# cutting up a pine hit by lightning in my pasture



## lectrocrew (Sep 7, 2008)

I cut this pine a couple of weeks ago after it had been hit by lightning. I am using my new ms660 with some help from my 018C.
CLICK HERE FOR VID LINK


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## oldirty (Sep 7, 2008)

you gotta work on your "sawsmanship" or you are going to get yourself hurt. either that or your saw is going to quit on you....the way your beating on the poor thing.



have fun though!


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## b1rdman (Sep 7, 2008)

oldirty said:


> you gotta work on your "sawsmanship" or you are going to get yourself hurt. either that or your saw is going to quit on you....the way your beating on the poor thing.
> 
> 
> 
> have fun though!




Good looking notch though.


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## Pa Tree guy (Sep 7, 2008)

Keep handling that saw like that and you will be replacing the mounts soon


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## oldirty (Sep 7, 2008)

b1rdman said:


> Good looking notch though.



i think i heard the camera man say that he cut it like that so that he wouldnt have to put the saw in the dirt.....i mean if anything he got lucky that it stayed on the stump if he did plan that cut out.

ok electro i'll throw you a bone or two.

next time you are cutting in that exact same scenario in regards to the way that wood was compressed is this.

bring some wedges. start your cut go like 1/2 way, stop ,add a wedge to the kerf with just enough force as to not get spit back out and continue the cut to about almost through.

go to the next cut and repeat.

do this until you get to an airborne part of the log and then make an undercut all the way through the log until it falls off the rest of the stem.

now what i would have done to that log is this. 

i wouldve cut till i felt/see the wood trying to compress the kerf. then i wouldve moved to the next cut and done the same. on and on until i get to an airborne cut. at this point i cut from the bottom until the weight of the log cuts itself free from the stem. at that point i walk back to the partially cut long and give it a kick to roll it over and now its time to finish all the cuts with an undercut staying in the kerf you already made from before.

there you go bud. 2 ways to cut on that log just for your next saw adventure. 

remember to look for the way a log is under pressure to determine your cut technique.

that 660 is far too good a saw to be having its ass kicked the way it is.


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## secureland (Sep 8, 2008)

I watched about 3 minutes of it. I've decided you need to use your selection of chainsaws in a better way. Relieve the tension baby


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## A. Stanton (Sep 8, 2008)

Lectro,
Thanks for posting the video. I give ya credit for cutting in that hot Florida sun.


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## yooper (Sep 8, 2008)

You should not treat a stihl saw that way.........they wont take the abuse that a huskey will !!!!!but have fun with it. and dont get hurt.


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## Cedarkerf (Sep 8, 2008)

yooper said:


> You should not treat a stihl saw that way.........they wont take the abuse that a huskey will !!!!!but have fun with it. and dont get hurt.



So thats how u treat your husky? Might want to look at some of the broken husky case pics around. Seen one myself, snapped at spring mount.


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## yooper (Sep 8, 2008)

na don't abuse like that just....just that my huskys hold up better than my stihls do when it comes to moter mounts and bar adjustment screws. at least with the bigger saws. I have a 92 that has taken so much abuse (fallen from tree, o trees, fell out of truck,"little damage" forgotten in snowbank in my yard not found till spring. "well maybe left till spring", lost by falling off 4 Wheeler when making shooting lanes,"went back 2 weeks later and found it" Oya and that big piece of wood at thetop of the spar that I plocked off and it got cought in the cut, bent the bar into a pretzel, and didnt do me much Justice either..
I use both saws and like em both just had allot of problems with yanken bigger stihls out of pinches when I cut in the wood. just put ten in my 2 cents. 
Cedarkerf I don't think I said I treat my saws that way, perhaps ya mis read the post!! it was short and to a point wasn't it, perhaps ya missed something?


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## czar800 (Sep 8, 2008)

That's just why I don't lend out my saws!!! is it just me, or would you others guys just have got the tree on the ground first? One tree in a open field and he can't get it on the ground!!!


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## yooper (Sep 8, 2008)

If I cut it I would have left it it up, If possable, then cut it from the bottom, unless cutting saw logs then i would plung cut into the wood to pervent fiber pulling and splitting. I would not of cut from the top with the pressure the way it was. just my 2 cents


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## Andyshine77 (Sep 9, 2008)

Mike I don't want too bust your balls, but you really need to learn how to fall and buck a tree properly before you kill yourself, and your saws. You're very lucky the tree didn't slide back on to you when it barber chaired. 

Here is a link to a book that will help you understand the physics of tree falling. When you understand what's going on, you will be able to work safer, more efficiently, and faster.http://www.baileysonline.com/itemdetail.asp?item=17309&catID=47


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## aquan8tor (Sep 10, 2008)

+1


Get some chaps, too.


