J- I'd be interested in seeing how you buck the big Pine on long runs. I've been in the woods a long time and I still have trouble on the monster Pine from time to time. I slabbed out a short log not long ago that was 90" on the small end and I'm still smarting about it. I've been doing the "bore and plunge" with some success and taking huge underbucks when I can...
Give me a break brother!!! 90" small end
I wish. The most recent stuff has been 3-5 bushel trees (still very nice for me 32"-46" 32's ) with one at 7.5 and one 10 bushel that is gonna sit until August, when we come back to the unit. I call her, the "subtantial one", lol.
As you know, pine is very heavy. The fibers behave differently than my favorite, Douglass Fir. Huge underbucks is where it's at in my mind. With fir or any tree, you can usually tell how the wow is, and what side to stand on for safety (the side that wants to pinch, not break your legs lol) when bucking back. Sometimes you can take the "tempreture" of the log with a bore and get a feel of how it's gonna break. That is almost impossible with big pine under pressure. I have found that it is a make your choice, get your chit together- now! Type of thing. It's so dang heavy, and the fibers want to strecth and pull to no end vs. just popping like Red Fir. The stretching and pulling leads to the slabing vs. Popping clean a lot of times. the fir will let go when you are close to finishing with minor slabbing, when wheeling up or down. I always pull out and finish from the other side (top or bottom) and it breaks clean. Pine though, it's wierd. It's almost like it compresses harder, because of the soft fibres, making it harder to keep your kerf open. Also, when doing the traditonal, powerhead between the legs, reaching over to the far corner under you buck... it collapses so violenty, you almost need a wedge somewhere in there. I have been trying it (humbling thyself LOL) with some success. Big pine swallows up wedges in the buck due to it's soft nature and wieght. Your axe in the kerf works slick if you can keep it in and keep from breaking the handle when it rolls free.
I would say wheeling in reverese, or up....when the log breaks that way, is the best for pine. Get to the far side as soon as possible and don't look back. I go throttle hard, hard, hard, pull out once or twice to clear chips, back in all the way, keep going, once kerf is closed below you, you got her made. You know all of the tricks, and could teach me! I'm just rambling on a rainy Saturday
I hate to preach to the choir, but I love to share.