Spellfeller's Continuing (Mis)Adventures Aloft

[Spellfeller]

90% of the P/N from what i have seen match to the 620/600p saws. So basically u already have a 620 , lol

Right you are, Charles! Main differences that I've been able to figure between the CS-590 vs. CS-600 & CS-620 are:

• Pro-Lite/ProAm vs. PowerMatch bars (Oregon trade names)
• plastic vs. metal handles
• spur vs. rim sprockets
• 590 & 600 have plastic bar/sprocket covers, 620 has magnesium
• plus the engine differences, mostly porting/coils/timing stuff (600 has some, 620 has more)

 

[Spellfeller]

I think you said you have Jerry's book... a book like Jerry's is full of info that someone paid for the hard way...they got the test before they got the lesson...and those hard tests lead to wisdom and teaching like Gerald Beranek has passed along to us.

Gary, I have dog-eared, highlighted copies of all three of Jeff Jepson's books and went by TS on Friday, 9/18 to add a copy of The Fundamentals of General Tree Work to the library. I planned to study the topping sections for a solid 48 hours, before tackling the job on Sunday.

To my shock and surprise, despite the website saying copies were "in stock," allowing me to put it in my cart, and accepting payment for it, when I showed up at the store, the book was backordered. Given that I recognized this particular top had, in Gerry's words, "a clear path to tip and fall," I decided to go for it...carefully.

I can't wait to get the book and mark it up with fluorescent orange!

 

[ch74]

Yes sir.

 

[Spellfeller]

Sitting with a tasty barley pop and carefully plotting tomorrow's dawn ash assault...

 

[treebilly]

I too will be doing the same. Leave at dawn to remove four dead ash and deadwood a few pin oaks. Post up some pics of the battle. Stay safe

 

[ch74]

Nice spellfeller stay safe.

 

[pantheraba]

Speller...nice chipper and truck...is that your rig?

I just bought a used BC 935...need to paint it. I like the green...did you do that?

 

[Spellfeller]

Good luck, Rich! Be safe.

Thanks, Charles!

Gary, both the dump and the chipper are from work (school). We have about 20 acres of woods on campus and the maintenance/groundskeeping crew use the equipment to manage the property. They're good guys and will loan stuff to me for the weekend, which is super helpful. The chipper is a pretty creaky former Sunbelt rental, so I think it's always been green!

Which engine do you have? This one is the 35 horse Wisconsin gas, which people don't exactly turn cartwheels over, but it gets the job done. There seems to be more enthusiasm for the 42hp Deutz diesel and lots of love for the 50hp Perkins diesel...

 

[pantheraba]

I have the 3 cylinder diesel Deutz...not sure of the HP but is does well so far...maybe it is the 42HP...have not tried to ascertain that yet.

Cool you can borrow it...I am learning to love my chipper. Feed rollers are awesome.

 

[pantheraba]

I found the specs in the manual Vermeer sent to me....42 HP.

 

[Spellfeller]

Nice! That's a brute of a motor compared to mine, Gary.

Peak grunt is 12 ft/lbs more at 200 rpm less...

 

[Bermy]

Back to the trees...

You've got the 540 wrap going, that's what I was talking about, Gary's is like a reverse 360...instead of going around the back of the tree from your side D, come across the front first, then wrap once. You'll end up with an 'X' in front of you.

I'll repeat what some others said, I usually cut my face from the side somewhere so I can see it, then go round behind or as close to behind it for the back-cut. I always try to have both of my hands on the top handles, right on trigger handle (like always) and left hand on top also. It gives you a better safety margin when the chain is ripping away right in front of you at mid-chest/belly level. You can brace the saw better than if you've got your left hand down on the lower curve of the handle.

If you can time it right, get the saw out of the cut, chain-brake on and dump it down on the lanyard before the top goes completely, brace both arms against the back of the tree, to help absorb the ride if it comes. Holding your saw in one hand while things are wobbling around runs the risk (however slight) of doing something unintentional with it while it is still running. But hey, I'm a girl and you boys have more forearm strength than I do!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I would rather hold the saw turned off. If the saw is dangling the full length of the lanyard and the stem sways hard, that bugger can start swinging in circles and bonk ya good. Learn where the off switch is and use it. Just me.