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## Rickytree (Sep 10, 2008)

*cuttting up pine*

I would like to quote a beer commercial I once saw "DUDE". Is that your skidder?:jawdrop:


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## epicklein22 (Sep 12, 2008)

To give the guy some credit, he said the tree was hit by lightning. So he atleast didn't cause the barber chair, but it is fishy that it hit a dead pine, in the middle of a pasture and the split pretty smooth and straight till the barber chair section.....

Yup, +1 on what Andy said about physics. You need to understand it to cut trees.


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## Rookie1 (Sep 12, 2008)

I think lectro has some gonads to post video of him cutting whether its right or wrong. I would be pretty embarrassed to show you guys my technique. I would have put it on the ground made cuts 3/4 way through then rolled over to finish cuts.


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## lectrocrew (Sep 12, 2008)

Gee, I feel like I'm on trial here. All I wanted to do was post a video to show cutting speed of my 660. I didn't claim to be a professional saw operator. I worked for a logging company years ago but I was mainly a skidder operator. I ran a saw many days for many hours but I still don't claim to be any kind of expert. Sure, I broke a few rubber mounts and bent a couple of bars but I did the repair work and moved on and I never got hurt in 6 years so I guess the boss didn't mind buying a few rubber mounts as opposed to paying hospital bills. 
That pine got hit by lightning and I cut it down to get it out of my pasture. It was leaning toward my pond and I didn't want to throw it in there so I pulled it backwards with a hand winch tied to the only tree in reach with my 100' of chain. I notched it to fall in the direction it fell. The notch is closed up with the tree weight sitting on it but if you look close you can see it here and here. I cut it far enough to make sure it was dedicated in the direction I wanted it to go (off my fence) and winched away. I was alone with nobody to pull the winch while I cut or vise versa. I'm glad it stayed attached to the stump. I hoped it would. That way I was able to saw the whole thing into small enough pieces to load into my truck without getting my saw chain in the dirt. I didn't care about pulling fiber or damaging the log in any way. I would have liked to sawed some fence boards out of it but it was too dry for that. I said so at the first of the video.
I'm sure there are several better ways to do it, but mine worked fine for me. I was nowhere near the trunk when it split so I still have my head intact and I know how to stay away from that log while it's hanging on the stump by a thread. If you listen to the audio, I also tell Teri to stay away from the stump.
Now to the few with positive input, . I will use your information to help me improve my skills and not get hurt in the future. Thank you for your comments!


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## Rookie1 (Sep 12, 2008)

You go lectro! Like I said you got guts to post video and then take flak.
:greenchainsaw:


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## Cedarkerf (Sep 12, 2008)

lectrocrew said:


> Gee, I feel like I'm on trial here. All I wanted to do was post a video to show cutting speed of my 660. I didn't claim to be a professional saw operator. I worked for a logging company years ago but I was mainly a skidder operator. I ran a saw many days for many hours but I still don't claim to be any kind of expert. Sure, I broke a few rubber mounts and bent a couple of bars but I did the repair work and moved on and I never got hurt in 6 years so I guess the boss didn't mind buying a few rubber mounts as opposed to paying hospital bills.
> That pine got hit by lightning and I cut it down to get it out of my pasture. It was leaning toward my pond and I didn't want to throw it in there so I pulled it backwards with a hand winch tied to the only tree in reach with my 100' of chain. I notched it to fall in the direction it fell. The notch is closed up with the tree weight sitting on it but if you look close you can see it here and here. I cut it far enough to make sure it was dedicated in the direction I wanted it to go (off my fence) and winched away. I was alone with nobody to pull the winch while I cut or vise versa. I'm glad it stayed attached to the stump. I hoped it would. That way I was able to saw the whole thing into small enough pieces to load into my truck without getting my saw chain in the dirt. I didn't care about pulling fiber or damaging the log in any way. I would have liked to sawed some fence boards out of it but it was too dry for that. I said so at the first of the video.
> I'm sure there are several better ways to do it, but mine worked fine for me. I was nowhere near the trunk when it split so I still have my head intact and I know how to stay away from that log while it's hanging on the stump by a thread. If you listen to the audio, I also tell Teri to stay away from the stump.
> Now to the few with positive input, . I will use your information to help me improve my skills and not get hurt in the future. Thank you for your comments!



Tough crowd. Just tuff it out your one of us. Critiquing just a sport on this site. Its a lot funner picking than being picked on.


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## Ghillie (Sep 12, 2008)

lectrocrew, saw sounds great!! Looks like you are having fun with "Big Daddy"!

I have to add... If you are going to drop start your saw, set the chainbrake first, please. And blip the throttle before you take the brake off .
 
