Had a 14" leaner down my trail a bit that I wanted to take down and use as one of my stringers under logs I haul out this year. It was leaning hard and I knew there was going to be a lot of force built up at the base. There was. It went off like a shotgun. I had whittled it down slowly while keeping my arms out straight and I thought I was ready for it. Still jumped the h*ll out of me. Man that's a lot of lbs happenin all at once. Not bad… already split wood. Haulin it out. Nice day yesterday and good to be getting ready to bring the wood. This should be my 3rd year wood.
Yes Sir I had a hickory like that a while back. Like you said even when you know it's comin look out.
Hard leaners are nasty and can kill ya when they barber chair like that! Ya need to get rid of as much tension wood as possible before you do the back cut. Cut the face cut cut in, about a third or less. Snipe the stump side a little so when the tree falls it doesn't set on the stump edge. Then, cut from the side to the back of the tree at an angle. Do this on both sides. The idea is to leave a triangle of holding wood, with the widest side towards your face cut. Make sure you have released the tension wood on the sides of your face cut. Triangle should be in the center of the tree. Then make your back cut. Do the back cut as fast as your saw will cut, always looking up at the tree of course. This is not the time to be nippin a little then stop to look then nip some more. Blast through that back cut and get out of the way! You will have far less barbering this way. I do not know how to draw pics and put them in the post or I would do that. Kinda hard to explain in words only. Ted
Have cut almost all my wood as you've described… notch, go for the back cut, all good advice. The barber chair possibility wasn't too bad as the tree was already at 45 degrees and it's top was just about to hang up hard… which it did. I had to under cut in 2 places to get the tree to lay down. I'll use your advice next time I think… little too much energy loaded up on this one. I'll use my 257 too and not the 338. I will mention… I didn't spend any time "lookin her over" after I started the back cut "nippin" … wasn't about to get any closer than I had to…
It's a 500 we bought in 2010. So far so good. I think the next size up is a 750? I get all fired up when I get the tracks mounted. It's a totally dif rig. You're buddy sure looks comfy… love seeing all the "co-pilots" …
I've got a number of dead standing and leaning trees on my 38 acres. I've read this a couple times, but I'm not sure I have it right. Barber chairs scare the heck out of me with these leaners. Pics/diagrams, anything would help! Thanks,
I've got a bunch of dead poles and leaners too. There's good reason to be wary. There are lots of pro loggers out there. And, maybe Flyboy is one. Maybe he'll get into it a little more. I'd like to hear more. I use ropes, and lots of em, to help too… that and a good escape path (always)
Had one snap on me. I was saying my prayers after that one. Why I didn't get killed is still a wonder. No one ever showed me a thing about cutting. I had to pick it up on my own. I have a lot of respect for the saw, and especially to the experience folks who use them. When my son started cutting, he went out with an experienced tree cutter. Learned to use ropes etc. I gave him my saw with the 20 inch bar, then picked up a little saw with a 14 inch bar for my occasional fire pit wood. Like that quad. Very nice. You have a use for it, that is the good thing. Glad you are able to load pics now.
Only thing that seems to be a sure thing, when I'm cutting trees… is that the tree always has a mind of it's own. My escape path is prolly my most important thought… especially now that I don't move just exactly like I used to… Yeah, the pics loading thing was driving me nuts. I'm sure it'll happen again with all these buttons…
Murphy was the main co-pilot Stinny as i couldnt drive anything without him wanting to jump on. I got a whack of old pictures on the pute that i'll try and find that has him driving pretty much everything i own Here he was with Mrs loon when i was out doing something in the fields a few years ago? Emma doesnt care too much for the machinery but will get on the bike if she knows she can get off and go for a good run in the fields/woods.
That's great shot Loon. I'd hafta put that up on a wall all blows up… Looks like it might have been a little warmer then. I'll post some pics from this morning with Giz…
Hey Loon… meet Giz. This was this morning. I had big plans that kinda slowed down when I got down in the woods and started taking it all in… how does that happen… Decided to scope out where and what I wanted to cut. First time down on the Suz this winter. It was nice but really cold. btw, your 450 must be the same frame as the 500 with an extra 50cc? We started out in 1995 with a 300. My son has it now… still runs like a top.
Here are a couple different methods to use on heavy leaner trees. This is the cut I was trying to explain in my earlier post. They show it here with no face cut but I always put a face in it first. You can see how tension is being removed by cutting the sides as shown. Make dang sure that your face cut is exactly with the lean or it will twist off the stump as you are cutting it. This cut is used to fell the tree with the lean. Not a good cut to try to use if you are trying to steer it at all. It is called a Coos Bay Triangle Cut with a face. Here is another method. In this one, you make your face cut, but then you bore in to the center of the face and bore out the center of the tree, thereby releasing a lot of the tension wood.
Thanks Fly. Be my luck on the second one, that I'd take too much out of the center and bind the saw. I'm good at that.
I just hate seeing people have a barber chair when they are cutting. They are SOO dangerous! I saw a friend cutting one day. As I drove by I couldn't help but notice every single tree he had cut had barbered on him! So I stopped to talk to him and here he was not even putting a face cut in, just starting with the back cut , and cutting at a slant besides! I showed him how to cut a tree down the right way and he was really happy to learn. He had been cutting them down that way all his life. No one had ever showed him how to do it the right way! He stops by every once in a while to have me come take a look at a problem tree with him. I'm not a logger at all, but I know how to cut a tree down safely, ya know? lol Ted
Hey Ted, Check out this guy… he's not only bringing a big tree down but is able to clear his roof of snow at the same time… must be a pro…
I don't understand! I put a notch in it and every thing! Can imagine that's what he is thinking after the fact! lol
