Forester Harvest Plan

[huskyboy]

I know it sounds dumb... but a guy can learn a lot from the likes of logger wade, steve billow or buckin billy ray + a few others on youtube. I would be careful of what you try, because not everything applies for every situation.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Lot of normal 70-90 degrees facecuts I would say. Humbolt wastes a lot of wood in our east coast situation imo (high stump), but in the right situation it works well. We bore cut pretty much everything. Still learning, the hardest part for me was learning lining up back cuts. I learned that if you have a crooked face cut... it screws up your back cut. Everything has to line up. Still learning!

Interesting on the wood wasting point. I’ve been putting the top of my face cut where the root flare is almost gone because I thought the flares got trimmed off anyway...wrong?

Lining up bore cuts is tricky business. I dropped a 28” DBH ash (big tree for me) the other day that had a hard lean. Face cut was nice and straight, missed lining up the bore cuts by 1.5 inches and made an ultra ugly stump. Bored from hinge out to set trigger, she laid right where I wanted it but it was ugly. Lost about 3 feet of the but log because of thick hinge and my face was too narrow. The humbolt kicked it off the stump before the hinge fibers had a chance to break rather than pull and caused the butt to crack...fail. If I had my 28” bar on it would’ve peaked out on the other side of the tree as I set my trigger hold wood and given me a little help in lining up the cuts. Sucked, first bore cut was perfect, flat with the hinge, second went under the first.

 

[XP_Slinger]

I know it sounds dumb... but a guy can learn a lot from the likes of logger wade, steve billow or buckin billy ray + a few others on youtube. I would be careful of what you try, because not everything applies for every situation.

Yes sir you can certainly learn a lot but like you said, gotta be careful when to apply it. Knowing what to use and when is half the battle. They make it look sooooo easy to line them cuts up. I re-watched the BC feller training series also.

 

[huskyboy]

Interesting on the wood wasting point. I’ve been putting the top of my face cut where the root flare is almost gone because I thought the flares got trimmed off anyway...wrong?

Lining up bore cuts is tricky business. I dropped a 28” DBH ash (big tree for me) the other day that had a hard lean. Face cut was nice and straight, missed lining up the bore cuts by 1.5 inches and made an ultra ugly stump. Bored from hinge out to set trigger, she laid right where I wanted it but it was ugly. Lost about 3 feet of the but log because of thick hinge and my face was too narrow. The humbolt kicked it off the stump before the hinge fibers had a chance to break rather than pull and caused the butt to crack...fail. If I had my 28” bar on it would’ve peaked out on the other side of the tree as I set my trigger hold wood and given me a little help in lining up the cuts. Sucked, first bore cut was perfect, flat with the hinge, second went under the first.

It really depends on the tree, you can cut it higher, but I always cut it low as I can always cut more off when it’s on the ground and get more wood out of it. Ash or hickory are notoriously easy to barber chair. You want to bore the face (leave the sides for support) in those situations or have a deeper face cut from what I’ve seen and take extra care to line up them. They don’t break off as easy as oak.

 

[XP_Slinger]

Do you trim your face cut off the butt log before bucking? Another benefit I see in a humbolt is it leaves the butt log flat rather than having the angled portion of the face cut. But if that doesn’t need to be trimmed off perhaps I should switch methods. Think I’ll call Tim today and ask how the mill wants the logs.

 

[XP_Slinger]

It really depends on the tree, you can cut it higher, but I always cut it low as I can always cut more off when it’s on the ground and get more wood out of it. Ash or hickory are notoriously easy to barber chair. You want to bore the face (leave the sides for support) in those situations or have a deeper face cut from what I’ve seen and take extra care to line up them. They don’t break off as easy as oak.

Yes I’m noticing ash is very prone to barber chair. I’m sure coming out of that deep freeze we had last week makes them even more brittle and prone to pop open

 

[huskyboy]

Usually we don’t cut off the rest of the hinge on the log unless it’s ugly or we made it too thick. My boss bores the face on high $ trees as well to ensure it doesn’t pull when it breaks off.

 

[huskyboy]

You can see where he bored the face on this overmature oak. It was a little funky in the end but it cleaned up when we cut about a foot off the end.

 

[XP_Slinger]

You can see where he bored the face on this overmature oak. It was a little funky in the end but it cleaned up when we cut about a foot off the end. View attachment 163510

Makes sense, thanks bud. Now I need to recognize when to use it...the struggle is real lol

 

[huskyboy]

Makes sense, thanks bud. Now I need to recognize when to use it...the struggle is real lol

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!

 

[XP_Slinger]

Here’s my ugly butt log that I was talking about. Was a big tree for me, got 745 Bdf out of it, adrenaline was flowing after it was down. Pretty sure the fat hinge screwed me more than anything and the tree being frozen didn’t help either. I’m not too proud to show y’all this fail, I’m learning to do it right and these things are going to happen. As a side note, I’ve come to better understand the usefulness of a wrap when felling, my 288 is coming out next time and I have a wrap on order for my 372.

 

[XP_Slinger]

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

Appreciate the chat Mason. Kind of like a porting theory thread, you got me thinking about things I hadn’t really considered and will hopefully improve my process and in the end my profit.

 

[RI Chevy]

You can see where he bored the face on this overmature oak. It was a little funky in the end but it cleaned up when we cut about a foot off the end. View attachment 163510

Would make a nice table top!

 

[Marshy]

Here’s my ugly butt log that I was talking about. Was a big tree for me, got 745 Bdf out of it, adrenaline was flowing after it was down. Pretty sure the fat hinge screwed me more than anything and the tree being frozen didn’t help either. I’m not too proud to show y’all this fail, I’m learning to do it right and these things are going to happen. As a side note, I’ve come to better understand the usefulness of a wrap when felling, my 288 is coming out next time and I have a wrap on order for my 372.
View attachment 163511

My offer stands.

 

[XP_Slinger]

My offer stands.

Refresh my memory...what offer? Sorry man, I lose track of stuff easily.

Edit...disregard this post lol. See below

 

[XP_Slinger]

Talked to the mill, don’t have to trim butt log using a regular open face cut. And they said if I want to nip root flares off that’s cool, but if I don’t they can do it and it won’t effect how my logs grade. Easy peasy

 

[XP_Slinger]

Need a hand? I'd be happy to come down and spend a few hours playing. Either sawing or skidding. Let me know.

Somehow I didn’t see this...I’m tracking with you now. Sounds like fun, I’ll let you know when I plan on getting at it again.

 

[RI Chevy]

Need a hand? I'd be happy to come down and spend a few hours playing. Either sawing or skidding. Let me know.

His offer Josh

 

[XP_Slinger]

His offer Josh

Yup I found it Jeff, somehow didn’t see his post this morning. Thanks brotha

 

[RI Chevy]

We literally posted at exact same time! Lol