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Felling Diagrams

Started by John Vander, October 09, 2013, 07:29:22 PM

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John Vander

Here are some diagrams for safe felling.



 

AROUND THE BACK CUT

Use for trees where bar length is insufficient for tree diameter.
Bore in on bad side and prepare hinge. Cut around the back and insert wedge. Continue the cut and finish on good side.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

beenthere

If we are looking down on the stump, no quarrel with the technique but am wondering why the saw is upside down? Cutting on the top of the bar pushing the saw out of the cut.  ??  Just curious.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

John Vander

 

 

BORE CUT for SMALL LEANER

Bore in on the bad side. Make sure saw passes through the other side of the tree. Be careful not to cut into hinge space on the opposite side. Open the cut and prepare hinge. Prepare holding strap. Cut strap for release. Cut strap about 1 inch below bore cut from the back.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

clww

I was wondering the same thing, beenthere.
Many Stihl Saws-16"-60"
"Go Ask The Other Master Chief"
18-Wheeler Driver

John Vander

Sorry about the pic of the saw. It was in my computer and I used it to make the pics. It's just to illustrate where the saw goes. Being a faller you know in what position the saw is. Sorry about the bad pic. ;D
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

I didn't have a pic of the other side of the saw! :D
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

beenthere

And for the small leaner, I use the bore cut a lot, but I usually set a wedge or two in the back cut before knocking off the holding wood. Just in case the lean isn't figured just right and the wedges save you from being caught real tight, real quick if it sets back at all.
south central Wisconsin
It may be that my sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others

John Vander

 

 

BORE CUT for BIG HEAVY LEANER

Bore in and cut out to the back on the bad side. Bore in on the opposite side and prepare the strap. Cut strap for release.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

beenthere, yeah, I do the same too. It's a good safety precaution. Sorry I didn't add it here into the diagram. Good point.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

OVERLAP CUT

Do a back cut covering 60% of the back of the tree. Insert wedge. Repeat same cut on safe side overlapping previous cut (bottom). Insert wedge. Drive in wedges to fell. Use for small straight trees where lean is hard to determine.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

SWING CUT

Bore in on the safe side and prepare hinge. This is a good technique where the bad side is really unsafe on a leaner or where insufficient work space makes it hard to get to the other side of the tree. Once the bore is completed and the the hinge is in place, pull the saw back on the dogs to prepare a holding strap. Cut strap for release. A wedge can be added on the opposite side of the strap, but make sure the bar will pass the wedge safely.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 
TONGUE & GROOVE

Shallow scarf. Bore into the front of the scarf to the back. Make sufficient room for the wedge to pass through without cutting away too much wood where hinges will be made. Insert wedge and drive in. Cut on sides above bore cut to prepare proper stump shot. Drive in wedge to fell. Use for small trees with slight back lean.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

  

QUARTER CUT

Bore in on bad side and cut around the back, making sufficient wedge space. Insert wedge. Complete hinge by cutting below the wedge as not to hit it. Drive in wedge and fell. Use for small trees with slight back lean.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

DANISH PIE CUT

Bore in on bad side and prepare hinge. Cut away back to prepare space for wedge. Insert wedge and cut remaining holding wood from underneath. Drive in wedge and fell. Useful for trees with slight back lean.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

WEDGES

A faller's best friends. Inserting wedge to the side will improve lift. Use wedge with tapered scarf for side leaners or adding lift to a swing cut.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

T-CUT

On large leaners, the saw is put at the side of the tree and pulled back on the dogs. On smaller tree the cut can be performed the same as with the cuts made on a tongue & groove cut. Cut back strap (in the shape of a bar) to fell.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

SIDE BIND

When a felled tree is lodged between standing trees, side bind is present. This technique deals with safely releasing the bind so that the felled tree opens up safely.

P: position
C: compression
T: tension

Stand on the compression side and make two "V" cuts that meet. Cut over the top drawing the saw to where you are. Tension will gradually be released as the logs slowly open. The yellow arrow on the bottom pic shows the path of the saw. It is advised NOT to stand directy behind the saw, but at the left of the saw.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

RELEASING ROOTPLATE

P: position
T: tension
C: compression

Cut over the top and draw saw into wood about one fourth of the way. Bore in from the side but DO NOT cut the top yet. Cut downward and let the saw exit the bottom, leaving a small holding strap. This small strap in not cut, but functions as a "jump stopper" to help the log release from the stump slowly. The final cut is from above to release, made slightly off to the right to create a shoulder. The shoulder protects the bar from getting knocked up as the log opens.

Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

  

CENTRE SCARF

Large trees can be scarfed in this manner to reduce holding wood. Make sure to add wood to hinges in order to compensate for hingewood lost due to scarfing. Back cut is made standard above scarfing to create stump shot. Good for cutting trees where the bar length is insufficient. The back cut is made by cutting around the back. Bore in and move the saw around to the other side.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

DEFECT TREE

A tree with a defect like rot in the middle needs to be felled carefully. Scarf a but deeper than usual. Cut around the back from bad side. Make sure hinge is prepare in sound wood. Cut away rot to expose sound wood so that hinge can be made accurately. If tree seems unsound, bind up the tree with rope prior to cutting. The rope will help to hold the tree together during the fall. Where the tree has no crown, reduce stump shot.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

mesquite buckeye

Manage 80 acre tree farm in central Missouri and Mesquite timber and about a gozillion saguaros in Arizona.

John Vander

 

 

DEFECT TREE with TAPERED HINGE & STRAP (SIDE LEANER)

Prepare a tapered hinge in sound wood. Bore in on both sides to prepare hinge. Cut back to prepare strap. The grey arrow shows the direction of lean. Cut strap to release.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

WING CUTS

Add wing cuts to the hinge to reduce root pull on softwood trees. Not recommended for hardwoods. Useful where scarf doesn't properly cover the face of the tree.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

John Vander

 

 

ENLARGING SCARF

Where bar length is insufficient, a large tree can be scarfed in two steps.
Tree and saw accidents nullify years of forestry experience.

luvmexfood

I would like to thank you for taking the time to develop and post these diagrams. Never hurts to learn something.
Give me a new saw chain and I can find you a rock in a heartbeat.

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