. Thats is for thier safety, the cuts you make are for your safety, you have to pay total attention to what you are doing and have all concern for yourself, you are the only one. So, I am #1 when falling, thats the way it has to be. If you are looking around for idiots, you are not paying total attention to what you are doing, on top of making cuts which are more time consuming and difficult exposing you to more danger than if you were doing it "the old fashoined way". Look up, not around.

 

[smokechase II]

distracted faller is not safe

jrparbor04:

Clearance is right.
Falling is a serious job that requires concentration.

Any person in a business that requires skill and abilities can attest to how injury and fatality rates will go up with multi-tasking.

The faller cuts. The Groundies secure the work zone.

 

[BC_Logger]

again I agree with clearance 100 % the less time you spend at the stump = less the danger the faces

tradional cut and the bore cut has its places but its up to the faller experience and skill to decide on which method

 

[soutz]

all cuts are tools. you bring them out as the need arises.practise when you can. cuts should be as simple as you can make them keeping accuracy and safety in mind.none are better than others, they are tools for certain situations.experience with which tool to use is the key then being able to make the cut is the next step.

 

[Highclimber OR]

Pro Arborist. Its a Fad. Bore-cut almost never and most the time I see it used is totally unnecessary. If a bore-cut is your primary cut go back to felling 101. Hang a line if you are worried.

 

[joesawer]

Dents illustration is another small issue I have with the book. The hinge should not be cut off on the compression side of a side leaner. This allows the tree to set down on the kerf and move even more to the side. There should always be enough hinge left under the lean to hold the weight of the tree up. The side is often cut after the tree moves ahead and the weight is no longer on the hinge (something that can't be done with a bore cut).
The bore cut definitely has a place aloft in the canopy where heavy leaners are the norm. I like it much better than the "sacrificial saw" method that was advocated by someone here a while back. Proper felling technique is very critical when working aloft and your escape is very limited.
A bore and trip cut is needed when for some reason the back cut cannot be completed into a good hinge before the tree falls. For me this is because the tree is a heavy front leaner and the saw will not cut fast enough to keep up with the fall. If for some reason you cannot cut a good hinge, (lack of experience, capability, dull saw) you cannot make a good hinge then the bore and trip method would be safer.
A safe work zone is essential before any felling cuts are made. I was contracted to a company last summer who was reducing fuel loads for the FS. My job was falling all the dead trees over 10". The area was next to a horse stable and surrounded by houses. There was a lot of public usage from horses and hikers. I told them that they had to secure the area for me to fall trees in, they told my they handled it. A few hours later I had a near miss with a couple on horse back so I told them I was going home. The next day their safety officer met with me and was very upset that I had left early. He seemed to think that I should be able to fall and watch for the public. I told him that I would cut the trees but he had to stay and make sure that no one wandered into my work area. He agreed, but after two trees he stopped me and told me there was no way he could possibly secure the area as I cut trees. Now how am I supposed to make sure no one comes into the area as I am falling a tree if he can't when he has nothing else to do. They MUST be stopped before they come into the area. The area MUST BE SECURE. And the faller should not be the one who is responsible for this as his attention should be on his own immediate safety.

 

[John Ellison]

A bore and trip cut is needed when for some reason the back cut cannot be completed into a good hinge before the tree falls. For me this is because the tree is a heavy front leaner and the saw will not cut fast enough to keep up with the fall. If for some reason you cannot cut a good hinge, (lack of experience, capability, dull saw) you cannot make a good hinge then the bore and trip method would be safer.
.

I think you hit the nail on the head joesawer. As a single training method that would be safest for all types of people with varied experience, from pencil pusher to logger, it possibly is the best way. I have never heard anyone that has taken the training say if it is taught as being the only way or not. That is what I would take exception to. So many times in so many situations it is just fluff. But I am sure in the large and valuable hardwoods it is very useful.

I don't know about any one else, but I will be a faller instead of a "feller". It might not be the correct way but the guys I know who are real fallers will walk thru fell and bucked timber, will talk about trees that they fell in the past and generally use it for a past tense, but they are timber fallers who go out and fall timber.

 

[smokechase II]

documentation

Joesawyer:

I'm not sure how your contract is set up and being administered, but you should be taking notes with times etc.

Signage before two people on the trail would seem to be a minimum.

Unleashed dogs are especially bad.

 

[treevet]

Not referring to the last post, but in general.....this has become the boring rage/fad!

 

[matty f]

I probably only used it a handfull of times on heavy leaners to advoid barbers chairs and it worked on all but one occasion a few years ago when i felled probably one of the biggest populars ive felled and it had a horribal side lean evan with a bore cut and the top stripped out as i was coming to the back of the cut the tree reverse barbers chaired but im quite convinced it would of been evan worse the other way and it was probably my fault for not stopping the first back cut sooner......if i used chains it probably would of ripped down to the stump wich i have experienced when using standard cuts on trees i feel would of been advoided using the bore cut.
Last time i used it was felling a largish dead beach with a 14 inch bar on the 357 when i forgot the felling saw.
it enabled me to get all around and bore the middle outbefore finishing the back cut wich saved the day and the tree went down spot on.
dutchmans my favourite felling cut at the moment got me out quite a few sticky situations lately!

