Homeowner Boo Boo
- Thread starter Limbrat
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woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Thanks, Justin. It's interesting to see the description of the "T" cut, I had never seen it before. I guess you could call it basically a Coo's Bay or similar, with some falling directional control. Wonder if it could be said that you are giving up some resistance to barberchair by having a face?
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Our softwoods don't barber chair that easy and the hardwoods don't grow that big up here in the woods. The bc fallers cert is a very highly recognized standard up here. It's law to fall production timber. The triangle and T work very well.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Those vids were very good IMO. The 2nd fellow espescially. You can tell cutting timber is what he does. From the way the saws were set up and utilized, those cuts were pro. Obviously it was an educational vid and not production.
With a triangle or T barberchair isn't going to happen if you've got the right tool for the job. A big enough saw to keep up.
With a triangle or T barberchair isn't going to happen if you've got the right tool for the job. A big enough saw to keep up.
Reddog
TreeHouser
The Scandinavian's use a triangle cut for head leaners. But it just the opposite of the above picture, the triangle points to the direction of fall with no face cut. As you cut in from the sides and back it just collapses on it's self.
squisher
THE CALM ONE!!!!
Seems dicey to me. But I may have a slightly biased opinion.
Reddog
TreeHouser
Hard to describe but in the end is like a Coos bay cut. They just whittle into it different.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
No... A Coos bay does not resemble a T cut. Coos bay, as I understand it, is more a reverse triangle traditionally with just curf cuts.. You burn through the back cut.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
Picture of a traditional Coos Bay Burnam posted a tad back....
Two side cuts and a back release.
Two side cuts and a back release.
CurSedVoyce
California Hillbilly
One of mine... with directional face. More of a triangle.
SouthSoundTree
Treehouser
I'd mention that the triangle backcut is sometimes done with the two initial back cuts cutting off the corners of the hinge. I believe that this isolates the center wood a bit, in a way that is hard to explain. I saw a good illustration in a BC Faller book, IIRC, that showed bucking a tricky log to not split it by cutting on four side leaving a square in the interior, then finishing the cut. It think that there is a ring of wood around it sort of like binding it with a strap or chain. Squish, you have any idea what I'm talking about?
When directional felling you want the corners more than the center. With heavy leaners, there is less to no steering. As was alluded to (or directly mentioned) there is less wood to cut in the backcut when you do the triangle or the T, making the same saw cut "faster" on the final backcut (as in how long it will take to approach the appropriate hinge thinness). This only works if your two triangle kerfs and your final back cut kerf are all exactly planar. Otherwise, you will still be cutting more than the ideal volume of wood on the backcut, in regards to how quickly you can progress the cut.
I've cut a part of the rear triangle point (where the red arrow points) in order to dog the saw around in an attempt to actually make a single, planar surface for the backcut, in order to be able to cut the final holding wood as quickly as possible.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Stephen, I wasn't meaning to say that it was a Coo's Bay cut in the diagram, only that it resembled it a bit with the center strip left that you cut through from the rear.
mardenm
TreeHouser
This technique leaves me with questions:
When would you choose to do just a kerf cut versus a notch ?
When would you choose Coos Bay versus Bore cut ?
How deep should the side kerf's be ?
Which is a safer method: Coos Bay versus Bore cut ?
Seems like there may be less to go wrong with the Bore cut.
Seems like Coos Bay would cause a very fast release leaving little time to escape the danger zone.
When would you choose to do just a kerf cut versus a notch ?
When would you choose Coos Bay versus Bore cut ?
How deep should the side kerf's be ?
Which is a safer method: Coos Bay versus Bore cut ?
Seems like there may be less to go wrong with the Bore cut.
Seems like Coos Bay would cause a very fast release leaving little time to escape the danger zone.
The bore cut is iffy if the tree is REALLY leaning a lot.
A scenario we find when clearing blowdown in the woods after a storm.
I've been doing that for the last 1½ months, plenty of semi blown over trees to deal with.
It is species dependant and very much a matter of personal experience, when one switches from the bore cut to the triange/Coos bay.
Getting your bar pinched because the tree settles as you cut the hinge or having it barberchair because you left too thick a hinge in order to avoid that, are both signs that you should have gone for the triangle/Coos bay.
A scenario we find when clearing blowdown in the woods after a storm.
I've been doing that for the last 1½ months, plenty of semi blown over trees to deal with.
It is species dependant and very much a matter of personal experience, when one switches from the bore cut to the triange/Coos bay.
Getting your bar pinched because the tree settles as you cut the hinge or having it barberchair because you left too thick a hinge in order to avoid that, are both signs that you should have gone for the triangle/Coos bay.
woodworkingboy
TreeHouser
Maybe there is a rule of thumb, but the side kerf depth seems a judgement call to me, since that is what is holding up the tree with the Coos Bay.
