It's not about being a West Coast Faller, it's about being a good cutter. I use to teach rookie college kids for Americorps. They learned how to cut a hinge properly.
I've never, in my limited experience seen good fellers use the horizontal cut second method. I'm sure it works okay, but I'm a gonna stick with the regular, tried and true method for trees of real size.
That works great on reasonably steep ground and small trees/ big bars.
Doesn't work so well on unreasonably steep ground, muddy and rainy, and real work conditions out of the suburbs.
Isn't GOL like freshman and sophomore year boxes? IDK, I was trained by people who fell huge, flaming trees.
Slope cut first...Way to limited, imo, and not just mine.
That plate cut is not a special cut, that's just "cleaning up a face-cut" that want cut right. It's as simple as that. It is not a "cut" any more than any other beavering.
Learn to Humboldt.
Get yourself full-wrap handles-bars if you want a better to to use. Proper size dogs (didn't notice in this video).
Day 1 in the field for newbs (one guy I had on my crew of 9, felling hazard trees all summer was a Phish-head, rocket scientist, as in, he currently works for NASA), practice not needing a "plate cut", and if cut wrong "cleaning-up the face-cut".
Day 1.
Don't overcomplicated a round wheel and simple axle that rolls, turns, and bears a load at speed. The wheel is fine!!!!!!!!!! True story!!!!!!!!
If your really going to stick to those in-the-box GOL techniques, well, stay in your box.
When you want to jack a tree over, ya know, a big tree, do you still cut your sloping first, well second, after starting your back cut and cut your jack-seat? How does GOL do it, as they are logging trainers?