Help Marking level lines on trees

[joejkd]

you dont have the felling sight part down if you can not bore in level.  when you turn the saw on its side to start your plunge cut look down the felling sights and make sure they are standing plumb.  if they are you will bore in level

Woody

Sorry thought you were talking about the face cut here, didn't realize you used it when you plunged. Not sure how felling sites would help keep you level bar tip-to-powerhead though. Could you elaborate more on this?

[smwwoody]

the line that goes across the top of the saw not the one on the side cover.  you lay your saw on its side to start the plunge cut.  look down the line that is on the cylinder cover.  it will be running up and down since the saw is on its side.  make sure this line is plumb.  when it is your sawbar is level.

Woody

I wil;l look for some pics to help

[Maine372]

make the bottom of your notch level, then if you start your bore cut on each side about an inch above you will be very close.

hinge thickness is more of an art than a science. it depends on wind, lean, species, frozen/thawed, etc, etc, etc 5-10% is good, but 10 is safer.

props on setting a rope. its good insurance. thats why the tree guys use them so much.

[duckslayingpro]

When i said 10% is maximum i am talking about a good healthy not "rot" tree.
different species of trees have more forgiveness than others and you can do more with or make mistakes with and still be fine. but if this tree is above your skill level your better off to walk away. im not stating that as n insult. i do not know your cutting ability. good luck to you

[Peter Drouin]

Hi smwwoody a lot of guys don;t know about the Felling sights. and some have run saws for years  :D :D ;D

[John Mc]

One reason I've seen people's bore cuts drop down (including my own, on occasion) is that they start to stand up straighter as they push on the saw to make the bore cut. The effect gets exaggerated with dull chain or one of the box store safety chains (the kind with the extra link with a bumper strap between each tooth), since you have to push harder on the saw.  Just remember to keep your body down low as you bore (it's easier of you do as much of this as you can with your legs, rather than bending at the waist).

If your notch is level, you can get a feel for the bore cut by doing a "pretend" bore cut using the notch as a guide. Lay the saw over on it's side, and put in in the "V" of the notch groove. Run it in and out (without the chain spinning) as if you are boring, using the notch as a guide. Imagine you are meeting a bit of resistance as you push in.  You can build a bit of "muscle memory". Then move back a few inches, and make your actual bore cut, mimicking the motion you just did when practicing in the notch.

[joejkd]

Nice advice John Mc, used that along with Maine372's technique, I dropped 4 trees nice and clean with it. It seems counterintuitive, but double-bore is a lot easier to pull off than just walking the saw around. Also helps is you suck at sharpening chain (which I do). At least you don't get a nasty surprise when you hit the far side of your cut.

Nice clean butt sections and real easy to make the 2 cuts meet. I take a tape and some chalk with me in, measure the proper distance back from the notch depending on dbh, and one inch up. I then did what John Mc said to get a feel of what level should feel like, then dip the nose slightly (probably about 10-20 degrees).

Thanks guys. Still haven't hit that one at the in-laws yet, though the stuff I dropped this weekend was probably a bit more challenging as far as aiming, none of it was in range of any structures. I'm going to practice a bit more and hopefully get in on a GOL course in the area if I can.

[John Mc]

GOL has a good practice technique they teach for accurate bore cutting.  They cut off a stump 2 or 3 feet above the ground, slice slabs off the sides to square it up (so it looks something like a 12" square sized fence post). They then draw horizontal lines with a permanent marker about 1" apart on one side of the stump.  They draw the same lines on the opposite side of the stump (if you really want to be accurate, you can use a level to make sure they match up with the lines on the first side). 

The practice is to start your bore cut between one set of lines, and come out the other side between the matching set of lines.

For more of a challenge, you can add two vertical lines spaced to allow the bar to just fit (maybe leave yourself an inch of extra space). So you now have drawn a box you have to go through where the bar enters, and another where it should exit.  This helps you get a feel for the lateral alignment, as well as the up & down alignment.

Another extra challenge:  prop one of the slabs you trimmed off up against the exit side of the stump (maybe leave a saw-kerf sized space between it and the stump). Now try to bore through, staying in the "box" mentioned above. Try to come out the exit side without cutting or knocking off the slab you propped up.  No peeking on the exit side. Try to go by feel and knowledge of where your bar tip should be.  This helps develop awareness of where the end of your bar is.
__________________

BTW... as others have noted, it is not necessary for your bore cuts to meet, or even cross each other when you are boring from both sides. What is necessary is to sever all of the fibers (other than those in the hinge). It makes for a nice, clean looking stump if they do meet, but if the two cuts miss each other by an inch in height (or even more) it does not make it noticeably harder to tip the tree.  Similarly, if you have left "holding wood" at the back of the stump, it is not necessary to cut it in exactly the same plane as your back cut. All you have to do is make sure all of the fibers are severed somewhere relatively close to the original cut. (I commonly offset my cut of the holding wood if my wedge is near it, to avoid clipping my wedge.)

[edited to undo scrambled paragraphs]

[joejkd]

GOL has a good practice technique they teach for accurate bore cutting.  They cut off a stump 2 or 3 feet above the ground, slice slabs off the sides to square it up (so it looks something like a 12" square sized fence post). They then draw horizontal lines with a permanent marker about 1" apart on one side of the stump.  They draw the same lines on the opposite side of the stump (if you really want to be accurate, you can use a level to make sure they match up with the lines on the first side). 

The practice is to start your bore cut between one set of lines, and come out the other side between the matching set of lines.
__________________

BTW... as others have noted, it is not necessary for your bore cuts to meet, or even cross each other when you are boring from both sides. What is necessary is to sever all of the fibers (other than those in the hinge). It makes for a nice, clean looking stump if they do meet, but if the two cuts miss each other by an inch in height (or even more) it does not make it noticeably harder to tip the tree.  Similarly, if you have left "holding wood" at the back of the stump, it is not necessary to cut it in exactly the same plane as your back cut. All you have to do is make sure all of the fibers are severed somewhere relatively close to the original cut. (I commonly offset my cut of the holding wood if my wedge is near it, to avoid clipping my wedge.)

For more of a challenge, you can add two vertical lines spaced to allow the bar to just fit (maybe leave yourself an inch of extra space). So you now have drawn a box you have to go through where the bar enters, and another where it should exit.  This helps you get a feel for the lateral alignment, as well as the up & down alignment.

Another extra challenge:  prop one of the slabs you trimmed off up against the exit side of the stump (maybe leave a saw-kerf sized space between it and the stump). Now try to bore through, staying in the "box" mentioned above. Try to come out the exit side without cutting or knocking off the slab you propped up.  No peeking on the exit side. Try to go by feel and knowledge of where your bar tip should be.  This helps develop awareness of where the end of your bar is.

I know what I'm doing this weekend  8)

[Peter Drouin]

 

  the felling sights to keep your bar level to bore.

   felling sight to know where  the bar is level cutting down or when im cutting off a slab and not cut the cant, when a blade on the mill breaks on me. I think all saws have them :D just keep the sights level to your eye and stop making lines on stumps :D ;D

[joejkd]

on the first pic, how does that help? Do you just make sure it's parrallel with the tree? I'm just not sure how looking down on that would help so I must be thinking about it all wrong. I have something similar on my saw it runs the length of the fore grip.

[Peter Drouin]

When you turn the saw sideways you will be looking down on the saw . the line will be going up to you . even with a round top on my saw I can see if it;s plumb stratght up and down. that line is 90degrees to the bar. hope this helps