Bushler
ArboristSite Operative
I might be able to tell from how the face was cut if it was a windfall or a standing tree when it was cut. On the ground I'm logging, grandpa's cutters used hand saws on the old growth fir and cedar.
To cut a face they'd cut in the first face cut, level, with the hand saw, then chop down with falling axes to make a humboldt face, (easier to chop down).
My guess would be there was other logs laying up against your tree and they stood on those to cut it.
Most of the time a fir windfall won't stand back up. They have a tap root and when they blow down that tap root has to shear for the tree to fall, (or rip up a dozen cubic yards of dirt). There's almost always long term evidence when a big doug fir blows down.
I really enjoy looking at old logging units and figuring out how they did it.
To cut a face they'd cut in the first face cut, level, with the hand saw, then chop down with falling axes to make a humboldt face, (easier to chop down).
My guess would be there was other logs laying up against your tree and they stood on those to cut it.
Most of the time a fir windfall won't stand back up. They have a tap root and when they blow down that tap root has to shear for the tree to fall, (or rip up a dozen cubic yards of dirt). There's almost always long term evidence when a big doug fir blows down.
I really enjoy looking at old logging units and figuring out how they did it.
