# Just me and the girls



## Engineeringnerd (Mar 30, 2008)

I had an interesting day yesterday. Our church youth group decided to help a lady with her yard and I was asked to bring a chainsaw for a few branches that might be too big. As things would have it, two large pine trees needed to be dropped and I got to do the job with about 15 teenage girls cheering me on! I was able to use my new 5/8" RedMax bull rope my kids bought me for Christmas as well as some new blocks and chain. My daughter took a video of the felling which shows a nasty widowmaker I was fortunate enough to dodge:

http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/...rrent=f10000z080329CuttingMsEmilystree3Mb.flv

We had a great day and the girls worked harder than a lot of men I know!


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## stihl sawing (Mar 30, 2008)

Glad you got out of the way, That one would have hurt.Thanks for sharing.


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## treemandan (Mar 30, 2008)

engineeringnerd said:


> I had an interesting day yesterday. Our church youth group decided to help a lady with her yard and I was asked to bring a chainsaw for a few branches that might be too big. As things would have it, two large pine trees needed to be dropped and I got to do the job with about 15 teenage girls cheering me on! I was able to use my new 5/8" RedMax bull rope my kids bought me for Christmas as well as some new blocks and chain. My daughter took a video of the felling which shows a nasty widowmaker I was fortunate enough to dodge:
> 
> http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/w199/engineeringnerd/?action=view&current=080329CuttingMsEmilystrees3Mbpswmv.flv
> 
> We had a great day and the girls worked harder than a lot of men I know!



Post it on the homeowner help forum to answer the question" does it really take 800 and a guy with funny pants?" 
Forever alert are the senses of the tree guy- To what? Just pipe down and stand back, no back!
Nice work. don't forget to deduct.


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## DFD34 (Mar 30, 2008)

*Ppe*

Nice to see the proper PPE.


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## Engineeringnerd (Mar 30, 2008)

Hey, this is a hobby for me. I have to go into the office to make my paycheck, so there can't be enough Kevlar between me and a chain spinning at 13,500 rpm! Everyone thought I was hilarious wearing all the gizmo PPE. I think the red suspenders just about pushed them over the edge.


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## Nailsbeats (Mar 30, 2008)

Cool video, I like how it was put together. A lot of intensity with that soundtrack. Nice job.


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## Engineeringnerd (Mar 30, 2008)

Thanks; I've been working to ratched up my video hobby and every once in a while the two hobbies (video & cutting) meet. The tricky part is trying to keep things brief while showing enough of the project so it makes sense. I think my daughter did a good job with the footage, we just need to get her to use a tripod and stay out of the "digital zoom" zone.


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## 820wards (Mar 31, 2008)

engineeringnerd said:


> I had an interesting day yesterday. Our church youth group decided to help a lady with her yard and I was asked to bring a chainsaw for a few branches that might be too big. As things would have it, two large pine trees needed to be dropped and I got to do the job with about 15 teenage girls cheering me on! I was able to use my new 5/8" RedMax bull rope my kids bought me for Christmas as well as some new blocks and chain. My daughter took a video of the felling which shows a nasty widowmaker I was fortunate enough to dodge:
> 
> http://s176.photobucket.com/albums/...rrent=f10000z080329CuttingMsEmilystree3Mb.flv
> 
> We had a great day and the girls worked harder than a lot of men I know!




That was cool and I'm sure the lady appreciated your getting that rotten tree down.
jerry-


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## 460magnumMOD (Mar 31, 2008)

Anyone who thinks the proper PPE is unnecessary or too goofy to wear is just fixin to get hurt. Thanks for wearing it, it looks better than a peg leg, or a big lump on your head. Good show


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## Nailsbeats (Mar 31, 2008)

Hey 460, that stuff does look goofy though, you have to admit that.:hmm3grin2orange:


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## 460magnumMOD (Mar 31, 2008)

It sure does. Some guys I know look a little like Bozo the clown, a little more than necessary, but hey who you gotta impress out in the woods? Not to mention, felling with others in the woods with you (felling around you), and a skidder runnin around its good to be seen.


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## Engineeringnerd (Mar 31, 2008)

You guys are giving me a complex now. I thought I looked like a real lumberjack out there! I even had a real axe and everything.


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## 460magnumMOD (Mar 31, 2008)

Oh, you looked real professional. It's just a couple guys I know that look like clowns. I guess its the long poofy 80's hair coming out from under their helmets that does it.


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## Engineeringnerd (Mar 31, 2008)

I don't have hair to "poof"!


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## 460magnumMOD (Mar 31, 2008)

HAHA. Thats good, I don't think thats a feature men should have. I bust on those guys every time I see them:greenchainsaw:


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## Engineeringnerd (Apr 1, 2008)

Being serious for a second, PPE is really an important issue and we should think of it as a catcher thinks of a mitt, a soldier his rifle, or a preacher his Bible. There's nothing cool about going through life with a missing leg or other disfigurement that can be avoided. Even with PPE, each of us takes a risk every time we crank one of these machines.


