short bar technique

[Tree09]

Very nice, I'll do that from now on with side lean

 

[Jed]

It's going, Jed! One foot in front of the other!!!

All any of us can ever do sir. Hang in there.

Sean! Kyle! Thanks a million, you guys.

Marc: Yup. Yer a genious. In our neck of the woods we call what you referred to as a "half gap," a Sizwill, and it works a charm. This will be beating a dead horse to Burnham, Beranek, Willie Ging (SOTC) and others, but it bears repeating. The way we do it is to just cut up a regular Humboldt face, but then do a ripping bore vertically down the stump on the tension side, from the top of the face, down clean to the dirt. Then a smaller diagonal cut is made to provide a huge, gapped opening (again... ONLY on the tension side). I believe there is a thread back in the Treehouse archives entitled, "Whizzy," or some such nonsense. Willie named it that. I've never heard any one else call it that, but it's a really good thead that has some excellent computer diagrams that display the cut. I've seen side-leaners that were cut-up this way, dang near pull roots out of the ground on the tension side. It's a wonderful trick. Especially in the spring.

 

[Jed]

I'd suggest getting good at under-bar-length cutting, then move to barely under bar length trees.

Man... Excellent West Coast advice for sure. But the Euro-fallers would laugh at us, and at the risk of opening up yet another dead horse whipping session, I'll just say that we west coasters are the only ones who cut the way that we do. (But maybe the Aussie Euc-men do too, come to think of it.) Yeah, we generally have way steeper ground, blah, blah, blah... but I'd still kill to be able to cut up a 36" fir with an 18" bar with full-house chain the way the Euros do rather routinely.

 

[treebilly]

I guess I should watch the video before I comment on it.

At least 3 wedges and an axe are present whenever I fell any tree. My guys do the same.
I’ve use the whizzle or whatever a few times with great success. Learned it here at the Treehouse.
Guess I’ll go back a few pages and get caught up

 

[Tree09]

Thanks again for the explanation Jed, for the first time it makes sense now that i can visualize the torsion problems with the gap cut. Learn something everyday here!

 

[cory]

Gentlemen:

Here we have a splendid example of rhinoceros balls as well as perfect short bar technique. Behold one of the best tree vids ever

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/KxGVAgXx6Oo" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[cory]

Here's another edit of it with less heart but more detail re the cutting

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/h1t_lPilpl4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

 

[Tree09]

 

[MasterBlaster]

Hail yea!!!

 

[SeanKroll]

Jed, Great Detail on cut down to the dirt.

I never heard that. How deep are you boring? I've been going about half-way across the stump, and down maybe a 1/4 diameter-distance...roughly like a 30-60-90 degree triangle is removed.

 

[Jed]

Man, ol Graeme can really stretch one out can't he? Rad vid. Thanks Corey.

Pretty hilarious in other respects though. 1)Sapwood cuts BELOW the flipline? What could that possibly accomplish?

2) Again... (but perhaps I just betray all of my West Coast prejudice here) why all the dinking around with the shorty in the first place when he could have had that turd on the ground more accurately with so much less ado? But "in mirabilibus supra me." (I walk in fields above me.)

 

[pantheraba]

Low sapwood cuts got my attention, too...whatz up wit that??? There did appear to be a tear down to the cuts...if they had been substantial splits looks like it would have drawn him into the expansion.

 

[Bermy]

Ditto on the sapwood cuts hey!

 

[Jed]

What's up Fi?!!!

Yeah... gotta feelin that Graeme sorta knows what he's doin though.

Oh!... re the "sizwill" thing... we had some goofy little aspens today with tons of side lean... sorry about the weird sideways upload, and Sean... notice how the bark-pull and fiber-pull perfectly align with how much of a weird diagonal I was able to cut.

 

[Jed]

Jed, Great Detail on cut down to the dirt.

I never heard that. How deep are you boring? I've been going about half-way across the stump, and down maybe a 1/4 diameter-distance...roughly like a 30-60-90 degree triangle is removed.

That would be nice. On this little Aspen I made my face too low to the ground to be able to do that. Yeah, I bore half way in too. Seems like a good rule o thumb, but then I always rip (trying to stay consistent with the wood-grain as opposed to a vertical conception of "plumb") darn near to the dirt. It is my belief that the longer the vertical opening is on the tension side, the better.

 

[Graeme McMahon]

Low sapwood cuts got my attention, too...whatz up wit that??? There did appear to be a tear down to the cuts...if they had been substantial splits looks like it would have drawn him into the expansion.

