Anyone felled in NZ?

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  • #27
I gotta ask why? Open grown tree...does it need a special cut? Maybe just for show or video?

Video doesn't play for me, fwiw.
It’s a screenshot of a vid. I don’t think I can link fb vids.

Mohawk tree was a heavy head leaner. Basically the same as a bc faller leaner vid I saw the other day, except he low plunged the holding strap (mohawk).
 
So that cut that sprung up almost into his face, the top tension cut should have been to the right of the bottom cut, the rootball end being the piece that was going to move the most. By putting it where he did, when it sprung up, the 'ledge' carried his saw with it.
I think he knew it , and was relieved he got away with it.
Easy from here, lounging at home, props to them for a hard, dangerous days work!!!
 
He has another video
NZ Logging New Site Tree Felling Tips he posted in 25 July.
Has a good shot of a barber chair wanting to happen, then when it falls, you can see the crack up inside behind the hinge, towards the end of the video.
 
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  • #33
So that cut that sprung up almost into his face, the top tension cut should have been to the right of the bottom cut, the rootball end being the piece that was going to move the most. By putting it where he did, when it sprung up, the 'ledge' carried his saw with it.
I think he knew it , and was relieved he got away with it.
Easy from here, lounging at home, props to them for a hard, dangerous days work!!!
It also occurred to me that cutting closer to the root ball would result in a heck of a lot less swing/travel at the cut.
 
It also occurred to me that cutting closer to the root ball would result in a heck of a lot less swing/travel at the cut.
This is true.

Counterbalance that with the additional risk of moving, unstable ground underfoot when closer to the stump. It's a weird feeling traveling with the stump/ rootwad of a wind-tipped fir that I faced-up and felled. Being on the edge of the stream, the tree tipped/ lifted in the wind. I think I moved about 3', down and back when released it with a face cut/ bore cut/ low release (below the bored back-cut).

Snap-cutting with the correct release-cut, as mentioned by @Bermy, would have made it a non-issue.

I commonly like to score a kerf to some depth, somewhat shallow to plenty deep, all the way around a tensioned (solid) piece, leaving a square in the middle of holding wood. I have to deal with maples cracking and popping while chunking trunks. Habit for barberchair/ spar split avoidance.
 
It also occurred to me that cutting closer to the root ball would result in a heck of a lot less swing/travel at the cut.
Yes, but he has two other concerns. Near the stump, the bark is covered with thrown dirt and the butt's bottom is buried in the dirt, he doesn't want to dull his chain. Two, the trees are in a slope, so he's unsure of which side the rootball want to go, back in place like the first one or tip over like the second one. Leaving a length of trunk on the stump prevents the rootball to roll over him.
 
Yes, but he has two other concerns. Near the stump, the bark is covered with thrown dirt and the butt's bottom is buried in the dirt, he doesn't want to dull his chain. Two, the trees are in a slope, so he's unsure of which side the rootball want to go, back in place like the first one or tip over like the second one. Leaving a length of trunk on the stump prevents the rootball to roll over him.
There is no way a small root ball like that can be a danger to the sawyer.
Also, when you work storm thrown timber , bring a spade and a broom.

Usually there is a place right above the rootwad where you find a hollow under the log.
That is the place to cut.

On a log like that, wasting 8 feet doesn't matter.
Try that on a Hardwood veneer log and see how long you can keep your job.

I did 1½ year of storm cleanup after the 81 storm.
3 months after the 93 and another full year after the " Storm of the century" in 1999.

First 2 were mainly conifers, 99 was big hardwoods.

Add a dozen smaller ones to that, and I think I can speak with some authority.
 
They blew up trees here after the bad bushfires in 2016. Too dangerous even for advanced tree fallers
 
When they are deemed too dangerous for fire fallers and have to be blown up, they must truly be man killers.
Fire fallers are the ultimate imo.
 
Some of the pictures you posted show techniques that date back from at least the early 90's,bore and release cuts and sharkfin cuts.

What is really poor is that guys dont seem to be clearing all the tree ferns from around their felling area,sometimes guys would spend all morning removing all the hindrance from their strip (tree ferns,fallen logs etc) before felling in the afternoon.I was first on the scene of a nasty accident that could have been avoided by removing the fern that had grown up at the base of a tree.A dead branch dislodged as the tree fell,went through the top of the fallers helmet and pretty much removed half of his face and jaw.In the end they managed to put him back together minus an eye and some teeth.

Just because he didnt take a minute to fell a tree fern so he could look up as the tree was falling.
 
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