waist high or ground level

[Rftreeman]

which way do you make your notch cut? I make mine while standing with the saw waist high, my grandfather taught me this many years ago, he always said that you can't get out of the way as fast if you are down on one knee or bent over pretty good, I have in the past cut both ways going low for log reasons but most of the time it's waist high.

 

[Mitchell]

stump hieght

most places around hear require a low stump hieght when felling trees in the forest. usually as low as the wrap on the saw will allow suffices. Most learners make better cuts when cutting at waist height however; you can always cut the stump off later. I like cutting as low as possible not just becouse I had to but also as it allos more leverage to push it over without wedging. Wedging a trees particularly dead trees or tops is more dangerous then cutting low and muscling it over.

 

[treevet]

When I can get away with it as there is room to drop it, I sometimes notch and back cut at ground level. One less piece to crane out if booming and you can put stump grinder on it w out waiting for another cut.

 

[Rftreeman]

I always cut the stump low to the ground afterward, but I fill better cutting up high first, I don't do much of the pushing thing but have used wedges a lot.

 

[Burvol]

High stumps are hang ups for turns of logs and beat up your skidders and other machines. They also look crappy after you leave. I was taught to cut low stumps, so that is what I do, for the fore mentioned reasons. Also, when logs get scaled at the yard, you loose good measurements if you cut the stump too high.

 

[Rftreeman]

I always cut the stump off at the ground, I never leave them, that would just be wrong.

 

[ShoerFast]

If your selling saw logs, or cutting firewood, there is a lot more log, and an extra round of wood in it for you to get the stump as close to the ground as you can.

If your clearing land, ask what the opperator how they want them, an excavator (trackhoe in some areas) can pop a stump flush with the ground, but blade and bucket (Bulldozer and trackloader) opperators sometime want a little more stump to work with. Here, working with grades, the stumps can sometime be a little higher of the downhill side to help stop rocks.

In some snow areas, some want the stumps a certian size so you can see them.

 

[clearance]

most places around hear require a low stump hieght when felling trees in the forest. usually as low as the wrap on the saw will allow suffices. Most learners make better cuts when cutting at waist height however; you can always cut the stump off later. I like cutting as low as possible not just becouse I had to but also as it allos more leverage to push it over without wedging. Wedging a trees particularly dead trees or tops is more dangerous then cutting low and muscling it over.

Out in the bush I never see low stumps, where are you talking about? I like to cut where its good, waist high, might cut it low after. Snags are always to be cut high, safer that way.

 

[Grace Tree]

Almost always waist high if there are no trunk defects. Nothing goes for lumber so why work bent over. We cut the stumps as low as is practical and since were more likely to hit something on the flush cut we save that for the last cut of the day.
Phil

 

[beelsr]

which way do you make your notch cut? I make mine while standing with the saw waist high, my grandfather taught me this many years ago, he always said that you can't get out of the way as fast if you are down on one knee or bent over pretty good, I have in the past cut both ways going low for log reasons but most of the time it's waist high.

depends. if you're cutting for someone else, it's what they want.

generally speaking: if i'm cutting for firewood, I mark up the trunk 3' and cut there and then block the stub down. if i'm going to mill the wood i'll go as low as i can to max the wood at the bottom.

of course, the tree itself can influence where you cut because of terrain, defects in the tree, etc.. but the basic rule is to max the length for "lumber" but with firewood, it all gets blocked up anyways so it doesn't matter...

 

[Climb020]

I prefer to make the cut at the base. Find it easier to drive a wedge in from that postion when needed as well. Only time I ever cut up high is is a backhoe is gonna rip it out or the trunk flair is much larger then the bar. Why make two cuts if one will works just as well.

 

[John Paul Sanborn]

Like everyone else, it all depends.

I will cut high if that is what it needs to make the fall miss something.

On properties I will leave a slightly high stump if there is no stump grind. Why waste a chain if they are too cheap to pay for a grind. (one client goes ~$20 for a flush stump if they do not want to pay for the grind, maybe more for huge ones)

I will allways ask if the client wants a pot-stand if there is a flair or an uneven soil crown.

