The Official Work Pictures Thread

Maybe you could put a face in the top? Takes a good bit longer than a quick undercut, but could probably save a bunch of time under some circumstances.
 
I undercut limbs for folding fairly often too. As John mentions, a face on top is key to encourage easier folding.

One nice trick that this discussion makes me think of: Lets say you have a tree to drop and there is a leader or large limb you can reach from the ground (or the bucket) that has some degree of favor toward the desired lay but the tree as a whole doesn't. Cut a kerf face and then the backcut, cutting just enough so the leader starts to commit to the lay but it then stops cuz the kerf face closes. That can cause a significant amount of weight to move toward the desired lay and can make the difference when felling the tree, maybe now you don't need a rope to pull the tree or maybe just limited wedging. And of course that big leader or limb will also fold. :dude:
 
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Man you guys are awesome lol. Constantly hearing of new techniques, now about folding leaders and spars. For the new guy, is there any footage of this process so I can get a visual and some guidelines of it?
 
Sorry, no footage from me but a short story. A big walnut had a massive limb toward the lay. It was a good help to counter balance the otherwise backlean. Enough room to fell it in front, but there were a travel trailer on both sides. If the tree would had hit the ground with this huge limb, the whole tree would then had tilted to either side and damaged (at least) a caravan. To save a big amount of time and effort needed by piecing down the crown, I weakened heavily the limb at its base, not by undercuting, but by boring. I left a strap on the underside to avoid pinching my bar, and was able to cut upward as far as I dared (will it still hold?). A bit nerve wracking here. When the tree hit the ground, the strap just exploded and the whole thing collapsed flat with no side move. Yeeha !
 
gotcha Marc, great explanation of that one. When y’all were first mentioning the technique my mind went in to doing a series of undercuts down the spar. Maybe only 20% of the diameter so that when it fell you only had to do the top cut and not risk burying the saw in the dirt.
 
So just thinking of how that could go wrong, could the limb still “poke” the earth in a way that it wouldn’t say hinge on the remaining fibers but act like a heavy limb with too much undercut and just pinch the kerf, still becoming a pivot and something to stab in to the earth
 
TINYHULK said:
When y’all were first mentioning the technique my mind went in to doing a series of undercuts down the spar. Maybe only 20% of the diameter so that when it fell you only had to do the top cut and not risk burying the saw in the dirt.
Click to expand...
I didn't though of this reason. It could be useful, but I guess somewhat time consumming for the gain.
An other case of weakening, but on the trunk itself as you suggest, is with an oddly shapped tree. A banana spar, or angled, or what you want "strange", can have a very wild behavior when it hits the ground, with jerking, jumping, boucing, rolling... extremely dangerous. By puting a deep cut in the strategic points, you resume the odd shape in a succession of straight logs tied together. Boring and leaving two nice straps on diameter is key to keep the thing secure while climbing down. When the spar hit the ground, the straps break and the shape flattens with no more spring effect, the logs staying mostly where they land.
Good to reduce the hole in the ground made by the spar's tip too.
 
Such good techniques that can’t wait to try out 😁 thinking of so many trees that would have been easier if I knew of this sooner 😂
 
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Long as we're on the subject of laying down easy certain trees, I learned this trick probably here at the House but not sure.

Similar to above re cutting a kerf face and then a back cut just enough to get the stem to commit to the lay- If you are working on a very strong, tough-wooded tree (river birch works best for me in this area), you do the kerf cut thing down low, the tree leans a bit and then you repeat the process above the first kerf cut you made, the tree leans a bit more and then you repeat a bit above the previous cut, etc etc. If the wood is strong, the hinges won't break so the tree doesn't fall, it just keeps leaning over more and more.

I've been able to get some trees down almost parallel to the ground and still holding onto the stump. It of course makes for gentle or even zero impact landing and easy cutting up for the chipper.
 
I'm a dumb old bunny...but sure as shit it looks like pollarding is topping, unless the long term management is in evidence. And hereabouts, it is hard to see that follow up maintenance over time, in most instances. As in...about never :D.

In the old countries, I do believe this practice is appreciated and followed. But here in the new country USA...not so much at all.
 
I see crape myrtles follow consistent pruning regimens, but those are the only ones I notice. Other trees just look like they had the shit hacked out of them.
 
I've heard n seen video evidence of proper European pollarding, in which the arborist/climber leaves one wild un-pollarded hair intact to insure the tree doesn't go into shock. Once tertiary growth has sprouted, the wild hair too is brought into submission.

Jomo
 
Jomo said:
I've heard n seen video evidence of proper European pollarding, in which the arborist/climber leaves one wild un-pollarded hair intact to insure the tree doesn't go into shock. Once tertiary growth has sprouted, the wild hair too is brought into submission.

Jomo
Click to expand...

I have seen and done this. More in Norway than the Uk.

Sap risers they call it over here. Personally I think it looks terrible and the trees seem to do ok if you just cut it off.

It is usually the textbook warriors who insist on it. The type of academic arborist who usually hasn’t climbed a tree since their assessments. They have read it in a book and take it as gospel.
 
You took the word out of my mouth.

Here in Cali 3 species are pollarded seasonally with good results: fruitless mulberry, sycamore and crape myrtle.

Other species treated the same succumb to crotch and heart rot and eventually have to be removed.
 
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