Why do people cut like this??

[deeker]

To waste time? Energy?? Or just plain stupid. Or am I missing something?
Is there any reason to make the felling cut this way???? I don't.

Nice ash logs heading to my mill.

 

[Jacob J.]

Lack of training. You should have seen some of the stumps I made when I was 12-13, using a saw for the first time. Luckily for me, they're long since rotted beyond recognition.

 

[Ghillie]

Are you refering to the downward angle of the back cut?

I've had someone try to tell me that it is easier to pull a tree over if the back cut is cut at an angle. Doesn't make sense if you are using wedges. you are not lifting the weight of the tree with an angled cut, you are wasting lifting force that is pushing perpendicular to the wedge.

Just an urban myth.

 

[deeker]

Are you refering to the downward angle of the back cut?

I've had someone try to tell me that it is easier to pull a tree over if the back cut is cut at an angle. Doesn't make sense if you are using wedges. you are not lifting the weight of the tree with an angled cut, you are wasting lifting force that is pushing perpendicular to the wedge.

Just an urban myth.

Yes to their downward angle of the back cut. It makes no sense to me.
And wasting my usable timber in the process.

 

[ShoerFast]

Not sure why, but stumps like that are everywhere.

My $0.02 cents worth...

Way I been told to cut a mill-log is like this, start driving your wedges about were the back-cut stops (end of red line) , drive as you finish the cut to the hinge.

looks like they tried to get that much fiber-pull? Ash seems to me a more predictable wood.

 

[deeker]

That is the way I cut. Along the red line....and, hey!!! You almost cut my shadow!!

 

[ShoerFast]

That is the way I cut. Along the red line....and, hey!!! You almost cut my shadow!!

So there, I fixed your shadow, now you got something to be thankful for, Pilgram!

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

[JohnH]

Homeowner special

 

[John Ellison]

George A. Finn III from expertvillage.com must have fell that tree.

 

[2dogs]

George A. Finn III from expertvillage.com must have fell that tree.

That is what I was going to say. Check out his vid in the chainsaw forum. I'm sure the guy is good in his specialty but he does not know how to use a chainsaw.

 

[Mike Van]

Hey, maybe Bob Villa cut it with his crapsman for a TV info-mercial? Deeker, you're going to mill those? They'd head straight to my firewood pile without passing go or collecting 200.00.

 

[forestryworks]

i just finished cutting in a 4acre patch for firewood and all the old stumps were that way... i went and talked to the owner (respectfully) and got him to come see how i do it (all cuts level in relation to the tree).

he said, the way i do it is the pro's way.

he also cuts with a poulan

ignorance is expensive to fix and usually not worth your time

 

[retired redneck]

Looks like it was cut with poulan 25 with 12'' bar...

 

[385XP]

That stump is terrible we call that a farmer cut around here .

 

[buzz sawyer]

I'd be worried about the wood below the wedge splitting backwards if there was enough force on the wedge.

 

[ShoerFast]

There is a chance that the people that cut that way think the tree can't come back on them?

Never talked to anyone that cuts like that, but the conclusion here seems overwhelmingly 'a no-no' .

 

[dancan]

I did a chipping job that the homeowner did all the cutting , every tree was cut like that with the tall side on the side that you wouldn't want the tree to fall so I just figured the theory is the tree can't fall that way against the wood .

 

[Gologit]

That is what I was going to say. Check out his vid in the chainsaw forum. I'm sure the guy is good in his specialty but he does not know how to use a chainsaw.

I agree with you and John...the guy is clueless about saws and cutting. But....imagine how many people watch him and, because he has a serious demeanor and a professional air about him, think that whatever he tells them is carved in stone. That's scary. That's real scary.

And the stump? Had to be an amateur. A pro would have trimmed it up or alap'd it before anybody could see it.

 

[hammerlogging]

Maybe a half crushed can of Ol' Mill would have been more fitting for that stump.

 

[jimbo@stn23]

You should see where the firewood cutters around here go, the woods are littered with that style of stump. I asked a guy about it as I do things a little different and was told if you have to wedge you have a deeper kerf for the wedge to work in.

Not long ago I didn't know any better but did realize I needed some knowledge and at least bought the timber fallers book and started to read as much as I can here. It never did sit well even when I didn't know better. The fact they are often seen on 2' of stump left in the forest was a tip-off that there was some "amateur hour" action happening.

I enjoy getting to look at stumps where the guys who cut them know what they are doing and try and understand why things are done the way they are.