should've stayed inside

[Skeans1]

One thing I'll do well cutting is throw a bobber wedge in the back cut to read if it tips up you need to beat that wedge, bobs down and she's starting to go time to start looking up to see what's going on in the canopy. You guys might also look up the BC safety videos GOL is ok in some situations but it's not something I'd all your chips into that basket the BC will show you another style of cutting like we do out here on the west coast where we're required to directional fall timber for lines as well as safety.

[mike_belben]

Indicator wedge..  Brilliant!

[Skeans1]

Most of the time I'll use a 15" wedge as an indicator as well as a pounder on smaller timber it's faster and easier then an axe.

[crazy4saws]

Barge thank you for the generous offer, I'll get with you once I tear the saw down.

Paul, I had a good laugh when i read your post. I think ups can handle this Trip! Although I wouldn't mind seeing Barges set up and all the irons he has in the fire. Busy man!
So if I put some of those "turbo" stickers on my orange saws will they cut faster???

Skeans1, that 1st picture I was attempting to pull away from a young walnut. But I'm not experienced enough to do it well, it worked ok this time.

Mapleflats, I used the open face and bore to set hinge then out the back up until a year ago. I liked it because I could inspect the hinge wood before releasing. I've been watching jack, hotsaws101 on YouTube, so I've been trying more of the conventional way with mixed success. I had previously watched the video you posted.

I have tried to work with loggers in my area, provide my labor and watch them fall trees but no luck. I understand it's a liability. I've tried studying stumps from the recent logging of my neighbors woods and watch videos. Nothing quite like doing it with your hands.

Thanks everyone for the support. I'll post what the damage looks like this weekend.

[Skeans1]

I cut a lot like Jack does most of us on the west coast do if you watch any of us we flip the saw and walk the tip around well cutting setting our hinge in oversized wood it takes a while and it helps sometimes to put a stick in the back cut so you know exactly where your bars is, another thing we use the sight lines on the saws well back cutting as gauge.

[maple flats]

In GOL we had to fall against the lean too, as part of our final test. I was lucky and dropped mine directly on the stake, and won a Husky Forestry Helmet.
Thinking back to the mid 70's I almost had another day I should have stayed inside. I was working for family who had a camp on a local lake. I did some carpentry and insulating. When I had finished, they asked if I could drop a tree who's trunk was only about 6" from the overhang of an outbuilding they wanted me to make into a guest cabin. I looked at the tree, it was straight, single stem and from the ground it looked healthy. This was summer and all limbs had good leaf on them. I then asked if it could be dropped straight away from the cabin and they said yes. I then cut the wedge cut in the face and checked the direction it would fall. All was till good. Then I got 2 plastic wedges ready (I think they were the first ever plastic ones for me) and then I started to cut from the back. The tree was about 12-14" at the cut. I cut in just about 1.5-2" and the tree started to fall at right angles. I just stood back and watched in utter dis-belief. As the tree came down it hit the power lines about 50' away along the dirt camp road. It tipped six poles as the wires hit the ground. I then went to ask the owner who the power company was and if they had a phone number I could call.
I called and explained that I had dropped a tree which pulled 6 poles partially over. They came with 1 big truck and 3 pickup trucks each with 2 men in them. The workers worked on the poles, by pushing them upright using a long pole with a Y fork on the end. That pole was about 16-18' long. All of the poles were "junior" poles, meaning they were only about 15-16' out of the ground and were only about 7-8" diameter at the ground. While one or 2 workers pushed each pole upright another thru a stone or 2 in the space and kicked it down with the heal of their boot. They then walked to the end of the road to check to see if any wires had been pulled from any of the camps towards the end. Nothing turned out to be pulled loose. I then asked the supervisor how much this was going to cost me. He asked me for the story again, studied the stump, looked at the tree and then said, we could have done the same thing, no charge. I was very relieved. Had that been the power company that serves my home about 30 miles away, I'd still be paying.
Looking at the stump after the tree was down, the wedge looked perfect and it was solid wood. The rest was dead and rotted except the back 2". I had cut all but about 1/4" of the good wood at the wedge cut and all of the good wood on the back cut. That could have had a much worse ending.
I now never cut trees close to any structure.