Collectively Critique (Pic's &Vid)

[~WBF]

Skip the first 2 mins of the last vid, as I don’t need bbq sticks.. but a very good vid.

I’ve been watching this same guy for a while. When I get time

I have only ever seen West Coast Fallers videos in spring of 2013 when I got a smart phone and just then learned to type at that time. That was just in a few days span and that's the last I have looked. Occasionally people post the odd thing on saw sites. Not often this kind of stuff I see.
His name sounds familiar and his face is very familiar from somewhere??can't figure it out? I will get to see and post more of is collection on here. I see he is old skool round filer like me.

The spiral grain is a good thing in this case it keeps it wrapped together. You noticed he didn't cut into the main crack of the spiral on the left (low side) I would be more worried if it was a straight grain. By leaving that much uncut wood on the high side It probably would have barber chaired straight back. Uprooting it is a big concern by stalling it on the lean forward though. When a tree is leaning like that,
it has compensated and has very strong anchor roots. unless it's a recent lean from root fail or structural defects.
A little undercut is not always a bad thing on those on a down hill fall. The more the base you remove then the tree will 'weigh' forward putting the roots and back of tree under a far greater stress. The down side to it is on hill side falling with bigger trees; whether it be side hill or down hill, it makes for a long reach if you can't go beyond the back of the tree. I don't think I would have cut on the far side first He didn't cut much and he went back there later anyway. Things shift so sometimes you have to go back and revisit a side again . In this case that was the tension side were he cut first. There is no book on this. You are paid well to figure it out. Two escape routes on a danger tree. He didn't mention it but some things are best left unsaid. He was looking at the Hemlock tree pretty hard (The smaller tree that was just on the high side of the cedar snag) Sometimes you clear out your second safety train down the hill and under a log or rock face. It's not a nice thought and Is certainly not taught in the book. What is taught is 2 safety trails on a danger tree and the rest is what you call "over coming a falling difficulty"
If the roots popped and he had no time he could have dove off that high side down.
The Hemlock was a barrier. If the spiral unravelled fast then I would like to have the Hemlock there to better the second option. Doesn't mean it can't end up being a contributing factor to a fatality (May only be 18" dia) I would have done the same.

Some trees make you feel like you want to get sick.
Personally I would have cut more on the high side. I usually do it one handed pivoting off the dogs. You can't feel the pinch as you would with both hands so it's little bites at a time and constantly pivoting in and out.

 

[Coltont]

Somerset county Pa

 

[Coltont]

This day was rather difficult to work in the woods because of the ice .

 

[Coltont]

Gettysburg last April.

 

[~WBF]

Somerset county Pa

Right on. Good size sticks. Funny how the angles change. To the viewer all the dominant trees look to lean hard right and forward which I thought it was the trees sucking to the east. Just pointing out how this shows a good example how 'you' can't get an overall read on lean from the screen at all.

When I was contract faller for large property development contractors (all machine assist) in the Frazer Valley coast, I would fall the 'over bar sized very
similar to how you are doing it, It was always a good day, special when it was a non salvage job with lots of 3' - 4' cottonwoods with some maple maxing out at about 4.5 ft. It was just all undercut and back all day.
One company would just grind it all on site, In this case.
The machine would rake around the trees for me and pull the back leaners . Waist high cutting on the single stems. Big maple could be a puzzle with multi big stems close together and higher up falling. I was spoiled. I loved to ditch the 33" and 36" bars and the whole hillside style of falling of over bar size and run a 28" heavy bar with a 1/4 file. I don't quite need it as aggressive as your saw seems In the hardwood but a can take a bit more raker with the 1/4" file . It would be rare if I have to back bar in that case. All felling dogs. I see you need to get a lower stump at times and you 'set level' from the back bar, cutting back to set 'low side' hinge. (As far as I can tell)
Looks similar to what I have seen with the Europe style on 'oversize' for a 16' bar. What I saw them do was a backbar 'set' off the right side, then they pull it in to a hinge stab just enough to cover the depth and then wrap around. They do it pretty slick. I just stab in a hinge balls deep and cut straight out for a bit and then wrap it to the 'high side'. When I come out of the back i'll hook into the mouth ahead of my hinge depth and get that sapwood cut then dog back.
Smaller trees then I would get low side sapwood cut then dog hinge depth and finish there. Ringing the sapwood gives me another line of defence if I were to misread something.
Are you left handed? Do you hold an axe with your left hand? as your wedges are on your right hip.

 

[Coltont]

Right on. Good size sticks. Funny how the angles change. To the viewer. All the dominant trees look to lean hard right and forward which I thought it was the trees sucking to the east. Just pointing out how this shows a good example how 'you' can't get an overall read on lean from the screen at all.

When I was contract faller for large property development contractors (all machine assist) in the Frazer Valley coast, I would fall the 'over bar sized
similar to how you are doing it, It was always a good day, special when it was a non salvage job with lots of 3' - 4' cottonwoods with some maple of the same size. It was just all undercut and back all day.
One company would just grind it all on site, In this case.
All pre-raked ground and no wedging. Waist high cutting on the single stems. Big maple could be a puzzle though with multi big stems close together and higher up falling. I was spoiled. I loved to ditch the 33" and 36" bars and the whole hillside style of falling of over bar size and run a 28" heavy bar with a 1/4 file. I don't quite need it as aggresive as your saw seems In the hardwood but a can take a bit more raker with the 1/4" file . It would be rare if I have to back bar in that case. All felling dogs. I see you need to get a lower stump at times and you 'set level' from the back bar, cutting back to set 'low side' hinge. (As far as I can tell)
Looks similar to what I have seen with the Europe style on 'oversize' for a 16' bar. What I saw them do was a backbar 'set' off the right side, then they pull it in to a hinge stab just enough to cover the depth and then wrap around. They do it pretty slick. I just stab in a hinge balls deep and cut straight out for a bit and then wrap it to the 'high side'. When I come out of the back i'll hook into the mouth at my hinge depth and get that sapwood cut. Smaller trees then I would just stay there. Bigger trees like this^^ I will still bring the dogs to the corner and cut all my sapwood and then go back some. It gives me another line of defence, if I were to misread something.
Are you left handed? Do you hold an axe with your left hand? as your wedges are on your right hip.

Right handed. I try and keep the wedges slid around the back of my waist enough that they don't get in the way but they creep around sometimes.

 

[Wonkydonkey]

I'm not learning much here....this thread is already like u nuns vachina....dried up

 

[67L36Driver]

Here you go.

Sister Mary Francis on vacation.