Trees you've cut

[jakethesnake]

I’ll accept my lashing for the ladder. Deadmaple. Was afraid to take it all at once. Was afraid it wouldn’t stay together. Also hanging dead assed wrong over a garage.

I notched and back cut and let the tractor take the whole business

 

[jakethesnake]

Yes my cuts are off. 272 w 32” reaching over my head. Should’ve been done with a bucket truck. Really only one of those main branches were sketchy so precise lining up wasn’t important. The one leaning over the garage caused me to grab the death ladder. I was gone from the ladder way before the tree got pulled.

 

[HumBurner]

Been chipping away at this mostly dead madrone. The cut that has silvered (15 years ago, I think) led to disease. The landlords have been watching it slowly die the last five years or so. Time for it to go.

Did the right cuts yesterday after we knocked off a little early from work. Trying to swing the branches away from smaller trees and a mess of poison oak, berries, and likely rattlers down below, while keeping it on the road for easy access.

Because of the footing standing in the crotch, I had to use the winch to break the hinge. Lots of fissures in this madrone, but so far little wood-separation has occurred while making the cuts.

The fun never ends!

 

[MAF143]

Dropped a couple large trees this week for a neighbor.

First one was a 48" White Oak that was dying and next to one of the garages on their property. This is the largest tree I have ever cut down. We counted 180 rings, +/- a few...






I put notches on both sides so I could cut the 48" tree with my 42" bar and not have to come in from both sides or do anything fancy. It was leaning a little bit kinda in the direction we wanted it to go. We had a bull rope out to the loader with a little tension on it, but it was going with the hinge and even the wedges didn't really do any work, but all were in place for safety. All went per plan.

Here's a short video of it going over.
https://youtube.com/shorts/MrQbVRz2EQ


The second tree was a 30" cherry that was leaning over the new pavilion they built. Not sure why they didn't have it cut prior to building the pavilion, but the big storm that came through last weekend made them rethink some of the trees and limbs in the public areas. There were about 3,000 guests there during that storm...



Used a Sizwill notch to throw the tree about 70* to the right of the lean. It was leaning directly toward the peak of the pavilion roof. It keeps the tension holding wood more flexible so it doesn't snap off when the face cut closes. Also had the loader on the pre-tensioned bull rope to also ensure it stayed away from the roof... I'm a belt AND suspenders kind of guy...



It was a productive week and we got this all cleaned up and all the logs brought over to my place to process.

 

[Maintenance Chief]

Dropped a couple large trees this week for a neighbor.

First one was a 48" White Oak that was dying and next to one of the garages on their property. This is the largest tree I have ever cut down. We counted 180 rings, +/- a few...

View attachment 387571


View attachment 387572

I put notches on both sides so I could cut the 48" tree with my 42" bar and not have to come in from both sides or do anything fancy. It was leaning a little bit kinda in the direction we wanted it to go. We had a bull rope out to the loader with a little tension on it, but it was going with the hinge and even the wedges didn't really do any work, but all were in place for safety. All went per plan.

Here's a short video of it going over.
https://youtube.com/shorts/MrQbVRz2EQ


The second tree was a 30" cherry that was leaning over the new pavilion they built. Not sure why they didn't have it cut prior to building the pavilion, but the big storm that came through last weekend made them rethink some of the trees and limbs in the public areas. There were about 3,000 guests there during that storm...

View attachment 387573

Used a Sizwill notch to throw the tree about 70* to the right of the lean. It was leaning directly toward the peak of the pavilion roof. It keeps the tension holding wood more flexible so it doesn't snap off when the face cut closes. Also had the loader on the pre-tensioned bull rope to also ensure it stayed away from the roof... I'm a belt AND suspenders kind of guy...

View attachment 387579

It was a productive week and we got this all cleaned up and all the logs brought over to my place to process.

View attachment 387580

Nice job , you stumps look pretty good!
I always say it's better to have a rope in the tree then be "that guy" who ruined everyone's day.

 

[HumBurner]

Nice job , you stumps look pretty good!
I always say it's better to have a rope in the tree then be "that guy" who ruined everyone's day.

My adaptation to that is, "better to have a rope set and not need it than to risk your life setting a rope that should already be there"

My crewboss was cutting a small, back-leaning fir a couple weeks ago on a steep bank with little to no footing. He asked if I'd give it a push. Usually I'm all eager, but I chuckled and said, "hell no, but I'll go get a short rope!" After he almost fell taking two or three steps away from the moving tree, he looked up and said, "good thinking with the rope!" with a glint in his eye.

 

[jakethesnake]

Dropped a couple large trees this week for a neighbor.

First one was a 48" White Oak that was dying and next to one of the garages on their property. This is the largest tree I have ever cut down. We counted 180 rings, +/- a few...

View attachment 387571


View attachment 387572

I put notches on both sides so I could cut the 48" tree with my 42" bar and not have to come in from both sides or do anything fancy. It was leaning a little bit kinda in the direction we wanted it to go. We had a bull rope out to the loader with a little tension on it, but it was going with the hinge and even the wedges didn't really do any work, but all were in place for safety. All went per plan.

Here's a short video of it going over.
https://youtube.com/shorts/MrQbVRz2EQ


The second tree was a 30" cherry that was leaning over the new pavilion they built. Not sure why they didn't have it cut prior to building the pavilion, but the big storm that came through last weekend made them rethink some of the trees and limbs in the public areas. There were about 3,000 guests there during that storm...

