Windy days are interesting when your hand falling and im sure you guys have something to say about it. ;D
Reminds me of this song I found a few weeks ago!
http://youtu.be/jPZ6Tc1ySOI
And yes I do end up cutting in the wind more than I'd like and have a few stories aswell
Amen to that maine logger88 ive had that song in my head a lot on windy days
Cutting big, tall trees on windy days?
I don't.
yep DON"T...
have had the wind pick up on me in the middle of a cut, that always sucks, and there always seems to be a house or something near by... Otherwise I try to avoid it.
I was cutting hemlock one summer the wind was picken up like crazy big storm blowing in was my last hitch of the day , I put a notch in it and it had a dirty lean down hill on the slope I started in with my back cut it started to go I swear it was a 1/3rd of the way over and the wind grabbed it and pushed it right back up the hill, scared the crap right outa me!!
I don't cut on windy days I buck logs or haul some to the mill. With the dead ash around here it is not safe on a calm day let alone on a windy one .
I don't cut in the wind much anymore since im my own boss. But used to all the time when I had a boss. Its never a good idea especially not in EAB infested ash. Ash is dangerous in the winter even if its a good lively tree.
Lumberjack48 got paralyzed hand falling on a windy day :(
Only Sunny James song I knew was Running Bear.
I try to not even go up in my woods on a windy day.
Yeah bad things happen in strong winds. Can happen on a calm day but a guy more than doubles risk in the wind. Real sorry to hear that
I haven't seen Lumberjack48 post anything in a long tome. Anyone know how he is doing?
My dad got killed hand falling on a windy day.I don't mind cutting in the wind, no match cutting though only hinge cut.
I've done it and have quit because it got too hairy. I don't and won't do it now. A breezy day isn't bad but windy is. I won't cut with the harvester if it's blowing too hard.
I don't even hunt on windy days...way too much stuff hanging over your head ready to come down. Was cutting a big tree one day when the wind was blowing and it almost got me. Had the notch cut and was making the falling cut and a gust of wind came and hit the tree and it just splintered. It was like a bomb went off in it. lol Had the falling cut about 1/2 done. Had to buy a few new parts for my saw but not for me. It was close though. That was enough for me.
Bet you needed new skivvies though. ;D I nearly got nailed by a branch while loading fire wood on a windy day, shut that down in a hurry.
My worst windy day was my fault along with the wind of course. I had cut a white oak and it set back but didn't pinch my saw so I went looking for one to knock it over with. Well I found a good candidate so I started in on it. As I was cutting it I felt the ground shake, I was knelt down on my knee because I was cutting it low to the ground. I looked over my left shoulder and there was the before said tree. It came to rest not 5 feet from me. The wind rocked it enough to break the hinge. Had ear plugs in and never hard a thing. Ive cut many windy days since but always with my head on a swivel.
When I was learning to cut, I was cutting lodgepole one windy day. I got out and was nervous. walked up to the stand, looked up, and the trees were clacking together, looked at the base and the whole ground was moving around the root wads. I walked back to the truck and the two loggers I was working for looked and me with grins and said, "what ya thinking about? Those dancing trees make you a little nervous?" I said yes. They said "lets go" and we left.
since then I have learned at about what is too much wind and what is just annoying. Some trees aren't too big of a deal like lodgepole. But fir or spruce around here I am much more touchy about.
I never cut into a head wind, ever.
one morning it was super cold and we were wrenching. we had built a fire to keep warm on the edge of the timber in an open area and watched a spruce top break out and go sailing about 30 feet from the trunk, it was about 16 inches at the break, we thought we were safe until a aspen crashed 2 feet from us while we were standing around the fire. We promptly left.
Some wind is ok, you get used to it, sometimes you have to.
Strong wind is stupid. when you hear it moan through the cables on the processor, its time to go.
Some days it's not even safe to drive through the forest.
Dash cam from Aussie last month. Pretty close call.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk3NNwJLNA0
Im thinking its time to let this post go. Im sorry to bring up bad memories by making the post. I meant well and looked at it as a conversation point. I can laugh at my bad days in the wind. I hurt when i hear some of your stories.
Ianab! My first reaction was that the car was driving on the wrong side of the road. :D
Quote from: so il logger on January 20, 2015, 02:47:36 AM
Im thinking its time to let this post go.
