The Snap Cut

TreeMuggs

Treehouser
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Location
Southwestern Ontario, Canada
Hey all, if any of you busy chaps could carve out 16 minutes of your life to watch a tree nerd video, I'm looking for feedback on my newest work, The Snap Cut. All the best!

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Interesting. I can see where it has its place, but I rarely would use it. I just cut all the way through, let it sit while I stow my saw, then toss it.
 
Yes. The bigger pieces are the easiest... they don't want to go anywhere.

I do use a wedge on the bigger pieces. I told the last guy (who I was charging $35 per hour) that it would be an extra $5 hour if I had to break out my block-down wedge.
 

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One additional note is that the longer the piece the slower it will tend to flip.

Second additional note for general dropping of wood. If you're concerned about ricochet then you can introduce some spin to the log as it drops and that will help reduce ricochet. This is because when the piece hits the ground (or a rock or another log) the spin in the log can redirect the energy as a glancing blow instead of a straight head-on shot. I do this when I'm near targets such as fences or the side of a house which are not in the drop zone but close enough that a runaway chunk can cost me.
 
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  • #8
Brian, I like that spin idea. I have done that before for pieces really close to the ground that didn't have room to make a complete flip to land flat, but hadn't thought about it for helping ricochet. Thanks brother!
 
Good video Patrick. I agree with every thing you put in. The best part is experimenting in non critical situations. I advise my "apprentice" to check your site out. He's a bit hit or miss though. Some days he's all about the job other days he's , well you can guess.
The spin thing also helps to flatten out the landing. I think August referred to it as putting a bit of English on it to flatten it out.
How did your garden do this year in the wood chips? I had someone tell me recently that the time to use them is when you see stuff starting to grow on the pile. Sounds right to me but I'm a few years away from that option as I usually dump mine at a recycling yard
 
Obviously I know all the answers to these questions, but I am not shy. Maybe someone is to afraid to ask you know........



Is this cut species dependent? Do some types of trees lend themselves better to snap cuts than others?

Does it work equally well for dead or live trees?

Is this hard on your shoulders after a while?

Any time when a face cut is preferred?

General comments.......Red Wings?

Also I see you talk with your hands a bit....I kept waiting for you to snag the chain with your hand meat. Glad you did not however.




Good video. Never knew what a snap cut was.
 
1) No, not really.

2) Yes.

3) Meh... anything in treework is gonna be hard on you.

4) No

5) ?

Is this cut species dependent? Do some types of trees lend themselves better to snap cuts than others?

Does it work equally well for dead or live trees?

Is this hard on your shoulders after a while?

Any time when a face cut is preferred?

General comments.......Red Wings?
 
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  • #14
Garden was interesting, we had a really cool summer actually. Tomatoes, peppers, peas, beans, all loved the chips. Zucchini, not so much. We'll see next year, this stuff takes time to compost down.

Jim, this technique is species dependent to a degree, can be inconsistent on brittle wood. Usually works well for dead wood. Only time I prefer a face cut is with a big drop zone where I can take a really big chunk of wood.

Red Wings, well I grew up about an hour from Detroit in Chatham, Ontario. We used to watch the Wings on the French CBC channel on the aerial with the sound turned down, with WJR on the radio for the play by play. Aaah, childhood memories. Good times.
 
I use it mostly for bucking the leaning axis with some target under them or a forbidden area. I understand your warning about the loss of reliability when the lean increases, but I find that this is the conditions where this cut really shines : cutting the piece without freeing it. I go up to the horizontal limbs, not over a firewood length though. I agree that just the weigh can easily snap the strap (if not, I 'll have a hard time to snap it by hand). So I finish the cut with the left hand or forearm holding the log's end to keep it in place. The strap holds the other end on the tree so I don't need so much force, even with some decent sized logs. I let go the saw on its lanyard, carefully, no move allowed, and then have my both hands to free and manage the log.

On the vertical spars, I just cut through for the short logs, finishing with a hand on top to avoid pinching and to keep the thing under control. I put more time and care in a face cut for the long logs. Time to time, the magic cut comes into play for the middle ones when the conditions are right.
 
The snap cut has its place for sure. I didn't use it much, but when I did use it I was glad to have it in my bag of tricks!
 
The snap cut has its place for sure. I didn't use it much, but when I did use it I was glad to have it in my bag of tricks!
 
I guess I use it, I will always use a wedge and go all the way through if possible.

Mostly because it means less moving the saw about, less effort.

I'll also just pick off a piece of bark or twig and jam it in the back to avoid pinching.
 
I'll also just pick off a piece of bark or twig and jam it in the back to avoid pinching.
That's handy but it seems that there's never the right size at the moment to fit in.
 
I personally use the snap cut all the time, it is handy to stop you from one handing a saw, because you can do the cut, and then handle the wood. You can even use it with a face cut, you bore cut for the hinge, and rather than a release cut that triggers the fall, you cut a lower bypass cut (the snap cut), and then can walk away before the spar is pulled. Handy when winching over by yourself, once the spar has enough force to snap, it automatically has enough to go over. Learned that from Murphy on YouTube actually, so thanks man
 
The other thing I don't like about it is when you get it wrong.

1: You're above targets and go too shy on the cuts, piece won't snap, so you have to lift the saw up again. On a tall stem with many cuts this is a pita.

2: To compensate, you cut too much, piece gets a wobble on and goes too soon, unaided.

Both are a result of less than perfect cutting, but stuff happens.

Ps. Did four minutes of the vid.
 
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Hey Mick, 4 minutes at a time, you'll be through it in less than a week!

But seriously, my whole point with this is just touching on the very basics, there are way more things that I didn't mention or address than those that I did. My apprentice just wanted to know how to get started with this cut, he has tried it many times after watching me do it and has gotten frustrated. So hopefully I hit enough of the beats to get him started. Thanks for the feedback fellas!
 
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