Directional felling

[tramp bushler]

Blitz .. I definatly learned something from you today ... I honestly never thot about boreing all the way thru the heart and out the back cut , setting a wedge then cutting the sides ....... I,m gonna use that trick ... I have to make real low stumps where I am now , and that trick will work well for me ... Thank you ... That is a good / safe /productive technique .

 

[lostcoastland]

sloping back cuts

on the sloping cut thing..... must be like a pocket to stick a bar so the end doesnt hit on the ground before you get a good jack on the tree like u might with a perpendicular cut. nice. got it. now just need to find a tree to try it on...seems like it mite be a two person job but sounds effective...

 

[Burvol]

Burvol, you working today? If you had time, I'd love to see some pics/video of this Siswell cut in action. . . Sounds like an interesting technique.

I'll take some pictures of one or two tommorow. Today I finished my day with one in a 3 bushel Fir that was being directionaly fell with wedges, not the dutchman. It's hard to explain or believe until you cut logs for a while, then use it. Most would argue or deny it's use. I swear it's a cool deal. Just not for all trees.

 

[hammerlogging]

Blitz .. I definatly learned something from you today ... I honestly never thot about boreing all the way thru the heart and out the back cut , setting a wedge then cutting the sides ....... I,m gonna use that trick ... I have to make real low stumps where I am now , and that trick will work well for me ... Thank you ... That is a good / safe /productive technique .

TRADER!!!! thats samll diameter timber directional felling and you are waaayyy too cool for that nonsense!!!! It works well. After boring through the face, to clip the tabs, I do one side like a back cut and then the other, rather than standing behind and clipping, such small wood its easy to get the whole hinge. I only do this sometimes, its faster to bore through, place wedge in side, and clip the back.

Just kidding about being a trader, its just cause all the "i hate bore cutters" talk.

I only mentioned the hippie speedball because of all the pot and coffee talk, and it makes me laugh- I worked for a carpenter once, it was his term, made me laugh.

I agree with Burvol, a little understanding is sensible, but idiots need to grow the #### up. It'd be nice if we all got to work with sensible, professional people all the time, unfortunately they're hard to come by.

 

[bullbuck]

Blitz .. I definatly learned something from you today ... I honestly never thot about boreing all the way thru the heart and out the back cut , setting a wedge then cutting the sides ....... I,m gonna use that trick ... I have to make real low stumps where I am now , and that trick will work well for me ... Thank you ... That is a good / safe /productive technique .

that is a good idea,you can still keep your cuts flush that way to produce a clean butt log

 

[wvlogger]

That looks like something a weekend warrior would do.

id rep yah on that but i am all out

 

[Metals406]

I'll take some pictures of one or two tommorow. Today I finished my day with one in a 3 bushel Fir that was being directionaly fell with wedges, not the dutchman. It's hard to explain or believe until you cut logs for a while, then use it. Most would argue or deny it's use. I swear it's a cool deal. Just not for all trees.

Right on! Looking forward to it.

I've been cutting trees for about 20 years now, so I know all things are possible. I remember seeing my first Dutchman when I was logging, and disbelieving the sawyer before he showed me it could be done. It was after that that I wanted to be a timberfaller.

 

[Burvol]

Right on! Looking forward to it.

I've been cutting trees for about 20 years now, so I know all things are possible. I remember seeing my first Dutchman when I was logging, and disbelieving the sawyer before he showed me it could be done. It was after that that I wanted to be a timberfaller.

That's what I was refering to. Cut with out it, then use it after you see it. I don't do it on everything, but I have incorperated it into my swing cut and certain trees that are being wedged. It's simple. It just makes the tree move more and I'm sure it could break a big one off if overdone or not used right.

 

[Metals406]

That's what I was refering to. Cut with out it, then use it after you see it. I don't do it on everything, but I have incorperated it into my swing cut and certain trees that are being wedged. It's simple. It just makes the tree move more and I'm sure it could break a big one off if overdone or not used right.

I agree totally. . . Everything has a time and a place. I also believe it's good to have a "Leatherman" of skills at ones disposal.

 

[056kid]

Why do people have to make soo many weird cuts to fall a tree ... Some people make it alot harder than it needs to be ... .. People who advocate sloping back cuts have been smoking pot ......:censored:

Hay,,

Dont be profiling now, that just wont fly!

 

[tramp bushler]

I do alot of bore cuts . but mostly bucking ..... A siswheel swing cut is an indispensable falling cut ... It helps with every thing .. .............

 

[bitzer]

Blitz .. I definatly learned something from you today ... I honestly never thot about boreing all the way thru the heart and out the back cut , setting a wedge then cutting the sides ....... I,m gonna use that trick ... I have to make real low stumps where I am now , and that trick will work well for me ... Thank you ... That is a good / safe /productive technique .

Hey man I'm glad I could give something back! I've learned and used a lot of western falling techniques used by guys like you on this site. The only thing about that cut is if you cut too far on one side of the wedge or the other it will fall prematurely about 90 degrees from your intended direction. I really only use that when there is not choice and the tree will get hung up or will cross my lay. After you've done it a few times its easy enough and an experienced faller like yourself would have no problem I am sure.


