New guy from Australia, California

[davidwyby]

Howdy. In the SoCal desert we have a bunch of big Aussie eucs. Here’s my YouTube, probably a good way to get to know what I’m up to. Day job is a machine and welding shop. Grew up in the PNW…been playing with saws a few years and getting an itch to learn and do more felling lately.

 

[lxskllr]

Welcome! I really like that truck.

 

[Jonny]

Hey welcome to The TreeHouse!

I briefly drove a deuce and a half in the army, kinda fun. I don’t think they use them anymore. Probably still some 5 tons in service.

 

[Altissimus]

Yep , welcome ... Australia California , must be way up North

 

[vharrison]

Welcome to the TreeHouse David!

 

[stikine]

Welcome David.

 

[murphy4trees]

Welcome! I really like that truck.

until you have to fill it up with fuel prices in California.. The last visit, regular gas was as high as 6.50

 

[SeanKroll]

Welcome, David!

 

[stig]

Welcome.
Are those Eucs some of those planted to become railroad ties?

 

[Burnham]

Welcome!

 

[davidwyby]

@stig We have lots of different eucalyptus for different purposes...mostly shade/ornamental/windbreak. Coastal San Diego has forests of them. Here is a small/medium one. We are an ag area in the desert (near the salton sea) and there are big eucs growing out among the fields here and there. Some 6'+ DBH. I have 7 to take down next year when it cools off.

(2) M35A2 395xp felling eucalyptus - YouTube

Little yard euc that was kind of fun/interesting.

(2) Train, coyote, Eucalyptus - YouTube

@murphy4trees I still need to put up a vid of the heavy handed pollarding they do here...also, deuce can run on anything that burns... Whereabouts in CA do you visit? Going up to Santa Cruz to try their trees soon.

I recently went to Idaho. Felling tall straight softwoods was a treat.

 

[davidwyby]

I have some questions about some different felling ideas I had. I often cut dead stuff (live trees are valuable for shade, I try to avoid removing them) and dead dried in the desert wood often doesn't hinge well. The safe method is to pull them and or piece them down, which I often do with a lift. Trying to get away from that with yard trees in town and more out in the country where the trees are bigger and there's room to fell.

One idea is a very tall open faced notch and multiple back cuts with wedges...spread the hinge action out vertically. If dry wood will only hinge 15°, can we make three 15° hinges to add up to 45°?

I have earned that a higher back cut or stump shot increases hinge time.

Another thing I wonder about is on a tree that hinges well, can one tilt the face and back cuts both, down on one side and up on the other, so that the hinge swings the tree to the side? I have never seen a tilted cut used...intentionally.

Thanks

 

[vharrison]

The tree spider will love the questions!

 

[Nutball]

One idea is a very tall open faced notch and multiple back cuts with wedges...spread the hinge action out vertically. If dry wood will only hinge 15°, can we make three 15° hinges to add up to 45°?

I've never done it for felling, but I like this idea, and am sure it will work. I find most hinges don't really flex much when any regular felling cuts are used, but they don't really need to flex much in most cases.

I have earned that a higher back cut or stump shot increases hinge time.

Don't make it too high, one can easily cut too high, and then easily overshot their cut which just makes the tree split off the stump rather than hinging.

Another thing I wonder about is on a tree that hinges well, can one tilt the face and back cuts both, down on one side and up on the other, so that the hinge swings the tree to the side? I have never seen a tilted cut used...intentionally.

Yes, it has been done, but is uncommon as far as I know. I believe it is mentioned in The Fundamentals of General Tree Work by a member here. At least I know it is in his DVD series.

 

[davidwyby]

Sounds like I need to get a DVD.

Hi @Nutball !

This was suggested elsewhere:



I see some value in allowing horizontal movement/compression, but it seems what we are really looking for is allowing vertical stretch on one side and compression on the other.

@lxskllr I am quite partial to these trucks myself. My dad used to uproot Doug firs with his in the PNW so as to not have to dig out the stumps. It’s like a diesel pickup truck but can do more.
@Jonny thanks for serving.
@Altissimus on the Mexico and AZ borders.

I was told in Idaho cedar doesn’t hinge…well, it hinges a lot better than dead dry stuff down here


Some eucalyptus examples. I’m supposed to go cut these up….next year.

this is me, not my work…beavered out with a small saw and broken off with bottle jacks apparently.


Euc blowdown in town

My log trailer salvaging from an excavator pile.

 

[davidwyby]

*ordered the book.

 

[davidwyby]

It also seems that the shark Gill might be asking for a barber chair if we are talking split prone wood and pulling force…hmm.

 

[Nutball]

It's also known as the triple hinge or multi hinge as I would call it if you don't use 3. I tried it once on a small tulip poplar. The very narrow .043 1/4" chain allowed me to fit 3 hinges in the small tree. It worked well. It could be tricky and risky on a heavy leaner (leaning toward the lay I mean) as it is normally used for lean perpendicular to the lay if I remember correctly, but I think doable if done right. That would be something to experiment with to see how a triple hinge would react to a lot of pressure. I think the big problem would be getting the bar pinched while making the vertical cuts from the tree leaning more as wood gets removed.

 

[davidwyby]

Stumbled on this today.

 

[lxskllr]

That splitter is pretty cool. Is that something a lot of you have?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I think Rajan may have.

 

[davidwyby]

Hmm…I think I already know the answer, but are the DVDs better than the book?

 

[Marc-Antoine]

For the tilted hinge, I do that regularly on leaning trees and limbs. I don't go by the rule "horizontal cuts", but by "perpendicular to the grain". No need to compensate the aiming with the lean. Aim where you want it, tilt the cut with the same amount of the side lean. Assuming a good hinging wood of course, the trajectory is an arc tilted away from the vertical plan. I visualise it by tilting my head. Note, if the ground is sloped, the tree will land before or after the aim. The tilted head helps to see that.
I use it to shift tops where they don't want to go, in this case in exagerating the tilt. It shifts quicker with a shorter radius. I can get a bit much more move like that with the poorly hinging tops. Don't expect miracles though.

 

[murphy4trees]

For the tilted hinge, I do that regularly on leaning trees and limbs. I don't go by the rule "horizontal cuts", but by "perpendicular to the grain". No need to compensate the aiming with the lean. Aim where you want it, tilt the cut with the same amount of the side lean. Assuming a good hinging wood of course, the trajectory is an arc tilted away from the vertical plan. I visualise it by tilting my head. Note, if the ground is sloped, the tree will land before or after the aim. The tilted head helps to see that.
I use it to shift tops where they don't want to go, in this case in exagerating the tilt. It shifts quicker with a shorter radius. I can get a bit much more move like that with the poorly hinging tops. Don't expect miracles though.

run that one by us again... the tilted head technique in particular... sounds good

 

[davidwyby]