Tree Swells up Opposite Lean?

[Paul Bunions]

Today I got rid of a dying water oak a genius left butting against my blacktop driveway when it was built. It had bug holes in it big enough for your finger. It was about 12" thick three feet up. I am planning to get a company with machinery to come in and push some oaks over, but I don't want to push over trees close to pavement because I think the roots will lift the pavement when the trees fall. Better to remove them a piece at a time after the trunks are gone.

The tree seemed to be leaning in a direction I liked, so I cut a homeowner-grade notch on that side and then started a back cut. The saw got stuck in the back cut, so I had to pound a wedge in to get it out.

When the tree fell, it fell just as expected.

Is it normal for a tree to swell up and tighten a kerf on the side away from the lean? I had not seen that before.

I used a Makita cordless and a 10" cordless pole saw to fell the tree, but the Makita was not great for cutting the stump close to the ground, so I got the new 562XP out. That saw was the perfect choice for my property. Not too big, and it went right through the oak stump with a 24" bar.

 

[jefflovstrom]

what? I was following this thread and all of a sudden, a de-rail to a post of a Makita versus a 562xp?
Crazy man!
Jeff
It was a beautiful day!

 

[Del_]

It's the homeowner grade notch.

...followed up by a homeowner grade back cut will do it every time, almost.

 

[Paul Bunions]

So if I had made a nice notch, the kerf wouldn't have swelled up?

 

[Del_]

So if I had made a nice notch, the kerf wouldn't have swelled up?

The kerf didn't swell up.

 

[Paul Bunions]

Don't keep me in suspense. What did it do?

 

[Breckinridge Elkins]

Don't keep me in suspense. What did it do?

The tree sat on your saw!
If you're a hack like me you start a wedge in the backcut as soon as there is room.

 

[cookies]

Ever witness someone sit down in a chair that was not built to handle their weight? Thats what happened to your back cut.

 

[Paul Bunions]

It just seems weird that it would close on the side away from the lean.

Anyway, thanks.

 

[Oletrapper]

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Trunk lean isn't the whole story... you have to look at canopy weight too. Hard to say without pics.

 

[slowp]

The tree "sat back". One old, but great timber faller calls it "Sattin' Back." I'd suggest, and no way am I a faller, that pounding a falling wedge into your back cut might could, but in no way am I certain because this is a tree out in the internet void that cannot be seen, prevent your saw from getting pinched. Falling wedges are good and necessary things to keep handy. They come in some pretty nice colors.
Keep one or two handy. They usually fit in a back pocket.

From what I've witnessed in the woods, sometimes colorful language applied during the pounding of the wedge is required and helps keep sattin' back from becoming falling backwards.

 

[Paul Bunions]

A wedge would have worked. You are right about that. I used a wedge to get the saw out.

You have to see this from the perspective of an amateur with limited skills. I thought, "This tree is leaning this way, so it won't pinch the saw if I cut it on the other side." Then it pinched the saw, and I thought, "Maybe I can't tell which way a tree is leaning because I don't know what I'm doing." Then I cut the tree, and it fell right where I thought it would in the beginning.

Doesn't matter. I'll try to use wedges earlier in the future.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Especially on a heavier deciduous tree like a water oak the trunk doesn't tell the whole story, especially when it's leafed out. One or two lateral branches opposite the lean can easily counteract a 5 or 10 degree lean.

 

[slowp]

 

[OhioTreeHugger]

Especially on a heavier deciduous tree like a water oak the trunk doesn't tell the whole story, especially when it's leafed out. One or two lateral branches opposite the lean can easily counteract a 5 or 10 degree lean.

Exactly, even a 5 degree lean is enough to alter the direction of the fall. It's hard to see up in dense canopies making it hard to judge. I have to say I have been lucky in felling them where I want them to go.

 

[davidwyby]

Cracked wood will pinch.

Hard to say without pics.

 

[pdqdl]

A wedge would have worked. You are right about that. I used a wedge to get the saw out.

You have to see this from the perspective of an amateur with limited skills. I thought, "This tree is leaning this way, so it won't pinch the saw if I cut it on the other side." Then it pinched the saw, and I thought, "Maybe I can't tell which way a tree is leaning because I don't know what I'm doing." Then I cut the tree, and it fell right where I thought it would in the beginning.

Doesn't matter. I'll try to use wedges earlier in the future.

It is a bit more complicated than "when" you start using your wedge. In general, you need to evaluate each tree for what kind of face and back cuts you need to make, where you are aiming the tree, whether you need a wedge, and a lot of other important things like where the wind is coming from and what is going to fall out of the tree and kill you.

I'd wild guess that you might not have put a face cut sufficiently deep to assist the lean. Otherwise, your tree probably was leaning one way but had more upper canopy on the balancing side. When you mostly finished the cut, the weight of the tree pinched your saw, stopping the cut. That was actually a good thing because it kept you from felling the tree in the wrong direction.

Liberating the pinched saw with a wedge was the right solution, so I think you may just need to fine-tune your understanding of how dropping trees works a bit more before you hang out your tree service shingle. Otherwise, it sounds like you did fine.

Every once in a while I misjudge a tree too. Unfortunately, when I guess wrong, it is seldom fixed easily with a wedge. A couple of weeks ago, I screwed up on judging where a tree was going to fall and pinched my saw. We were in dense underbrush, doing nothing but vista pruning, so the tree could fall anywhere. While I was waiting for another guy to bring me his saw, the tree started creaking & snapping, then fell about 8' away from me. It fell almost perpendicular to my felling cut by breaking off the hinge. Fortunately, my pinched saw was undamaged.
So... being an expert isn't always proof that you will not make mistakes.

BTW: I just didn't want to run off when the tree fell that close to me. I knew it wasn't going to get me, and I didn't feel like running anywhere at the time. It was hot, and I was tired.

 

[Del_]

It was hot, and I was tired.

That would make a cool headstone inscription!

 

[pdqdl]

Yep. That condition has probably contributed more to the fatal injuries of humanity than anything else.

I think an argument might be made for "hold my beer..." conditions, though.