# need help with my humbolt notch



## wvlogger (Mar 14, 2009)

I have recently been turned on to the humbolt notch witch i like better than the conventional. But i can not seem to cut them right undercut to deep to much not enogh slope on the under cut always something. please help me.


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## treemaster (Mar 14, 2009)

What helped me learn it was to make the diagnol cut first,then the undercut to match up,i use a humboldt cut everytime i take a top out of a removal.


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## clearance (Mar 14, 2009)

Make your first cut the level one. Use the sights on your saw for this. About 1/4, 1/3 of the tree width in. For the sloping cut, dog the saw in right at where the first cut stops. Then keeping it dogged in, walk the saw around, cutting up towards the other side.

There are some videos on Youtube, search for tree falling, logging.


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## Billy_Bob (Mar 15, 2009)

You can take a magic marker or can of spray paint and mark where you want to cut on the tree before cutting. Then you will get "your side" of the cut right.

Then get another person to watch how you are holding the saw. The bar may appear to be level to you, but the other person can see if the bar is angled down, up, or just right. They can use hand signals (thumb up, thumb down) to tell you to angle the bar up more or down more to get it level.

I suppose you could stick on a small level to your saw as well.

I did this with a friend who was always messing up his cuts. I marked the tree for him before cutting. Then he always held the bar pointing down, so I would give him a thumbs up indicating to angle the bar up more. After a few trees and doing this he was cutting quite well on his own. I said good cut, and he was happy as all get out...


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## Billy_Bob (Mar 15, 2009)

P.S. Its OK if you don't get the cuts to meet exactly. You can always walk around to the other side and saw a bit more to fix it. Then go back around to the first side and "touch that up" a bit.

Take your time and get it just right, then do the back cut.


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## forestryworks (Mar 15, 2009)

the humboldt is a little harder to learn than the conventional.

it mostly has to do with the angle... you're looking at it upside down, which throws you off the first several times you try.

pay attention to every little detail. cut as much as you can. sooner or later you'll come to a tree and you'll "feel" that the angle of your sloping cut is right.

dog in and sweep.

the humboldt is really where you'll learn to use your dogs. you can't make one without dogs - unless you're in 3-4" trees.

edit: learn to use the sights on the saw. they're there for a reason. it's helped me alot.


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## GASoline71 (Mar 15, 2009)

One thing about the Humboldt is that when you make your second cut you always need to "tilt" the saw more than you really think is necessary... 

Make the straight cut first... then tilt the saw away from you and, like clearance said, "dog in" at the "corner" of the first cut and make the bar tip reach the other "corner" as you sweep the saw upwards on the second cut. It's harder than it looks, and takes practice... lots of practice. Your goal is to make your bar tip hit the exact corner on the other side of the tree. If it doesn't line up... then you will have to clean out the face to make sure you don't have a dutchman on the other side.

If you don't have dogs big enough on your saw to bite into the bark to make the second cut... this method will be of no use. The dogs on the saw are the fulcrum point of the second cut.

Gary


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## Jacob J. (Mar 15, 2009)

Some people find it helpful to put a small stick in the far side of the horizontal cut after getting it gunned, so they can 'see' the other side of the cut when lining up the adverse cut of a Humboldt notch.


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## Gologit (Mar 15, 2009)

Yup....practise, practise, practise. After a while it will become second nature to you and you won't want to use anything else.

Look at your stumps when you're done, too. Every stump tells a story and they're a good indicator of how smooth your cuts lined up.

And don't worry about screwups. I've left stumps so ugly that I told everybody " my partner dropped that one".


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## wvlogger (Mar 15, 2009)

thanks guy i am going out tommorow to practice


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## forestryworks (Mar 15, 2009)

take an axe with ya so you can pop out the face if your cuts don't match up.


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## GASoline71 (Mar 15, 2009)

...a good faller always has a 5 pounder with him... 

Gary


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## 2dogs (Mar 15, 2009)

Jacob J. said:


> Some people find it helpful to put a small stick in the far side of the horizontal cut after getting it gunned, so they can 'see' the other side of the cut when lining up the adverse cut of a Humboldt notch.



That is what I do. On big trees I check often that my bar is heading the right direction.


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## jpvjr (Mar 16, 2009)

Being a lefty like me helps. I always used 1 in fact my first boss to see me do this thought I was trying to be funny. He asked what I was doing cutting them all backward.


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## treemaster (Mar 16, 2009)

GASoline71 said:


> ...a good faller always has a 5 pounder with him...
> 
> Gary



Too,true,at times i even use one aloft.


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## 056 kid (Mar 19, 2009)

i like to dog in and fan till i have things the way i want, then fan back out like a pivot and tilt the saw and fan till i see the wedge do that little jig and see the saw dust shoot from my horizontal cut. then i go and continue the horizontal cut and wedge cut on the other side of the tree. i like to have the last wood holding the top so the pie can slide right out. no fighting gravity to get the last wood out of the face.

It seems to be a good way to have cuts line up and not go dutching stumps.


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## havsawwilltravl (Mar 22, 2009)

I like to hold my saw so that my arms are resting on my knees when I make the top-cut, I cut in with the bottom of the bar for the top whenever I can, then without moving your feet, flip the saw and cut your lower up with the top of the bar. If you move around you'll have a harder time lining them up. Sometimes on bigger stuff, I'll make my top cut and then plunge through and cut the lower cut from the inside out. Plunge cuts are a little scary to learn especially with full skip chisel, probably master your notch first!


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