Aluminum felling wedges

[davidwyby]

Really like the double thick alum wedges. Wouldn’t want to carry them falling in the forest though.

 

[davidwyby]

Sharpened…just in case…


…there in a pinch

 

[davidwyby]

The other day I tipped a 48” back weighted oak. Gave me the opp to test wedges and their bangers. I noticed the forester hard head seemed to drive the best. @Woodpecker do you (or others) have a brand that seems better? I want to get another one or two.



@chiselbit

 

[davidwyby]

Old brittle broken Oregon wedges make good stackers.

 

[Woodpecker]

The other day I tipped a 48” back weighted oak. Gave me the opp to test wedges and their bangers. I noticed the forester hard head seemed to drive the best. @Woodpecker do you (or others) have a brand that seems better? I want to get another one or two.

View attachment 429270

@chiselbit

I’ve had the best luck with the hard head brand plastic wedges. They are tough as nails. I broke several forester hard head knock offs. The plastic on those was super soft and the steel insert only went in like an inch. Complete garbage!

 

[davidwyby]

Well I better order some HHs then, fore the head pops off this forester

I guess then it will just be a soft head wedge

 

[Philbert]

Hard Head made full, ‘T’- capped wedges, and ‘Hard Head Junior’, wedges with only a steel insert, to reduce weight.

I like the idea, but they kept pulling my pants down.

Some of you guys wedge harder than me, so they can be a good choice.


Hard Head, with ‘T’-shaped cap.


Hard Head Junior, with metal inset only.

Philbert

 

[Woodpecker]

Hard Head made full, ‘T’- capped wedges, and ‘Hard Head Junior’, wedges with only a steel insert, to reduce weight.

I like the idea, but they kept pulling my pants down.

Some of you guys wedge harder than me, so they can be a good choice.

View attachment 429334
Hard Head, with ‘T’-shaped cap.

View attachment 429335
Hard Head Junior, with metal inset only.

Philbert

I didn’t know they made the junior version. Good share.

Typically when I’ve had the regular hard head wedges first fail that “T” part will break off. The insert in the wedge still remains and the wedges still last a long time after.

The Junior version is a good idea and very likely a great compromise for extended work in the bush because the regular hard head wedges are fairly heavy compared to regular plastic wedges.

 

[davidwyby]

I misread the pinch. I thought it was top bind, it was offside bind. Got me good. Drove that alum wedge into a closed kerf. Really liking it. Need to make more.

 

[davidwyby]

Wooden felling wedges no go

 

[dangerousatom]

I have a few home made aluminums but I only use them for gapping out 2 plastic wedges on the final push to get the tree over. Im not a fan of cutting close to them after literally snapping a tooth off my old 55 rancher.

The best wedges i have are the ones I made out of blocks of UHMWPE from the local junk/scrap yard.....God Bless Glick's and their fabricators wonder land of stuff, its mind boggling.

Moses B Glick, LLC-Surplus Metal-Industrial Salvage-Pallet Rack

Moses B Glick, LLC offers surplus metal and industrial salvage solutions, specializing in quality pallet racks.

mbglick.com

 

[Swanman62]

Just to keep the thread alive. I picked up this little beauty at an estate sale the other day. It will go in my wedge pouch to try out. It might be handy to stack on top of a plastic wedge when things get a little tense. Or should I say “in a pinch”.

 

[davidwyby]

I realized a lot of My trouble with wedges popping out was geometry and species. With a small diameter tree, the distance from the back of the tree to the hinge is short, so the angle is much steeper, short wedges make it worse for the same reason.

Also the trees being desert species are hard and springy, a whack pushes the tree fwd, releases pressure on the wedge, and then it springs back and squirts the wedge out.

 

[Philbert]

Have you explored different types of textures / spikes / patterns to help hold them in?

Philbert

 

[davidwyby]

Have you explored different types of textures / spikes / patterns to help hold them in?

Philbert

My alum with the slight angle works well, haven’t found plastics that do.