Where to find this hydraulics felling wedge?

[LOGDOG]

Do any of you guys know of a source for this hydraulic felling wedge. Looks like it works well.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI8ATaC9VpU&feature=context-vrec

[beenthere]

I've seen them used before, but wouldn't opt for one as 3-4 wedges are easier to carry around. ;)

Don't know who carries them (mean who sells them  ).

But surely some OSHA or similar Gov't do-gooder will dream up a plan that requires all trees to be felled using this device in place of a simple wedge. I can see it coming.

[John Mc]

Looks interesting, but I didn't see anything there I couldn't do faster and cheaper with a plastic felling wedge and an ax to drive it.

[LOGDOG]

Would a guy have more lift or control if you had some back lean say, over the traditional wedges?

[Jeff]

http://www.grube.de/online_kat/fachkatalog/index2.php#/?onlinekatpage=B16

[LOGDOG]

Thanks Jeff. Yep, looks like it weighs about 22 lbs which isn't all that bad. But the price! 1450 Euros .... that's $1768.42 in American dollars. Mighty steep. I bet a guy could fabricate that for a few hundred bucks with a bottle jack and some steel.

[saltydog]

You could also use a body shop porta power theres a duckbill attatchment for spreding sheet metal.they come in 5 ton up to 30 ton.ill use wedges.

[Buck]

Yep. A porta-power kit could do it. The duck bill might work but it wouldn't be difficult to fabricate an attachment for the other rams in the kit.

[John Mc]

Would a guy have more lift or control if you had some back lean say, over the traditional wedges?

Looks like more lift than a single wedge, But I've done 5" of lift with 2 plastic wedges: I pounded in one wedge, then stuck a ~1" cookie in the gap, pounded in another wedge on top of the cookie, which released the first wedge. Put a thicker cookie in the gap, pounded the first wedge on top of that.  Repeat as needed...

In cases like that 5" of lift I had to do, that hydraulic wedge would be faster (assuming I didn't have to walk far back to the truck to get it), but I don't see any difference in control.

I've seen someone use an unmodified bottle jack, but I can't remember exactly what he did  to get it to work.  There was some special prep work to the back of the tree to give the bottle jack a place to push against.

John Mc

[shinnlinger]

For a regular bottle jack, cut a pocket or shelf in the tree just big enough for the jack, make your face and back cuts and pump away. 

I agree that carting one of those or a bottle jack around would get old pretty quick, but in that catalog Jeff posted, did you see the screw in wedge below the hydraulic version?  THat one might be a decent compromise, but hey, if the wedge works, why mess with it?

[LOGDOG]

Yep, I can see a portapower working. I don't have one but have thought it'd be nice to have one around for the various work that comes up on machines around the farm here. This video is similar to how I imagine the portapower working. With all of the trees we have dying down here, I've got a lot to take down this year. It's no big deal if they're out in the open where I can get my backhoe near them or another machine. I can use the boom to tip one over or provide resistance if I need it. But some places, like my North fence line, where I've got a 3 ft diameter, dying red oak right up tight to the fence, leaning over the neighbors pasture, I'd like to be able to tip him back my way vs falling him onto the neighbors pasture. But then again, I'm going need need to walk a machine up in there anyway to get all that wood out of there so maybe I could put a cable on him and pull him back over with the dozer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0s4nH6kOO0o&feature=g-hist

[Reddog]

Would a guy have more lift or control if you had some back lean say, over the traditional wedges?

Looks like it has a fair amount of lift. Specs show it at 15tonns.
But it is 21#s to lug around.

http://youtu.be/CVHUcApTyTM

Another supplier.
http://www.clarkforest.com/shop/logging-equipment/tree-felling-tools/ram-wedge-hydraulic-felling-wedges

[thenorthman]

Silvey tree jacks, single piston, double piston, back pack sets, lighter then a porta power, proven design.  The double piston set has something like 62 tons of grunt, the single being only 30 or so (numbers may be a little off but they are in the ball park)...

But really wedges are cheap, carry 4 of em, pinch of dirt between em if I have to stack em...

[Maine372]

all of this seems cost prohibitive an lots of extra stuff to carry. Ive had a thought along these same lines though.

take an old saw and mount a wedge in a set of slides on the clutch side. use the spin of the crankshaft to make the wedge vibrate front to back. if it vibrates fast enough and you push on the saw it should wiggle its way into the backcut. If it sold as an attachment you could just hook up a retired powerhead to it.

[thenorthman]

the silveys are mostly used on very large trees, search youtube for old growth redwood falling.  To get enough lift taint none of us can swing an axe big enough, on trees that big.  The cost is pretty much paid for with just one of those monsters

[islandlogger]

I got's to agree with Northman....having a sling of 4 or 5 wedges on the hip is a heck of a lot cheaper and cost effective then any of them fancy jackin units. Don't get me wrong, them Silvey's are beutiful, but as said they are made for tippin trees that none of us are likely to have the opportunity to bury our saw bars into. Wedges are cheap, and done correctly you can alter direction on good sized timber with them, and there always right there on your hip...packing jacks etc along with all the rest of your falling gear can get awful tedious, and spending the $$$$ on something thats for the most part going to collect spider webs in the crummy truck...well it just don't work for me...

Yee-haw

islandlogger

[captain_crunch]

Old buddy of mine once said if 3 wedges wont tip er over you picked wrong direction ;D