is this snap-cut technique acceptable?

[Plasmech]

What is being discussed here is not even called a snap cut! We've got off on the wrong foot, IMO.

Here's what I posted in another thread. The purpose of a snap cut is to hold the piece in place until the climber shakes it and it snaps....allowing the climber to toss or push the piece the direction they want it to go.

http://arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=1790561&postcount=6

Hmm I really thought it was called a snap cut. OK well then what is the "instant release" cut I speak about called?

 

[Plasmech]

....and this cut I'd call 'if I ever pulled a cut out of my ass, cut'.



/

It's kind of like the forum is a big game of musical chairs. The music however stopped a long, long time ago and you're the only one standing without a chair, still.

 

[tree MDS]

I've heard the term 'pop cut' called that because of the way it releases.


If you were doing the cutting though I'd call it 'the theoretical if I ever were to cut a branch in a tree' cut.

Lol. Be nice to your grandson treeco.

 

[lego1970]

I'm with TreeCo and Jovary on this one, but for the sake of compromise, lets call this cut a inoutunderabovesidebysidebore1/3rd,1/10th,25% snap cut. Yea, something like that.

 

[tree MDS]

I'm with TreeCo and Jovary on this one, but for the sake of compromise, lets call this cut a inoutunderabovesidebysidebore1/3rd,1/10th,25% snap cut. Yea, something like that.

How about "jump cut", havent heard that one for a while.

Pop cut is good too.

 

[lego1970]

How about "jump cut", havent heard that one for a while.

Pop cut is good too.

Damn, did I forget to include those? I'm slacking

 

[tree md]

In reference to the limb peeling or tearing. I never cut a limb close enough to the trunk for that to be a concern. On large limbs I will cut them about 4 feet out then make a collar cut on the stub. If I am lowering a limb from over the house I will either take the limb in small enough pieces to not risk damage to the house and lower them from the limb itself or from a preset lowering point or I will balance it out with two ropes or two chokers if I'm using a crane. On smaller limbs I will make my cut about a foot out from the trunk and finish with a collar cut at the trunk.

 

[Jovary]

Assuming we are talking about a horizontal limb like the ones I drew previously, vertical cuts on this sort of limb create a vertical hinge. Firstly this hinge will either close toward or away from you and can easily pinch your chainsaw bar. Secondly if you successfully join the two cuts and the branch does break you have a much greater chance of bark tearing inward towards the trunk as the action will be more a tearing away rather than snapping. Thirdly it is much more difficult to make vertical cuts on horizontal branches and still keep the saw between your shoulder and your knee where you are strongest and safest.

Makes sense. I agree with the safety precautions. I feel like I'm safe enough doing it this way so I cant say Ill change my method that much but Ill keep those things in mind.

 

[pdqdl]

Plasmech, use this:

Popcut=jump cut

Undercut the horizontal limb deeply until it begins to close the gap. STOP CUTTING BEFORE YOU PINCH THE SAW!!

Then finish with your top cut, straight down to the undercut. If you really want to make sure that the butt falls faster than the leafy outer branches, you can taper your cuts so that the butt fall directly down without sliding or hanging up on any part of the stub.

If you really want to be extreme with this cut, ream the cut with your saw as the gap begins to close, so that you can finish the cut (unpinched) by lifting the undercut through the branch until it separates. Wedges can help do this without as much risk of pinching, but you will be chasing the wedge when it falls out of the tree.

 

[TreEmergencyB]

Damn, did I forget to include those? I'm slacking

comon guys its a Shelf cut....i heard that before too.

 

[SINGLE-JACK]

Say I want to snap-cut a fairly large diameter branch or part of one. I'm worried about getting the saw pinched. So, I plunge cut into the branch at the desired under-cut depth and come "down" to about an inch away from the bottom. I then rev the saw and come up underneath to clip the remaining inch out. Then I back cut the "top" and away she goes.

Is this a good idea or a really, really bad one? Thanks!

