Forester Harvest Plan

[J. Loe]

I know I’ve put this up before but.

I See this in the hardwoods here a lot.
Minimizes fiber pull but you gotta be careful for kickback and pinching.

Still, gets the good fat wood at the stump.

if your bore cuts don’t line up exactly it’ll still get over to the lay. You’ll have a bypass cut which is fine.

Really this seems less useful for steering and better for getting the wood out of a tree.

 

[XP_Slinger]

I know I’ve put this up before but.

I See this in the hardwoods here a lot.
Minimizes fiber pull but you gotta be careful for kickback and pinching.

Still, gets the good fat wood at the stump.

if your bore cuts don’t line up exactly it’ll still get over to the lay. You’ll have a bypass cut which is fine.

Really this seems less useful for steering and better for getting the wood out of a tree.

Never seen that one, thanks for posting man.

 

[J. Loe]

Here’s me rambling a bit.

I dick around with humboldt notch a lot but I think if you watch west coast doods when they use it, they leave really high stumps.

That’s probably fine with 100’ of softwood log on really steep hills, but east coast, yer probably better with a heeheehuge conventional and bore cuts.

There are some cool ways to open up a humboldt.
A gap or pinch with a snipe for example.

And of course you can borecut it.

I really like the humboldt if I want the butt to hit the ground 1st.
Really depends on the terrain.
Eg. If your falling the log uphill a humboldt will keep the log from sliding down the hill.

 

[p61 western]

Here’s me rambling a bit.

I dick around with humboldt notch a lot but I think if you watch west coast doods when they use it, they leave really high stumps.

That’s probably fine with 100’ of softwood log on really steep hills, but east coast, yer probably better with a heeheehuge conventional and bore cuts.

There are some cool ways to open up a humboldt.
A gap or pinch with a snipe for example.

And of course you can borecut it.

I really like the humboldt if I want the butt to hit the ground 1st.
Really depends on the terrain.
Eg. If your falling the log uphill a humboldt will keep the log from sliding down the hill.

I've seen that page before lol. One of the best imo.

 

[J. Loe]

I've seen that page before lol. One of the best imo.

Gerry Beranek is The.Man.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Here’s me rambling a bit.

I dick around with humboldt notch a lot but I think if you watch west coast doods when they use it, they leave really high stumps.

That’s probably fine with 100’ of softwood log on really steep hills, but east coast, yer probably better with a heeheehuge conventional and bore cuts.

There are some cool ways to open up a humboldt.
A gap or pinch with a snipe for example.

And of course you can borecut it.

I really like the humboldt if I want the butt to hit the ground 1st.
Really depends on the terrain.
Eg. If your falling the log uphill a humboldt will keep the log from sliding down the hill.

All good points. The thing I like most about a Humbolt is it kicks the tree away from me. But as you’ve pointed out, it’s not the best for getting the most out of the butt log. I’m going to switch to a traditional open face cut next time I’m in the woods. I’ll update with results on fiber and stuff.

I appreciate the effort to help me out on felling these trees more efficiently with less waste.

 

[Marshy]

Exactly, it's great for putting the butt on the ground first. Some times thats important so you dont break the log if you are dropping it over a gully. There are other reasons but that's a good one.

 

[ajschainsaws]

No problem, I would definitely do what your mill wants though for sure, there the ones paying you. Good luck and post some pictures if you can!

Yeah very true ,

 

[ajschainsaws]

All good points. The thing I like most about a Humbolt is it kicks the tree away from me. But as you’ve pointed out, it’s not the best for getting the most out of the butt log. I’m going to switch to a traditional open face cut next time I’m in the woods. I’ll update with results on fiber and stuff.

I appreciate the effort to help me out on felling these trees more efficiently with less waste.

you got a great project going down here , humbolts are good as others have
Said for there good reasons

Over here traditional cuts make the most from that 1st butt , hardwoods aren’t
Classed in a lower grade for having a flared buttress they add character nowadays , if it was Sitka different story you gotta lot of trimming

If you do a nice low stump fell either bore cut or standard cut , if you do end up pulling fibres and you end up cutting of a foot or so , your a step lower than humbolt so your not loosing out

Low stumps are the way too go for future work and traveling round the woodland in a few years without ripp8ng sumps and pipes off

 

[XP_Slinger]

you got a great project going down here , humbolts are good as others have
Said for there good reasons

