plunge cutting good when needed

[murphy4trees]

I went to a day seminar a couple years ago with Mark Chisholm... He taught the plunge cut with back releaser for falling trees, and recommended the technique for most falling situations. There has been plenty of discussion here as to the pros and cons... I personally use the plunge cut rarely and think I would benefit from practicing it more....

A heavy front leaner is one situation that "requires" a plunge and back release... That is even more true when cutting aloft as there is no place to run....

So here is one for ya...

A large Norway maple... bad tree

 

[murphy4trees]

That large lead leaning to the right was heading out over the neighbors yard... I was planning on setting up a speedline system against the lean... though this was a dangerous tree as you can see from the decay in this pic....
Thsi tree not only looked bad IT SOUNDED BAD.... Every 5 minutes or so it would make this errrrr...errrrrrrrrr sound... no wind needed...

 

[roachy]

Dan is that big John in the pic?man he really does love those jeans.
I myself dont care for the plunge cut,perhaps only for the reason that my chainsaw skill is not what it should be.Open face has always been true to me,although I can see the use in a severe lean.

 

[murphy4trees]

Big Jon vetoed the sppedline against the lean idea and suggested digging a few shrubs and bombing the big lead into the neighbors yard.... I got the OK and we discussed how to make the cut.... narrow notch... plunge cut and back release... to keep the lead form barber chairing which could kill me and also keep the but from kicking back into the bushes below.

Here's the lead... I was a little concerned.... midly scared even, when preparing to make this cut.... I said so, which surprised Jon... Out of practice I guess...

 

[murphy4trees]

It was my call to make the plunge first... use the gunning line on the bar cover to sight the hinge... before cutting the notch... You can see here the plunge has already been made..

Also tied in with lanyard to one D ring... just in case it did split on me..

 

[murphy4trees]

Now to make the notch.... I had to restart it... didn't like the original placement

 

[murphy4trees]

Company just came over... have to finish the story later

 

[wiley_p]

I use a boring backcut on headleaners frequently although I take exception to the thought of leaving a strip at the back pulling the saw out and cuttin g it off. These are not the type of situations to screwing around at the stump. Face the tree up estimate holding wood bore in and continue back, some species may let go if you stop cutting and do the tab from the back. If it leans heavy one way only (little or no sidelean) then a Coos bay cut is the way to go.

 

[OutOnaLimb]

I have never used a plunge cut aloft, but it is great for felling big leaners. Out here we have a lot of big cottonwoods that have a tendency to be windswept and lean at some pretty extreme angles. I had to finnish a job one time where a guy was hired to take down one of these big cotton woods. Apparently he took his o66 Stihl and at waste level started making a back cut on the tree with out even making a face cut. The home owner told me that the tree just "blew up" breaking his arm in two places and sending the bar of the saw across his chest resulting in 277 stitches. Hmmmmmmmmm, can you say "Barber Chair"?

:Monkey:
Kenn

 

[wiley_p]

Daniel, Try a constrictor hitch at the least, instead of you flipline, if a stem splits hard you'll still run the risk of being pinned. better yet a chain and binder is great.

 

[rumination]

Wiley, whats a Coos bay cut?

 

[OutOnaLimb]

Originally posted by wiley_p
Daniel, Try a constrictor hitch at the least, instead of you flipline, if a stem splits hard you'll still run the risk of being pinned. better yet a chain and binder is great.

You mean like a friction saver prusik? Those things are pretty slick. Who thought that concept up? They diserve a Nobel Prize. LOL

Kenn:Monkey:

 

[wiley_p]

No I hav'nt used the friction saver prusik, though it seems it would continue to release until the stem was done splitting, a chain and binder is the strongest way but a loadline 5/8 or so tied with a constrictor hitch (tied sor of like a clove) sorry dont know how to draw on the computer like treespyder, is bomber it will stop the split if it occurs. a Coos bay cut or stripcut is used on headleaners you have the "holding wood parallel with the favor" so dog in on each side of the tree winding up with a strip of wood say on a 24" alder 3" wide or so this will be in line with the lean, then cut it from the rear forward safe and fast, use it alot.

 

[murphy4trees]

After the notch is made I reset the bar in the plunge cut and double check the gun, now with the hinge fully formed... There was some room in the LZ which was good... Notice in pic how wide I left the hinge on this side...

Roachy I think that is Jon in the first pic... He played photographer while I was in the tree.... Multi-talented...

Never tried the Coos Bay, though read about it in "Fundamentals"... That is definitely new territory for us non-loggers... I Am more comfortable having some hinge though you never know til you try it..

 

[wiley_p]

Daniel, you do have hinge sort of, its key to line the strip up even with the favor, but again if the lay cant really deviate more than 10' or so I could see being reluctant to use it in certain situations. next time you have a headleaner that you're dropping with a huge dz, give it a try.

 

[murphy4trees]

The 20" bar was too short to make the width, so I had to plunge from the other side of the hinge as well... Send up the climbing Echo for this one cut... Can you see how much thinner hinge is on this side? That was the side closest to the neighbor's house...

 

[murphy4trees]

Now the notch and hinge are set.... the only thing left is to make the bachkcut... Here's a medium shot of the set up..

 

[murphy4trees]

Only thing left was to cut the strap on the back release.... I wasn't sure if I should cut straight back from the plunge, or come in from the back cutting forward towards the hinge.... It was Jon's call to cut from the back forward and cut a little below the plunge cut, which will of couse prevent saw snatch.

 

[murphy4trees]

I was surprised by the way the lead released... I was expecting a violent and quick release, with all that front leaning weight... the lower backcut acted like a snap cut and lifted really slowly... I guess the beefy hinge helped too, but it was a little weirtd for all that weight to move so slowly... I never debriefed with jon about that.... Wonder if he noticed the same..

The whole thing landed perfectly and with a quick clean up and some lawn repair, it's hard to tell anything happenned back there... We brought in the log Dolly to move the log in 8-12' sections, which made it even quicker...

Unfortunately I was so relieved that things went that well, I forgot to get some shots of the landing... I did take some pics of the hinge when we went back to cut the wood... Haven't downloaded them yet though...

 

[jkrueger]

Thanks, Daniel, very informative thread.
Jack