200' redwood takedown

[Burvol]

I would have gone to the trouble of cutting a humboldt if they were selling the log... but they were milling on site... It was kind of a tight shot between the deck and another log... So I was more concerned with accuracy and thought I'd let them deal with the wood...

I like to stand over the saw and look down the gunnign line on the saw for the top cut of the notch... rarely do I cut the floor like that though..usualy just leave it horizontal... I was hoping the ramp would help the but slide off the stump and reduce the possibility of breakage, but it probably didn't help much... The notch could have easily been much narrower and more shallow, but I did what I felt comfortable with... I rarely get paid for the wood, so really not used to falling for the log...

here's another pic of another falling cut on same job... Not sure about the diameter, though it was probably 18-20"... You can see how shallow the notch was and the upright fibers in the center of the cut indicating a back release.. I wanted a couple extra seconds to get out of there on this one..

As for the saw.. it was almost brand new.... forget the number... think that was a 28" bar.. I put over 30 stroked on every tooth, and it was not skip tooth... that is like sharpening 6-10 regular ground saws... Should have taken the rakers down too... teeth were sharp but it still didn't cut well....

One way to send a stick out off the stump in flight is to cut a "step" or "kicker" as some guys call them. You make a humbolt face, then about 1/3 to half down you make the cut parallel (straight up and down) with the tree on the stump side of the notch. When the tree goes, it touches this little step or whatever you would like to call it, and sends the tree out fairly fast and they tend to fly very horizontal, and land flat, minimizing breakage. I use it on occasion falling timber in tricky spots on cable ground or in other areas where the ground lays strange. You need to be commited to this cut though, slacking in the backcut can pull severe wood, I'll even set it up with a "strap" cut sometimes to compensate this.

 

[murphy4trees]

Ya ... I did have fun.... And actually didn't even mind climbing the big tree, when I could notched and dropped it... Climbing a redwood was a new experience and it was cool to work with my cousin for the first time, and show my friend and his crew how a clean and sober climber can do it.. I never did show any of them how to footlock... or the friction savers etc... Went over basic falling though.. open face notch, back cut hinge... gunning lines...

441 cut well... it actually cut pretty well even when it was dull... I thought that was probably just cause redwood is so soft though...

As far as the 8... had to use the 8 because the port a wrap is too heavy for travel... I was a bit concerned, especially on those chunks. I never use it for life support, or anything else for that matter... It just sits in a box on my porch... I reduced shock loading by using a lowering line with plenty of stretch, (true blue) lacing it through some stubs for a bit of friction in the tree, and using a piece fo hi-v (again lots of stretch) girthed to the base of the tree to anchor the 8... Seemed to work well....

 

[tree_beard]

nice job murphy

btw. the saw in your pics is a ms390 (or a 290, but with that size bar im saying 390)

 

[Fallen Angel]

since this thread is derailed i will say this.


if its out in the forest.....i want to climb to the top and take it all in. knowing i will never get any higher than that point in my life.


if its in the backyard....i want to climb to the top and pop it, sending it down many hundreds of feet to the ground below. i want to taste the wood chips, i want to hear the sound of that top picking up speed on its way down. i want to come down another 30ft and call for a bigger saw so that i can lay this piece of wood over and drop down another 30 ft to do the same.

after that i want a bigger saw sent up my rope so that i can continue to send wood down, log truck ready, and hopefully in the process i end up covered in sawdust and sweat. knowing that no other fool i know would have the balls to pull off what i do for a living. and the best part of it is that i get paid to have the time of my life.


"i want to climb a redwood"

I second and third that thought. Would be one heck of a day.