Is there a safe way to do this kind of felling?

[TW]

Is there a safe way to fell spruce trees while keeping the grown crooks at ground level where the roots branch out? I think about crooks for boat framing.
North European spruce usually has all the roots followíng ground surface, and none going straight down.

The reason why I ask ios that last week I felled three spruces with the intention to use them for boat thwarts. Then I needed a 30 cm long piece of a root and almost two metres of the trunk. I did it by cutting off the roots one at a time and on the leeward side first, on a very windy day. The trees were about 6" in diameter.
I did not feel comfortable doing it so now I look for a better way, if I cut mor boat frames some day.

[Kevin]

Can you cut the tree 2m. above ground and get the weight off the trunk prior to cutting the roots?
Try to pick a less windy day when cutting trees .

[raycon]

What Kevin said is one approach used in getting tamarack knees.  1m may be enough depending on what you're looking for.

[beenthere]

Look into severing the roots on 2 or 3 sides, then pulling the tree over with cable. Exposes the roots and uses the weight of the tree to up-root them.
This worked real well for an oak tree, that I wanted out with the root ball with it. A bit of digging, and some axe work....and very little effort pulling it over with 100' of cable/chain.

[TW]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Pulling down the tree with a winch makes sence. I have not not been able to afford neither tractor nor winch yet, but I have countinous bartering going on with a friend who has both.

How does one cut off a tree one or two metres abowe ground without risking to get killed? The butt end can strike to any direction as it falls off the high stump.

[Sprucegum]

If you feel unsafe cutting high up, pull the whole tree over like Beenthere said. Make sure the pull line is longer than the tree so it can not land on you  ;)
Also climb 1/2 way up with the line to get good leverage on the tree.

[Furby]

TW, if the trees are really only 6" in diameter, I personally would simply cut the roots and push the tree over by hand.
Some may think that's not the safest way, and it isn't.
But if you wait for a calm day, it really isn't that big of a deal as long as you stay aware of what is going on around you and have an escape path.
If you really don't like that idea, a long rope as high up as you can get it will give you a massive amount of leverage, so you should be able to simply pull it over by hand and you shouldn't need a winch.
Just cut as many roots as possible.

[TW]

I have always hinge cut everyhing I fell except brushes. Once I had a tree breaking the hinge so the butt came crashing down from a high stump, and since then I have been a bit afraid of high stumps. Maybe it was unnecsessary to be afraid.

6 inch trees were the minimum size for thwarts. The reason why I asked is to get confidence and skill to uproot bigger trees in the future.

[thecfarm]

This was posted a few days ago.

http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/logging/manual/felling/cuts/open_faced_top_cuts.html
If you do it this way,you should not have a problem.

[Cedarman]

I push a lot of cedars over by hand. As the saw comes out the back the tree will set on the saw.  Not enough room for a wedge.  Usually 4" to 10" trees that have a very small back lean. I use the open face felling method to cut. This leaves a hinge.  I also use a pusher pole about 10 feet long for extra leverage.  Since my cuts are at ground level this works.  It is also easy to move at an angle away from the tree as it starts to fall.  Cutting the roots and using a pusher pole might work.  The longer the pole, the higher up in the tree you can push.

[Ed_K]

 Small trees that I want in a certain direction I cut my notch then bore thru from the front to the back in the very center. I can then put my wedge in the back pound it tight. then cut the sides about an inch below the wedge from back the the back of the hinge. Pound the wedge and over it goes.

[rebocardo]

> I cut my notch then bore thru from the front to the back in the very center.

Have you ever had a saw caught in the notch doing that on a small tree or is it a needless worry as long as the butt is good?

[Ed_K]

 I've never had the saw caught doing this cut, I have had one or two that had more lean than the wedge could tip so I bored a second slot above the first and added a second wedge to finish tipping the tree.
I should have explained this cut better, when releasing the backcut you make two seperate back cuts on either side of the wedge. The tip of the saw should go under the wedge just enough to give the fiber a way to break once you push the wedge.
You do have to pay attention to side lean and release that side first.

[rebocardo]

thanks!