Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I didn't follow the need for the jack either. Those trees werent huge, and seemed to only need a few degrees of persuasion to get them in motion. I'd have pounded wedges.
Tree felling vids
- Thread starter Reddog
- Start date
- Replies 10K
- Views 889K
pete mctree
Treehouser
Maybe they simply have an aversion to pounding wedges to send a tree up the hill
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I can't see why, but alright.
Burnham
Woods walker
Same reaction here, at least one of those went with nothing more than a couple of pumps.
Jack
Treehouser
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2010
- Messages
- 2,537
Honestly, on trees that small it is a waste of time to have to cut a jack seat instead of just using wedges.
Unless you need to lift one a whole lot to tip it over, which was not the case.
I am of course referring to the Swiss Norway spruces and not Cory's redwood
Gotta agree on the wedging. BUT, it looked to me to be the perfect apprentice training exercise on the "light" stuff ... better 'f-up' on the light stuff than where it's really critical - right?
The other guy (trainee?) did good! ... so did the boss!
pantheraba
More biners!!!
That is what I figured, too...a learning/practicing situation. I try to remember to practice stuff before I actually need the skill...helps keep the pucker factor down some.
All I can say is, "Dang, Cody!!" Great teamwork. It always intrigues me to see when folks have to team up to take down a large tree. So the guy crawls into the face cut and somebody asks, "you want me to pump on it?"
Excellent video.
All I can say is, "Dang, Cody!!" Great teamwork. It always intrigues me to see when folks have to team up to take down a large tree. So the guy crawls into the face cut and somebody asks, "you want me to pump on it?"
Excellent video.
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I try all methods that are new to me in a low risk situation.
pantheraba
More biners!!!
hahaha...I do, too...but where's the fun in that????
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Those were cool vids to watch. Mind you some of the spruce didn't need the jack but was good exercise in matching cuts. Always good for the young ones to practice on. Avoiding hitting the jack plate mis-matching the back cut height from two sides is alright, you don't see that too often, but smart
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
I noticed that myself. The saw work was graceful and that of a well versed faller. Different strokes for different folks on the use of the jack. I could never accuse him of being wrong. Maybe just over complicating the work.
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Jacking small trees demands much more expertise in matching your cuts than big trees. Because in them you have so much more room to work. Still it comes down to reading the tree properly first.
That is what I figured, too...a learning/practicing situation. I try to remember to practice stuff before I actually need the skill...helps keep the pucker factor down some.
All I can say is, "Dang, Cody!!" Great teamwork. It always intrigues me to see when folks have to team up to take down a large tree. So the guy crawls into the face cut and somebody asks, "you want me to pump on it?"
Excellent video.
I was only funnin when I said that when he crawled in there. That tree Still had at least 1/3 left to cut up, and then tons of pressure on the jacks before it went over, and he wanted to get some glory...not too many opportunities for a faller to fit in his undercut these days
That is quite common in the mountains up here.
The guy who taught me how to use a chainsaw and how to fell a tree was always very strict about this point.
I guess that after a life in the woods experience can help a lot, but even now when he has to fell a tree he takes some time to "read" it.
He used to say that the time you underestimate a tree is the time something wrong is going to happen.
He always made me also peel the bark ( I still do and I guess he always does) near the corners of the face cut, with the chainsaw or a little axe, to determin the direction of the fibers so to leave a proper hinge.
I don't have the chance to fell so many trees a year, I work in a urban environment and most of the time I have to cut them in pieces before felling the last stick.Not enough room usually around here.
Anyway the tricks he showed me have always been very important , on the ground or up with the spurs.
I was forgetting....
Really nice to meet you Mr. Beranek.
When I received your Fundamentals I would have never imagined to have the chance to exchange opinions with you...
This is really really cool...
The Treehouse rocks!
It does indeed.
Your point about reading the tree made me think of when I felled my one and only Redwood.
I've lived in Humboldt county for some years in the early and late 80es.
I go back there every so often to teach karate.
When I went over in -99 my good friend who runs the karate school, asked if there was anything in particular, I wanted to do.
" Join a Redwood felling crew" I said.
Turned out he was buddies with a Pacific lumber forester, who took me out.
Being American, he spent the whole trip out to the logging site telling me that I wouldn't be allowed to touch anything, because if I got hurt, I could sue them.
We arrived at the side where his best faller was working. Nice big second growth Redwoods.