On western techniques: I still can't picture a siswheel, but I get the gist of it. Trying to figure out where the pie comes out. On a humboldt face is the pie out of the butt or the stump? It seems like it would be the butt. I've done some decent swingin with different kinds of dutchman cuts, but I'd like to give that one a shot. They might work better in hardwood than dutchmens do sometimes. Good to have another tool in bag to choose from.

 

[tramp bushler]

Humbolts and Siswheels

Humbolts = the face .comes from the stump ... . That way your log can have a flush butt .. There are only 2 places I have found the Humbolt to not be as safe as a Saginaw face = The face coming out of the butt log . . .. Never use a humbolt face in a real loose and crumbly snag . . Sometimes they will split and the front part will fall straight down , with a humbolt it will slide down the face ,kicking the top back ,which can cause it to fold up ,RIGHT ON TOP OF YOU Had it happen to me and was stuck ,couldn,t run as my feet had fell down between the roots of a real bad 50" Hemlock snag God protected me on that snag . My saw was burried under about 3 feet deep pile of chuncks ... some weighed 75 lbs . .
. A very good friend of mine . One of the better fallers I know told me about a year earlier to quit putting humbolt faces in snags .. He explained why. I was at a different camp ,In fact I was at Shoal Cove cuttin for Leslie Cutting ... I had got out of the habit of using Saginaw faces on my snags .. Never again tho .
.
.
. The other place is really for the professional only . But it is an important technique .. When you need to push a tree with a driver .But one you rock into it then go fall the tree and you are on steep ground or bluffy ground like where Hammer is cutting . as the driver is well above you , and behind you and is fell into the larger tree you need to face and back cut and maybe even wedge over . You NEVER USE A HUMBOLT FACE IN THE DRIVER TREE!!! reason = as Hammer was writeing about how the humbolt face lets the tree slide down off the stump sooner ( in his situation he needed the trees he was falling to do that )... With a driver , you want it to stay on the stump as long as it can so you can run for your life and get out from under it before it gets you ....... This is a Southeast Alaska trick... It is so much safer than a humbolt face for this situation as to make the humbolt face dangerous in comparison .....
. Of course , with drivers , always use a good 2-4" stump shot ...

 

[tramp bushler]

Siswheels

.. The Siswheel swing cut is a bore cut that gets cut in the stump of the tree at the back or inside of the face and on the side of the stump you are pulling the top towards .... Put in the face . then vertically bore in to the heart or at least to the amount of your holding wood .. -------Obviously If you have to pull the tree around you will be cutting off all or almost all your holding wood on the low side .. Generally 2 kerfs is about all you need , and in Alaska is about all you get , but I have taken a 2" piece out before .. It lets the holding wool move forward with the tree as it falls and there by stays attached to the tree longer , which pulls the tree over further .. ... Sometimes I use it , then saw it off quick if the tree is coming around too fast ..

 

[tramp bushler]

With some brittle or frozen trees if you make a verticle bore cut about 2" back from the siswheel it will let your holding wood flex better and will work out ..As with a frozen stump sometimes the holding wood is almost useless .. Sometimes it works better than nothing ,and can save driving a bunch of wedges ...

 

[bitzer]

.. The Siswheel swing cut is a bore cut that gets cut in the stump of the tree at the back or inside of the face and on the side of the stump you are pulling the top towards .... Put in the face . then vertically bore in to the heart or at least to the amount of your holding wood .. -------Obviously If you have to pull the tree around you will be cutting off all or almost all your holding wood on the low side .. Generally 2 kerfs is about all you need , and in Alaska is about all you get , but I have taken a 2" piece out before .. It lets the holding wool move forward with the tree as it falls and there by stays attached to the tree longer , which pulls the tree over further .. ... Sometimes I use it , then saw it off quick if the tree is coming around too fast ..

Hey thanks for the explaination! I meant where does the piece come out when using a humboldt face. I think Burvol mentioned this in a previous thread, I just couldn't picture it. I've got it now. I use humboldts most of the time. I cut a lot of dead and hazard trees and I think they get debris moving farther away from me faster. There is also a lot more that you can do with a tree with a humboldt I think and I am sure you would agree. Easier to swing, make the butt jump farther, get the butt moving faster or slower, etc, but you already know that. I just gotta get more guys this side of the rockies to believe me. That and using longer bars. Thanks again! I'll have to give that a try.

 

[tramp bushler]

Blitz ; I see you run a big bore 460 . How much of a bump up was it .??. My 460 at a minimun needs new rings and I was thinking about putting a bb top end on it ..

 

[Meadow Beaver]

You should just go with a modified stock top end.

 

[bullbuck]

cool,hey im fixing to put a bb rebuild on my 460,any comments good,bad,where to buy etc.?

 

[tramp bushler]

If I can gain a half dozen ccs that would be preferable ..