Hey You Western Fallers

[Kevin]

Is it standard practice to force the saw into the tree by pushing your knee against the power head or is this fallers chain dull?

[Tombstone]

It appears to help hold the angle maybe, we cut the opposite way here, the first time I saw that was on the show.

[Paul_H]

His knee was probably just a pivot for the undercut.If he wanted to force the saw,the dogs would work much better.

[Tillaway]

He is wearing Nomex and carrying a fire shelter, where did you get the picture?  That looks like a hot shot crew cutter by the way he is equipped.  Those saws tend to be dull since you are cutting brush, logs, roots and other nastiness.  They also cut real high stumps since conserving energy is paramount.  No need to stoop over if you don't need to.  They could be loosely call professional cutters.  They do not have the skills or experience of the pros that cut timber every day.  They cut the easier ones on the fires, the tough stuff is contracted out.

[Maineloggerkid]

Probably helps hold the weight of the saw until you can really kick the dogs in.

[Kevin]

These are the Northwest Timberfallers, they should have a minimum five years logging experience.

http://www.nwtimberfallers.com/news.html

[Tillaway]

Contractor then... chain is not dull.  They don't play trencher too often. The saw was dogged in.  The bucking spikes are modified or replaced with extra long ones for thick barked species.  It is not unusual to find bark thickness the better part of 4 inches or more (old growth Doug fir, Larch, or Ponderosa pine for instance).  They are tasked to cut snags and other hazard trees.  The bark can be loose so the extra length lets the dog stick into some wood.  I would say he was just supporting the weight of the saw with his leg to get lined up for the cut.  His foot was on something a bit higher and used the opportunity to support the weight of the saw.  They work minimum 12 hour shifts on fires which is twice as long as the normal work day for cutters here.

[Kevin]

Those humboldts are a pain to cut but Dwayne makes it look easy.
What are most of the production cutters doing, dogging in at the corner and using the roll axis of the bar to make the diagonal cut?

[Maineloggerkid]

Cutters out west only have a zix hour work day?? Im comin' out there. I work a 12 hour day here in Maine.

[Tillaway]

That is exactly it Kevin.  You dog in and roll using the spike as a pivot.  You can do it one handed.  Once you learn how to cut them they are not that hard, heck even I can do it.
MLK
Six hours and five days a week is the norm in Oregon, Washington, Idaho and BC (I think).  Seven hours six days a week in California but you usually don't work all year there.

[Gary_C]

I do have to admit that I put my leg against the handle of the saw to apply pressure when making the bore cut. It does help to keep the saw from jumping as it is easier to apply a steady push with my leg than with my arms while standing over the saw.

But my cuts are all close to the ground, not high like that picture.

[a old timberjack]

It appears to help hold the angle maybe, we cut the opposite way here, the first time I saw that was on the show.

yeh, i thought the same, and for that type of cut....me to.

[Maineloggerkid]

Humbolts aren't that bad. I don't really use them, but I have cut them before. If you can cut an open face notch, the undercut is the same idea.

[Kevin]

Smaller trees I can deal with, the thirty plus inch hardwoods with the larger bars and power heads I find  more difficult but I haven't cut enough humboldt faces on a regular basis to establish a good technique.
I had two large yellow birch and two large maple last week (30+")that received a humboldt face and a large red oak to humboldt tomorrow.
One problem is using a full comp chain that keeps getting plugged with sawdust in the cut.
I need a longer bar and a full skip chain for the larger trees.

[buckmtn]

It's common for the big oaks around here to be 48"+ ,(northwest Ca.) I like to make two cuts about bar width apart, then bore form each side to make a square notch under cut. I then nick off either top or bottom depending how I want it to jump. Since the heart is commonly dry and tends to pull and cause shake, I bore out the center of the tree, this raises recovery on the big but cuts. This also prevents barber chair.

[Kevin]

buckmtn;
Are you cutting many of these?
What is the chance of getting a video of making the diagonal cut on a large tree with some instruction?
I can get by and get it done but I can't ace it like the boys on Ax Men.

[buckmtn]

Not much any more, the two paralell cut is a common way to fall old growth redwood, I just us it for black oak to save wood.
Practice is the best way to learn it.

[Danny Dimm]

I haven't done much falling in the last few years but the norm in BC is 6 1/2 hrs per day. The smaller outfits like a seven hr day. The rate on the coast is between 500 and 600 per day. Your saw and workers compensation.