Stump Post Mortem Review

[thecfarm]

It's not that hard to cut a tree down,safely. I am not talking about one that is 3 feet across,2 feet from a house and a shed 20 feet on the other side. BUT someone has to show someone how to do it too. Just a simple notch cut,stay above it and not saying that is it,but it's alot safer than what I have seen on here. My wife's Uncle had no idea how to cut a tree. Good thing his was only 4 inches across,but you can still get hurt from a 4 inch tree too.
I posted about my Brother cutting some trees on this land for firewood. Old Greenhorn mentioned how you can read a cutter by his stumps. My Father had a fit about my Brother's stumps. He did not want others to see the stumps and think that he did not know how to cut trees down. I almost thought he was going to recut the stumps. I don't think my Brother was paying attention over the years on how to cut a tree down. :  My Father knew how to do certain things. Good idea to do it his way. Not because he would be hard on you,he was not like that. But he wanted it done the right way,not really his way,but the right way. Just like I use to be the chain man on the old tractor. He would drive the tractor and I would hook up the chains. Sometimes we could only get 6 feet at a time,as I was unhooking and hooking up the logs. But he wanted it a certain way each time,the right way.

[Magicman]

 


Here is one similar to what thecfarm described above.  There was barely enough room to get the chainsaw bar between the house/deck and the 40"+ butt.  Whoever felled it did their job well.  I will saw it probably in January.

[ManjiSann]

Magicman, I would have loved to have watched that feller in action!

[thecfarm]

I have cut 3 foot pine down and my Father laid a 4 foot stick on the ground and told me to hit it. I was off center,but I hit it. Put a house there and I would not have even tried it. I had alot of practice with those big pines. Yes,I missed a few times,not by much,but I probably cut 100 of them.
Just to go on with memories,we use to talk about what way a tree would fall and why. We would try to save certain trees and not have it fall over a big rock or a sharp knoll. I can remember pounding wedges,we cut them out of a dead maple, for about an hour,just to fall one tree a certain way. I think I had 8 wedges in that thing. I would start on one side and tap the wedges and go to the other side. Than start all over again. I can still hear my Father swear at that tree. ;D Good thing it was on our land,we got all the money. After it finally came down,My Father said,next time the Dang tree can go where it wants.  ;D

[ManjiSann]

I have cut 3 foot pine down and my Father laid a 4 foot stick on the ground and told me to hit it. I was off center,but I hit it. Put a house there and I would not have even tried it. I had alot of practice with those big pines. Yes,I missed a few times,not by much,but I cut probably cut 100 of them.
Just to go on with memories,we use to talk about what way a tree would fall and why. We would try to save certain trees and not have it fall over a big rock or a sharp knoll. I can remember pounding wedges,we cut them out of a dead maple, for about an hour,just to fall one tree a certain way. I think I had 8 wedges in that thing. I would start on one side and tap the wedges and go to the other side. Than start all over again. I can still hear my Father swear at that tree. ;D Good thing it was on our land,we got all the money. After it finally came down,My Father said,next time the Dang tree can go where it wants.  ;D

Those are some fun memories, thanks for sharing!  
Brandon 

[Old Greenhorn]

It is said that you can tell a cutter by his/her stump and I suppose that is true. If so, what do you make of this one?

Just to close the loop on this one: That is a tree I cut a couple of years ago. There was a defect about 12" above grade that was questionable, so I cut it higher and dropped it 45° to the left in the photo for skidding access. It was a standard notch and back cut with just a little wedging because of where the center of gravity sat (it needed a little encouragement to fall my way). After the cleanup I trimmed it and made the chair for the landowner, it overlooked his pond and had two 'cup holders'. About a year later I cut it flush because it was looking poorly. I got one nice cookie out of it that is drying in my shop now and we planed last week.
 The point is that looking at a stump may not always give you the true and complete story. :D (But most times it will, especially if there is a pattern.)

[Old Greenhorn]

I have cut 3 foot pine down and my Father laid a 4 foot stick on the ground and told me to hit it. 

Every tree I cut I have a little fun with this way. I clear my escape path, plan the fall, then pick a specific target to hit. I am always trying to improve or find and fix issues in my thinking. Even if I am alone in the woods, I pick or place something to land on, just for fun.
 I did a 12" pine several years ago on the road edge. I had my son spotting and holding traffic because felling it into the road was the best and safest path, given the power lines and other things. I threw my ball cap on a spot at the far edge and told him that was my target. He laughed and said "Sure, good luck Dad."
 The tree came down, he blinked and lost track of the hat. He told me I must have missed it and blown it away. I thought I had landed it darn close and couldn't understand it. We hitched the tree up quickly and dragged it off and cleaned the road. When I was bucking the tree, we found my hat, impaled by one of the branches directly under the trunk. That hat wasn't much good after the skidding, but my son learned something. You had better be 'really sure' before you second guess the old man. ;D :D

[ManjiSann]

I have cut 3 foot pine down and my Father laid a 4 foot stick on the ground and told me to hit it.

Every tree I cut I have a little fun with this way. I clear my escape path, plan the fall, then pick a specific target to hit. I am always trying to improve or find and fix issues in my thinking. Even if I am alone in the woods, I pick or place something to land on, just for fun.
I did a 12" pine several years ago on the road edge. I had my son spotting and holding traffic because felling it into the road was the best and safest path, given the power lines and other things. I threw my ball cap on a spot at the far edge and told him that was my target. He laughed and said "Sure, good luck Dad."
The tree came down, he blinked and lost track of the hat. He told me I must have missed it and blown it away. I thought I had landed it darn close and couldn't understand it. We hitched the tree up quickly and dragged it off and cleaned the road. When I was bucking the tree, we found my hat, impaled by one of the branches directly under the trunk. That hat wasn't much good after the skidding, but my son learned something. You had better be 'really sure' before you second guess the old man. ;D :D

You should hang the hat up and tell people you were wearing it at the time and it explains some of the more forgetful moments  :D :D

Brandon 

[trapper]

my firewood stumps are all straight across.  I cut the tree 1 or 2 blocks high so I dont have to bend over when cutting the tree down.  After the tree is down I cut the blocks off the stump close to the ground.

