repairing wedges

[ckliff]

Anybody repair a broken wedge? I'm frustrated with them breaking and have a bucket full of busted ones.

How about welding back together, or maybe cooking in a microwave?

 

[Sprig]

I don't think so mate. Once they are compromised they are toast, you should not trust it again, this is why they are cheap, chuck 'em, do not repair something like that that you depend on, go buy some more man!
BTW, as far as I have been able to find out they are not UV protected, so leaving them in the light of the sun will degrade them and make them brittle, which in itself is dangerous as they will shatter on ya (ya, and split).
Metal, you can re-do the heads and clean up the mushrooms.
Don't muck with old plastic wedges, trust me on this.



Serge

 

[olyman]

sprig--since he said weld--im assuming metal???? and as you said--reweld em--doen it plenty of times--but never heard of cracking a metal one!!!! plastic i could believe--

 

[joesawer]

He also mentioned putting them in the micro-wave. So I assume he is talking about plastic.
The only repair that I do to plastic wedges is to trim the flare or mushroom of the big end with my ax or occasionally I will trim a badly beaten one with my saw while it is firmly in the back cut.
If you are breaking wedges before you are beating the back off of them, you are hitting the wedge in a way that is trying to move it up or down instead of forward into the back cut. When you hit a plastic wedge and it viberates, you hit it out of square, and if you keep doing it it will break.
Take your time to hit the wedge square and in time and your wedges will last a long time and you will get more done with less work.

 

[2dogs]

I check mine after each use. Most need a bit of rasping to dress the head or maintain the correct bevel. I use a shoeing rasp and a Surform file. Once a wedge shows a crack it goes straight to the trash.

 

[Nailsbeats]

Plastic wedge durability

This in a nut shell is why I prefer steel wedges if I don't have to carry 3 at a time in the woods. I have never seen a steel wedge break.

 

[Gologit]

This in a nut shell is why I prefer steel wedges if I don't have to carry 3 at a time in the woods. I have never seen a steel wedge break.

Sooner or later, if you use metal wedges for falling or bucking, you'll catch one with your chain. I've seen it happen and it's not pretty. It could cost you some hide or even an eye. The fallers I know use plastic...you can carry ten of them if you want.
You've been given some very good advice so far from some very savvy people. Leave the steel wedges for splitting or making rails or whatever...just keep them out of the cut. Bob

 

[treeman82]

I've got a bunch of plastic wedges for normal sized trees. If they get a little mangled I've got an old farrier's rasp I'll use to clean them up really quick. Anything that's really beaten on though I toss.

For MONSTER trees and splitting though I have 2 big steel wedges. The tree has to be no less than 30" diameter for me to take them out when it comes to felling... but it works GREAT when I do use it. The other night I took a grinder to the head to clean off the mushroomed parts. However when I was doing that, I noticed a couple of cracks around the edges. Gotta cut the head off now so it's not as dangerous. Cutting through 2+" solid steel SUCKS.

 

[joesawer]

Thirty inches is a monster?
I would still prefer a slim taper 12" plastic wedge to a steel splitting wedge on a 30" tree. The size and shape of splitting wedges is all wrong.

 

[treeman82]

30+" diameter oak... yeah, I'd say that's a good sized tree. We were about to use it the other day on a MONSTER tulip about 45" DBH.

 

[clearance]

Big is relative, so is monster. Big here is like 3'-4', in old growth they are babies. Monster would be over 12'. Anyways, steel wedges have no place around power saws. Like others I fix my plastic wedges with a wood rasp, when they get too beat up, I replace them.

 

[forestryworks]

steel wedges go to the woodpile

and plastic wedges follow you into the woods...

ain't no two ways about it

 

[Nailsbeats]

Some of us will have to agree to disagree on this subject. Steel wedges have worked excellent for me falling bigger timber where you have enough room to keep them away from the saw. The taper on the steel wedge is more angled so it takes up less room in the cut than a long thin plastic wedge, more room for the saw. Also, I have never ever hit one with a saw. Just like anything, be aware of whats going on. I will stand on the fact that they have never failed me.