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## huskykid141 (Apr 7, 2008)

good thing you took that tree down. if it was left a little longer it would have came down itself.


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## ropensaddle (Apr 7, 2008)

460magnumMOD said:


> HAHA. Thats good, I don't think thats a feature men should have. I bust on those guys every time I see them:greenchainsaw:



Dad burn hippie wannabes


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## tomtrees58 (Apr 7, 2008)

hope you have a real job ?? tom trees


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## Engineeringnerd (Apr 7, 2008)

Thankfully, I make my living by other means. Cutting trees is a great contrast to my normal office/engineering job (which is great too). There's a saying that if you love what you do you never have to work another day in your life.


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## Freakingstang (Apr 7, 2008)

you got some balls to post that video. Like someone else said, don't quite your day job. Glad you had PPE on, because that could have turned out a lot worse than it did.


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## Engineeringnerd (Apr 8, 2008)

Steve, 

How about providing feedback on the job; how you would have done it differently. It's difficult to tell from the video, but the tree had a significant lean backwards and a little to the left as viewed from the camera. The bottom of the tree was very solid and incredibly dense with sap. About 3/4 of the way up the tree was rotten as you can see from the top breaking out when it hit the other tree. The yard was very wet, muddy, and steep at the camera's vantage point. The best available pulling angle was by pulling from dry pavement off to the side and blocking off the large oak in the center of the yard. It took a lot of pull from a Ford Excusion to make the tree come apart. I used 3/8" chain, a 3 ton block, every inch of my 160' foot, 5/8" bull rope. I used my 372 with a fresh chain to cut a wedge 1/2 the diameter in the front and back-cut 2" above the horizontal cut establishing a 2" hinge. We gave the tree a stiff pull before starting cutting to make sure it wasn't coming apart.

I would have liked to have pulled at a steeper angle away from adjoining tree (to the right side of the tree I blocked from), but there wasn't a good traction area or anything to block from in that direction. I don't climb, but can't imagine anyone would want to climb such a tree. I could have taken down the fence in the back and dropped it that way, but I felt comfortable doing it the way I did, especially since the woods were full of poison oak and poison ivy.

Perhaps dynamite was a better option?


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## SWE#Kipp (Apr 8, 2008)

From what you tell you have thought the project through in most ways and it ended up with nothing damaged or anybody hurt so I say you did okay 

When I fell rotten trees I try to bore them and leave a holding strap(GOL style), so when it's time to let the tree go I can watch up the stem and see if there's any limbs on it's way down towards my head


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## Engineeringnerd (Apr 8, 2008)

SWE,

I bore heavy leaners, but didn't consider that one here. I must admit even though I check out the tree thoroughly before getting under it, most of my attention is on the cut and not up the tree. I guess I need to learn to balance kickback paranoia with limbs-dropping-on-your-head paranoia!


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## Industry (Apr 8, 2008)

When you say you cut a wedge 1/2 the diameter that worries me a bit. don't get me wrong, I'm glad to see you got it on the ground with no injuries or damaged property, but that kinda wedge is too much on a LIVE tree, let alone a dead one where you need more hinge to control the tree. as rude as some of the prior comments were, I think their intent was to let you know that your methods may need some tweaking. Stay safe, and keep doing what you enjoy.


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## Engineeringnerd (Apr 8, 2008)

Industry,

Thanks for the tip.


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## Nailsbeats (Apr 8, 2008)

When notching a tree you want the remaining hinge length to be 80 percent of the diameter of the tree as a general rule. You should not notch in more than 1/3 the diameter. Hope this helps for next time.


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## AllenSchmid (Apr 9, 2008)

460magnumMOD said:


> Anyone who thinks the proper PPE is unnecessary or too goofy to wear is just fixin to get hurt. Thanks for wearing it, it looks better than a peg leg, or a big lump on your head. Good show



agreed, wouldn't think it's so stupid when the chain slips, the branches fall or a friend is touched by a widow maker.

Protection.. i wonder why it's laughed at, i know I want to live to a nice old age


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## Mikecutstrees (Apr 9, 2008)

I don't understand why you guys are busting this guys chops. HE thought carefully about how to safely take down the tree and he wore all the safety equipment. The tree came down safe. He exited in a good direction and a widow maker fell. From what I saw he did a good job. 1/2 the diameter of the tree is a little much but I have done that on heavily rotted trees when 1/3 of the tree was dust and I was looking for some sound wood for a hinge. I think he did a good job on a dangerous tree. ..... Mike


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## boltonranger (May 2, 2008)

*It was a good job.*

I think you did really well.. anyone can armchair your work but you did it safe and were successful. The w'maker didn't get you. Rotten trees never make anyone look good who cuts them. Good video, (and nice saw)-br


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## 056 kid (May 4, 2008)

why didnt you just go with the natural lean??


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