Seen a back cut like this?

[thecfarm]

If my Father saw any of the stumps in this post. 
My brother cut some trees on my Father's land. WOW!!! He had a fit!! I thought for sure he was going to cut every stump that my brother had cut!! He did not want people to think that he did not know how to cut trees down.
He never said that about my stumps.  ;)

[Old Greenhorn]

We all make an ugly stump once in a while because of odd conditions or a bad moment.
I suffer from this malady a little bit too (checking stumps and making silent judgements). I just finished a run of about 100 small trees and there were a few that got ugly if you just look at the stump after the fall. Because they were small in very dense growth and I couldn't push or drag them down, a few of my stumps looked 'very odd' :D when I went to 'plan b'.  I pretty much cut every stump clean and low after the fall because I didn't want anybody else to see it and try to guess what I was thinking. I hate high stumps anyway. A machine should roll over any stump if done right. All you need is to have a steering wheel ripped from your hands once when it catches a stump and you know what I mean. Dang near broke 3 fingers that way once when the steering wheel turned into a fan blade. ;D SO they should either be high enough to see in the snow, or low enough to drive over. IMHO anyway.

[Satamax]

I have cut one larch, once like that. But it was on a steep incline, real steep. Shale ground, very slippery. I could stand only at one place around the tree, and the grip was not firm. 

[HemlockKing]

We all make an ugly stump once in a while because of odd conditions or a bad moment.
I suffer from this malady a little bit too (checking stumps and making silent judgements). I just finished a run of about 100 small trees and there were a few that got ugly if you just look at the stump after the fall. Because they were small in very dense growth and I couldn't push or drag them down, a few of my stumps looked 'very odd' :D when I went to 'plan b'.  I pretty much cut every stump clean and low after the fall because I didn't want anybody else to see it and try to guess what I was thinking. I hate high stumps anyway. A machine should roll over any stump if done right. All you need is to have a steering wheel ripped from your hands once when it catches a stump and you know what I mean. Dang near broke 3 fingers that way once when the steering wheel turned into a fan blade. ;D SO they should either be high enough to see in the snow, or low enough to drive over. IMHO anyway.

My problem I had was taking out my far side holding wood or taking it too far, sometimes my hinge would be lower on the face notch than I liked, I pretty much got really good with levelling off my hinge though without even looking. The thing that helps with not taking out my holding wood is I pretty much cut the hinge from the back cut in 3 movements, I’ll sink the bar ina few inches, make sure I’m level with notch, go in a few more inches look around the tree and see if each side is equal holding wood(if not adjust, go in a little to correct and re check), the last step is the final gunning to the hinge, I started also using my gunning site for the back cut, point it to exactly where you had it on the first notch cut, should keep you even.

[Old Greenhorn]

I can't speak for all, but I think most of us have these small issues at some point. It is part of training your instincts. I know folks who have issues getting either the bottom of the notch or the back cut level and having them both on the same plane. I have similar issues to yours and found similar solutions which is mainly taking time to check where I am, it only takes seconds to stop the saw and look. Getting the edge of the back cut parallel with the edge (corner) of the notch is critical, then you can steer from there, but you mostly have to start with parallel lines, before steering. That is, until you get into bigger wood where you have to cut from more than one side, then it is even more critical to look and correct as you go. I think it's just time and experience needed to develop good instincts and habits that you can rely on. Every time I look at my stump and see a dead parallel hinge I smile because I work hard to get it that way after so many tapered hinges or worse, cutting through the holding wood on one side.

[HemlockKing]

KNOW YER HOLDING WOOD-buckin billy ray

[kantuckid]

I think this discussion is a rehash. :D

[Old Greenhorn]

I think this discussion is a rehash. :D

Aren't most of them? :D  I think that too, but then I remember that we have more 'guests' reading these posts than we have members and they come, read, and take it away to use sometimes, without understanding it or asking questions.

[Skeans1]

I can't speak for all, but I think most of us have these small issues at some point. It is part of training your instincts. I know folks who have issues getting either the bottom of the notch or the back cut level and having them both on the same plane. I have similar issues to yours and found similar solutions which is mainly taking time to check where I am, it only takes seconds to stop the saw and look. Getting the edge of the back cut parallel with the edge (corner) of the notch is critical, then you can steer from there, but you mostly have to start with parallel lines, before steering. That is, until you get into bigger wood where you have to cut from more than one side, then it is even more critical to look and correct as you go. I think it's just time and experience needed to develop good instincts and habits that you can rely on. Every time I look at my stump and see a dead parallel hinge I smile because I work hard to get it that way after so many tapered hinges or worse, cutting through the holding wood on one side.

There's nothing wrong with a tapered hinge especially if you're trying to get something to happened to the tree from the stump. There's times it's acceptable to have a sloping stump, have I cut a tree off like this yes to slip it off the stump sideways into a lay. Say you want to slip one off the side of stump you will put a sight cut in at an angle use an over hand face that leaves a small full face dutchman this allows you to leave a little hinge then creates a small ramp to let the tree start in the correct direction then pop off the side. 

[tawilson]

The last time I saw a back cut like that, the tree it was attached to was laying across my neighbors utility trailer. Luckily,  it was his tree and he did the cutting.

I would like to add that he was my go to guy for tree cutting before I found this forum and learned a couple things.

[Old Greenhorn]

There's nothing wrong with a tapered hinge especially if you're trying to get something to happened to the tree from the stump. There's times it's acceptable to have a sloping stump, have I cut a tree off like this yes to slip it off the stump sideways into a lay. Say you want to slip one off the side of stump you will put a sight cut in at an angle use an over hand face that leaves a small full face dutchman this allows you to leave a little hinge then creates a small ramp to let the tree start in the correct direction then pop off the side.

Quite true of course, but I have been working hard the last few of years to improve the accuracy of my cuts and get my feel for where the bar tip is more refined and predictable. Working on perfecting the fundamentals. I have been reading tricks and tips you and others have posted here for a few years now that I am anxious to try, but I can't do that with any safety if I don't have the basics nailed. It takes a lot of trees to get good enough. I am waiting to that 'right tree' to try a Dutchman with a snipe on the stump to steer it. All in due time, fundamentals matter a lot. When I taper a hinge on purpose (and I do often) to get some swing, that's OK, but when I do it by accident, I get mad at myself.