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cutting trees down

Started by JMG, May 05, 2019, 07:20:03 AM

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Ed_K

 I looked at the diagram showing how to wedge half of the back cut. That works great but your cutting 12" trees. A way to cut smaller trees is to make your hinge cut then go to the back of the tree and bore straight thru to the hinge an put your wedge in then make cuts under the wedge from both side to the hinge. That way you can pound the wedge in and not worry about bottoming out. There's a diagram here somewhere in previous thrds.
Ed K

Old Greenhorn

Quote from: Ed_K on May 08, 2019, 07:40:55 AM
I looked at the diagram showing how to wedge half of the back cut. That works great but your cutting 12" trees. A way to cut smaller trees is to make your hinge cut then go to the back of the tree and bore straight thru to the hinge an put your wedge in then make cuts under the wedge from both side to the hinge. That way you can pound the wedge in and not worry about bottoming out. There's a diagram here somewhere in previous thrds.
I use this specific method also, with a few minor variations: I first cut my notch, then I bore through the middle of the notch at the same level as the bottom of this notch (this is not so easy to do if you bore from the back) then I pull my bar out and bore again, about 1/2" higher but only about 2" deep. This allows clearance for the wedge so it does bottom out if you drive to through to the hinge wood. Then I drive my wedge in from the back, back cut the bad side, back cut the good side, and drive the wedge if needed. If you don't do that extra relief cut in the front you run the risk of having the wedge all the way in and jammed, with no more lift. If you are driving a leaner over backwards, this can happen and I have been caught a few times. But not no more. :)
Tom Lindtveit, Woodsman Forest Products
Oscar 328 Band Mill, Husky 350, 450, 562, & 372 (Clone), Mule 3010, and too many hand tools. :) Retired and trying to make a living to stay that way. NYLT Certified.
OK, maybe I'm the woodcutter now.
I work with wood, There is a rumor I might be a woodworker.

John Mc

Quote from: Old Greenhorn on May 08, 2019, 12:12:40 PM
Quote from: Ed_K on May 08, 2019, 07:40:55 AM
I looked at the diagram showing how to wedge half of the back cut. That works great but your cutting 12" trees. A way to cut smaller trees is to make your hinge cut then go to the back of the tree and bore straight thru to the hinge an put your wedge in then make cuts under the wedge from both side to the hinge. That way you can pound the wedge in and not worry about bottoming out. There's a diagram here somewhere in previous thrds.
I use this specific method also, with a few minor variations: I first cut my notch, then I bore through the middle of the notch at the same level as the bottom of this notch (this is not so easy to do if you bore from the back) then I pull my bar out and bore again, about 1/2" higher but only about 2" deep. This allows clearance for the wedge so it does bottom out if you drive to through to the hinge wood. Then I drive my wedge in from the back, back cut the bad side, back cut the good side, and drive the wedge if needed. If you don't do that extra relief cut in the front you run the risk of having the wedge all the way in and jammed, with no more lift. If you are driving a leaner over backwards, this can happen and I have been caught a few times. But not no more. :)
What Old Greenhorn describes is how I handle small back leaners. That 2nd, extra little cut when boring through the center of the hinge only needs to go deep enough to clear the thickness of the hinge. Without it, as OG indicates, your wedge can jam inside the hinge before it gets enough lift to tip the tree - or what may be worse: it lifts enough to break the hinge, and you lose control of which way the tree falls.

That technique is also why I generally don't bother to carry anything other than 12" wedges, since I don;t need to worry about them bottoming out against the back of the hinge. (If I know I'm going to spend a good bit of the day dropping small leaners, I might bring a 6" or 8" wedge with me.)
If the only tool you have is a hammer, you tend to see every problem as a nail.   - Abraham Maslow

Ed_K

 That was a mistake, I didn't clarify that bore has to go straight thru the hinge. I also have bored from the front too. The idea for the second relief cut thru the hinge is to keep the wedge from braking in half as the tree tip over. If I can't get enough lift to get the tree over, I bore another slot above the wedge and use another wedge.
Ed K

BluenoseLogger

Let's just put it this way, German Forestry Accident Prevention Regulations explicitly forbid the use of steel wedges when working with power saws. Good reasons for that.

I do have some steel wedges, as well as plastic ones. 95% of the time I'll use the plastic ones. I do sometimes use the big steel wedges when dropping large, heavy trees - by the time I propose to use the steel wedges the saw itself won't be anywhere close to them. I also like having the larger steel wedges around when bucking large logs, in conjunction with a heavy duty sledge, because sometimes when those trees come down they do so awkwardly and place sections into serious compression/tension. I'm not perfect, I do occasionally get my chainsaw pinched in those situations. Not often but it's happened over the years. When that happens I'll be pounding the crap out of the wedge with a sledge, and plastic doesn't hold up so good to that. :-)

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