If I need to cut real high, 4 ft or some multiple of 16in for firewood.

 

[beowulf343]

Grew up with logging crews so it's just habit for me to cut at ground level-don't even think about it anymore.

 

[Sprig]

I cut where-ever it takes as many have said^^^, Firewood trees I may leave a bit more stump but I really don't like cutting high as, especially if it is something like close together alders, the reason (in my simple mind) is that if something does happen to go wrong (knock on wood) there is a greater distance/radii area that is affected should you barberchair or get a split. That said, there is the 'not breaking your back' factor. Quick true story on a 'high' cut (it could have been a low one with the same result) that woke me up. Doing some 12-20" alders and did one with a high stump, did the back cut and over it went, I was well out of the way and watched as it fell, loaded up a big branch I did not really pay attention to, and sprang the tree a good 10+ feet over and passed the stump. Never take that sort of thing foregranted imho. So ever since then I go as low as I comfortably can when possible, just because I feel it is easier to control and forsee potential fu's.
I may be wayy off base here and stand to be corrected as usual, on with the learnin' curve m8s!
Another 0.02$, probably near useless, but safety first regardless eh!


Serge

 

[PA Plumber]

Low. I like working off of one knee. I also prefer swinging at wedges while they are low. Mostly cutting stuff for the yard right now and appreciate every extra board foot I can get.

 

[yooper]

Grew up with logging crews so it's just habit for me to cut at ground level-don't even think about it anymore.

The same goes here in the U.P. .....If its saw timber. or any thing in the logging industry. When I cut timber in the woods and cut a birds eye or curly maple at 3 feet that would mean a considerable loss of money. And loss of job! As for the tree service industry(which I'm in now) I guess it doesn't matter...Unless I'm keeping the log off the tree. The only time in the woods around here that you see high stumps is from a winter cut since normal snow fall here is around 300 inch a winter. Even then they better not be to high.

 

[clearance]

When you all are cutting snags I hope you cut waist high, and look up.

 

[Sprig]

When you all are cutting snags I hope you cut waist high, and look up.

Yup. +1 .
Small v top cut, vee under/or srtaight up cut, git the heck outta there. I am a-feared of snags, so, work very carefully around them, and prefer even something as simple as a Spanish windlass, block & tackle, come-a-long etc., ta pull them down, if there isn't a truck nearby :bang:

 

[beelsr]

The only time in the woods around here that you see high stumps is from a winter cut since normal snow fall here is around 300 inch a winter. Even then they better not be to high.

Like the hydrants in Gay, huh?

 

[Mitchell]

stump heights

quote by clearance:
Out in the bush I never see low stumps, where are you talking about? I like to cut where its good, waist high, might cut it low after. Snags are always to be cut high, safer that way.


Clearance, low stump hieght should be found on any crown land in BC that has been logged. I have seen blocks re cleared when the snow melts. Other then the loss of mechantable timber, beating up on skidders, the forest service can fine for leaving high stump hieghts; I have not heard of anyone getting fined mind you.

One advantage of cutting low with smaller timber is you can push with your shoulder. Pushing as you place the back cut will push the timber over against the lean; the lower the stump shot the more leverage generated. Some fallers employ pushers with 10' sticks to push smaller timber into lay to save on shoulder muscling and or wedging.

When it comes to snags you are right, it is generally safer to cut snags high to avoid unsound wood close to the ground. Well there is no formula to presscribe to every snag, I have found with snags that are small enouph to be pushed over against the lean [by my self] that cutting lower to generate more pushing leverage is safer then cutting higher and wedging. I personelly have had far, far more tops and widow makers etc break up and come into my position from wedging then dead trees losing there hing wood from cutting lower. Generally speaking, when it is avialable, cutting up with a safety wedge placed and knocking a snag over with another large live tree is safer then wedging it over. Obviously residential work does not lend itself to these scenerios well.