Learning to Fell Small Leaners, Please Help

[justintimemoto]

if i want to get a tree to go in the oppsite direction it is leaning put the
1.notch the way you want the tree to go...........
2.and then for the back cut i start on the side where the tree is leaning
3. once u get enough room put a wedge in so that you bar wont get pinched
4.also to get the tree to go the way you want it to go..
5.work your way way across even or it dont work right and the tree may go where you are standing
6.while putting your wedges in make sure you just dont put the wedge to one side or it will spin so make sure you have one in the middle
7.have an ax so you can hit the wedges in more so the tree goes the right way.
8.And be careful if the top is dead and for things like that

hope this helps you will learn over time how to cut them this is what i learned from cutting for a year i only been cutting trees down since i was 15 and now im 16 so i thats what i learned over time

 

[DWB Forestry]

Game of Logging

Wow, you know what DWB, this place your talking about is in my home town, its actually right across from where I went to high school. I never even knew it existed. Its in a commercial building though, that doesn't have any signage on it. I'll have to give them a call when I get back from Florida and find out if they offer anything out of that office, or somewhere local. I'd love to get a full course like that under my belt. The things you learn about your own neighborhood, :hmm3grin2orange: .

There are 14 GOL Training Organizations across the country. WJ Cox is the Parent Home Office. We are Northeast Woodland Training here in VT. It is an excellent course. Kind of revolutionizes the way we used to use the saw. Good luck with it!

 

[Burvol]

Wedges, Wedges, Wedges, all I always hear is wedges. Throw the damn things away and learn to cut, use em' in a time of real need.

 

[DWB Forestry]

wedges

Logging has become the most dangerous occupation in this country.
Having the knowledge to get the job done in the safest way possible and still be productive is not a bad thing. There are lots of old loggers who have always done things the "old school" way, but they are still alive because they are just plain lucky. Wedges used properly can mitigate the luck factor! It's all about personal choice until insurance rates are sky high due to folks not being as safe as they could be!

 

[rbtree]

Wedges, Wedges, Wedges, all I always hear is wedges. Throw the damn things away and learn to cut, use em' in a time of real need.

Hmmm, that's intelligent.

Do tell us (including the beginner who started this thread) how you would fell a back leaner........

 

[rbtree]

Secureland, on the tree in question, if you make your cuts at chest height, you'll have a center of balance that is much better. Easier to wedge over as you'll need less lift...if any.


Also, on any trees that are 10-12 inches and under, there won't be much room to fit a wedge in. A 5 inch wedge would be good to have for those cases. And, as was pointed out, make a shallow face, leaving more room for wedges to fit in the backcut. The other idea given of placing the backcut first is a neat trick, but not so good for someone who is learning.

Another advanced trick is the quarter cut, described here: http://www.arboristsite.com/showpost.php?p=781401&postcount=16

Also, wear PPE.....and look up! As the tree comes over, exit at a 135 degree angle to the fall.

 

[Fuzly]

I would use GOL/bore the backcut in style, but I'm not going to explain it in detail over the net, but it's bascially open face, bore in the backcut, get saw out and start wedges in the bore cut, finish it from the back, and pound 'er over. It would be really cool if someone who knows what they are doing could show it to you.

You need room for wedges, but from the photo I would say this tree is definitely wedgeable. Most of the trees our class took down, the instructor would have us pick the best direction to fall it, then say "O.K., take it down that way" and point, usually in the 180 degree opposite of the way we wanted to drop it.

It was a lot of pounding, but almost everyone in class dropped a backleaner where they wanted that day.

Before I learned this technique, I would use a shallow face, conventional style, and use the short (5") wedges to make more room, and cut a higher stump to make it easier to work, pretty much the same as rb's good advice.

 

[goatchin]

I took the GOL class last week (leval 1+2).

I would have never thought i would have been able to drop a tree away from its side and back lean directly on to a marked stake....surprised the hell out of me honestly when i did it. If any of you guys or gals have the opportunity of taking one of these Game of Logging classes, do yourself and others a favor and take it.

 

[Burvol]

Hmmm, that's intelligent.

Do tell us (including the beginner who started this thread) how you would fell a back leaner........

Magic! Duh! What kind of tree guy are you anyway?

 

[2dogs]

Are you joking?

 

[Burvol]

Are you joking?

No, I cut timber for a living and I use magic. I reach in my back wedge pocket and pull out these little squirrel bones and I condger up a wind storm from the lean side. Ya, I was being a smart guy. I was just being an annoyance. Sorry for the innconvienience. I just think some people that are learning to cut on here might need to have some "hands on" guidance first, instead of learning to fall trees on the internet. But hey, that's how we learn some times. I will be on good behavior for atleast a month now.

 

[Zodiac45]

I've got one that makes me nervous. Normally, not a problem, but this one was topped for view many years ago and has 4 tops that make me wonder how the tree is weighted. It needs to fall just down that grass path you see and what your not seeing is my powerlines too the left of the tree. You can see why the nerves, if it falls wrong it takes out the power lines.

It's bigger than it looks in that photo. Probably a good 30"+ stump. Note the widowmaker on right side up in the branches just waiting too fall on my head!

