Tree felling vids

[treesmith]

I think you missed my point. All things being equal it will be easier for me.
Spur,rope and lanyard helps create amazing leverage. for pushing/pulling off cookies and tops and handling saws.
Lowr body is locked in place. Much like sittin in the weight machine doin presses or pull down etc.
Am I missin somethin?

That's just it....standing in the spurs and running a big saw and standing on the ground and running a big saw ARE NOT equal. I'd heap rather lock the chain brake and step around the tree on the ground than have to hold it in place and work my way around the tree in the spurs. But then I'm lazy.....

 

[squisher]

Yahhh, something's being missed here. There is no way chunking down a spar with a big saw is easier than say when you've finally got the room and can make the final cut from the ground. No way is it easier in the tree. You have way more room/maneuverability on the ground and can cut more easily at a comfortable height. It sure seems easier to me anyways.

 

[blue]

Big saws, in a tree, standing on spikes sux ball. There is no way it easier than using one on the floor.
I pre cut the stem I used the 3120 on and trying to hold it up at shoulder hieght, lining it up into a cut was a killer, thats without it cutting out from time to time.
Towards the end when it cut out I had to send it down to be restarted

 

[RopeArmour]

I just want to make it clear all things being equal.
stand on the ground and wield the saw opposed to being spurred, roped and lanyard in.
Sorry for not being more specific.
I know the stress in the arms, shoulders and back and legs is what it is but being locked/braced
into the tree seems to decrease the effort needed. I think the key is your center of gravity/mass is locked in
or should I say not as easily put off balance imo

 

[RopeArmour]

660 revs, flyin chips, flyin hihg and fallin wood , either way I enjoy it
and will hope to do it for another 10yrs knock on wood

 

[mistahbenn]

Big saws, in a tree, standing on spikes sux ball. There is no way it easier than using one on the floor.
I pre cut the stem I used the 3120 on and trying to hold it up at shoulder hieght, lining it up into a cut was a killer, thats without it cutting out from time to time.
Towards the end when it cut out I had to send it down to be restarted

Poof. Jus sayin Tim, hahahahahaha

 

[sawinredneck]

I can't seem to find him now, he's got several videos on youtube as MS880, MS880 magnum or some such. But he only seems to own ONE saw, an 880. He climbs, limbs, tops and drops with that one saw. It hurts me just to watch.

 

[pete mctree]

I shudder at the thought of having to disc down with an 880 again. Just painfull & to be avoided at all costs

 

[Peter]

Been there, got the t-shirt, both 880 and 3120, although not at the same time. Not in a hurry to repeat the experience.

Last time it was an old beech pollard, had to disc down right through the pollard head.

 

[Burnham]

So how long are we giving Dave, Burnham, before one of us have to explain it and put " the great unwashed masses" ( Wonderful phrase BTW. where is it from?) out of their misery?

hahaha...you know-it-alls are all grinning like cheshire cats while we, the great unwashed masses, twiddle our thumbs, roll our eyes, scrape the dirt in the road with our toes and just wait.

It would appear that Dave has abandoned us to our own devices, so I'll make a try at it. Jump on in, the rest of y'all, if I mess up .

There are a couple of reasons why one might use a quarter cut. One is that even in a straightforward fell, if there's a bit of back lean and the stem is small, it allows you to get a wedge in without the tree setting back. This isn't the situation we're going to discuss.

Dave said:

Except with the quarter cut, they also compress and tension wood fiber to ones advantage.

If you have a tree with side lean, quarter cutting on the lean side and then strongly driving a wedge there causes tension on the lean side, counteracting the natural compression, at the same time causing compression on the side opposite the lean, counteracting the natural tension. The wood fibers act more like those of a fair standing tree and the side lean forces are reduced, making it easier to get the tree to head to the lay without as much stress on the hinge to tear out early on the side opposite the side lean.

Make sense?

There is also the factor of how fibers under tension cut faster and easier than those under compression. In a side leaner, this can make it harder to keep from overcutting the side opposite the side lean, where you may really want to keep more hinge thickness rather than less. The quarter cut with strongly driven wedge in place helps counteract this as well...though a competant, observant sawyer should be able to control that tendency well enough with good technique alone.

 

[wiley_p]

Been super busy Burnham. Besides you explained it about perfect
It is a go to for side lean.

 

[Burnham]

No worries, bro. Glad to hear my explanation meets your approval. If I get it right in your view, I know I totally got it right.

 

[gf beranek]

Sounds good in theory, B. Nicely put and much can be drawn from your explanation.

 

[Burnham]

Theory, indeed . Dave seems to have somewhat more confidence in the degree of advantage one can accrue than I...not to say I dismiss it, in the least. I expect the amount of side lean is a big factor in how effective the technique can be...best response would have to be in trees with less intense slight side lean.

