Have alot of dead red oaks here...Maybe where I'm older,,and more caution in me ,,whats the best way to cut em from you all's point of view???My Dad and I used to cut the knotch out and go half way tru with his mac 55 and we would hand saw the rest of the way with a crosscut with a dead oak...I thought that was kinda overkill when I was younger,,but now,,,I;m wondering....Thanks,,just wanted your say so...
Widow makers...
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Not really sure what you are asking here, are you saying it is unsafe to cut through to a thin enough hinge to fall the tree with a chainsaw . Is it because the tree is dead, I have felled several hundred trees that are dead the same as I would fall a live standing tree. Cut your falling direction notch and then cut through from the back side and leave a thin, around (1 1/2") thick hinge across the stump and then let er fall. The only exception I could think of would be if it had a serious lean then a back strap cut and fall would come into play. My thoughts Pioneerguy600 )
bogiemsn
ArboristSite Operative
I guess you're making the assumption that using the crosscut was less likely to shake stuff down on your heads. I don't know that that's an accurate assumption or not.
Who gets help if you're both at the stump when the widow maker falls?
The guys that teach snag felling in the wildfire environment say that only the sawyer should be at the stump. The lookout should be well away from tree. The feller then needs to be always looking up when cutting a widow maker. The idea is that the only way to get away fast enough is to actually see something falling and get your arse out of the way as fast as you can. The sawyer can't hear the lookout and there's not even enough time to respond to a tap or a tug. You gotta watch for yourself. There's no sense putting two people at risk and it leaves someone to call for help.
I just cut a big double stemmed dead oak on saturday. This particular tree was on what will be a fire break and a prescribed fire. The only thing worse than cutting a snag is cutting a snag when its on fire. Major pucker factor! Those dead punky oaks love to catch fire. I wanted to drop it before it burns.
The first stem went fine. I notched the second stem and while bore cutting it I heard her crack; good thing I lifted my hearing protectors. That crack was like a starters pistol to me. I left that saw behind and I was GONE man! I don't mind telling you that I ran like a scalded cat. There was still 3.5 inches of what would normally be holding wood. There was just enough rot in there to weaken the wood. My saw took a bit of a tumble but no damage.
Who gets help if you're both at the stump when the widow maker falls?
The guys that teach snag felling in the wildfire environment say that only the sawyer should be at the stump. The lookout should be well away from tree. The feller then needs to be always looking up when cutting a widow maker. The idea is that the only way to get away fast enough is to actually see something falling and get your arse out of the way as fast as you can. The sawyer can't hear the lookout and there's not even enough time to respond to a tap or a tug. You gotta watch for yourself. There's no sense putting two people at risk and it leaves someone to call for help.
I just cut a big double stemmed dead oak on saturday. This particular tree was on what will be a fire break and a prescribed fire. The only thing worse than cutting a snag is cutting a snag when its on fire. Major pucker factor! Those dead punky oaks love to catch fire. I wanted to drop it before it burns.
The first stem went fine. I notched the second stem and while bore cutting it I heard her crack; good thing I lifted my hearing protectors. That crack was like a starters pistol to me. I left that saw behind and I was GONE man! I don't mind telling you that I ran like a scalded cat. There was still 3.5 inches of what would normally be holding wood. There was just enough rot in there to weaken the wood. My saw took a bit of a tumble but no damage.
had an ugly one awhile back...pine carried off in a storm and took a polar top off, the whole mess stuck in the top of two sweetgum weeds...stupid trees sweetgum...I notched the first..backcut..as soon as it started I scooted up the trail a bit and looked..tree was going right..no prolem that one..the other had the whole mess suspended...notched it short and deep, plunge cut and backed off to make sure the bloody thing was stable...waited a couple minutes to make sure then slipped in and cut the strap..crab walked sideways up the trail about ten feet so as not to take my eyes off the tree...all is good..set teh saw down gently (660...Big $$) and boogied.
easy, but hairy...dropped both of them within inches of my mark..the big one between my big wood piles and didn't knock 'em over..whatta mess, I can't wait until hurricane season.
easy, but hairy...dropped both of them within inches of my mark..the big one between my big wood piles and didn't knock 'em over..whatta mess, I can't wait until hurricane season.
b1rdman
Addicted to ArboristSite
I stay away from the nasty stuff because I cut alone way more than I should but I remember watching my dad and his buddy getting into some serious snags. One would make the cut and the other would play "spotter" with an air horn in hand. The kind of horn you hear a hockey games now and then.
It's amazing how fast a fat man can move when the horn sounds...
Not foolproof, but it might give you the second or second and a half that you need to protect your noggin' and the back of your neck.
