What do you hit a plastic wedge with?

[Don_N6CRV]

Hello, hope this does not sound dum. But what do you use to put a plastic wedge in with. I'm tired of getting my bar pinched to thought I would get a couple wedges but not sure what to hit them in with. Guess I could just use my hand but there has got to be a better way. Thanks for all your help.
Don

[Timberwerks]

I just use a regular carpenters hammer. Or if a a heavy enough branch is near by I'll use that.

Dale

[beenthere]

I usually just cut or pick up a 'club' of oak branch or whatever is lying around (always something is) to tap the plastic wedge's into the saw kerf when felling trees or holding a bucking cut open so the bar doesn't get pinched.

I've a hatchet with a sheath as well, but have found it less convenient to 'have it a long' when felling and bucking. Just use the 'club' and if I lose it, no big deal.

A good 'shalaylee' for a club is a branch for a handle with about 4" of the green stem of a 3" oak tree or branch still attached.

[leweee]

I use the side of a 5# hammer......it doesn't deform the plastic as much....more surface area. ;D Side of a sledge for biggens....as you get older you discover your hand ain't no hammer : ;D

[slowzuki]

Back of the axe.  It is sized so my oil jug and fuel jug slide onto the handle and don't fall off so I carry em on it with it over my shoulder.  It is also handy if a wedge can't free the saw.

Ken

[fishhuntcutwood]

Agree with slowzuki.  I use the back of an axe.  I carry a short handled axe with a 3.5 lb head, and it works well, and doesn't get in the way.  I don't know how big the trees are you're dealing with, but after a certain size, diameter or height, it takes a solid whack to drive it, and that's why I don't like to rely on  stuff laying around, as often it will break before the wedge goes in.  If you're new to wedges, (and if you're not, forgive me) understand that there are many different sizes, and bigger ain't better.  All wedges are about the same thickness at the butt, but they are different angles from the tip, depending on their length.  A shorter wedge is a more agressive wedge, but if your tree is big enough,  you might have the wedge buried before the tree has moved enough to get the job done.  Wedges are cheap, so pick up one or two of each size range, and you'll be fine.    If you're going to use them primarily to free your saw when you pinch it, go with a 5" or 5.5" wedge.   If you're going to get just one, I like 7" wedges.  They carry well in your back pocket, and will work on a wide range of trees.  And it helps to look at them as disposable.  You'll hit them with your saw, bend the tips over, etc.  So when you mess one up and hit it with your saw...well, that's why they're made out of plastic.  If you use the wedge once to get your saw out, well consider that $3 wedge as already having payed for itself.

Jeff

[timberjack240]

i seen my pap the other day. he had 4 wedges and a 5lb sledge hammer  ;D i imagine he uses that. the 3 lb sledges and  big clubs work well to  ;D

[Don_N6CRV]

Thanks for the info. I think I will go with the small axe.  Sure is nice to know you can get help when needed.
Thanks...Don

[fishhuntcutwood]

See Don, that wasn't a dumb question.  ;)

Jeff

[Kevin]

Some axe heads are designed for driving wedges, which also means some aren't.

[redpowerd]

sometimes i hit them with my chain. ;D dont last too long after that. plastic wedges really like to bust under a hammer in the bitter cold.

actually the only thing i have hit them with without them chipping would be my small axe. what axe shouldnt be used, other than a double bladed?;D

[timberjack240]

we were cuttin some aprt the other day and i got pinched so i went and got a wedge and a hammer and the log was that tight i couldnt get it to go in so when i "THOUGHT" (thought being the key word) i had it in i hit it and it flew in the air bout 9 ft  :D. my pap seen it and smiled like he knew it was gonna happen. im just glad it missed my face ;D

[Kevin]

The heads are wider and square on the back... here's a Collins axe



http://www.madsens1.com/collins.htm

Baileys advertise one but I haven't seen it myself...

http://www.baileys-online.com/store/USA.htm

[slowzuki]

I've got 5 wedges now of two different ramps.  I bought some el cheapo ones for cheap and they work so poor I only use them when absolutely needed.  The 3 other wedges are oregon / stihl wedges (exact same, just yellow or orange)

They have grippers to keep em from popping out and they don't break in the cold.  I used them all winter and they will stay in froaen wood really well.  My oldest one is chewwed up but I often need a backup wedge or two and I tend to plunge/sweep/wedge/cut strap so the wedge is never opening the kerf.

The worst I have ever had the saw stuck was when I was first learning and I was limbing a fetched up tree quite high as I couldn't roll it down with the peavey.  There was the saw 7 ft up in the air pinched in a 6" spruce limb against a pair of other stems.   All I had was my dull old axe to chop it out and no good angles.  There was some sweat rolling by the time I left with the saw.

[rebocardo]

For a falling wedge I am stuck on the hard back wedges from Baileys. Basically a plastic wedge with a metal plate on the back. You can drive them really hard with a big sledge hammer to tip over trees, though I would not use them for bucking where they can fall onto a running chain.

There are different kinds of wedges too. My local chain saw dealer carries plastic wedges with 1/4 ridges (look like triangles) that prevent the wedge from slipping out once they are driven. They are excellent for small trees or for wedging the side of a bucked log.

I use the cheap $2 "textured" wedges for log bucking.

[KiwiCharlie]

I use a Thorace deadblow hammer.  Ive got a spot on my belt for it, and they dont mash up the wedge at all.
Every time Ive used an axe, its munted the end of the wedge!
Cheers
Charlie.

[redpowerd]

i guess ive bought my last stihl wedge ;D
they are the only ones i can get locally.
i needed a new baileys catalog anyways.

[slowzuki]

My first wedge was a stihl and it has 4 or 5 chain kisses now, it probably has 10 left before it goes on the disc sander to try and save it!  I don't hit them hard much now.

i guess ive bought my last stihl wedge ;D
they are the only ones i can get locally.
i needed a new baileys catalog anyways.

[Gypo Logger]

 On the more humourous side, what do you hit a wooden wedge with?
John

(Click  link above for picture, Large file)

[beenthere]

That is a huge 'wedge' you are using.  Better get a bigger stick.  ;D :D :D

[leweee]

John it's good to see you. Not the first time I've done that either :D :D ;D

[Woodhog]

I make my own wedges out of maple or oak, the cutting area is littered with them and the wooden clubs,
I use them and lose them, or am just to tired to walk back to some stump that they are laying on top of.

The plastic ones are too expensive and I lose them or cut them up with the saw quite often.

It only takes a few seconds to cut out a few good hardwood wedges and they seem to work quite good for me..

[thecfarm]

I use a wooden stick.Use to use an axe,but got tiried of always keeping track of it.Don't have any trouble keeping track of my stick.Don't care if I lose it or not.

[Cedarman]

When felling big ERC on hillsides, I have a lot of trouble figuring which way it is leaning or which side has heavier limbs, so I always use wedges. I usually bore the tree, put in wedges and hit them snug with a 2 pound hammer.  Then clip off the back and finish hitting wedges as needed.
There are times I've use the wedges without the holding triangles.  Every once in a while I'll have  a wedge go in about 1 to 2 inches and hit it a good whack and the wedge comes flying back out like a watermelon seed pinched between my fingers as I was aiming for my brother.  :D :D :D That's why I always use wedges with raised triangles.
I usually paint my hammer orange so I don't have to look for it too much.

[wiam]

I use a 2lb axe I found recently for $7.  It has a short handle.

Will