 

[Spellfeller]

Fiona and Stephen, thanks for the continued feedback! Safety advice is extra valuable!

Gary: There's NO question now that your chipper is MUCH better than mine. Try as I might for the better part of an hour yesterday, I couldn't get the @#$% thing started!

 

[Raj]

If it's iffy, start the back cut with the chainsaw, don't go all the way through, stow the chainsaw and finish the cut with a hand saw. Not often, but with untrained or unsure ground crew it's a little easier to direct without the extra noise.

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

A straight blade hand saw allows an even hinge, rather than narrower at the corners, rarely noticeable. You have lean.

Fast cutting up to the desired hinge thickness reduces barber chairing, in a leaning, straight grain hardwood.

 

[Bermy]

Ditto with finishing with the hand saw, I do that as often as I need to. It's a sensible thing to do when your safety is on the line.

 

[ch74]

I just cut to a spot , that I can push it over then hit clutch n drop saw with lanyard then I push into my lanyard off the tree , after I see it going over, try not to put slack in my lanyard by leaving forward n hanging on , I want to always b able to grab my lanyard and get aggresive with choking it around the tree if I should happen to gaff out or what ever.

 

[Spellfeller]

Hi, all:

Here is the little devil that gave me fits and a fair deal of sphincter clenching over the last two days, as recorded HERE and HERE...

What I wound up doing was setting a pull line in the fork by the third hashmark from the bottom and making the cut at the second mark from the bottom, with my neighbor on the line (which I'm pretty sure was the Grendel plan, and perhaps others). My neighbor did a good job of tensioning the top towards the lay, without really tugging the tree to the point of an ugly rebound. I cut a fairly narrow notch, since I'd read this:

A good guideline for top removal is to open the notch to an angle that will cause it to close when the top is almost parallel or parallel to the ground, thus lessening forward movement of the remaining tree. A 45-degree notch used aloft on a straight up and down top will maximize the amount of “push back” the tree is experiencing when the hinge breaks, also increasing the ferocity of the ride for the climber. Here: http://www.treeservicesmagazine.com/tree-care-management/insurance/chain-saw-safety-aloft/

And the ride DID seem less than the last top. Almost all of it cleared the conifer I was concerned about below, what did hit it caused no damage.

I chunked down the spar from the 2nd hash to the bottom one, practicing my snap cutting, breaking, and chucking to a drop zone away from the trees underneath. My snap cuts $uck. Maybe the overlapping kerfs were too far apart?

Then we felled the spar with a pull line at the bottom hash mark. Pretty happy with that stump...the face cut was bigger than 80% (points off) but the hinge was NIIICE!

More pix later, but I don't have any of today, and today was the best of the two!

Thanks for all the tutelage; it's working, TH Yodas!

 

[SouthSoundTree-]

 

[Spellfeller]

Thanks, Sean. MAJOR sigh of relief over this job and a MAJOR leap up the learning curve.

(Though what I know best is that I know VERY little!)

 

[pantheraba]

Speller be stoked!!! Good stuff. Good work plan. Good neighbor...hang onto him.

 

[Grendel]

Nice work Spell. Keep it simple man

Properly applied pull line goes a long way toward a predictable result.

 

[Spellfeller]

Speller be stoked!!! Good stuff. Good work plan. Good neighbor...hang onto him.

Thanks, Gary! It was a great day, for sure.

My neighbor, Eric, is a super guy. There's plenty more to do, both in his yard and mine; I think we could get a good thing going!

It's pretty nice to have a groundsman older than 11...they're significantly more capable!

 

[Spellfeller]

From the other thread...

There was just a post over on the Buzz about an Ash TIP failure. What do you have target wise underneath Spell? Consider setting a pull line and dumping the whole top from around your second hash mark. If you don't have anyone on the ground you can always set your line, tension it, then climb and cut. Maybe even hang some weight mid-line to maintain tension once she starts going over.

Keep us updated

From just above...

Nice work Spell. Keep it simple man

Properly applied pull line goes a long way toward a predictable result.

I love you, man!