What are your favorite felling wedges and why?

[Den]

1) Stihl.
2) Husqvarna.
3) K&H Redhead.
4) Echo.
5) Oregon.
6) Other brand.

I had always used Stihl felling wedges. They seem a bit more rubbery and less likely to chip or crack. But I've switched to K&H Redhead because they have the triple taper on some of them. K&H also seem to slide easier against the wood, and slide easier against each other when doubling/stacking up.
What do you ladies and gentlemen prefer and why?


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[Mad Professor]

I'm still using old steel ones. Got to watch your chain.

 

[uniballer]

Most of the trees I have been felling are small-ish (12-18" DBH), so I find the Oregon 5.5" wedges work better than the longer wedges (it sucks to bottom your wedge on the holding wood before getting enough lift). I would like to try some 10" wedges with 2" of lift rather than needing to double up sometimes. Are they on the market? I have cut a few from wood, but they don't last long.

I usually set a line in any tree that doesn't lean in the direction I want it to drop, especially near high value targets, so I often use wedges just to prevent the tree from setting back or sideways to the fall if it is 90 degrees to the lean.

 

[pdqdl]

I usually set a line in any tree that doesn't lean in the direction I want it to drop, especially near high value targets, so I often use wedges just to prevent the tree from setting back or sideways to the fall if it is 90 degrees to the lean.

Yep. I don't usually even bother with wedges, except to help bucking up a big tree after it's on the ground. I'm not making firewood, and I don't get paid to make mistakes and hit houses or fences on accident. It's been almost 40 years now, and I have only screwed up once and hit a house.

When I made that mistake, it was such a big tree that it took two of us to push it off the house back out into the yard. That's what happens when you don't pay attention.

 

[Bob Hedgecutter]

When I was dropping trees for a living, mainly carried Oregon and or Windsor wedges on my belt.
Nowadays I prefer using a minimum 20 tonne tracked excavator with a grapple grab and a trusted operator in the seat.
Still carry and use wedges for all sorts of applications that save jamming a bar in a cut- usually whatever is cheapest and made of plastic that doesnt shatter if you hit it when its cold- quite fond of locally made 10 inch "Wedgetek" ones at the moment.
I have found there is not a huge amount of difference in quality from cheap versus dear, as long as you set them before it is too late, don't ask them to lift the near impossible and hit them with the appropriate tool fairly squarely on the fat end!

 

[northmanlogging]

K+H red heads for most everything, but I keep an 8" double taper on hand, its a nice balance of super skinny to get into sat back kerfs, but also the fat end is about 1/2x bigger then the 10" K+H so I can get 2 K+Hs out, and stack them without having to carry any other wedges with me. If I need bigger wedges then the 12" K+H's with the 16" Banana wedge for more or less the same effect, but thats for BIGGGG timber so not an everyday thing.

The K+H's are tough bastards, they don't break nearly as easy as all the other wedges, the heads tend to mush a bit, but I can live with that, a broken wedge is just a damned nuisance especially if you need room to add 2-3 more to make up for that broken chunk

 

[northmanlogging]

as fer some of you folks relying on ropes and hydraulics... wedges even when broken still hold the tree up... I've seen both ropes and hydraulics break while tipping trees, its really not pretty

Once had a rope break, and I ninja star threw a wedge in the kerf... otherwise I think that tree would of landed on the house... I doubt I could ever pull that off again.

 

[singinwoodwackr]

I like the hard-head I’ve gotten from Baileys over the years.. 8s and 10s.
these double up very well.
for bucking wedges any cheap 8” ones seem to work fine.

 

[pdqdl]

as fer some of you folks relying on ropes and hydraulics... wedges even when broken still hold the tree up... I've seen both ropes and hydraulics break while tipping trees, its really not pretty

Once had a rope break, and I ninja star threw a wedge in the kerf... otherwise I think that tree would of landed on the house... I doubt I could ever pull that off again.

True. If I have any doubt about the rope holding, I set a second rope, usually in a different part of the tree.

Then again, there is that remarkable number of times I just trusted my judgement alone on how deep a cut to make it go my way rather than the wrong way.

 

[RedneckChainsawRepair]

Being a wedge thread.

I was ask about RND Hammerhead wedges other day. Machined steel insert on the end of the wedge.
I know nothing about them. Any feedback on those? https://www.rocknarbor.com/product/rna-hammerhead-felling-wedge/

 

[singinwoodwackr]

Being a wedge thread.

I was ask about RND Hammerhead wedges other day. Machined steel insert on the end of the wedge.
I know nothing about them. Any feedback on those? https://www.rocknarbor.com/product/rna-hammerhead-felling-wedge/

Same as bailey's hard heads but with little knobs to help keep it from backing out.
Been using this time for decades

 

[rwoods]

K&H

1) They are good wedges.
2) They don’t walk off to new homes like orange ones are prone to do - no one around me uses them.
3) Less expensive than Stihl.

Ron

 

[pdqdl]

they are heavy, and will F up a good axe, lots of folks use em though

Well... Only if you miss!

 

[HansFranz]

I like these "rifled" wedges...they have raised ridges (and matching grooves on the back side) that allow you to stack them without them slipping and sliding off each other. I think I got them through Baileys, and probably heard about them here.

 

[pdqdl]

That's my favorite, for the same interlocking reason. I'm not too happy with them otherwise; I don't think they are as tough under impact as other brands.

When you do need to double up on a wedge, they have the market cornered. Literally. I think they have a patent on that feature.

 

[Barski9]

Most of the trees I have been felling are small-ish (12-18" DBH), so I find the Oregon 5.5" wedges work better than the longer wedges (it sucks to bottom your wedge on the holding wood before getting enough lift). I would like to try some 10" wedges with 2" of lift rather than needing to double up sometimes. Are they on the market? I have cut a few from wood, but they don't last long.

I usually set a line in any tree that doesn't lean in the direction I want it to drop, especially near high value targets, so I often use wedges just to prevent the tree from setting back or sideways to the fall if it is 90 degrees to the lean.

Hello, I have Madsen's brand orange wedges. 8" and measure 1.25" thick at the hammer end. Also, the Madsen's online catalog lists degrees of lift for the various wedges that they sell.

 

[James Sawyer]

K&H Redhead are my favorite, the stack well.

 

[Den]

Closely examine K&H compared to Stihl wedges.
The K&H are some kind of extremely hard plastic and do not flex, but Stihl are some kind of rubbery material and have a little flex to them.
You can even dig your finger nail into Stihl wedges and make a gouge in them. Can't do that with K&H.

K&H

1) They are good wedges.
2) They don’t walk off to new homes like orange ones are prone to do - no one around me uses them.
3) Less expensive than Stihl.

Ron

When you refer to "orange ones" walking around. I think you are referring to Stihl brand. I think the reason they might migrate around a bit is because Stihl wedges don't have the textured finish on them... Stihl are smooth and untextured.


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[rwoods]

I meant that they go home with other cutters who mixed them up with their orange wedges.

I have no problem with Stihl wedges; they just cost more locally than the K&H that I order.

Ron