best method for 1/4 cut

folks.............what's your method for quarter cutting material 24" and greater (the backcut) ? Having some difficulties with the first portion of the backcut, offiside 1/4 cut: re; bore in first exit straight back; or bore in and leave tip inserted and work powerhead around, etc? Just having some difficulty with a clean offside., also, how much bar is generally used for the 1/4 cut?

Sorry, I don't understand the question.
English is not my native tounge, so could you please bear over with me, and rephrase it, maybe?

sure, Stig: Backcutting with shorter bar: What order and bar position works best when backcutting a tree which is larger than the bar? How much bar do you commit, at first to the backcut. Any better?

I'm not understanding why you'd use a quarter cut back cut on wood 24" or greater in the first place. Wood that large has plenty of room to get a wedge in behind the bar. Maybe you're trying to stand up a heavy back leaner with the quarter cut? I go about it differently in that case, too.

For small wood where the quarter cut is useful imo, I don't bore in at all. Just commit enough of the tip from the offside to cut up to the hinge about 1/4 to 1/3 of the diameter of the tree. Insert a wedge, then come around to the near side and cut up the remaining wood with the tip again. Use just enough bar to cut the amount you want .

Edit: Ahhh, I see your answer to Stig. He's the guy to ask...I don't have that problem .

Burnham: I guess quarter cut is not the right terminology. My bad..........What I mean to communicate is what is the best way to insert the bar when starting the backcut on an oversize stem? Powerhead at the back of the tree dogging in, walk the tip to the offiside, then working your way back;..... or boring in at the offside, then working your way back? Just haven't found a great method to accomplish getting rid of the offiside so I don't have to come back to it again. With each method, use of a holding wedge, of course.

OK.

My preferred method if the bar is not too much short is to dog in on my side but not at the corner, more around toward the back of the tree. Start the back cut just half a bar width deep, the pull the dogs and advance the saw toward the far side a bit, dog in and cut shallow again...repeat until the tip is in position so that I can swing it in just enough to leave the hinge thickness I want at the offside corner.

This cut is not very deep at all, or you'll cut off the hinge first thing. Now pull out, and drag the saw back toward the near side just a little bit, dog in and swing in just like the first swing at the far corner. The second go has to be a tiny bit more swing to it than the first. Repeat...each time the swing needed is a little bit more. The back of the hinge will look like a series of scalloped cuts each one right next to the other, representing the arc of the lower corner of the tip of the bar each time you stop the swing.

Continue thusly until you've cut up to the hinge far enough across the back of the hinge to be able to complete the back cut with the full length of the bar, dogged in at the near corner.

This is a pretty difficult technique...for many cutters it's hard to keep track of just how much swing to put in, or to keep mental visualization track of where the tip is relative to the hinge wood you must not cut off. I wouldn't try it in situations where I'd need more than about 1/4 of the back cut to be set up this way...beyond that it's too hard to keep accurate.

Use this method currently, also...........well, you know the photo of Gerry B where the Stihl is laying sideways on the large stump, the pic with the perfect looking hinge? The backcut seemed to be double cut So I am wondering if he dogged in at the hinge on the offside swung in until the desired hinge width; then flipped the bar over, moved around to the onside, swung in until the same hinge width. This method, as opposed to dogging in at the back of the tree, working the tip along the back of the hinge, as you described, and then finishing?

No way I could cut so clean, but striving to get even a little close to that example.

Bore in parallel with the hinge, then use the pushing chain to set the thickness of the hinge on that side. Then use the pulling chain to work right round the back of the tree, so you finish by cutting up to the back of the hinge with the pulling chain, on the opposite side of the tree to where you started.

Wedges can be inserted at any point.

yep....that's how i set up often....and a great way to go.........just gets a little messy when that offside is just a hair too short to really get enough bar into the cut; say less than half of the bar, especially with a heavy powerhead and a long bar. Better build up my arm strength. Any good protien drinks out there?

If you want to use that method, get a shorter bar. It works best when the bar is only slightly over half the diameter of the tree. I'll match my bar lenght to the general size of trees in the stand I'm cutting .

yep.................totally makes sense....................