LMAO, Reg, your facial expression in the vid with the little sticks really say "OK you phuknuts, I am really tired of watching stupid **** so I will teach you, but you will probably screw it up anyways"
You kept looking over your should, so I kept waiting for Ninja's
There is a time and place for all cuts said above. I do the exact same thing when I have the big LZ, up high on a strait stick and I want and can go big. You have to get the cuts perfect tho, one mis step and the whole plan goes out the window. Not for novices. That little 2-hand push as it comes away, makes a big diff too. Sometimes I cut straight thru and let it peel off, on smaller stuff. Sometimes do a snap cut with a tag on medium to big. Doing what Reg is doing, shouldn't be something ya try when it really counts. Practice those shots when ya have nothing to smash, in any direction below the tree. He is right about making the angle "top" cut first. This was a big problem in Cali, guys would do the bottom face cut first then try to match it up. They would always miss. Then they would jack the back cut up real bad, never having it square. Much easier to do it the other way. I have also seen "cowboys" who don't want to take the time to do anything but cut straight thru on big stuff, only to pinch their bar when it sits back down. Then they are up there trying to man handle a 4ft dia piece 20-30ft up without bending the bar. Then, if they are lucky and get it out, the piece never comes off the way they want. A little time and effort and you can take monster chunks with very little effort. Put the notch in deep and in the right direction and it goes over with very little effort. Provided the back cut is perfectly level with the apex of the notch and even across. On the big monster stuff, I will deep notch and use a tag. Have also seen guys get scared, only do part of the back cut and then try to push it over with 3-4" of holding wood on one side. That is always a site to see. HW is right, sometimes, just cutting smaller chunks that are manageable by hand can be quicker and you can get away not taking the time for notches or snap cuts, it also makes the material hitting the ground small enough to be escaped from the LZ fast and the processed, in between cuts, instead of having a big pile at the bottom that has to be cut, then hauled,AFTER the tree is down, but no reason to be a dyck about it! Your a god HW, we know!
I think it all depends on the tree, site conditions, the LZ and climber condition. Going big or staying small? Or a little of both. Sometimes I do all the different cuts on the same tree. I don't get alot of skinny talls tho, usually some big gnarly things that has branches going every which way. I lose the skinnys to the hacks and novices most of the time, as they are much easier and bid them real low. Ultimately, it depends on the situation of the day and the ability of the Arb to recognize the safest, fastest way possible.
Cool vid Reg, good point HW, I'll get off your legs now
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