Philbert
Chainsaw Enthusiast
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- Jan 30, 2016
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I 'know' that a sloping back cut for felling trees is 'wrong', but I was trying to better understand why, in order to explain it to others. Most of the references I found mostly said 'don't do it', with little explanation. So I tried to pull together what I could, from several sources. Please let me know if I am getting it, and help me to better understand the 'why'. Pretty basic graphics.
Some comments said that it was harder to hit the spot where you want the hinge to stop (typically about 2" higher than the horizontal face cut, and about 10% of trunk thickness) with a sloping back cut. You also cannot thin a hinge, if needed, without going below the stump shot shelf.
Other comments noted that when wedges are used in a conventional cut, they lift the tree, pivoting it on the hinge, and pressing down flat against the stump. When wedges are used with a sloped cut, they also push in a horizontal direction: this can cause a barber chair-like blowout at the rear of the stump, allowing the tree to fall in that direction. Several comments indicated that the forward direction of wedging also damaged the hinge.
Does this make sense? Am I off-base? Anything else going on here?
Thanks for any input.
Philbert
Some comments said that it was harder to hit the spot where you want the hinge to stop (typically about 2" higher than the horizontal face cut, and about 10% of trunk thickness) with a sloping back cut. You also cannot thin a hinge, if needed, without going below the stump shot shelf.
Other comments noted that when wedges are used in a conventional cut, they lift the tree, pivoting it on the hinge, and pressing down flat against the stump. When wedges are used with a sloped cut, they also push in a horizontal direction: this can cause a barber chair-like blowout at the rear of the stump, allowing the tree to fall in that direction. Several comments indicated that the forward direction of wedging also damaged the hinge.
Does this make sense? Am I off-base? Anything else going on here?
Thanks for any input.
Philbert
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