Be safe,

Fred


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## oldirty (Sep 12, 2008)

lectrocrew said:


> . I will use your information to help me improve my skills and not get hurt in the future.



perfect.

you should take a look at "fundamentals of general tree work" by GF Beranek. has a chapter that deals with wood compression and how to get a good cut on a log under all sorts of pressure. great read anyway.


look man. dont take too much to heart but definitely understand why something might have been said. just think of us all as your older brothers and although we piss you off we are only looking out for you. cool? 

lol


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## Ghillie (Sep 12, 2008)

oldirty said:


> perfect.
> 
> you should take a look at "fundamentals of general tree work" by GF Beranek. has a chapter that deals with wood compression and how to get a good cut on a log under all sorts of pressure. great read anyway.
> 
> ...



:agree2: ...like a brother....without the Atomic Wedgie!!!


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## oldirty (Sep 12, 2008)

Ghillie said:


> :agree2: ...like a brother....without the Atomic Wedgie!!!




only because he couldnt be reached.


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## aquan8tor (Sep 13, 2008)

Well lectro, I was a little hard on ya. Nice saw, BTW. I have a big husky, but that 660 is no slouch. I guess we all jumped to conclusions about the hard-to-spot notch. Keep cuttin safe, bud. I let a couple sticks of sycamore down a little too long & ended up with pretty soft spalty lumber last year. Don't beat yourself up for waiting to cut it. I know how it is having too many things going on.


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## lectrocrew (May 20, 2010)

Thanks to every single reply in this thread!!!
I have good news and bad:
Bad = Since last November I am back working for the logging company I worked for in the 90's (and they have saws). :greenchainsaw:
Good = I got hired back to drive the 1995 525 Cat skidder I drove in 95 (still running strong with a new motor only 250 hrs back after over 14000 hrs on the original). I borrowed one of the MS460 saws one day last month to cut 2 tree's that the feller buncher left that were breaking the tops out of the pine logs when I pulled them around the turn tree lining them up on the limbing gate. So I cut the 1st tree and had to get back on the skidder to push the tree off my hung saw. -no problem-...
The 460 cut through the 2nd tree with no problem other than, thanks to my trusty skidder, I had a machine to dive under (with the 460, of course), to keep from getting a bad, bad headache. So I'm alive and with all my parts still attached.

So I give up on ever making it as a pro saw man. But I still live for a few situations that make it all worth it.
1 = When I watch our saw men do what I wish I knew how to. (and I do enjoy helping those great guys stay alive in the woods with my machine)!!!
2 = When no man on our crew (including the boss) can get a MS460/660 to run right so they ask me to fix it: and I do.
3 = When someone takes interest in the saws I've collected (CAD ) and has a bunch of questions.
4 = When I can log onto ArboristSite.com and talk about what's in my blood with all you that also understand.
Thanks to you all!
Mike


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## randyg (May 27, 2010)

This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqOL_niPG0&feature=related would have dropped the log on the ground nicely. Then you could have made all the cuts just shy of the ground, rolled the log a quarter turn and finished cuts taking half the time and one fourth the energy. 

If you humbly ask, I'll bet those cutters will gladly show you the safe way to cut that occasional tree down before you KILL YOURSELF or someone else.

Find something you enjoy to do for a living, and never work another day, or something like that. 

Good luck.


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## lectrocrew (Sep 29, 2010)

randyg said:


> This http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tIqOL_niPG0&feature=related would have dropped the log on the ground nicely. Then you could have made all the cuts just shy of the ground, rolled the log a quarter turn and finished cuts taking half the time and one fourth the energy.
> 
> If you humbly ask, I'll bet those cutters will gladly show you the safe way to cut that occasional tree down before you KILL YOURSELF or someone else.
> 
> ...


Good advise for a city boy who only got into logging because I was relocated to the country and needed a job. And I only kept that job because I'm a very hard worker. And I only lived through it because some of the best guys I've ever known watched out for my safety until I could learn for myself. I never learned enough about the saw part of it to be nearly as good as all the other men, who had done nothing but logging all their lives. But all was not in vane. I turned out to be a darn good skidder driver (after also making many mistakes). But today I'm back doing what I am a professional at, industrial machinery maintenance and repair, and I rarely create barber-chair type situation nowdays. In fact, I teach other men how to do the job and how to not get hurt or killed, just like those logging guys did for me.
I will have to say that I am very glad I got the chance to experience the logging industry and all that goes with it. I very much respect those who are highly skilled at it and risk their lives every day in such a dangerous ocupation. 
Thanks for the link to the informative video. I really only cut that pine myself because I wanted to run my saw. I know I didn't do it right. But the saws were running right. I am a mechanic. I joined this site because I really like working on chainsaws. Notice most of my post are in the chainsaw section, not the logging section. My only regret nowdays is that I work 6-7 days a week as mechanic/electrician and rarely get a chance to sink a chain into wood. There's not much satisfaction in owning such awesome machines if I can't experience the thrill of operating them.


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