And a not so boring backcut

[Burnham]

This was another of the little gems I took down today. This sort of falling is sure to keep you on your toes. Even though the size is right smallish, this was a somewhat risky fell.

Dead Doug fir, only 15 inch dbh. Stone dead, broken off by wind about 20 feet up, with the top still loosely attached and hung in another tree. Just about any point in the felling procedure might weaken the tree enough to let the top drop down on the sawyer.

I put in a conventional face, 90 degrees to the direction the top was tipped. There was a smidge of favorable head lean in the lower portion to that side.

I was pretty sure that when I back cut it, it would go on it's own...but noooo. It stood proud when I came up to desired hinge thickness. I had two choices then.

I could simply place a wedge and hope I could tip it...but the tree was small enough diameter that I might have run out of room for the wedge before I got enough lift. Plus, banging on a wedge could have cause the top to fall clear, and I would have been pretty tight in there with my axe.

Or I could gut the hinge from the rear, which would give me depth for the wedge, but might weaken the hinge enough to allow the tree to commit on it's own.

I chose the latter, gutting it from the rear...being careful not to punch any deeper out the front of the hinge than I could manage. If the tree commits when you have your bar well out into the face, you most likely have just bought a new bar, and possibly a new saw as well.

All through the process, I think I had one and a half eyes on the top and half an eye on the cutting. Being able to perform these cuts largely from muscle memory can be a good thing at times .

Just as I bored through, the tree did commit, and nothing fell on me as it went over. A good outcome.

 

[Reddog]

 

[PCTREE]

was the road closed B?? Glad you didnt end up looking like the dude from AS. Funny how those lil uns can be so sketchy...

 

[Burnham]

Yup, road closed for the fell. Sketchy is about right.

I guess I don't know about the "dude from AS". Never visit that site, not for years. What's the story?

 

[SkwerI]

John, the original Gypologger. There's a thread here somewhere. He got smacked by a widowmaker and is out of work for a little while.

 

[Burnham]

Ahh, I did follow that link. That was a nasty one, for sure. He's lucky to still have his head.

 

[gf beranek]

Good out come by good figuring, B. Was the chance of throwing a line up in the tree and pulling the broken part down out of the question?

 

[rskybiz]

Scary excitment, Why I love working trees. As always nice Burnham!

 

[Burnham]

That might well have been a good option, Jer. I considered it, and if the stub hadn't been leaning the right way for me to feel moderately safe, I would have done it that way, I think.

 

[gf beranek]

Pictures do not always do the situation justice.

 

[Burnham]

Almost never, when it comes to treework.

 

[gf beranek]

The window that the camera captures is so often,, so narrow that the viewer can not fully appreciate the situation. Rarely does the camera ever do otherwise. And like you said, B, with tree work this is most often the case.

Nonetheless any picture is still worth a thousand words.

 

[TreeDimensional]

Listen to you two, your startin' to sound like arborists! Put a pull line on the broken piece! Bah! The insanity!

 

[canadiantreeman]

Nice work, sound decision making. I guess you know a thing or two, eh?

 

[woodworkingboy]

Trees always look smaller and less dangerous in photos. Burnham's prowess doesn't get at all diminished, however.

 

[Burnham]

Thankyew, thankyew...

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

Very cool B!

 

[sotc]

Thankyew, thankyew...

Friggin internet expert

 

[Burnham]

That somehow has a familiar ring...

 

[sotc]

 

[Burnham]

I'm due for recertification of my C faller/bucker card this spring 2011. Wonder if ol' Dent will still be calling me that this time around? Hopefully he's forgotten that little incident .

 

[SkwerI]

Sounds like somebody needs to mail him a reminder...

 

[Burnham]

Uh-oh...

 

[stig]

Boring the hinge from the backside!
Good, but unorthodox way to deal with that one.


You know, this is really the kind of job that separates the pups from the old dogs in the game.
Anybody could have set a line in that and pulled it over, safely.
And to be true, looking at the pictures that would have been the way I'd have done it.
But, like Jerry said, pictures decieve.

But to be able to asses the situation and determine that it could be done just with a saw, and then follow through on that, is the mark of a seasoned pro!