Why ? Nothing wrong with it. There might be a few more comments coming. I too have done things who probably weren't
save at that time. Now I am trying to avoid it when ever i can.
threads like this, while sometimes painful, serve a really useful purpose for some of us less experienced guys. watch to watch for, things to consider, etc etc...
Yes im all for this post as well, I started it as a conversation topic. I hate to hear that a logger has been paralized or lost his life because of the wind. We know it happens and I wasnt trying to bring up bad things. I meant cutting on windy days and how big of pain it is, dealing with the wind and at the same time cutting production. Just be safe out there it don't matter if its windy or calm.
Nothing wrong with this topic. Before I started reading on here and learning I would have thought nothing of going out in a hurricane and cutting trees. Learned thru posts such as this the dangers of cutting in wind.
This guy right here is a loose cannon for sure! OMG....40 mph gusting winds :o
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQfCUegWbVU
That looks like the black oak I've been cutting, hollow for 10' >:( :( .
Yep...lost 8 or 10 feet on that one...makes for a poor production day with tons of gas usage.
Was cutting a tall poplar Tuesday. Not even what one would call a breeze blowing. Had notch cut and plunged in on both sides and made my hinge. Started the backcut and when got a good backcut going removed the saw to set a wedge.
Breeze blowed the tree causing it to set down on the backcut. Was able to get in a couple of wedges and brought it back except for one side. Long story short after finishing the cut and adding another wedge it went down at a 90 deg angle from the intended direction. Actually worked out better for skidding.
Black oak has been running bad around here too. Had some that would'nt clear up just had to leave whole tree's in the woods. Be safe
I usually cut redwood, fir, pine, and cedar in northern California and southern Oregon. You guys that cut multi stem hardwoods might not be able to use some of our tricks but maybe something will be useful.
I'll cut in quite a bit of wind if the wind favors the lead. If the wind is pushing in the direction of the lead it usually works out pretty good. If I'm quartering across a hill or laying directly across with the wind quartering behind me I can usually play the wind a little, use a tapered hinge or a kerf dutchman and stay in lead.. The back cut needs to be done as fast as possible to avoid a barber chair.
I'll usually start wedging early and stay wedged up tight if the tree is coming down on the wedges and then lifting off of them as the wind moves it. If I can I'll stack two wedges so the tree doesn't set back as far on the recoil from the wind. Pine and fir are easy to holdup with stacked wedges but our cedar, especially the old growth or old second growth, can be brittle. If you try to lift it too much when you're sawed up quite a ways it can snap the hinge before you're ready. I watch cedar real close when it's windy.
If I'm using jacks and the wind doesn't favor the lead I'll watch the gauge on the jacks extra close. The recoil from the wind...the tree setting down on the back cut... can redline the jacks. You don't want a blow out.
All that being said, I've never seen an accident or a fatality that could be directly attributed to cutting in too much wind. I'm sure there have been some, I've just never personally seen any. The reason for that is that when it gets bad enough that all of our little tricks don't work any more and things start going sideways we just call it a day and pack out. That's our decision to make. We don't make it lightly because a short day equals short money but we don't want anyone getting hurt either.
There have been people who argued with us when we quit because of the wind but we don't usually work for people like that if we can help it.
Thanks for the reply I like learning from other pro's from different regions. We live in two different worlds as far as how our species of timber reacts. I blame it on heavy tops around here. Not many trees can we make a face and then back cut from the rear goin toward the face without having a barber chair. Most guys around here make theyre notch and then bore behind the notch to leave a narrow hinge and clean the center section before turning loose of the trigger wood "back cut" I use a technique alot called match cut. Although isn't near as safe. Just be safe out there
Agree with gologit - I too cut 95% conifer softwoods [spruce, pine, larch, fir, etc] and use the wind to my advantage, when it is in my favor. It is all about timing, using wedges and having a very sharp fast saw to finish the backcut at the appropriate time. I do not cut in major wind strom, but most afternoons, local winds often develop and one can use them to your advantage.
Tom
Did one job, nice fir two to three foot, wind was blowing steady not gusting, I was falling and my partner was bunching behind me with a excavator and it went so fast he couldn't keep up with me. Wind can make or break you, common sense and experience are your guidelines.
Yes sir, I fully agree thank you john woodworth for the reply.