Felling notch?

[Carson-saws]

YIKES!!!...Barber Chair....can make ya wanna wear rubber underwear for sure.     The term "gimble and reverse gimble"  is the term I was taught by the same Gents that taught the "plunge cut"...It is simply the same as a basic notch cut...by reversing the basic "gimble" it allows a tad bit of directional fall.    For me the "back cut" is equally important as how you choose to set your notch.  In the forest you have a little bit more "tolerance" to where the tree will basically land.  I "close quarters"  controlling,  or the attempt to,  is much more relevant.

[OneWithWood]

So the question is:  Why would you settle for a tad bit of directional falling when you can easily have complete directional control using GOL methodology?

[Carson-saws]

a relevant question for sure...to me....it allows option with in close quarters...be it a structure...wires...fence...dog house...whatever MAY "burden" or cause concern to the tree being removed.  Especially if your focus is on retrieving the butt-log and not damaging something.  If the butt log is not you focus than  piece it out and be done with it.  The "tad" I mentioned, simply refers to having the option and making the decision what would work best and IF that "tad" is enough to lessen the risk of damage...well, again for me...that is enough to think about alternatives.

[Ianab]

Are you talking about a "Tapered Hinge"? Where you leave one side of the hinge thicker than the other. This breaks off unevenly and so can swing the tree a bit as it's falling. That's a valid variation of the conventional notch and back cut.

[ppine]

Logging is the most dangerous job in America. Thanks for the barberchair video as a reminder.

I spent a few days in the woods this week dodging loaded log trucks and checking out the management on the Plumas NF.  I talked to an experienced logger for about 2 hours. He has felled old growth for 30 years and still tops trees.  He was a big fan of the Humboldt and did not like conventional cuts.  He had never heard of a plunge cut.  He stressed safety the whole time and it is one of the reasons he is still around.

[enigmaT120]

I'm pretty sure Humbolt is the conventional cut around here.  I see a lot of stumps in my area and I don't remember seeing any look like they were bore cut before finishing cutting through the hinge.  I will look closer for that in the future, though.  I only know one guy who took the GOL course and he bore cuts but only does very minor logging of his own property. 

Of course, with the huge processors they have out here now I see lots of stumps that show no hinge at all!  But they still have to hand fall the very big trees and ones on steep slopes.  They're better men than I am.

[John Mc]

I'm pretty sure Humbolt is the conventional cut around here.

The Humboldt is just the conventional cut turned upside down: one cut in the notch is horizontal, the other cut sloping up to meet it from below. It was developed out west as a variation on the conventional notch. In very large trees, getting the chunk out when you made a conventional notch could be difficult, due to the weight of the piece. With the Humboldt notch, gravity helped pull it out for you.

[Magicman]

In probably 2002, I barberchaired a Black Locust tree.  I wonder if a video camera would have been fast enough to capture how fast it all happened.    Of course it would have but I had never seen or heard of such so it left me sitting there and wondering what had happened.  I was sad to have ruined a tree that I badly needed, but I was thankful to be alive.  It still gives me the shivers thinking about it.

[ppine]

And be ever vigilant about the shape of the hinge left in the tree. t should be a rectangle. A trapezoid can tear and cause a tree to spiral as it falls.

[CTYank]

While all of your work is going on to get the tree down, don't forget to LOOK UP often. Dead wood up there doesn't need permission to come down and whack you. When you drive wedges into the backcut, you can really trigger those pieces to drop. The whole top shakes.

Those widowmakers can be really treacherous. A tree falling in one direction can have its crown mess with the crown of another tree, on its way down, sending widowmakers back at you. Minimum safe distance from the stump is 2.5 times the height of the tree. IOW, you are in a dangerous zone, LOOK UP often, and get clear ASAP. Don't stand there admiring your work.

[BEEMERS]

CTYank..I admired my perfect fall years ago..no dead branches..never touched another tree...not a widow maker...tree layed down exactly on the dead snag I intended it to..within the inch..
I had shut saw off,stepped back ten feet and admired my work...then a meteorite hit my head!!!
a lot of scalp layed back off my head and fifteen stitches later,im still alive because that little meteor didn't hit straight on..
widow makers are not the one you see..they are obvious..you see them..no widows made..

ok...it was a dead limb...but it felt like a meteorite..or a hundred pound sack of something.

[derhntr]

I started using a plunge cut this year cutting large EWP selectively in a Oak forest where concern over damage was there due to Oak wilt. Using the notch shown in Stihl instructional videos. I have been able to pull trees 90 degrees from natural lean. Learning to aim trees where they need to fall saved damage to oaks. Wedges are a must for safety. Oh these pines were 80-100 foot tall. I was scared of them at first because of their size. After trying the humbolt and hanging first tree. I went to the open face and plunge. The notch is small compared to the old way I did it and end up in the slab with no lost of wood.

[ppine]

This forum is the first place I have heard people talk about felling that know more about it than I do. I want to thank all of you for weighing with your experiences.  People have a positive attitude around here which is just as important.  There is a big difference in talking with people that are nimrods as opposed to people that have a professional approach and want to come home at night.

[John Mc]

This forum is the first place I have heard people talk about felling that know more about it than I do. I want to thank all of you for weighing with your experiences.  People have a positive attitude around here which is just as important.  There is a big difference in talking with people that are nimrods as opposed to people that have a professional approach and want to come home at night.

The positive attitude is the reason most of us hang around. Every once in a while, we get a wave of folks who think it's all about "out-macho-ing" everyone else. They don't last long: they either realize that is not what this place is all about and change their ways, they drift way, or they get booted off.

[thecfarm]

Seem like we have not had a wave for a while. Probably about time for one or two.  :

[John Mc]

Seem like we have not had a wave for a while. Probably about time for one or two.  :

Every time a site that deals with related topics has problems, some of them migrate here.

[WmFritz]

Your right John... no need for big ego's here. I'm comfortable here for the fact that I can share my lack of knowledge or mistakes and won't get slapped up. I never stop learning from you guys.

[Carson-saws]

Sharing ideas and experiences only makes folks think or rethink whatever their practices may be.  Personally I have nothing to prove to anyone and feel learning something new everyday is, for me anyway, appreciated.  Heck...I didn't know there were any other forums like this one simply because I am not computer "savy"  and found the FF to be extremely packed full of people extremely knowledgeable and passionate about what they do and enjoy and strive to hear others thoughts and ideas.