Trees all falling the wrong direction

[miltrade]

I am gradually clearing out two fenced horse pastures that I have that for some reason were fenced in areas that have just too many trees. I have some knowledge of tree felling from research and talking with people who know how to do it. (of course safety is my primary concern and I cut with hearing protection, chaps, goggles, hardhat, and always with an escape route planned etc. etc.)

Problem I am having is that I continue to have trees fall the wrong direction. They aren't huge trees, mostly about 12in diameter and between 50-80 feet tall because I'm just taking down the smaller ones to leave larger ones for shade.

Granted, I am working on slopes in some cases and with trees that probably are weighted to one side as they have grown toward the available light amongst the other trees.

I am notching and adminstering the "felling cut" on the opposite side as required, but they continue to go the wrong way, often taking out part of the fence as they come down (many of them are very close to the fencing).

Question is: is there some way to provide additional insurance that they will fall in the right direction? Is it going to be necessary to climb and top every tree? Does anyone have experience with this?

 

[Gatorboy]

<font color="blue"> ( I am notching and adminstering the "felling cut" on the opposite side as required ) </font>

The notch should be on the side you want it to fall, and the felling cut is made from the opposite side.

 

[russG]

I'm no expert but make sure you notch is deep enough. I also make my back cut on a slight angle down to the notch.

 

[1bush2hog]

Reading a tree is sometimes tough to do - Some people will use felling wedges placed strategically to help persude trees to fall in the right place, while others use ropes/cables hooked high in the tree and tied off to a heavy vehicle. Below is a link on felling notches.

www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/manual/felling/cuts/notches.html

There is alot of great information on the forestry forum too.

www.forestryforum.com/

If you use the rope trick - make sure it is long enough to get your vehicle out of harms way.

Good Luck.

 

[Matt_W]

Now I am by all means no expert in felling trees but I have found that a simple string and weight used as a pendulum can be held up to provide a vertical line to sight against the tree trunk to gage the general direction of where most of the weight of the tree is leaning.

 

[HammerFour]

Wedges and ropes are the key.

Use a wedge that you drive in as you make your felling cut to tip the tree the direction you want it to go.

Take some ropes and tie off to the tree you are felling as high as you can, then tie off to the base of a tree in the direction you want it to go. Don't tie it to a vehicle, you don't want that 10,000 tree dragging your 5000 pound truck or tractor over on its side.

One good method is to use a pulley at the base of the tree you are tieing off to, run the pull rope thru there, then tie it off to another tree. As you start cutting, you can go over and pull on that rope to sway the tree the direction you want.

 

[Renze]

Make a good notch and make sure to leave an unsawed strip in the middle, that can act as a hinge point, perpendicular to the fence row. Then it can either fall forward or backward, but not sideways. ...unless the offset of the tree is just too big..

 

[beenthere]

Twelve inch trees are very tough to wedge to get them to fall against the lean. Also, an angled back cut (felling cut) isn't any better than a flat cut, and for larger trees is not as good. It has to do with the wedge location and forces relative to the wood grain.

If the fence is the only problem, then either drop the fence wires, or remove the fence.

Big problem of getting 12" trees to fall the opposite direction of the lean because there is little to no room for getting a wedge in behind the bar. Taking a smaller undercut to gain more room for the wedge may work. Main thing is to get some ropes high in the tree to pull the tree in the falling direction.

Trees with lean are, or can be, quite dangerous, and often a bore cut is needed to cut them safely. There is a danger that the tree might split up the middle, causing what is called "barber chair" where the split piece kicks out very fast, and this has caused the removal of the chin and surrounding flesh and bone of the tree faller in the process. Sometimes just the chainsaw is thrown out of the cut, and the only harm done.

 

[Cord]

I'll typically make a wedge cut in the direction I want the tree to fall. I generally don't try to fight the way the tree is leaning, instead adjusting the fall direction. I'll cut just over half the distance through, and then make a angled top cut to remove the wedge. Next I'll come from the back side about 1-2" above the bottom of the wedge cut. This will leave a hinge for the tree to pivot on. Once the tree starts to move, I'll back away and let gravity work. If I see the tree start moving a direction I don't like, I'll sometimes try to rotate my back cut leaving more material on one side. This will provide more strenght and delay the fall.

Always check for dead or hanging wood in the tree and it's neighbors. They call them widow makers for a reason.

 

[gordon21]

If a tree trunk apears to be exactly straight, round and vertical, the tree can still be weighted at the top. Walk back away from it 50-100' and look at the crown. Do you see any small differences? It doesn't take much to suddenly get one side of a tree weighing 800# more than another side. Think of firewood. One extra branch 6" in diameter and 12' long is like 8 pieces of firewood without even taking into acct the small stuff at the end of the branch. One significant branch would determine the fall direction. Always check the top before trying to counteract nature and gravity. A offset weighted tree to the left is going to fall to the left no matter what you do.