 

[joesawer]

I have fell a lot of large and valuable hardwoods back east and in Central America, and did not need to bore very often on those trees. Most large and valuable hard woods are not heavy leaners. Usually there are much faster and more efficient ways to prevent fiber pull, and it is not with a 45 to 70 degree face cut either.

 

[Ax-man]

The fad will die out when bore cutting starts to hit the sawyer in the pocketbook by wearing out the bearings in the roller nose on a bar quicker.

Larry

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Dents illustration is another small issue I have with the book. The hinge should not be cut off on the compression side of a side leaner. This allows the tree to set down on the kerf and move even more to the side.

i think it is very tough to make global statemeants with so many variables. The lead variable is the initiating force of the Center of Gravity and it's length/angle from the compressed part of the hinge. Pictured is an extreme case of extreme sidelean.

i think that the tension area would be forced very strong, then the lean/compressed side would close; changing the pivot position from the end of the hinge to the closed position. Changing the pivot position is one of the greatest adjustmeants you can make IMLHO. Because it takes length/angle from one side and gives it to the other; thus adjusting both the load length/angle and the support length/angle at the same time. For this to work the tree weight would have to be enough to force the close. If it was not, then we'd just have a shorter leverage across the hinge.

This isn't everyday stuff; at least felling, but i really like it in the air on horizontal branches to be moved across/horizontally; where like the picture the Natural falling direction is about perpendicular to the target direction.

My site is messed up; but i do have most of this animation page rebuilt.

 

[joesawer]

i think it is very tough to make global statemeants with so many variables. The lead variable is the initiating force of the Center of Gravity and it's length/angle from the compressed part of the hinge. Pictured is an extreme case of extreme sidelean.

i think that the tension area would be forced very strong, then the lean/compressed side would close; changing the pivot position from the end of the hinge to the closed position. Changing the pivot position is one of the greatest adjustmeants you can make IMLHO. Because it takes length/angle from one side and gives it to the other; thus adjusting both the load length/angle and the support length/angle at the same time. For this to work the tree weight would have to be enough to force the close. If it was not, then we'd just have a shorter leverage across the hinge.

This isn't everyday stuff; at least felling, but i really like it in the air on horizontal branches to be moved across/horizontally; where like the picture the Natural falling direction is about perpendicular to the target direction.

My site is messed up; but i do have most of this animation page rebuilt.

On younger, smaller, lighter, less brittle trees or tops they can be cut so that they start moving towards the lean then swung to the side, but Dent's book is referring to felling mature west coast trees and nothing else is implied. To cut the compression side of the hinge on these trees almost always will move the top farther into the lean, making it more difficult to get into the lay.
These are not cuts for the beginner, but this is supposed to be a professional forum. Please remember that swinging trees is an every day thing when felling timber in the forest in order to make harvesting the logs easier and to prevent breakage and damage to standing timber, but under no circumstances do I recommend it when property, life or limb are at stake. It is simply to inconsistent.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

The fad will die out when bore cutting starts to hit the sawyer in the pocketbook by wearing out the bearings in the roller nose on a bar quicker.

Larry

Come on, arborists bend bars before they wear them out

I'm always getting pinched trying to get the perfect swing on a partaly severed hinge.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

Joe Sawer, et al-
This "Rock around the Clock" roping technique shows similar; you kinda fake left to go right. Instead of loading wood fiber by going the opposite direction, you load rope fiber with more tension; from the same quadrant of pull as tapered hinge. Moving directly away from the rope fiber pull, loads it the most. Then, the distance between compressed part of hinge, and the 1st hitchpoint on load becomes a lever to help tighten the rope even tighter. This then forces the limb around more powerfully; thus creating a more powerful support hinge. Walking the line like this can place more support rope pull and more hinge support too, on the same limb. Hinge tension fiber is just like support rope fiber, only closer and tighter; just as a dutchman is just a closer version of an obstacle in path of tree that pushes back/over on tree.

In theory, both sides of the hinge pull across center(amount of pull adjusted by cross axis pull; so side opposite lean pulls harder); so eliminating the fiber on lean side; doesn't allow the pull towards lean. Just as, both sides of close push towards center gun; but closing lean side first gets it to push as the opposite side is still pulling. The spread forces in opposite directions would give more of a tourqued than linear force on hinge as all things i think. Tapered hinge places more fiber on cross axis to pull sidelean towards center; and places it farther back; but also at a better angle/more inline with CG and pivot (compressed part of hinge). Falling not straight into lean by use of tapered, gives practice, direction and- softer fall; as it doesn't feed into gravity's most direct pull; also tends to hit ground at a more across/glancing angle, than a straight drop i think.