back cut ?

[hammerlogging]

ya'll are crazy. Except the fallers. East coast we don't mind doing our upright face cuts because we have so much butt swell- no wasted wood. open face regular east coast style notch or a humboldt, whatmatters is if the face closes before the tree hits the ground. Hinge width is 10% diameter maximum. hinge length is 80% daimeter minimum- so with side leaners, a longer hinge can steer a tree further than a shorter one. All arborsists would seriously benefit from 2 to 3 months in the woods, you would not believe the saw skill and cuttiing skill difference. There is no reason to do anything but a flat back cut. Angled does nothing. There is no reason to cut your back cut higher than your face cut. There are many minor variations used for particular situations, but generally unnecessary. Escape route 45 degrees fromthe stump and you're ok anyhow. I say regular east coast style- clarify- thats directional felling with bore cut, not back cut, directional felling is the way to cut hardwood timber. Out of the many thousands of large diameter hardwoods I've cut, only one barberchair- a huge hollow beech I wanted to cut only because it wass such a cull and taking up nearly 1/4 acre of good growing ground. It was way hollow and heavy crowned, came as quiite a surprise. Top ended up resting up on the top of the 30' barberchair, just left it as a monument. Do we fallers really care how the trees end up laying, hell yes. If I get paid by the thousand baord feet and I make it so the equipment can maove an extra trucload per day cause its easy to get the wood out, who wins? If I never break wood, who gets put on the high dollar timber by the mills? Craft, skill, and pride, fallers (professional types at least) care.

 

[cmetalbend]

I see stumps with this 45 degree back cut signature often and it makes me crazy! Making a lot of extra saw dust in vain. The few times I have caught and asked why, the reply was either "thats how I was taught" or something about a higher kick plate or so the saw doesnt get pinched as bad if she tries to lean the wrong way or so it won't barber on me.

If the butt barbers, it will blow that little ledge right off the back side of the stump when it does, thats not gonna stop it. Use a humbolt face and run that back cut a bit above the apex of the face and thats all the kick plate you will need. Stick a wedge in BEFORE you get pinched and you never will get pinched again. Did I say never? (Should never get pinched again) Level back cut though, or slight incline only, none of that 45 degree crap. Much easier driving a wedge if you can swing like a pendulum rather than swinging up and down if you need to move that tip in the right direction.

HINT: Carry a spare bar nut in your cuttin pants pocket with a piece of string about a foot long tied to it. Especially on a side hill, you can take that little 'plumb bob' out of your pocket and hold it at arms length up high and sight past the string at the stem of the tree from a couple different sides of the tree and know exactly which way it is leaning. Takes the guess work out of which way the tree "wants" to go. Don't ignore that breeze.

Anticipating barber chair activity and preventative measures should perhaps be another thread?


randy

thanks for the hint, I'll give it a try.