# Dutchman Notch



## jg55056 (Apr 24, 2005)

Is this type of notch also referred to as a "jump cut"? I'm used to using a standard narrow notch to to get larger diameter limbs to land flat (reduce the spring back from the tips). I was going to try this technique out, but I'd like to get some opinions/tips on the correct way to do so.


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## Stumper (Apr 24, 2005)

Not exactly. A Kerf Dutchman can act like a jump cut-The hinge is undercut with a saw kerf that closes then jams up the fall and pops the hinge making it "jump". A Dutchman is a secondary notch that lets a tree start falling into its lean then jams transferring the momentum into the primary notch's line of fall (so it starts falling then kicks sideways toward the desired lay.) A Step Dutchman is a piece of material either left while cutting or inserted after the forming of a notch so that the tree starts falling, hits on the step and is forced to the side as it falls. Step Dutchmen are easy to employ but more limited in the changes they make than a Dutchman (notch).


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## Lumberjack (Apr 24, 2005)

I use a snap cut, or a mismatch cut to make the limbs land flat. A dutchman is very similar to a snap cut as it stalls out the notch quickly.

A dutchman is when the notch face isnt clean and one of the cuts extends to deeply.

Do a search on "dutchman" on here.


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## jg55056 (Apr 24, 2005)

Yeah, I guess I was talking about the kerf dutchman then. I know some of those styles It's interesting to here what their proper names are though. Thanks


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## clearance (Apr 24, 2005)

Intentional or accidental dutchmen are not allowed in B.C. and can result in fines from the compensation board. One handing a saw is not allowed either but........ I use a very shallow undercut when I want to make a top lie flat and not nosedive, but without a dutchman. Sometimes I drop my saw ( on a lanyard) and shove the butt down when it breaks free from the tree. I will not get religous about using a dutchman, but it is something to be used with care by an experienced faller or in this case climber. Why they are prohibited is because they can cause a barberchair with fatal results, it's happened. Just be carefull and practice on small limbs first, never put yourself where a chair could get you in the face/chest. I am getting better at making limbs or logs flip or complete a circle before they land flat. This can be used as well, I have stuck logs into the ground like a javelin before and had to pull them out with a truck practicing this though.


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## Stumper (Apr 24, 2005)

KC, No more whoring with the search button-you are above such things.  Sorry, but I didn't hear those names. I don't remember what I wrote nor where. You have it figured out anyway-the thicker the piece of wood the harder it is to bend and the more likely it is to break with a low degree of bend The inside of the bend chrysals (the fibers collapse under compression) and the outside radius of the bend ruptures the fibers as tension increases. 

Make wood thicker= make it stiffer.

Make it stiffer=make it "stronger" BUT it will break with less flex.


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## TheTreeSpyder (Apr 24, 2005)

Fred!-

Thanx, i know i got the jist of it; The thicker wood, can build more backpressure upwards towards barberchair forces i think was JP's point. Especially in slower backcut etc.

Oncet a-gain i think:

Sometimes, we say stuff the best way we could one peak time, with all that is going on making it like that. The forums have been a way to capture some of the best of those times, before they get away, when they can't be put just the same way again. The monitor, as jar for the best of these light and elusive butterflies; i always thought, that was one of yours.

-KC


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## P_woozel (Apr 25, 2005)

A Dutchman is any alteration of the standard facecut/backcut, intentional or accidental, examples of intentional Dutchmans include but certainly arent limited to, Step Dutchman, Kerf , Swing, Swizwill, Post and probably more that I dont know about. Species , distribution of tension vs. compression wood, level of experience of sawyer are all determining factors in the success rate using these variations of the standard falling technique. Also a bit of luck helps.


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## clearance (Apr 25, 2005)

Regardless of all the complicated semantics in what sounds similar to speeches from a high paid consultant designed to manufacture consent in the voters, dutchmen are a big deal. As I said earlier they are banned here because people have been killed when using them. You don't have to use them, but if you feel you have to, be carefull and try to anticipate what will happen after you make the backcut. It is something to be used with great care, after having cut down thousands of trees I still try to always make sure my under cuts are clean. But my falling cuts sometimes suck, backcut lower than the undercut, unintentional dutchman, slanting backcut, etc.. That comes from not concentrating, being tired or just lazy. The stump tells the tale, it is what investigators always look at whether they are handing out fines or investigating a fatality.


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## John Ellison (Apr 25, 2005)

Wiley, what is a swizwill? Sounds like something I might do on a bad day. Also, a post to me, is when I dont get the lower side cut up enough because of steep ground or whatever and the tree sets back. Unintentional. Is this the same as what you are talking about?

John


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## P_woozel (Apr 25, 2005)

A Swizwill is a cut put in on the pull side in a swing cut, its hard to explain, like many of these cuts a guy needs to see itat the stump. But I'll try, put your swing dutch in on the pull side, after the face is in bore in below the horizontal cut of the face, boring in perpindicular to the cut, even with the corner of the face. Go about half way. It acts similar to a post, if the swing cut worked it gives a little more hold on that uphill side. Helps some sometimes not. The post, is a little different and very touchy, works on small trees, backleaners etc. never used it on anything over 20" face up the tree, backcut about half distance, dammit see this is getting confusing. Tell you what I'll be putting on a cutting class in July come out its cheap, and informative. I'll try to put pictures of these cuts , though video would be better to show them working/or not :umpkin:


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## John Ellison (Apr 25, 2005)

OK I think a swizzzwill is the same as a stump puller. But I dont know what a post is, would like to see a pic or diagram.

John


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