Types of undercuts

[Mr. Sir]

Most of the time, I'll use the traditional face cut; flat bottom cut and 45* - 60* top cut. For me it's just faster and easier to line up. I can do both cuts from one side of the tree, usually, and line up the lay with the gunning sights.

For a tight lay, I'll use a 70* - 80* open face for accuracy.

I'll use a Humboldt when flopping large trunks to keep the top from hitting first and causing a huge divit. With a traditional face, the top tends to hit the ground before the butt, not so with a Humboldt.

And FWIW, I almost NEVER use a face cut when doing crane lifts. Maybe one or two out of a hundred.

 

[stig]

Carl, it's interesting that you'd use a 70(?) inch bar on something anyone over here would cut with a 25- 30 inch.
But I guess we have already covered that territory.

As for the angle of the face cut, I don't know about american trees, (well, I do, but not that much!) but cutting an european ash, you need a high angle face, or it'll close before the hinge is torn and cause the log to split.
Any other species, I'll stick to 45 degrees.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Carl, it's interesting that you'd use a 70(?) inch bar on something anyone over here would cut with a 25- 30 inch.

I'm amazed I've gotten along all this time with just a mere 36", LOL.

 

[stig]

Butch, the longest bar I've ever owned in 30 years of logging was a 37 inch.
Until I had to cut this one: www.skoventreprenoeren.dk
That called for bigger hardware.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Nice!

 

[lumberjack]

6'=72" Cutting that tree down and bucking it would flat out suck with a 30" bar.

MB likes to give me a hard time about that bar, but since a customer bought it for me and I've used it removing 2 trees with a combined cost of over $11k, I can live with his razzing. I bought 3 chains with the bar, haven't sharpened them yet, and still have an unused chain.


I have a 21", 41" and the 72" bar for that power head. Since I was working alone to flop, buck, and load the trunk, and a heat index around 40.5-41C, I decided I didn't want to muck around with cutting from both sides, rolling it over and cutting some more ect. Just lay the big bitch on top of the log, pin the throttle, and let the saw eat while I try to stay cool.

With the power that saw has it didn't take long to get this crotch into manageable sized pieces for the front end loader to load into the roll off. I cut below the crotch and through the middle and ended up with 3 or 4 pieces that were reasonable to load.

That's an 440 in the crotchs, btw.

But I'm crazzzzzzzy like that I guess.

 

[sotc]

nice video stig, we share the same bucking methods anyway

 

[lumberjack]

I didn't see that the first time I loaded the page, only the bonsi and thought you were making a joke.

Comparing what's use for timber harvesting and urban removals are way different beasts. I carried the saw about 20' from the truck to the stump on flat ground .

I removed a 7' oak trunk (had been topped down to the big wood and died) about 1/2 a mile from the oak pictured above with a 41" bar. Maybe there is something in the water, Jay.

 

[stig]

I didn't see that the first time I loaded the page, only the bonsi and thought you were making a joke.

/QUOTE]

Well, the bonsai is a joke ( it's a giant seqouia, by the way)

The text says: no job too big, nor too small.

The big tree is a 14,3 ton solid elm burl, sold to a german veneer factory for 15000$. They cut it into about a square mile worth of 0,6 mil veneer for BMW.
BMW use burly elm for inlay in their top models, to distinguish them from the english manufacturers, who all use walnut.
So if you spring for a 700 series Beemer, you will most likely be driving around with a slice of my tree.

 

[Bounce]

Having gotten my formal training in the Forest Service, I like to use the conventional cut with approx 45 degree angle for most of my work. Like Squisher, I feel like I can be more accurate with the conventional. I only use the Humboldt cut on real big wood where I want gravity's help removing the pie wedge and when falling a tree uphill. However, when I'm cutting a top out while climbing, I've started to use the bore cut technique more often with a 70-90 degree angle. To get this I make the floor cut at a 45 and also the top at a 45. That way the hinge wood break when the top is perpendicular to the trunk and prevents the spar from moving very much.

 

[NeTree]

But doesn't that take all the fun out of it?

 

[NeTree]

Carl, why didn't you take the limbs over the roof first?

 

[MasterBlaster]

Not doing that was a big mistake, but I bet he noticed that later. I woulda roped it all, on the ground by noon.

 

[NeTree]

Butch, I was thinking a) Better from a rigging standpoint, by far and b) Get working out over the hot roof done first.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I did what Carl did once, only once. I was thinking like a checkers player, not a chess champion.

 

[Mr. Sir]

Same here, Butch, on one of my first big removals as a crew leader/foreman. I cut all the easy stuff first; lots of snap cuts and drop into the yard. Then realized, gee, how am I going to get those limbs over the roof. Ended up hiring a crane to finish the tree; major ass chewing from the boss, but I NEVER did that again!

 

[NeTree]

Definitely nicer to have a crotch out over the LZ to use, then to have to butt-hitch everything and tag-line it away.

Then again, looking at the branch on the roof... hi mighta just bombed it all onto the roof.

 

[MasterBlaster]

but I NEVER did that again!

I bet we've all done it at least once.

 

[sotc]

 

[brendonv]

House on left. Just to razz Carl.

 

[lumberjack]

I cut and tossed the lower brush from the lift. Then I rigged the bigger brush and limb wood from the blue rope you see hanging down. The porty was in the tree so all the ground dude had to do was untie the chunk. I fed out slack as it swung across the house, normally landing the piece in the yard or trailer in one motion.

MB, you forgot to say you could have it on the ground by lunch either climbing, bucketing, or craning.

I had about 30 hours on that job and cleared bit over $90 an hour. I might not have done it "right", but I'm ok with that.

 

[MasterBlaster]

MB, you forgot to say you could have it on the ground by lunch either climbing, bucketing, or craning.

Pick one, it wouldn't matter. Of course the crane would be quickest, climbing the slowest. The main thing that slows me down is the ground crew, not the tree.

I might not have done it "right", but I'm ok with that.

No. You must PAY.

 

[brendonv]

Shit, that gave me the chills!

 

[JIML]

Only thing i use an open face on is a hard leaner we are winching back. Don't want the face to close too soon.
Last one I used that on was a black locust. 60 foot tall or so, 18" dbh. Leaned hard towards the line, Just set a rope 2/3 the way up, put the winch on it, face cut, back cut and walk away and watch the guys wear themselves out on the winch...

 

[Burnham]

I don't cut for scale, nor production of any variety...most often it's hazard tree felling. So I use a conventional face almost all of the time, and I cut standing up, leaving a higher stump but allowing myself a quicker exit from the stump if need be.

Besides, starting that darn sloping cut for the face of a Humbolt always throws all those nasty chips in my face .