29" DBH Red Oak. Hollow, hanging over the location of future shop. Other than the hole and being a little hollow, easy tree. Landed just where I aimed it. Critique please. That's my house in the back ground. Of the second pic, NOT the first
Please excuse all the junk. I bought this property over the summer. It borders my old place. It had a mobile home on it at this is whats left of the junk that I havent cleaned up yet. Im doing a controlled burn as soon as the burn ban lifts.
Pushing brush with my homemade forks. Neighbor called wanting a "rick" of wood. This is the first of two fork loads that made a face cord x 16". A local RICK
The tree sprung back as the top hit the ground, pushing the trunk back up on the stump. Not sure if that was avoidable but it makes bucking a little more challenging.
If you use a Humboldt undercut and snipe it will get off the stump quicker. Might have kept it from coming back. A deeper face would have been ok on that one also. Good job just a few suggestions for next time you have an easy drop to do.
I'll have to youtube Humbodt and snipe, thanks for the info. I was afraid to notch it very deep, thought I might get into the hollow and lose the hinge.
Notch depth should be about 1/3 of the diameter & at least 45°. ( I like more like 60° for the size birch I typically drop) When you see & hear a "POP" when the hinge breaks, way before the tree hits the ground, you need more angle on the hinge. The notch closed before the tree was on the ground causing the jump. A more open angled notch( near 90°), the tree hits the ground just before the notch closes & the hinge breaks. Your low angle notch caused the hinge to break early, so when the top hit the ground it had no attachment to the stump so it jumped & the limb pushed it back. One of the reasons you walk several feet away as the tree start to go over, even the best cut, thing can & will move. But with this one being hollow, you did good, ! ! A little bigger angle on the notch is all I see , depth was great due to it being hollow. hollow & rotten centers are dangerous , the hinge is only flexible in the live outside wood. Search "tree felling", some good instruction & videos out there .
I thought the notch was always supposed to go down from the perpendicular, not up as fox appears to have it?? Are both OK? Fox, that is nice land. Doesn't look messy to me. Where's your SNOW???
Snow tonight, Tuesday, and some of the local weather are dreaming 10-12" Friday. 20 years ago that was common, rare now.
The notch can go either way. I prefer it going down (Humboldt) rather than the conventional. There's not much trimming to do on the log to get it square if you're milling.
+1 I use the humboldt too. Saves a few inches of the first round . A little more effort to make, not bad though . Pushes the base a little away from the stump & less chance it comes back when the hinge breaks.
Yep. Saves the log from being bucked of the last few inches. Never heard of the Snipe, but that would seem to work as well. Putting that one in my little bag of tricks. Nice pics Fox9988
If you want one off the stump quickly the snipe helps. You can make it almost as big as the face if you want. The block face works good too in soft woods. Never tried to use it in the harder brittle woods.
Just had one that was mostly dead wood. Had a big notch, tied off with tension in the rope up 20' Started right on target, dead wood hinge broke, it went 75° off target. Lesson to re-enforced: plan, take your time, clear the area of anything you don't want a tree to fall on & be prepared for the un-expected. No damage, nothing in range , barley missed getting hung up , all good in the end.
The Humboldt is used mostly when felling on a down slope. Most will use the standard wedge for most of the cutting and it works well so long as you do it right. Even with that tree showing some hollow, I would have tried to cut the wedge deeper.
Just for fun.. I had a large Beech (about 26 inch diameter) die down by the beach when my children were young. I was only here weekends in the summer then, although my young children were here full time. I asked a friend to cut the tree down just to avoid any possible accident. Came back the next weekend to find that the tree was totally hollow...about two inch of wood. As soon as the chainsaw was taken to the tree it went over. No time to cut a wedge or anything else. I've always remembered that and been very wary of big trees on this land, dead or alive. If one near the house or a frequently used area starts making noises, I try to get it down. The trees can look perfect and be hollow. Had an expert tell me in 2012 that if the tree has a slight bulge higher on the trunk, it is hollow. Interesting. I never knew that.