 

[joesawer]

Some of us will have to agree to disagree on this subject. Steel wedges have worked excellent for me falling bigger timber where you have enough room to keep them away from the saw. The taper on the steel wedge is more angled so it takes up less room in the cut than a long thin plastic wedge, more room for the saw. Also, I have never ever hit one with a saw. Just like anything, be aware of whats going on. I will stand on the fact that they have never failed me.

I do not doubt that you have never broken a splitting wedge. But the fact one has never failed you reminds me of the person who shot one deer in his life and then bragged that he had never missed. Give it time it will leave you wishing for some thing better, much better.
Don't think that you are the first or only person to use splitting wedges. When I first came to CA the young fellow who came with me tried to use them. There are very good reasons that production fallers don't use them. In a nutshell they are very inefficiant when compared to falling wedges.
There is a time and place for a steel falling wedges (not splitting wedges) but one needs to be very skilled at wedging before even attempting them.

 

[Sprig]

steel wedges go to the woodpile

and plastic wedges follow you into the woods...

ain't no two ways about it

Yup, we are forgetting however the small degree aluminium ones, pricey and I personally don't like 'em, but they exist and they are okay I think for felling. Whom ever mentioned using steel ones for felling, Bob be right, hm, nah, I'll pass thanks, no place for them around spinning chains though I'm sure there're a few who would risk their nads/eyes doin' so. Another consideration with the steel wedge is that most are not as wide as the plastic, so you don't get as much psi in the kerf/cut, most are also bigger degree'd (taper) and you may also run a risk of it spitting out as they are generally smooth surfaced (no ridges), (I've only ever heard of this but apparently it does happen (search)) :monkey:
The hoof rasps are a handy tool if they're the ones I'm thinking of, like a smaller version of a body rasp, like 1/4 moon teeth? A big sharp flat bastard file will work though they load up quicker. Generally I don't trust 'em (wedges) much once they get smooched a bit I'd just as soon replace 'em for piece of mind.
On the OP's post I did 'assume' plastic too due to the micro-wave comment, I may have been mistaken thusly.



Serge

 

[2dogs]

It would be funny watching a faller pack 3 or 4 spliiting wedges in his pouch. He would be sagging like a rapper. It would also be amusing to watch him try to lift a big tree with a fat tapered narrow splitting wedge. I guess he would also be carrying a 12lb sledge to pound with. Nope those girly plastic wedges have no place in the woods.

 

[turnkey4099]

Thirty inches is a monster?
I would still prefer a slim taper 12" plastic wedge to a steel splitting wedge on a 30" tree. The size and shape of splitting wedges is all wrong.

Cruise the junk shops and you will find old, steel falling wedges with a slim taper. Plastic wasn't available back when the big, virgin timber was falling.

Harry K

 

[Gologit]

Cruise the junk shops and you will find old, steel falling wedges with a slim taper. Plastic wasn't available back when the big, virgin timber was falling.

Harry K

Yup...and they're in the junk shops for a good reason. They're fine for hanging on the wall with your collection of old logging stuff (doesn't everybody do this?) but I sure wouldn't want to hit one with a chain. The old slow saws might have gotten away with it but with today's saws and the chain speed they have...all I can picture is the air full of shrapnel.

I have a couple of old peeling bars left over from the days when they hand-peeled redwoods but it doesn't mean I'd want to use one.

 

[slowp]

And don't be leaving your broken wedges in the brush!! It makes me mad because it makes you look bad should any "Monitoring" people go look at the results after logging is over. I'll pack busted wedges out, but they get thrown in the nearest pickup/crummy available. Same with soup cans.

Monitoring: Often can be defined as "we are looking for any errors so we can shut down logging."

 

[ckliff]

Wow! Thanks for all the responses. Just for my own curiosity, I think I will try melting & re-molding some plastic wedges. Winter project. Will mess around with it in the woodpile of course to see what happens.

I just have a knack for dinging up my wedges with the saw or snapping them apart in the tree. Must be my own special talent. ha ha Lots of great advice here and I have no intention of getting cocky on someone elses property!