Tractors and wood! Show your pics

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Me and the communist out hunting fire wood again, not the most exiciting pics.
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I love your pictures. I think them very nice.

 

[dodge man]

Yes the back cut, I start a little high and then angle down towards the notch I made.

 

[arrow]

Yes the back cut, I start a little high and then angle down towards the notch I made.

Yeah that's dangerous to do DM.

 

[John_Mc]

Yes the back cut, I start a little high and then angle down towards the notch I made.

That seems to be a fairly common misconception. It does nothing to help the tree fall in the intended direction. It's safer to make that back cut perpendicular to the grain. If the tree needs a little help tipping over, driving a plastic felling wedge into the saw kerf of your back cut can work wonders: it lifts the back of the tree, causing it to pivot about the hinge you have already established, tipping the tree in the direction your notch is facing. It does depend on you establishing a sound and proper hinge. (Using a wedge in an angled back cut is more likely to just break out a chunk of the back of the tree - the steeper the angle, the more likely it is to split.)

If you'd like to check out a good set of instructional videos on tree felling, see this series put out by Husqvarna. It does largely follow the Game of Logging methods, which some on here are not a fan of, but the methods do work. I'm not by any means saying this is the only way to take down a trees. It's just one set of tools. It's handy to have more than one tool to bring to the job. I like the series because they also do a good job of explaining the logic behind the methods, rather than just saying "do this".

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VcazyXHqErUd8ib-OKs6sZkfGFQ5shu

 

[Loaderman22]

You could have a thread on this alone. Keep us posted in any event.

If you look at the one photo, you can see that where the tree broke off, it wedged itself in it's own crotch between trunks. So not only is it wedged at the bottom, but also up at the top, and of course the crotches aren't aligned so as I cut, it will drop and the torque will shift from front to back. I do want to get this out of there for a few reasons: it looks terrible like this, it will only get worse as it dries out, getting wedged deeper, and a bit of a safety issue. However I'd like to do it without dropping the rest of either tree.

 

[Skeans1]

That seems to be a fairly common misconception. It does nothing to help the tree fall in the intended direction. It's safer to make that back cut perpendicular to the grain. If the tree needs a little help tipping over, driving a plastic felling wedge into the saw kerf of your back cut can work wonders: it lifts the back of the tree, causing it to pivot about the hinge you have already established, tipping the tree in the direction your notch is facing. It does depend on you establishing a sound and proper hinge. (Using a wedge in an angled back cut is more likely to just break out a chunk of the back of the tree - the steeper the angle, the more likely it is to split.)

If you'd like to check out a good set of instructional videos on tree felling, see this series put out by Husqvarna. It does largely follow the Game of Logging methods, which some on here are not a fan of, but the methods do work. I'm not by any means saying this is the only way to take down a trees. It's just one set of tools. It's handy to have more than one tool to bring to the job. I like the series because they also do a good job of explaining the logic behind the methods, rather than just saying "do this".

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL0VcazyXHqErUd8ib-OKs6sZkfGFQ5shu

Another good set of videos are the BC fallers standards, they cover all the above but if memory serves in BC GOL style cutting is illegal.

 

[wheelbuilder]

There's also the USDA's Chainsaw and Cross cut saw training course, the manual is free, if I remember correctly. It is pretty detailed.

 

[John_Mc]

Another good set of videos are the BC fallers standards, they cover all the above but if memory serves in BC GOL style cutting is illegal.

That's interesting. Around here, insurance companies sponsor GOL-style training (MEMIC for one), and commercial operations can get a break on their insurance for having their employees go through GOL training. I've been told that around here, supposedly OSHA will shut down or fine a commercial operation found using sizwheels or soft dutchmans... not that they are doing much to enforce that, since a whole lot of folks use them.

 

[Skeans1]

That's interesting. Around here, insurance companies sponsor GOL-style training (MEMIC for one), and commercial operations can get a break on their insurance for having their employees go through GOL training. I've been told that around here, supposedly OSHA will shut down or fine a commercial operation found using sizwheels or soft dutchmans... not that they are doing much to enforce that, since a whole lot of folks use them.

Depending on where and who’s ground you’re cutting on out here back strapping in front of the wrong manager can get you sent home. Is there a time and place to do them yes but it also places a lot of tension on the back of the stump that can rip out with a gust wind. I remember when I broke in under some of the old growth guys the saying was it’s just hardwood chair it out and with our Alder out here you look at it wrong it’ll chair out. We also fall a lot with what’s called a lead so you will fall stuff 90 degrees or so from a lean. You say soft faces Dutchman that’s an interesting topic I’m not sure how that would be fine able by OHSA being it still uses full hinge there’s no by pass cut made it’s just cuts into the stump as reliefs.

 

[Loaderman22]

Another good set of videos are the BC fallers standards, they cover all the above but if memory serves in BC GOL style cutting is illegal.

Nice vid. During the second tree, when he's making the final cut and the tree starts to go and the stump drops, I'd call that a "code brown" moment...