Open face, conventional or Humbolt ? & why ? Different one for live & dead trees ? I typically use the Humbolt. I get a straighter log end & trim off less wood to start cutting rounds. Link: Logging eTool - Making the Cuts - Kinds of Notches The open face don't break the hinge till the tree is at 90° The conventional & humbolt the hinge breaks at 45° Conventional seems to kick the log farther from the stump than the humbolt ?
First off I'm no EXPERT. I prefer humbolt and use conventional often. It's very hard for me to explain what methods I use. Before dropping a tree I spend quite abit of time looking at it,kinda like looking at a pretty women I'm looking up down and all around . Then I go buy what my gut and little bit of experience tells me . It's worked for me 99 percent off the time in the last 30 years. For the ones that go bad the man upstairs has always had my back and for that I'm very thankful.
I use open face 99% of the time. Why I have no idea, but I like the idea of keeping the hinge intact as long as possible.
Most loggers in my area use a conventional notch. Humboldt is popular on the West coast. I use all three depending on the situation. I tend to use a conventional notch when cutting for firewood, unless I have to be very precise about the direction of fall, then I'll go with an open face notch and bore-cut. Humboldt I've only used a couple of times, specifically when falling to save a particular butt log for milling. Humboldt also seems to be easier to judge direction of fall when used on a large tree (diameter > bar length) but that's just my perception. When cutting firewood, I also measure up 20" from the lowest place on the tree that I would want to cut the stump off flush, and make my felling cut there. That way I'm not trying to make a cut really close to the ground, it's at a much more comfortable height, and after it's all cleaned up, I can cut one last piece of firewood off the stump. By doing that, I'm also not limited to any particular notch or falling method.
The Humbolt was developed in the Pacific Northwest for dropping trees in step hillsides and made the notch piece easier to get out of the tree. Some of those notch pieces weighed a few hundred pounds. Most trees I put down are in a hillside but I don't use the Humbolt, I use a modified openface. My bottom cut is at the same, or about the same angle, as the slope of the hill. The tree stays attached to the hinge almost until it hits the ground and the tree falls at a very slow rate most of the way down. And we are all happier!
Where I cut now, the trees are straight & not much lean. Thick tree area, easy to get a hanger if it falls the wrong direction I've been using wedges & trying to drop them to a cleared area & access to the atv. When I got snowed out , I was was on a hill but need to fall them up hill. 3 went good & one went totally wrong & down hill, (ATV winch , old back & legs to get the wood up , way more work) My fault, messed up & not enough holding wood in the hinge. the limbs weighted the downhill side more but I think I could've wedged it with a better cut. Were frozen too, even the ones I did right, the hinge brittle & broke before the notched closed, (brittle hinge maybe similar to dead standing ? ) Mostly use the humbolt , wondered if one type is better for wedging . Green birch, not may over 16" If I get back to the same area, probably gonna rope /choke up about 15' & put an uphill strain on them.
I use conventional-it was what I was taught by my father, a Northeast logger in the 1950s,60s, and 70s. It was what those guys used. Never heard of the other notches locally then. I don't fell many trees- I would like to try the open face technique sometime. The benefits are easy to understand.
By the way, I don't have a clue if one style if notch works better for wedge use or not. I always use a wedge except for the really small stuff and, of course, when I screw up! Guess I'll just have to do some research to find out.
I use conventional because that's what I was taught. My understanding is that the Humbolt is used when you want to save part of the tree for lumber, which is not my objective when cutting. I'm just more familiar with conventional by far.
I don't cut that many trees but have used open face and conventional. It just seems like I do much better matching the cuts up real nice using conventional
I use the conventional all the time but I do not cut at a 45* angle instead I cut at about a 60* angle so that the gap does not close until the tree is almost on the ground. I learned that from a video that was put out by the National Forest on one of their websites. Works as well as a open face cut.
I do the same. I've noticed that if I can keep the hinge in tact as long as possible, that the tree will more than likely go exactly where I want it to, and that keeps me safe. I don't care much about worrying about that dust piece, and how much notch or out of a round. I burn the wood wedge chunks too.
You can put a snipe on the humboldt and it will stay connected longer. I prefer the humboldt myself since the block falls out on it's own. It's nice in bigger trees.
I use conventional 100% of the time when dropping trees. Probably because that’s what I was taught, and I also feel safer with the saw that way vs cutting “up” like you would with a Humbolt. But when dropping large limbs off of trees I always use an open face.
I don't know if it's safer that way or not. Never really thought about it. If the saw kicks out on a humboldt it goes toward the ground. A conventional it goes up in the air.
I guess it has more to do with how I'm holding the saw. My Makita with a 28" bar is a tad heavy and awkward and it's harder to start a cut in the "up" direction.
