I felled an oak recently and when making the back cut, the tree sat on the bar and got stuck. The kerf on the back was so tight, wood to wood, I could not insert a wedge! I finally got a steel splitting wedge and got it hammered in there. What would you do in this circumstance? I am now considering getting an old axe head to carry but problem is, they're heavy! Just wondering if there is a technique to get a regular plastic wedge in, or what equipment to use. Of course, best technique is to read the canopy/lean of the tree correctly and prevent this!
When your cutting against the lean, you should be using a bore cut. This will allow the hinge and wedges to be set up correctly without worrying about the tree coming back and pinching your saw. You cut the back strap away at the end.
After the problem child, I did that very thing on two more trees right beside this one. I didn't assess this one properly, it really wasn't leaning; if so, it was barely. I think the problem was weight of the limbs on the back side; more were there than on the other side.
As soon as you have enough room to get the tip of wedge in is what I do and then palm it. Hope this helps
I have pinched my saw a couple of times when cutting up in the mountains. I have some steel cable that I take along and usually pull the tree over to the direction that I want.