What is being discussed here is not even called a snap cut! We've got off on the wrong foot, IMO.

Here's what I posted in another thread. The purpose of a snap cut is to hold the piece in place until the climber shakes it and it snaps....allowing the climber to toss or push the piece the direction they want it to go.

http://arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=1790561&postcount=6

Hmm I really thought it was called a snap cut. OK well then what is the "instant release" cut I speak about called?

From To Fell A Tree - Jeff Jepson

Illustration by Bryan Kotwica

REGARDLESS of what it's called ...
"Snap Cut" ... "Pop Cut" ... "Jump Cut" ... "'instant release' cut" ... "cut out of my ass, cut" ...

If you turn Jeff's Snap Cut on its side you get the risky cut Sherrill is recommending NOT to make.

If you make the "new" cuts as shown in Sherrills illustration (and everything is perfect) the limb will break loose ("snap"?) and drop fairly horizontally. If the bottom (up cut) is made like and open face scarf cut then the limb will "hinge" down (not "snap"?) and drop fairly vertically. That is, if everything is PERFECT and you climb down happily, get paid a lot of money, go home drink a lot of beer and make a lot of AboristSite posts about how cool it all is.

 

[TheTreeSpyder]

If you do the 'outbound' or the olde way (that i was taught never to do 20 yrs. ago); at finish; the saw is in the moving piece of wood (as shown in the drawing by out of my tree). Sherill i believe had another illustration calling such a "saw catcher".

It takes a quick hand, pulling out at a rotating angle, to retrieve expen$ive saw from a 'saw catcher', before it is taken away with the limb. It is a good practice on the ground also; when bucking, to appraise as to what piece is going to move at finish of cuts, and not have the saw in it at finish(IMLHO).

i originally/locally L-earned that a snap cut was when the limb slammed shut, then snapped/popped off; and dropped straight down, maybe popped out away some (from the sudden slam down) as a snap cut(as opposed to limb kicking back more towards trunk than away); and the other way was that you cut it and you snapped it off by hand. But, once hitting the internet, and the confusion; i yielded to the majority...

 

[arbor pro]

If you do the 'outbound' or the olde way (that i was taught never to do 20 yrs. ago); at finish; the saw is in the moving piece of wood (as shown in the drawing by out of my tree). Sherill i believe had another illustration calling such a "saw catcher".

It takes a quick hand, pulling out at a rotating angle, to retrieve expen$ive saw from a 'saw catcher', before it is taken away with the limb. It is a good practice on the ground also; when bucking, to appraise as to what piece is going to move at finish of cuts, and not have the saw in it at finish(IMLHO).

i originally/locally L-earned that a snap cut was when the limb slammed shut, then snapped/popped off; and dropped straight down, maybe popped out away some (from the sudden slam down) as a snap cut(as opposed to limb kicking back more towards trunk than away); and the other way was that you cut it and you snapped it off by hand. But, once hitting the internet, and the confusion; i yielded to the majority...

'Jump cut' was the term I was taught in arboriculture school. As Spyder pointed out, the reason for either the 'inbound' or 'outbound' cuts is final placement of the branch once it releases or snaps away. If your top cut is further out on the limb than your undercut, the branch will tend to jump inward towards the trunk of the tree. This cut works well when the drop zone is minimal and when the branch being cut does not have too much weight hanging on it. In my experience, it has a tendency to grab the saw just as Spyder mentioned.

If the top cut is closer in than the undercut, the branch will tend to jump outward away from the tree. This works well if you want to get the branch away from the DZ - perhaps to clear plants or a sidewalk below. I have the fewest instances of pinching a saw when using this cut.

Each species and density of wood is going to react differently using each type of cut so there is no hard rule of thumb for using them. However, as a guideline, I usually make my top cut about 2" in front or behind my undercut which is usually about 1/4 to 1/3 the diameter of the branch (less for big wood, sometimes more for small wood).