Felling Frozen Trees

[SINGLE-JACK]

I know a lot of guys don't want to hear "bore cut" but there's a time and place for it around here. Bore the face to eliminate the heartwood and shorten the hinge, this should eliminate all spliting in most situations.

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. Yup .I do this alot , bore the heart out from the face side leave a post of holding wood on both sides unless I,m using a swing dutchman ....

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But , I prefer to cut the heart out and leave a post of holding wood on both sides , it helps steer the tree into it,s lay ......Plus it is easier to see what you have for holding wood ...... Alot of heart rot in Alaskan timber ...

Used a 'deep' face-cut and bored the face, Thursday on a frozen oak 'back-leaner'. Worked great! Thanks!!!


BTW: Welcome wldrbob

 

[tramp bushler]

Good deal !!

I,m glad it worked for you ...... Sometimes I cut the heart out while cutting the back cut but there is a greater chance of having the tree sit on your tip before you have it cut up enough to fall , so then you have to wedge it up off your bar tip . YUK !!:censored:....
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. That trick I learned from Blitzercreek , bore all the way thru and out the back cut , set a wedge tight and then saw up the side straps as you beat the tree over is a good one for the small trees also !!!

 

[tramp bushler]

When stacking wedges I like to take a little of the dirt/sawdust combo I got going on in my pockets, and sprinkle it between the wedges. Helps them stick together.

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. You are the 2nd guy I have heard do this , I,m going to give it a try next time I have to double up ..Most of the time my toothed wedge is in my tramp sack / fallers pack . and I don,t want to go hiking after it .....Larry Hunsley was the other guy , and he was a good old faller fm Oregon ........ It makes sense ... I prolly won,t get a chance this winter as I generally don,t have to double up ,here ........In Southeast tho ..

 

[Walt41]

It is worth repearting this. Odd stuff happens in cold wood, always always always have 2 stomped down escape routes, stuff gets hidden by the snow and magically appears when you are running for your life. Look up, often..take time to read the tree and watch out for widow makers, frozen stuff loves to crack off, change direction and hit your cutting buddy like a spear, so I'm told.

TS-love the use of sawdust as a bonding agent.

 

[SINGLE-JACK]

we take advantage of the cold and drop softwoods onto eachother, or past eachother on purpose to break all the liimbs off. when bucking out your logs the wood is also more prone to split. cut halfway through from the top and then finnish from the bottom, or vice versa depending on the tension.

hitting wedges HARD tends to make them spit back more than gentle hits. i swung an 8lb maul with a short handle one year until i got sick of hunting for my wedges in the snow. ive got like a 2.5 - 3 lb ax that does alot better. lots of gentle hits will drive the tree over without the wedge parting company.

remember that snow and ice can make your escape path more of a challenge. lots of times ill shovel a donut around the tree so i can get every inch of good log but then forget to make an escape. its sucks to remember your escape when the tree is on its way over.

It is worth repearting this. Odd stuff happens in cold wood, always always always have 2 stomped down escape routes, stuff gets hidden by the snow and magically appears when you are running for your life. Look up, often..take time to read the tree and watch out for widow makers, frozen stuff loves to crack off, change direction and hit your cutting buddy like a spear, so I'm told.

TS-love the use of sawdust as a bonding agent.

I'll second the escape route issue.
Ya can't move too quick with snow up to your knees, and quite often you'll find limbs in the snow the hard way and at the worst time.

If ya don't get whomped, the next issue is falling on pointy stuff.

Last time I forgot to stomp a hasty route and needed one, I swore I would never do that again.
It takes an extra Min. but even if it isn't needed, saves time finding stuff ya dropped or tossed while concentrating upwards.

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

I did, indeed, 'stomp' two standard escape routes ... all around the tree ... and then a third one, just in case the tree 'popped' early while I was on the bad side ... which it did ... thank God I listened to you guys. I was a long way away when it nailed the target. I'd rep y'all again, if I could.

 

[LumberjkChamp]

One of the potential hazards to be on the lookout for in frozen wood are springpoles. I don't think they have been mentioned yet. Well, you have to watch springpoles all the time, but when they're frozen they explode. The only trick really is catching them when you're buzzing down the trunk bumping limbs off before you accidentally treat them as just another limb. They can be safely handled and unloaded with a kerf width cut almost paralell to the limb on the compression side. Or several shallow cuts spaced a small distance from one another perpendicular to the limb. Once again, on the compression side.
I've read too many stories of smashed in faces, busted shins, knees, noses and teeth to ignore the threat of a loaded branch. A small two incher under the right tension can be deadly if a cut is made on the tension side first.

 

[tramp bushler]

White Ash especially

. I was taught that when I was young .. In the PNW they have Vine Maple .. I have heard of it killing guys ... I have had White ash saplings ,2-3" dia somehow turn to spears when loaded and released from the top , I was at a 90 degree angle to the one I can still see I purposly reached out and tapped the top of it with the chain and it split and flew horizontally backwards for about 15' . had anyone been standing there they would have been run thru I,m sure .......
. Red Cedar limbs can be awefully darn lively sometimes .....

 

[dingeryote]

I did, indeed, 'stomp' two standard escape routes ... all around the tree ... and then a third one, just in case the tree 'popped' early while I was on the bad side ... which it did ... thank God I listened to you guys. I was a long way away when it nailed the target. I'd rep y'all again, if I could.

Darn if Boots don't gain 5lbs each sometimes eh?
Glad ya didn't get whomped!

Thanks for the rep.!!

Stay safe!
Dingeryote

 

[hammerlogging]

I did, indeed, 'stomp' two standard escape routes ... all around the tree ... and then a third one, just in case the tree 'popped' early while I was on the bad side ... which it did ... thank God I listened to you guys. I was a long way away when it nailed the target. I'd rep y'all again, if I could.

Heard that bud, you klnow your cutting in some sort of tough situation is if your damn third escape option is where you're trying to put the tree in the first place.

I had a really steep pitch with a couple huge oaks on it and I swear there were 3 times where I had to excavate a honest to god goat trail to make sure I could get out of there-- kick off snow, then remove loose rocks and sticks, then scratch it a hair level. But I had to, this was ground you couldn't stand on in the first place. Other times it was just, as SlowP would say, "vegetation belays", ditch saw uphill, and flop/dive from one sapling to the next until you roll over on your back and see her crashing through the canopy looking for anything flying at you. Steep. I much prefer where you can atleast stay on your feet.