Hedgerow
HACK
Sorry to hear that Mike..
Depth of face cut
- Thread starter LogSawyer74
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Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Falling:
The state of mind and feelings you get when you begin to feel love for a person you are sexually attracted to. It puts you into a helpless state where you want the high and can get into trouble chasing it because you become blind to everthing else - hence the term Falling.
The state of mind and feelings you get when you begin to feel love for a person you are sexually attracted to. It puts you into a helpless state where you want the high and can get into trouble chasing it because you become blind to everthing else - hence the term Falling.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
Lol, much better definition.Fixed it for ya.
Gypo Logger
Timber Baron
I like this face cut.
Oldman47
ArboristSite Guru
I watched that video with a more or less open mind. What I saw was not a revolutionary way of dealing with felling direction but a way to deal with it under ideal conditions. What struck me immediately was that it relied so much on the state of the ground where you would do your felling. If I never saw any soft surfaces around a fall, it might just be great. On the other hand, when I need to make a fall under less than ideal conditions I will trust a falling wedge over that contraption every time. I may not be able to always get an ideal set up for a falling wedge but my bet is that it will happen far more often than having ideal ground surface conditions.
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
what kind of axe is this?
Grim Repair
Home Sweet Home
It doesn't matter what you use for falling wedges as long as it works. If it doesn't work though, it would be better to get hit in the thigh with flying plastic. But you can't argue with success. Anyhow I'm sure a few will try.
I am not too concerned about getting hit by the wedge - I don't want a tree falling backwards after it spits a wedge.
Ron
Grim Repair
Home Sweet Home
Better for them to fall off forward. Least it works for us.
Fall or fell etc. I think this is a regional thing. I have switched to fall and faller so the WC fellows wouldn't chastise me. BTW are they fallows instead of fellows. 
Ron
Ron
treeslayer2003
Addicted to ArboristSite
of course..........i can tell you that a saw can fling a wedge at your thigh pretty hard.
Grim Repair
Home Sweet Home
Here rwoods, trees fall. It's one case of a screwed up verb, but we fall trees. Not sure about another region and been a few beers ago since I cared.
It happens. Improper wedging is sometimes worse than no wedging at all. A wedge will only do so much and when you get to the point where you're stacking wedges you're asking a lot. I've done it and I'll undoubtably do it again but it's usually because I read a tree wrong and I'm trying to make up for it.
Too much lift will sometimes break a hinge before you're ready for it. When that happens you've lost every bit of control over the tree and gravity takes over. Run.
If you're all sawed up in the back cut and you're wedged up tight and nothing is moving just wait a minute and see if anything happens. See if the tree is rocking on the wedges. Sometimes it's hard to see but any little bit of wind will make a difference.
You can keep trimming your hinge down but beyond a certain point...and that point differs with every tree...you're gambling.
All this talk about the hinge being set at a certain percentage of the tree's diameter and if you do this the tree will always do that is absolute crap... pure and simple. If every tree was exactly the same maybe making hard and fast rules would work. Our job would sure be easier if things worked that way.
One way that I've found to start moving a tree that stalls out is to trim a little...very little... off the hinge on one side to where you then have a tapered hinge. Wedge it but don't hammer the wedge tight. I don't usually agree with wedging anywhere but in the desired direction of fall but in this case it usuallly works to get the tree started. Usually. Watch your wind. Just be ready to run because with that piece of the hinge gone, the rest of the hinge tapered, and your original wedges driven tight that tree will go where it wants to.
Hey, every once in awhile one goes sideways on you. Once in awhile you'll cross the lead. It shouldn't happen very often though. Makes the skidder operator grumpy.
Grim Repair
Home Sweet Home
Reading the tree is like surface preparation for a finish coat. It's the series of dates before the marriage especially in a tight stem population, near high value targets and doubly so in broad trees. Do it enough times and she's old hat but never to be considered unnecessary. My Daddy made us sound them with an axe and I still do.
It's also one of those things you can't learn from tv or the internet. And your life depends on it even if you are a part time fire wood cutter.
Sorry, Grim Repair, I am not joining the "so long as it works camp". My original post (#15) and my response to you (post #169) were both directed towards the use of steel splitting wedges which are typically much narrower but easily twice as high as a plastic falling wedge. If I have to wedge that high, I for sure don't want it spit out.
Gologit, I try to avoid stacking wedges and when I do I try to have twin stacks in case I have a blow out. I alternate blows as necessary to try and maintain tension on both stacks. I don't know if this is the correct way so I am ready to stand corrected.
I haven't cut enough to have had the pleasure of busting a hinge while wedging but I believe I understand how this could happen. For doubly sure, I don't want a hinge-less tree falling toward me.
Ron
Gologit, I try to avoid stacking wedges and when I do I try to have twin stacks in case I have a blow out. I alternate blows as necessary to try and maintain tension on both stacks. I don't know if this is the correct way so I am ready to stand corrected.
I haven't cut enough to have had the pleasure of busting a hinge while wedging but I believe I understand how this could happen. For doubly sure, I don't want a hinge-less tree falling toward me.
Ron
Grim Repair
Home Sweet Home
Nothing to be sorry about Ron. You can't argue with success.
Grim Repair, I don't buy that argument either (insert here beating a dead horse emoticon). But hey, I figured out the faller feller thing this evening thanks to the Bailey's flyer I just got. Professional Fallers must use Stihls as Bailey's lists the Husky 3120XP as a Professional Felling saw. Ron
Ron
Grim Repair
Home Sweet Home
Might be Ron. In the big woods of deep south tell them to get you a Husky and they'll bring you an eskimo dog.