 

[tramp bushler]

Sound trees and directional falling

If you bore it you can see if it is sound and if so the holding wood will keep it on a pretty straight fall to that lay . Make a pretty tall but not deep face,, bore the heart out a little and wedge it over .. Leave good posts of holding wood....pound it into the fall instead of tickling your holding wood away ...

You can pound a tree up until you cant pound it any more ,,,,then tickle away just enough holding wood for it to raise again ...keep doing that till it falls ....Keep the most holding wood on the side away from the power lines ..and do not cut all the holding wood on the power line side ...... If nothing is comeing at you stay at the stump as it goes over and cut some of the safe side holding wood ...

Make sure you swamp out around the tree well before you start to fall it ..

 

[Ekka]

There's also the tongue and groove, allows for getting a wedge in behind smaller trees.

http://www.arboristsite.com/showthread.php?t=35111

 

[Zodiac45]

If you bore it you can see if it is sound and if so the holding wood will keep it on a pretty straight fall to that lay . Make a pretty tall but not deep face,, bore the heart out a little and wedge it over .. Leave good posts of holding wood....pound it into the fall instead of tickling your holding wood away ...

You can pound a tree up until you cant pound it any more ,,,,then tickle away just enough holding wood for it to raise again ...keep doing that till it falls ....Keep the most holding wood on the side away from the power lines ..and do not cut all the holding wood on the power line side ...... If nothing is comeing at you stay at the stump as it goes over and cut some of the safe side holding wood ...

Make sure you swamp out around the tree well before you start to fall it ..

+1 Tramp,

Yep that's the program. I was thinking of doing the face then a bore straight through the center. Hammer the 12" wedge into the back side of the bore and then proceed on each side a bit at a time followed by another wedge on the powerline side. But maybe it's better too just bore the center a bit as you stated. Then back cut and just beat on it, skim it, beat on it, skim it, till she goes. I've been wanting to get after it the past two really nice days but the wind has kicked up both times in the wrong direction (towards the lines). So instead, I'm scraping crap (and paint) out of and around the cedar gutters on my old house. Not my favorite gig. 200+ yr old house, there's always something to do.

 

[2dogs]

+1 Tramp,

Yep that's the program. I was thinking of doing the face then a bore straight through the center. Hammer the 12" wedge into the back side of the bore and then proceed on each side a bit at a time followed by another wedge on the powerline side. But maybe it's better too just bore the center a bit as you stated. Then back cut and just beat on it, skim it, beat on it, skim it, till she goes. I've been wanting to get after it the past two really nice days but the wind has kicked up both times in the wrong direction (towards the lines). So instead, I'm scraping crap (and paint) out of and around the cedar gutters on my old house. Not my favorite gig. 200+ yr old house, there's always something to do.

A 200yo house deserves a pic. Anything that old around here was made of adobe, aka mud.

 

[Zodiac45]

A 200yo house deserves a pic. Anything that old around here was made of adobe, aka mud.

Ha,ha yep I hear ya 2Dogs,

This old place is on the coast of Maine and was a Sea Captains house. It had a small island called Round Island on the deed up until the 1960's when an owner before me gave it too the state. It's was used to offload cargo back in the day and then smaller boats brought it into Port. I've researched the house back too 1790. Before that you can't tell if it was a land grant or household. Here's a pix of the east side. There's a deck over too the left accessable from the upstairs bedroom. Nice view of the water. The house faces south and the bay. It's an L shaped deal.

 

[Gologit]

No, I cut timber for a living and I use magic. I reach in my back wedge pocket and pull out these little squirrel bones and I condger up a wind storm from the lean side. Ya, I was being a smart guy. I was just being an annoyance. Sorry for the innconvienience. I just think some people that are learning to cut on here might need to have some "hands on" guidance first, instead of learning to fall trees on the internet. But hey, that's how we learn some times. I will be on good behavior for atleast a month now.

Boy, that's a relief. Glad to know you were just kidding . For a while I thought maybe you'd been eating some of that salmon caught downstream from the Wishram railroad yards that's all full of strange chemicals and it had altered your thinking.

 

[Burvol]

Boy, that's a relief. Glad to know you were just kidding . For a while I thought maybe you'd been eating some of that salmon caught downstream from the Wishram railroad yards that's all full of strange chemicals and it had altered your thinking.

Well, you know how it goes...First off, got have a 361 on hand (I actually own one and like it ), Calculate the exact lean in degrees, figure out how to incorperate a "bore cut", etc, etc, then take all of that out with you and figure it out. Maybe having someone local that can help would pan out better.

 

[secureland]

Hi Burvol,
I agree, hands-on experences where empiracal knowledge is passed down from a skilled knowledgeable person to a learning person has tremendous value. For that reason I've been looking at the Game of Logging chainsaw courses.
The beauty of forums like this is that people freely choose to contribute (or not). Local loggers or arborists might not take time out of their busy schedule to show another local how to do it. I see there's a tremendous amount of experience on this forum, and hope to someday have the knowledge to pass on skills to my family and others. Until then, I'll contribute what I can, where I can, and enjoy the free exchange of ideas on the forum.

Coming soon.... I'll cut the tree down!

Bill