In our split prone hardwood trees "splits" (barbers chair) are initiated most times by strong hinge wood, especially in the middle of the tree. Control of the direction of fall is maximised by the intact fibres at either side of the hinge. Applying wing cuts is likely an immediate loss of control.

By placing the safety cuts about 2 times the diameter below the falling position is a compromise to reduce the hazards of bark tearing down past the flipline and loss of control to the side. Safety cuts cannot be applied to heavy side leaners in these free grain trees as the tension wood will pull out.

Most times you will see me quarter cut and neutralise the dangerous "centre" wood and chase off on the tension side as it falls. If that side is strong it is more likely to tear down (mostly bark). Having some disruption to that tear is prudent.

 

[gf beranek]

Nice flop on the top. Sweet.

 

[cory]

Great explanation, thanks, Graeme

Jed, I'm not fully capiching the cuts you are taking about, I'd probably get it instantly if I saw it. Could you elaborate for the learning impaired, or maybe even a vid?

There was a cool thread or discussion here awhile back, not sure if you were here for it, it was a "double hinge'' for big side leaners, 'Logger Wade' put out a vid on it. I'm reminded of it from you descriptions involving boring vertically.

Graeme's explanation may also explain why he didn't use a longer bar as Jed was asking. With the shorter bar he could more easily quarter cut it.

 

[flushcut]

Thanks for the explanation.

 

[Graeme McMahon]

Nice flop on the top. Sweet.

Like a swan Gerry, cool and no fuss above the water , a lot more pace and effort going on under the water .

 

[Burnham]

As with all really challenging work that seems easy when observed from a bit of distance.

It is the true mark of a skilled pro, to make those situations look smooth as silk .

 

[rbtree]

Like a swan Gerry, cool and no fuss above the water , a lot more pace and effort going on under the water .

Hahaha

And thanks for short bar explanation, Graeme. What a horrible thought having the top of a tree that size split out on you.

He had a little temper tantrum today ...

Just today...??

Bwahaa!

Randy Rainbow strikes again with a great parody...

"A tiny penius" ha ha

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-LTRwZb35A&feature=youtu.be

 

[pantheraba]

Thanks for the safety cut explanation, Mr. Swan.

 

[murphy4trees]

It got me maybe on my first try for this cut. A relatively small plum tree, side and front leaner with a decay in the middle. I tried the gap cut to keep my aim by a bit more flexible hinge, as the wood doesn't bend nicely, even in good state . Worked well at the beginning. I saw the wood splitting as intended and the hinge folding at the bottom. But suddenly, the half hinge of the side under the lean folded at the top and was pushed back by the load. The wall of the gap became basically vertical again on this side while the other side continued its travel to the horizontal. The fibers hold well on both sides, so I got a nice twist/swing and the plum tree landed off.
So now, (if needed) I put a gap at the tension side and a regular hinge on the compression side with a tilted cut. It worked well recently with some skinny regrowths of a previously toped ash, surprisingly brittle. The regular hinges just broke flat without even taking note of my aiming. A triple hinge (my first try) failed too. The half gap made it.

Excellent. I've found ash very unpredictable in holding ability without any apparent reason for big differences. Nice theory to experiment with. Always something to learn in this bisiness..... thanks

Control of the direction of fall is maximised by the intact fibres at either side of the hinge.

By placing the safety cuts about 2 times the diameter below the falling position is a compromise to reduce the hazards of bark tearing down past the flipline and loss of control to the side. Safety cuts cannot be applied to heavy side leaners in these free grain trees as the tension wood will pull out.

Most times you will see me quarter cut and neutralise the dangerous "centre" wood and chase off on the tension side as it falls. If that side is strong it is more likely to tear down (mostly bark). Having some disruption to that tear is prudent.

You write so well, very succinct. Reminds me of Gerry's writing style in Fundamentals.

The concept of maximizing control by leaving the sides of the hinge intact is HUGE!!!

Here is a quick cut made on a tree with a fairly open DZ.. So anything close to the gun was fine. I finished the back cut with a bore cut parallel to the face, came out the back, then nosed the bar back in (push chaining), to take out fibers in the middle of the hinge while leaving enough of a post on the left side of the hinge to get the tree to the lay. It's clear from the photo that the tree had a little side left lean. And the hinge fibers on the right side of the hinge were a little punky (white ash)

Here is the drop
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[Graeme McMahon]

And thanks for short bar explanation, Graeme. What a horrible thought having the top of a tree that size split out on you.