That feller put one on the ground and asked me what I thought of it.
Being the Patron Saint of borecutters, I answered:" Nice, but I would have done it diffrently"
So he handed me the saw and said: " Show me!". Then he handed me the plumb bob, he wore around his neck, so I could read the lean of the tree.
Don't need that, I told him, we are used to just reading the tree.
The forester turned quite pale, but didn't say anything.
So I set to cutting.
To make an extremely long story short, I put that tree where I said I would and we had a very good time slapping each other on the back, about two guys from opposing halves of the globe , using different tecniques and achieving the same result.
Except he told me the mills weren't too fond of my normal face cut, as opposed to a Humbold.
He told me the moment I started his saw, he knew I was a faller.
I would have seen that as well had the shoe been on the other foot.
Start a chainsaw 10000 times and you develop a way of doing it.
Here is the point I was going to make.
Since then, every time I've had a particularly hard tree to read, I bring out the plumb bob.
Countless Danish fallers have gone : " What????" And I've shown them ( While bragging about being the only dane to ever fall a Redwood, of course
Getting a chance to knock that tree over is one of my fondest "travelling logger" memories
Your point about reading the tree made me think of when I felled my one and only Redwood.
I've lived in Humboldt county for some years in the early and late 80es.
I go back there every so often to teach karate.
When I went over in -99 my good friend who runs the karate school, asked if there was anything in particular, I wanted to do.
" Join a Redwood felling crew" I said.
Turned out he was buddies with a Pacific lumber forester, who took me out.
Being American, he spent the whole trip out to the logging site telling me that I wouldn't be allowed to touch anything, because if I got hurt, I could sue them.
We arrived at the side where his best faller was working. Nice big second growth Redwoods.
That feller put one on the ground and asked me what I thought of it.
Being the Patron Saint of borecutters, I answered:" Nice, but I would have done it diffrently"
So he handed me the saw and said: " Show me!". Then he handed me the plumb bob, he wore around his neck, so I could read the lean of the tree.
Don't need that, I told him, we are used to just reading the tree.
The forester turned quite pale, but didn't say anything.
So I set to cutting.
To make an extremely long story short, I put that tree where I said I would and we had a very good time slapping each other on the back, about two guys from opposing halves of the globe , using different tecniques and achieving the same result.
Except he told me the mills weren't too fond of my normal face cut, as opposed to a Humbold.
He told me the moment I started his saw, he knew I was a faller.
I would have seen that as well had the shoe been on the other foot.
Start a chainsaw 10000 times and you develop a way of doing it.
Here is the point I was going to make.
Since then, every time I've had a particularly hard tree to read, I bring out the plumb bob.
Countless Danish fallers have gone : " What????" And I've shown them ( While bragging about being the only dane to ever fall a Redwood, of course
Getting a chance to knock that tree over is one of my fondest "travelling logger" memories
Burnham
Woods walker
Great tale there, Stig. Thanks for sharing it .
.
Tucker943
Bamboo Plantation Owner
Did you use a Husqvarna Stig?
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
Very nice story.
"The forester turned quite pale "
"The forester turned quite pale "
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
This thread rocks
gf beranek
Old Schooler
Always a wonderful story, Stig. A great opportunity to prove your metal.
Reading the tree always comes first and expertise on the stump is second.
And thank you for the cudos, Koala. Pleasure to see you on the forum.
There is some good experience to share amongst us.
Reading the tree always comes first and expertise on the stump is second.
And thank you for the cudos, Koala. Pleasure to see you on the forum.
There is some good experience to share amongst us.
rskybiz
TreeHouser
Just for shats and giggles
See how long before You Tube yanks it
Still up musical great
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Be interesting to see how many here hum or hear that song in their head now when they tip a tree or spar now 
Jed
TreeHouser
Thanks for the vid Stephen.
Cool to see the Swiss--or were they Italian--fallers too. Those guys had some nice level-cuts on steep ground.
Thanks Cody--what an experience.
Cool to see the Swiss--or were they Italian--fallers too. Those guys had some nice level-cuts on steep ground.
Thanks Cody--what an experience.
Marc-Antoine
TreeHouser
I just understood the whole lyricsBe interesting to see how many here hum or hear that song in their head now when they tip a tree or spar now
Deeply printed in my mind now.:roll:
Well done !!! Pfff
Hopefully, you post the other vid without the song, so I can concentrate my self on the felling process.
