Is it just me????

[biziedizie]

   The pic reminds me of my dad and his neighbor, I'm sure that they were thinking the same things just before the tree was dropped on my house.


    Steve

[IndyIan]

I think we may judging the beer store crew too quickly.

Maybe they just cut through the sap wood at the ends of the hinge?    I know my cutting manual say to do that and I'm sure those guys have a copy on the dash of their truck

Someone correct me if doing this would look any different.  I guess the only way to know for sure is to see the 'after' photo.

[Kevin]

This is what you should see with a kerf cut to prevent fiber pull along the side of the tree.
It should be away from the hinge area.




The over cut on their diagonal cut is a dead give away they flubbed it.  

[Larry]

Kevin,
I've never seen that cut before.  I usually bore the center of the hinge and than cut "ears" on each side of the hinge to prevent fiber pull (open face hinge).  How far below the hinge does your bore cut go?  Do you put the bore cut in before or after the hinge cut?  Anything else I should know before I try it?

[Kevin]

Husqvarna illustrates using ears in the felling notch but I like to use the hinge for total control and try to stay away from altering the notch in any way that might affect the hinge.
They suggest using shallow cuts.
The cut that I show is used by arborists to keep the wood from tearing into the rigging gear.
This kerf cut is put in after the notch and before the back cut.
A couple of inches below is the norm.
The hinge is sacred to me.  

I should add that this is just to eliminate tearing along the sides and not intended to take the stress out of a leaning tree.
It might look like a complete bore in the picture but it isn't.

[Larry]

Thanks for the info Kevin.  I guess that bottom cut only goes in a couple of inches so would be about the same as my ear cuts.

The hinge is also sacred to me as that keeps us alive and kicking.  I switched to the open face cut, as it will allow the tree to almost get on the ground before it breaks.  If your illustration is correct your hinge will break at about a 45-degree angle allowing the tree to swivel on an adjacent tree or kickback.

To remove stress on the leaners I bore cut right behind the hinge and saw to the back of the tree leaving only a small amount of holding wood on the back.  Cut the holding wood with the bar tip and long gone when the tree goes over.

[Kevin]

By dropping down a bit it allows you to take more wood in the kerf that you might want to risk near the hinge.
A wedge shape hinge is good for removing stress also.
I primarily use the open face as well and always on a tree leaning back and away from the lay.

[IndyIan]

Thanks for the tips Kevin, for some reason I didn't see the diagonal over cut the first time...

I do like your method for preventing tear out while leaving the hinge alone.  I'll try it on my next tree.