Where do you put your notch?

[lumberjack]

Another reason I put my notch lower rather than higher is I run a 20" bar which leaves roughly 18.5" of cutting length with the dogs. By gutting the hinge I can get the felling cut lower than I could otherwise (easily) cut a round. The largest diamter tree (that was still a circle/no major root flare) I've cut like that was 53" at the cut with 19.5" of bar.

The stumps can have the hinge on them as it's unusual that I don't grind the stumps I make.

 

[pantheraba]

I submitted a video of me taking down an oak a couple years ago...posted it to get some feedback on how I was doing it. One of the best comments came from Burnham when he said he would like to see me doing more looking UP to see what was going on in the tree while I made my cuts. The info he took the time to write up was excellent and I saved it in my "Tree Stuff" directory. Here is about one tenth of what he took the time to pass on to me:

"When you are in the kerf, you can count on it that the saw will keep cutting . Don't just watch it work, lean back and look overhead frequently. More sawyers get hurt by stuff falling out of the tree on them than most any other cause. Watch out overhead. This is especially true when you are driving wedges. Don't just set up a regular pattern and drive away, hit a couple, look up and let the vibrations die out, then hit a few more."


I guarantee that most folks here cannot look up when they are stooped over low or on one knee making their felling cuts. When standing it is easier to lean back at the waist and look up for hazards or to see if the top is moving yet.

Also, standing on the balls of your feet as you cut is conducive to quick movement (survival) if something gets squirrelly.

I cut the notch at or just below waist level most times. (thanks, again, Mr. B)

 

[Al Smith]

Again it just depends on the circumstances .Stig is cutting high priced lumber trees .People like myself are cutting either hazard or nuisance trees .It's firewood .If you get a good log every so often it's just an added benefit .

 

[Burnham]

My pleasure, Gary. That was a good thread you started.

 

[forestryworks]

I submitted a video of me taking down an oak a couple years ago...posted it to get some feedback on how I was doing it. One of the best comments came from Burnham when he said he would like to see me doing more looking UP to see what was going on in the tree while I made my cuts. The info he took the time to write up was excellent and I saved it in my "Tree Stuff" directory. Here is about one tenth of what he took the time to pass on to me:

"When you are in the kerf, you can count on it that the saw will keep cutting . Don't just watch it work, lean back and look overhead frequently. More sawyers get hurt by stuff falling out of the tree on them than most any other cause. Watch out overhead. This is especially true when you are driving wedges. Don't just set up a regular pattern and drive away, hit a couple, look up and let the vibrations die out, then hit a few more."


I guarantee that most folks here cannot look up when they are stooped over low or on one knee making their felling cuts. When standing it is easier to lean back at the waist and look up for hazards or to see if the top is moving yet.

Also, standing on the balls of your feet as you cut is conducive to quick movement (survival) if something gets squirrelly.

I cut the notch at or just below waist level most times. (thanks, again, Mr. B)

Adding to that, cutting a conventional face (working over the gun) increases your vertical awareness as compared to the Humboldt, where you're working under the gun.

I use both face cuts frequently, even though I prefer the Humboldt.

 

[Burnham]

Hmmm...interesting. Not sure I quite follow, but maybe...

 

[NickfromWI]

They say you learn something new every day. This is my "something new" for the day.

I don't fell many trees, but I'll start experimenting with varying notch heights and see how it goes.

 

[Bounce]

Where's that picture of Darrin's showing a tree with about 15 notches cut into it all bent over? That would go well here.

 

[sotc]

Was he looking up while making the face cut?

 

[Bounce]

If you are as tall as Darrin, then I think you just start cutting firewood lengths at the top and forget about felling it.

 

[Bermy]

So who here cuts off the flares before felling?
I do it where the tree has them at a height that is uncomfortable for me to cut above, which can be most trees given my vertical challenge. I put my shoulder/knee on the trunk lean over and cut, that puts the notch fairly low, staying on my feet.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I rarely do.

 

[Bounce]

I cut off the buttresses sometimes when the tree has real thick bark so the felling wedge is more effective, or sometimes when my bar isn't long enough to avoid having to cut from both sides. But those are pretty rare.

 

[flushcut]

Where ever the situation dictates

What he said.

 

[Peter]

So who here cuts off the flares before felling?
I do it where the tree has them at a height that is uncomfortable for me to cut above, which can be most trees given my vertical challenge. I put my shoulder/knee on the trunk lean over and cut, that puts the notch fairly low, staying on my feet.

Almost never. I don't cut for timber production, and I don't want my sites littered with little bits of wood too small to pick up with the grapple.

Never if I suspect internal decay, the butressess might be the only sound hinge wood available.

 

[HolmenTree]

Never if I suspect internal decay, the butressess might be the only sound hinge wood available.

+1, an example when I logged spruce and noticed ant infestation I could cheat on the scale and not get docked for unsound wood. By cutting lower then normal the butt of the tree was sound solid wood, but if I cut 12 inchs off the butt, the tree would be hollow from the carpenter ant infestation. I guess the ground level wood was tougher chewing for the ants.

 

[stig]

On the side that will end up facing down, always. I have to trim the flares off the logs before they head for the mill.
If the flare end up in the air, it is easier to cut it ofter falling the tree, since one can cut along the fibers.

If it goes into the ground, I'll have to cut it off once the log has been skidded to the road, through mud and gravel.

Goodbye sharp chain.

 

[pete mctree]

On the side that will end up facing down, always. I have to trim the flares off the logs before they head for the mill.
If the flare end up in the air, it is easier to cut it ofter falling the tree, since one can cut along the fibers.

If it goes into the ground, I'll have to cut it off once the log has been skidded to the road, through mud and gravel.

Goodbye sharp chain.

The same when production falling. When felling suspect or hazard trees a good tap with a rubber mallet usually dictates where to put the sink cut.