View attachment 387573

Used a Sizwill notch to throw the tree about 70* to the right of the lean. It was leaning directly toward the peak of the pavilion roof. It keeps the tension holding wood more flexible so it doesn't snap off when the face cut closes. Also had the loader on the pre-tensioned bull rope to also ensure it stayed away from the roof... I'm a belt AND suspenders kind of guy...

View attachment 387579

It was a productive week and we got this all cleaned up and all the logs brought over to my place to process.

View attachment 387580

I think the suspenders are awesome

 

[MAF143]

I think the suspenders are awesome

Big gut, small butt = suspenders...

 

[Duce]

Big gut, small butt = suspenders...

Always wondered where my butt went?

 

[jakethesnake]

Big gut, small butt = suspenders...

My kinda people’s

 

[davidwyby]

6foot dia oak

 

[pwheel]

Root system on this poor guy got crushed by the skidder & the leaves went brown a couple of weeks later. Soil is clay with water table less than a 6" below surface now, so the skidder made ruts 18" deep. A danger tree in the middle of a walking trail, so it had to come down sooner than later.

 

[Ketchup]

Got fancy with this Spruce spar.


Didn’t work though. I made the cut too high and spars have no shock absorption. The hinge tore at about 30 degrees into the fall. I don’t think even a step hinge would have held. Spruce is very brittle.

 

[davidwyby]

You gotta vert plunge the back of the hinge free from the stump like you taught me for Euc


And that’s good to know, I figured it would be like pine/fir.

 

[silveradol9h]

Got fancy with this Spruce spar.
View attachment 388457
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Didn’t work though. I made the cut too high and spars have no shock absorption. The hinge tore at about 30 degrees into the fall. I don’t think even a step hinge would have held. Spruce is very brittle.

View attachment 388459View attachment 388460

I think I've seen more spruce barber chairs than any other. Not my favorite to cut.

 

[Ketchup]

I think I've seen more spruce barber chairs than any other. Not my favorite to cut.

Without the canopy weight it probably wouldn’t barber-chair, but I couldn’t really take a chance in that location. I bore cut it and only left 2” of hinge.

I’ll try a vertical bore behind the hinge and a taller block in the face next time.

The fall went well, just didn’t hold on the stump.

 

[davidwyby]

-Just for discussion and learning’s sake-

I didn’t know they were brittle. Knowing that and the situ based on recent studying I would face it deeper, put the hinge in the center where the grain (growth rings) is running the other way, 90° to the cuts, also “sawing some lean” into the spar. Maybe gut the hinge leaving the more flexible sapwood.

Or Coos Bay it. Looks like not a lot of room to move the hinge back.

Remind me what a step hinge is…?

 

[Ketchup]

-Just for discussion and learning’s sake-

I didn’t know they were brittle. Knowing that and the situ based on recent studying I would face it deeper, put the hinge in the center where the grain is running the other way, 90° to the cuts, also “sawing some lean” into the spar. Maybe gut the hinge leaving the more flexible sapwood.

Or Coos Bay it. Looks like not a lot of room to move the hinge back.

Remind me what a step hinge is…?

I like the idea of the grain being perpendicular to the cut but I’m reluctant to put my face cut deeper than 40%. About the only time I do that is large blocking cuts on vertical spars. I’ll have to think about pros and cons there. Probably would have been fine in this case

I nipped the sapwood because if it snapped on one side and held on the other the fence or driveway was likely to take a hit. I have never messed with a Coos Bay, but I think it would make a barber chair more likely vs a bore cut.

A step hinge is the same as “gills”. Two or three vertical bore cuts behind the hinge.

Gutting the hinge is interesting though. I wonder if making vertical cuts below the gut cut would help the hinge peel instead of snap.

I need more trees to cut…

 

[MAF143]

I should have put a vertical bore cut behind the hinge on that Sizwill notch I used on that cherry tree to help the hinge on the tension side of the tree to let the hinge fold more and hold longer on the way down.

I love hearing these types of discussions to learn more. There's always a better, safer way...

 

[HumBurner]

-Just for discussion and learning’s sake-

I didn’t know they were brittle. Knowing that and the situ based on recent studying I would face it deeper, put the hinge in the center where the grain is running the other way, 90° to the cuts, also “sawing some lean” into the spar. Maybe gut the hinge leaving the more flexible sapwood.

Or Coos Bay it. Looks like not a lot of room to move the hinge back.

Remind me what a step hinge is…?

Coos bay gives you, essentially, zero control. I feel there are ways to "guide" the fall, but even then there's no guarantee.

Point of the coos bay is to keep yourself alive when falling heavy leaners.


By most folks standards, we "saw lean" on many of our cuts. 50% is common, sometimes 75% deep face cut. Eliminating that extra holding wood is often a safe way of reducing potential for barberchair.



Edit:

Sawing the face lean in other conditions also can allow one to undermine the trees center of gravity. This is of advantage on smallish back leaners without much room for wedging and/or limb weight against the lay.

It is essential you know the tree and its tendencies when applying these methods.

Disadvantages of sawing lean are abundant, and it's also situational. When in tight conditions or knowing a tree may hang up, it's nice to have a little face-wood to nip if you need to maneuver/spin the tree

The more tools you pull out of the toolbox at once, the effects can then compound in unforeseen ways.