How to fell a split tree

[GrizG]

Clearly no lumber in the butt of this tree and he said it was firewood. I never used to use wedges, now I use them all the time. Better safe then sorry. A high stump will hurt nothing here.

It is rare that I don't use wedges these days... Sure it may take a little longer but the other benefits like safety, control, and not getting saws stuck outweigh the time. I can certainly understand why someone being paid for productivity would avoid wedging everything but I personally would be uncomfortable working that way. 

[Carl Root]

Thanks for posting the video.  Much of it I knew, like the concept of tension and compression,  but the use of a plunge cut was an eye opener.  That clearly seems the way to go.  I really want the ash down so it won't interfere with the larger oak, the one with half the bark missing, which looks like a candidate for the same technique.

[Carl Root]

So . . . .

I cut dropped the 5" pine it was rubbing against - just in case.

Cut a notch and started the plunge cut . . . and heard a crack.  Stepped back for a minute and tried again . . and almost immediately heard another crack.  That's it; I'm done.

Came in and had lunch, telling my wife how lucky she is to have a husband with good sense.   Typed this response and in the middle of the second sentence, she tells me she heard a loud "crash", so I think I'll go investigate. . . .

[derhntr]

To me that ash had barber chair written all over it. I more than likely would have attempted an open face with plunge cut. Good luck and be safe.

[Carl Root]

[GrizG]

It looks like you read that tree right while cutting! Good job.

[sandsawmill14]

and that is why I wouldn't say how I would cut it glad you got it down safely 8)

[sandsawmill14]

To me that ash had barber chair written all over it. I more than likely would have attempted an open face with plunge cut. Good luck and be safe.

a plunge cut can be very dangerous on a dead or dying tree you can't count on the holding wood as his pic shows

[derhntr]

I think by reading his post that wind and gravity finished what he started.

[Ox]

Glad it's down and nobody got hurt.  If you're lucky you never have to have to worry about stuff like that again.

[Carl Root]

Just to be clear, after cutting the notch and making very little progress on the plunge cut, I stopped and it went over on its own about a half hour later.

Had I cut the notch only two feet higher, there was no deterioration of the heartwood, so the hinge should have held while I made the plunge cut.

My property is on a rocky river bank in midcoast Maine, so a lot of the trees I've been dealing with are anything but straightforward.  A huge oak tree fell over because the trunk had rotted out.  A good sized beech and a small pine were uprooted during storms.  A large aspen simply broke about 18" off the ground.  A small beech I cut down was solid at the top and bottom, but rotten about half way up.  Only a straight dead fir and a modest sized birch that I cut down behaved exactly as I expected them to.

[Ianab]

Part of staying safe is recognising when you have a dangerous situation on your hands. You got that part right. But once you get into dead / rotten wood things get double hairy. Glad it came down safely.

[sandsawmill14]

Just to be clear, after cutting the notch and making very little progress on the plunge cut, I stopped and it went over on its own about a half hour later.

Had I cut the notch only two feet higher, there was no deterioration of the heartwood, so the hinge should have held while I made the plunge cut.

My property is on a rocky river bank in midcoast Maine, so a lot of the trees I've been dealing with are anything but straightforward.  A huge oak tree fell over because the trunk had rotted out.  A good sized beech and a small pine were uprooted during storms.  A large aspen simply broke about 18" off the ground.  A small beech I cut down was solid at the top and bottom, but rotten about half way up.  Only a straight dead fir and a modest sized birch that I cut down behaved exactly as I expected them to.

Even if you had cut your knotch higher the hold would most likely snapped below the bore cut when the pressure hit it due to the rot below as much as  that tree was leaning   there is no safe way to fell a tree in that condition