this guy is an idiot!!!

[voxac30dude]

this guy is an idiot!!!(video)

metal wedge! limited PPE! wrong face cuts!! :jawdrop: this guy is CRAZY! and luck nothing went wrong and is still alive.

biggest and baddest saws done meant #### if you dont know how to work them and be safe.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjihO8E2ig&feature=related

 

[treesquirrel]

Darn tootin! Who the heck you talking about? Was there a link to it?

 

[Nailsbeats]

Nothing wrong with a metal wedge if you are careful not to hit it with the saw. Didn't see what you were talking about, just wanted to make the point that using a steel or aluminum wedge doesn't make you an idiot, just makes you more skilled if you can use one safely.

 

[voxac30dude]

sorry the link didn't make it through.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WvjihO8E2ig&feature=related

 

[pdqdl]

That wedge has been around a long time. Did you notice how rounded the head was? He has been pounding on that wedge for a long time.

The guy was speaking German, and has probably been cutting down trees for the last 30 years with the same wedge. I'll bet they did not have plastic wages when he started cutting down trees. I suspect that he knows mostly what he is doing, although the first tree did fall the wrong direction.

Didn't anyone notice that?

 

[BC WetCoast]

In watching his technique, he has been doing this for a long time and it shows in the confident way he uses his saw. I would have guessed that he was from Hungary, but that is only because the web site had an HU suffix. Standards are different around the world, doesn't make them idiots.

 

[voxac30dude]

id be soo scared to use a metal wedge around any of my saws. where the heck is his PPE??? thats what i wanna know

 

[sgreanbeans]

I'm sure OSHA is running around in the woods there teaching them what PPE is! I have metal and plastic, all based on the application needed. He had on U.S. cammies, high n tight, that means military dude. Prob trained by us.

 

[Log hog]

I use aluminum and steel wedges all the time. When you cutting down a huge ass tree I don't mess around with plastic junk! Too many times I've had plastic wedges crack, shatter and bust when hitting them. Don't get me wrong there good for certain things but when you need to man up I bring out the steel.

 

[tree md]

I use a steel wedge as well. It was my dad's and is ancient. Been using that thing for as long as I can remember. Just have to be careful with the saw.

 

[pgg]

Nothing wrong there, a quadruple leader, he f***d up the first one coz he got the lean wrong, but big-deal, he just tipped it back the other way, all other three were fine, last one took the stump with it nicely.

 

[woodchuck361]

I would have wanted a hardhat and some chaps.... that was some big wood I could see the need for a wedge that you could really pound on, as for it falling the wrong direction I would be a lier if I said they All go right where i want them to.
I will say this, That was cool how the last one brought that huge stump with it!

 

[imagineero]

Im with most of the other posters on this one. Yeah it would have been nice if he had a hard hat and some eye protection, maybe even some chaps. But safety is entirely relative... your primary parachute is always going to be your skill and judgement. PPE, equipment etc are never going to be anything more than a backup parachute (and a low chance one at that!)

This guy looks like he knows what he's doing. He'd be up there if you put him in the woods with 10 other experienced guys for sure, he seems to have tree sense. I like the way he handled his saw, I see a lot of guys who are obviously super pumped in the middle of the cut, you can almost feel the adrenaline pumping in their veins. They are twitchy, and unobservant. This guy took his time, kept his wits about him, and never took his eye off the tree as he was backing away (wise move by the way, notice where that second trunk fell?).

He has some bad practices for sure... narrow wedge cuts for starters. but bad practices + experience = knowing the outcome. In that scenario, most operators with bad practices have become so adept at knowing what's going to happen that they get good outcomes. I'd take that operator over one with good practices and no experience most days, but it can be a real judgement call too ;-)

Shaun

 

[randyg]

Gotta call ya voxac30dude

id be soo scared to use a metal wedge around any of my saws. where the heck is his PPE??? thats what i wanna know

Finally saw the vid. He starts out trying to fell first leader sideways to the lean. When it became apparent it was not gonna work, he made a second felling cut above and let it go with the natural lean. Probably had better access to the wood if it had gone where first planned, but surely not a "mistake" to go to plan B as he did. Many either to proud to change directions, or wrongly think "maybe if I cut the hinge just a little thinner, I can still make this work". He did use the top of the bar quite a bit more than I care to, as this takes more strength but will keep the chips out of your face. To call this guy an idiot was one sleeping dog you should have let lie. Judging from what you have said here and in the recent past, I will venture to say that your skill with a chainsaw may never equal his. And about the PPE, "id be soo scared" if you started a saw without it...

 

[treeclimber101]

I actually think he knows how to run a saw very well , his opening face cut was a complete waste of time since he dropped the tree up the hill anyway , but overall I really didn't see any problem with what he was doing , the hard hat and glasses thing may have been a little poor judgement , but there his eyes and his skull so have at HANZ ..

 

[pgg]

When you've chosen your scarf(notch) position, then go to it with your back-cut, if you're observant and well practiced it soon enough becomes obvious when it's not going to co-operate and tip easily, even well before you get to the hinge area.

Choice is to carry on slowly and whack a wedge or two in to start forcing it a bit - or simply whip the saw out and bang another scarf in facing the desired direction, then just go with the flow effortlessly. (assuming there's not going to be any houses or parked vehicles in the way.. hehe) Real-world experience and academic hard-line manual thumping are two different things