[lxskllr]

Foolhardy, amazing, or both?

Shoking video when a tree cut down between two house - YouTube

[Magicman]

I threw my ball cap on a spot at the far edge and told him that was my target.

It is fairly well known that I wear a white woven "pith helmet" during the Summer months while sawing.


 
Is there a possibility that I hit my target?  

[Old Greenhorn]

I hope you weren't wearing it at the time. Maybe I should have been more specific: I ALWAYS take my hat OFF before I use it for a marker. ;D ;D :D :D

[alan gage]

Foolhardy, amazing, or both?

Shoking video when a tree cut down between two house - YouTube

I've seen that one before and a couple others like it. I've always wondered if the house/shed was just a tear down so that dropping the tree on point was more of a test/exercise rather than a high risk maneuver.
I've also seen clips in "tree felling gone wrong" videos of trees dropping on houses that looked like they were tear downs and I always suspected the trees were intentionally dropped that way just for fun or to make a good video.
Alan

[RPF2509]

I've seen so many trees growing inches from a house or with a deck built around them I often wonder what people are thinking.  Get rid of them before you build and don't plant them close, they will only cause you trouble and expense in the long run.  I've spent close to $4k having the pros get rid of the trees around my current house which would have all been easy falls before anything was built.  I've had enough  wood cut on my tiny lot (8/10 acre) to build the house and have enough standing to build another one.  One more round of 3 trees and I'll finally feel ok about them.  There is barely enough room to get them down in one piece which saves a ton of money not having to have a climber or bucket truck come. 180' tall spans the narrow side from end to end.  We passed on many houses just due to the cost of needed tree work.  After watching the trees bend and sway through the winter storms and seeing neighbors houses get crushed, I don't want any tree taller than 50' on the lot.  As a final wrench in the works, we replaced the septic last year due to root invasion.

[lxskllr]

I often wonder what people are thinking.

I like trees. The value they give me being close to the house is where the house's value lies. A white oak came up about 7' from the house in my back patio. I was gonna leave it there, since by the time it becomes an issue, it would be someone else's issue, but it's got a fairly hard lean towards the house. Unfortunately, I think I'll have to remove it. I really like it there though  :^(

[Ianab]

I like trees too, but not large ones near houses. Eventually they are going to become problem... 

There are plenty of smaller trees that are OK to plant closer to the house, or even build a deck around. Things that are only going to grow to 20-30 ft, and wont demolish the house in a storm, or need a crane to take out in the future. 

But you see it all the time, someone has planted a Norfolk or Kauri pine beside their house, or under some overhead lines. These things grow Massive, 150ft, 6ft dbh sort of things. Awesome if you have a few acres, not so smart for a front lawn.  

[lxskllr]

I have a pin oak on my right side. Might be 10' from the house. Haven't analyzed it, but I bet it's 60' tall. I planted a dawn redwood about 15' from the house on the left side. It's 4' tall, but I'm expecting great things from it  :^D I have a cluster of locusts next to the drive. The one closest to the house has been getting mushrooms. I think I might need to do something with that, though I don't want to. It's 12' away, probably 50', and leaning towards the house. It's brother closest to the road is at least 60' tall, but I think more. There's other miscellaneous trees that are close, but not that spectacular.

I'm not worried about any of them. You can hardly tell there's a house there from google's satellite view. Keeps me cool in the summer, and makes it harder to see the world around me. If the house gets demolished by a tree, I'll put in a tiny house, and add more trees. I started life with nothing, and I can finish with nothing. Those trees are what keeps me from totally hating this place.

[Ljohnsaw]

Thirty or forty years ago, all the developers loved to plant coastal redwoods in housing developments.  Instant green year round and grew fast.  They would plant a nice cluster of 3 in a front yard, probably 6' apart.  Now your looking at a massive 100-140' redwood clump that, from a distance, looks like one.  They also like to plant them in the corner of backyards.  Now they are huge and a problem.    They are not native to the central valley.  With the recent droughts, if the homeowner didn't keep up on the watering, they die from the top down.  I'm taking 1/4 acre lots (or less).

[Southside]

We have a BIG maple - over 50" DBH - maybe 15' from the house, my guess is it was planted there when the house was built, 1911 ish.  I have no worries about it, she has stood the test of time as plenty of big storms have come through in all those years, there are half a dozen cedars in the 20"-30" DBH range maybe 50' from the house - same thing, no worries, all on the west side of the house.  For sure I would not want to deal with the summer afternoon sun without those trees, it would bake the house.  

A walnut in the 24" DBH range is to the south, again maybe 50' from the house and another maple in the 18" range, they will all stay unless they get sick, keeps the south sun from baking things.  When I see new 3,500 square foot homes in the middle of a field I have to wonder just how big of an A/C system they must have, and what the monthly bill is to run it.  

[lxskllr]

When I see new 3,500 square foot homes in the middle of a field I have to wonder just how big of an A/C system they must have, and what the monthly bill is to run it.

It's not even "new" places! We have cornfield subdivisions here still look substantially like cornfields 10+ years after being built on. A couple shrubs, a couple stupid little decorator trees, and a wide expanse of time sucking grass. People don't seem to like trees anymore.

[Ed_K]

 I've cut a lot of road side trees here in Leyden over the yrs. A lot of them were 40" to 60" an hollow only 4" 6" of holding wood around to outside.