I'd like to hear Stig's opinion, too...not to the exclusion of anyone, of course .

 

[stig]

I used it a lot when I was felling pulp.
Relatively small trees and easily compressed fibers.
It work particularly fine on Norway spruce pica abies where the springyness of the fibers can actually push the tree over as the cut is released. ( On a fair standing tree, not a backleaner)

But on the large hardwoods I mostly fell nowadays, it is worthless.
Trying to compress the fibers on a large beech to any degree is hopeless, just too dang solid.

 

[Burnham]

Sounds about right.

 

[Peter]

Used it today on a fairly heavily leaning ash, about 22" dbh. Landed plumb in the lay, so no complaints, and the hinge fibres held well. The only thing I dont know is what would have happened if I had used a different cut.....

 

[Burnham]

There's the rub, always, isn't it? We can play with what I like to call "gimmick" cuts 'til we're old and grey (no snide comments, please ), but the inherent inability to ever duplicate the precise same conditions to the experiment leave us forever in the shade, if not dark, as to exactly how well that cut performed relative to something more conventional (or more radical, for that point).

But therein lies one of the most compelling aspects of this work. If you have a bit of brain and chose to apply it, you will find infinite challenge in working out solutions to the never-ending, never-quite-the same situations we're called on to solve.

 

[Peter]

Indeed, its experience that counts I think, and the evidence of applied knowledge and experience is in consistently hitting the lay.

 

[stig]

Use whatever "gimmick cut" on enough trees and one will start to get an idea of it's efficiency.

The ones that I'm comfortable with, I've used 100s of times over the years.

 

[pete mctree]

Sometimes our subconscious cuts the tree before we can think & mess it up!!!

 

[gf beranek]

It can be a head scratcher at times. As a pretty firm rule, side leaners have to be looked at wisely and handled with a lot of respect.

 

[Jed]

Thanks again to the pros for the info. That's what keeps me addicted to this place. Why anyone wld spend an ounce of his time on those poop-stain arbo websites is beyond me.

Quick question for the pros: (Dave, Stig, Burnham, Jer, and.... o.k. maybe Willie.) Is there any formula for deciding when the basal area (hinge diameter) of a stump is not sufficient to fall a tree because of its height in a very slight breeze? O.k.... dumbest question ever. Here's what happened.

"Hey Jed... I'll give ya four hundred bucks if you can fall eight dog-hair Firs out on Whidbey Island on Saturday." Me: "Uh... Yeah, sure I can...."

So there I was: out on Whidbey Island last Saturday looking like a total idiot, because I didn't want to slam eight 120' to 160' Dougs into a twenty degree lay between a house and a Red Cedar keeper. Cldn't climb or the job wldn't get done on time. Long story short. Faced the first and second biggest pig up a hair too close to the Cedar. Told my foreman, "Yeah I got er' going a hair-bit too close to the Cedar cause I'm scared of the house, but I can always torch off that corner as it goes over to save out the Cedar a bit." Foreman: "O.k." ....... Ripped out way too many branches on the cedar. The next three streched out perfect by the grace of God, then we decided to take the other four into the woods. Thank God. ............... Climbed the Cedar to prune-out my mistakes, and got the 400 with a happy home owner to boot, but only by the grace of God. ................................ Man, I coulda smashed that house!!!!!!!!!!! I've got totally no idea what the heck I'm doing!!!!

Lots of wedges, big gaps in the hinge, Sizwills under the gaps.... all of that stuff, even tolerably-well implemented cldn't save that Cedar with a novice faller at the helm. I'll tell you boys something else: just cause you can port a 440 to cut better than the boys at the shop, and sharpen a straight-cutting saw with a triangle file--that still don't make you no timber-faller!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Man!!!!!!!!!! I swear!!!!!!!!!! I'm scared to death just THINKING about how retarded I am. Praise God that poor guy's house is still there. Ah!! I hate the wind so Much too!!!! I swear, it was just the slightest, tiniest little breeze, but you shoulda' seen that dog-hair swayin' way up there. It'll put the fear of God in ya if you have to fall anything. Man, I swear, I paced off the tallest of those pigs at 160', and my 32" bar got all the way through, even though a narrow Humbolt was cut clean off the ground. Needless to say, they all wedged pretty easy. O.k. I'm gonna' try to relax again now...

 

[Tucker943]

There's a lot more pros in here then the list you mentioned.

 

[SkwerI]

Jed, I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I also think you may sometimes succumb to 'analysis paralysis'. IMO you need to be able to trust your gut and your skills in order to get the job done. Never let them see you sweat, just keep a straight face and act like you know what you're doing.