How would you have removed this tree

[PhysAssist]

I'd say if he had messed up, we wouldn't be seeing a video, luck, skill wins a lot, just looking at the surrounding, i'd say they didn't have the $$ to pay for a high price outfit.

Ronnie

Sure we would, but on Tosh.0, Ridiculousness, AFV, or another show that uses videos ripped off from the interweb to give washed up actors and comedians some way to generate income and waste time.

 

[2ndhalf]

There is a reason that a licensed/bonded tree trimmer does things the way they do.. with Caution.. a tree that size hitting a house could completely make it unlivable and guess what, your building a new house... how much money did you save then.. hopefully you make enough off of AFV to build you a new place.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I agree, no benefit to a sloped back cut. IT does nothing to prevent saw pinch. The notch cut and natural lean of the tree determine if a saw is gonna pinch. Wedges are assurance and can guide a tree to a precise location if you are good. Or can overcome a little natural lean and fell a tree in a direction other than it would normally want to go.

Have felled hundreds of trees myself. And the only thing a sloped back cut does is leave an ugly stump, and an ugly log

Agree. Sloped back cuts are intuitively silly.

The hinge is what guides a tree to a precise location. Plastic felling wedges behind the saw can overcome slight balance problems and get the tree falling before you cut the hinge too thin. The hinge must remain intact for about 45 degrees to be fully effective. Minor wind will have no effect while the hinge lasts.

 

[5030]

I take down lots of trees and trim damage too, but in that instance, I'd hire a tree removal company and check their liability insurance policy and effective date before hand.

Better safe and covered than sorry about the outcome.

I had an addition built on my shop and the contractor told me he had insurance and I took his word for it. he fell off the roof and broke his back and tried to litigate against me. Just so happened I had 2 witnesses when he told me he was insured. His litigation failed plus he had to pay my insurance carrier back for attorney costs.

Honesty is always the best policy.

 

[CobyRupert]

Agree. Sloped back cuts are intuitively silly.

The hinge is what guides a tree to a precise location. Plastic felling wedges behind the saw can overcome slight balance problems and get the tree falling before you cut the hinge too thin. The hinge must remain intact for about 45 degrees to be fully effective. Minor wind will have no effect while the hinge lasts.

How do you keep the hinge intact for 45 degrees? Isn't brittleness of the fibers more related to the type of tree, season, etc..? Can relative height of the backcut to the open side wedge height effect how long hinge holds?

On another subject: Look at the last 2 seconds of vid where it shows the stump on the open face side. We never see what kind of wedge he cut on the trunk that falls, but judging from the uneven wedge cut on the stump, it seems lucky the trunk didn't kick left on it's way down.

 

[motownbrowne]

How do you keep the hinge intact for 45 degrees? Isn't brittleness of the fibers more related to the type of tree, season, etc..? Can relative height of the backcut to the open side wedge height effect how long hinge holds?

On another subject: Look at the last 2 seconds of vid where it shows the stump on the open face side. We never see what kind of wedge he cut on the trunk that falls, but judging from the uneven wedge cut on the stump, it seems lucky the trunk didn't kick left on it's way down.

Google "open-face notch". By making an open faced notch you make it so the hinge stays intact much longer than a standard or Humboldt face cut.

 

[LD1]

For control, a larger notch or open face is better. But pulls fibers and not a good thing for logging. Loggers use a smaller notch so once it starts to fall in the relative desired direction, the notch closes and pops the hinge with little fiber damage.

All this goes out the window on dead stuff. Degree of rot or deadness is unpredictable and therefore so is control without a line, or dropping a piece at a time

 

[oosik]

In this particular case, I don't think it makes a lot of difference whether this guy is a newbie or seasoned professional. Plain and simple LUCK had a lot to do with the outcome. Considering this was the one perfect outcome - there are at least half a dozen, less than perfect, alternate outcomes. This method is not the way a professional would have done it.

 

[turnkey4099]

Agree. Sloped back cuts are intuitively silly.

The hinge is what guides a tree to a precise location. Plastic felling wedges behind the saw can overcome slight balance problems and get the tree falling before you cut the hinge too thin. The hinge must remain intact for about 45 degrees to be fully effective. Minor wind will have no effect while the hinge lasts.

It also clues on that the faller was a rank amatuer. I heard of a guy got an 'in' to cut black locust (rareity in these parts) and took out a power pole. Ihad be sort chasing that site myself so went out to look. Stump clearly showed that he had tried to use the sloping cut plus wedge to try to force the tree opposite the lean. I had eyeballed that tree myself and knew it leaned wrong. $10,000 later he was a wiser person. I heard that his home insurance paid.

Harry K

 

[sea2summit]

It also clues on that the faller was a rank amatuer. I heard of a guy got an 'in' to cut black locust (rareity in these parts) and took out a power pole. Ihad be sort chasing that site myself so went out to look. Stump clearly showed that he had tried to use the sloping cut plus wedge to try to force the tree opposite the lean. I had eyeballed that tree myself and knew it leaned wrong. $10,000 later he was a wiser person. I heard that his home insurance paid.

Harry K

Honestly I think the other guy is the home owner and tried to do it and the feller is a friend that came to the rescue. In the first part of the vid it looks like they are talking direction of fall and the feller motions he's going to take it the other way IMHO.