Over here traditional cuts make the most from that 1st butt , hardwoods aren’t
Classed in a lower grade for having a flared buttress they add character nowadays , if it was Sitka different story you gotta lot of trimming

If you do a nice low stump fell either bore cut or standard cut , if you do end up pulling fibres and you end up cutting of a foot or so , your a step lower than humbolt so your not loosing out

Low stumps are the way too go for future work and traveling round the woodland in a few years without ripp8ng sumps and pipes off

Great points AJ. Had some succes with a traditional open face and bore cut. Finally have my method for keeping the bore cut level with the face cut. That’s been a struggle for me and until now I kind of avoided it. Now that I’ve got a handle on it I love using a bore cut. Here’s some of my latest stumps, not “perfect”, but a big improvement for me and setting triggers.



Tree had a hard lean, being inexperienced with trigger size I left it kind of big. Still a success in safely dropping the tree and not screwing up the butt log so I’m happy

 

[J. Loe]

Kickass

 

[XP_Slinger]

Kickass

Thanks Brochacho. Going to be in the woods today and @Marshy is coming over to give me some schooling on dropping trees. Gonna be a good day...once it gets above 5*F, cold this morning.

 

[XP_Slinger]

On the above stumps I intentionally left the hinge a little fat because they all had 15 to 20* leans. Good practice? Or: Am I over thinking it and not trusting hold wood enough? I admittedly need more practice at getting the hinge nice and straight and am very cautious about cutting too much of the hinge out.

 

[J. Loe]

Watch the top of the tree for movement to judge your hinge.

Movement to the lay you’re good to keep cutting depending on how you’re steering her.
movement against the lay it’s time to bang on the wedges.
Watch the top, watch the top.
It’ll move feet up top before you notice the cut opening up at the base.


I need to mention something else.
I wanted to stress the importance of not hanging around the stump when she’s going over.
Make sure you clean out and maybe even walk your escape path,
Especially if there’s deep snow.
You don’t want to trip.

You need to get away in case she goes astray or if a hanger breaks loose.
*s-word can get bad in the winter.
Brittle wood.
Poor footing.

Still, felling trees is my favorite thing.

 

[huskyboy]

Watch the top of the tree for movement to judge your hinge.

Movement to the lay you’re good to keep cutting depending on how you’re steering her.
movement against the lay it’s time to bang on the wedges.
Watch the top, watch the top.
It’ll move feet up top before you notice the cut opening up at the base.


I need to mention something else.
I wanted to stress the importance of not hanging around the stump when she’s going over.
Make sure you clean out and maybe even walk your escape path,
Especially if there’s deep snow.
You don’t want to trip.

You need to get away in case she goes astray or if a hanger breaks loose.
*s-word can get bad in the winter.
Brittle wood.
Poor footing.

Still, felling trees is my favorite thing.

Excellent post sir!

 

[Cat 525]

I agree! Always have a clean and planned escape route! Lotta stuff happens in a short time when she goes over!

 

[XP_Slinger]

Watch the top of the tree for movement to judge your hinge.

Movement to the lay you’re good to keep cutting depending on how you’re steering her.
movement against the lay it’s time to bang on the wedges.
Watch the top, watch the top.
It’ll move feet up top before you notice the cut opening up at the base.


I need to mention something else.
I wanted to stress the importance of not hanging around the stump when she’s going over.
Make sure you clean out and maybe even walk your escape path,
Especially if there’s deep snow.
You don’t want to trip.

You need to get away in case she goes astray or if a hanger breaks loose.
*s-word can get bad in the winter.
Brittle wood.
Poor footing.

Still, felling trees is my favorite thing.

Great tips thank you again for posting. And on the escape route you’re absolutely right. I always clear debris walk my route to make sure I have good footing. ALWAYS my second step after determining where I’m going to aim the tree.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Very productive day for my little hack operation. Got 20 saw logs out and 4 tops broke down and hauled out for firewood. Can’t thank @Marshy and @RIDE-RED 350r enough for hanging in the woods and kickin a$$ helping me today. Was perfect winter day.

 

[Marshy]

It's too bad my pull rope broke right before we were comparing saws. At least you got to make one cut even though I just fattened it up. We'll have to try again before the winter is over.

 

[XP_Slinger]

The only two I cut today, my confidence is rising. Wedged both away from their natural lean to fell them in a more open area. Getting better thanks to y’all.