Solo felling with an axe

[Will.K]

Any advice? 

[Roundhouse]

I'd look for trees 4" DBH and under.

[Old Greenhorn]

I'd look for trees 4" DBH and under.

Now that is funny!
 But seriously folks..... Will what is the issue you are dealing with? After Jeff's video I realized it has been a long time since I dropped a tree with and ax, so the next time I am cutting I may just do one for the fun of it to see if I still remember. The problem with ax falling is you can't get a low stump that way, so I will have to clip it off with the saw anyway. :D

[RichTired]

A good sharp axe as per honest Abe!
Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe.
Abraham Lincoln

[Will.K]

I'll be working on a project on State land, clearing some lanes for recreational use. The stumps aren't a problem, I'm making "fairways" for a disc golf course. I want to use an axe for a few reasons: because I enjoy it, because the time and labor investment helps me be more selective, because I want to walk into the (secluded) woods with a light load and not worry about gas, oil, and engine noise. I will be cutting a lot of little trees, and a few big ones. I've cut down a lot of trees with a chainsaw, but never was taught by an expert. I want to protect myself, as much as is reasonable, from my own possibly dangerous instincts. 

[DonW]

It might be a bit simple, but give yourself plenty of clearance of even the smallest twigs which can at the very least cause a distraction if not deflection. 

Really it's most efficient and leaves a better looking stump when you saw in, (not really up on the felling jargon), and then notch down with the axe. A nice one-man log saw can be as much fun as axes even though they can be unhandy to transport back in.

[thecfarm]

An axe should spit out be chunks of wood.  ;)
What are you going to do with the limbs and wood?
I do a lot on my land, with a chainsaw. I cut down a tree and saw any limbs really no longer than 2 feet long, or try too. Two reasons, one so a long limb can't damage my tractor and it gets the wood, limbs, I leave behind on the ground to rot quicker. When I haul out the big wood, when standing back at where the tree fell, there are no limbs sticking up in the air.

[Nebraska]

If noise is an issue, maybe one of these new electric chainsaws?

[Old Greenhorn]

Sounds to me like you just want to use an Axe, just because. I don't blame you. For smaller trees like that might I suggest looking at a Hudson's Bay Ax. It's a much lighter ax with a 3/4 handle should do well on small trees. I just wonder about all the punji sticks you will have sticking up around the place.
 If it's just the noise/gas/peacefulness thing, perhaps a bow saw would fit the bill better? Quick, low clean cuts, no noise.

[Will.K]

I'm trying to eliminate tiny stumps by cutting saplings at ground level or, in the case of these honeysuckle trees, chopping the biggest roots and tearing the whole thing out of the ground. I can pinch off stuff up 2.5" with my big shears. A bow saw is a good recommendation, I left mine in the woods in another state a while back. From what I've walked around and seen this morning, there will be about thirty trees in the six to ten inch range, and maybe five in the twelve to twenty. Nothing massive. I will drag most of this stuff to brush piles, limbing as needed. Anything the park wants to use I will limb and leave on the ground for them to retrieve. They have a lot of fancy gear, and I'll let them deal with big stumps if they wish. This is volunteer labor. The trees are tulip poplar, hackberry, buckeye, and a few hickories, not much of value. I'll probably use the hickory to make a couple of little bridges here on site. 

[DonW]

When you will be moving the fallen stems and not just letting them lie where they land I would also want a sappie or two, aka pickaroon. 

[mike_belben]

an arborist saw will smoke a bowsaw these days and fit in a nice hip holster.  baileys has many and they are lighting fast, super light etc. 

[mike_belben]

notching bigger trees with an ax is fine, and maybe taking a bit out of the back cut with an ax, but i think youd to better to finish them off with a crosscut and keep at least one wedge.  an large arborist saw will do okay up to about 12" butt cutts but youll be doing a lot of short strokes compared to a longer, bulkier one man crosscut. 

[HemlockKing]

An axe should spit out be chunks of wood.  ;)
What are you going to do with the limbs and wood?
I do a lot on my land, with a chainsaw. I cut down a tree and saw any limbs really no longer than 2 feet long, or try too. Two reasons, one so a long limb can't damage my tractor and it gets the wood, limbs, I leave behind on the ground to rot quicker. When I haul out the big wood, when standing back at where the tree fell, there are no limbs sticking up in the air.

Same here c farm, I dice everything up really finely under 2 foot to lay and rot, you can take a whole overgrown area, thin it and dice the slashing sand it will lay so flat you can easily walk and drive in there

[SpaceBus]

I agree with several of the members above. A nice bow saw or one man crosscutting saw would be a lot less effort and also very quiet. I've felled some mimosa trees in the 10-12" range with a bow saw and found it to be fairly easy. With an axe it was not nearly as enjoyable. 

[TmbrWlkr]

Ok - here goes; I am going to be a Sally Safety but - If you don't have a lot of experience with an axe, and you are going to be using it below knee height ( either for felling or bucking), you should Really consider getting steel toed boots, and shin guards.  Baileys or Forestry Suppliers shells shin guards.  Axes make nasty cuts etc, etc,etc .      There is kind of a romantic image of walking into the woods with a 5' one man saw over your shoulder and an axe in the other hand.  Go for it is my advice - volunteer labor, do what is enjoyable.

[BradMarks]

Axe and hand saw. I've taken out some big Yew(yrs ago) with hand tools when we couldn't get a waiver for chainsaws (fire danger). Two man crosscut for the face line, chopping ax for the face cut, and the saw for the backcut. It reminded me of the saying "when men were men". You will drink a lot of water.

[DonW]

 

 Here's a shot of axed stumps left after some long ago clearing, hard to say how long ago. 

 They are consistently pitched so there was an intention behind the way in which they have been cut. Because they are weathered I understand it could be speculative to make the claim an axe was used but this seems pretty conclusive

 A sawn example from a later felling

 In the same clearing

[Trackerbuddy]

Been along time since I cut down a real tree with an axe.  It was hard work and took about half an hour.  I haven't done it again if that tells you anything.  
My advice is to have a very sharp tool 
Watch some YouTube videos https://youtu.be/-GEii9zLVt0
And have fun

[Sauna freak]

I cut down a lot of trees with an axe or Forest service issue Pulaski back in the day.  The largest was a monster sized ~40" White Pine snag that was burning up the middle on top and chugging out sparks like a Mississippi steamboat and spotting across the line.  This was on a few Boundary Waters Wilderness fires I was deployed to where power tools were a no-no and we made do with what we had. I was a lot younger then, and a rather athletic and hardened individual with the physique of a Viking raider, but still fell an occasional tree with an axe just to see if I still have it.

Basic directional felling using the inertia of the tree still comes into play, but wedging is difficult.  There are ways to add a notch and leverage to the equation, but they are all but lost to the sands of time and could not easily be conveyed over the internets.  You basically open your face at aprox 45 degrees after clearing a path for your swings.  You then open your back cut also at about 45 degrees, a little bit above your face cut.  As you near your 5-10% of tree diameter hinge, you drive partially through with downward angled strikes across the back cut, and be ready to push or run like hell, depending on how well you gauged your trees potential energy.

[Will.K]

I cut down a lot of trees with an axe or Forest service issue Pulaski back in the day.  The largest was a monster sized ~40" White Pine snag that was burning up the middle on top and chugging out sparks like a Mississippi steamboat and spotting across the line.  This was on a few Boundary Waters Wilderness fires I was deployed to where power tools were a no-no and we made do with what we had. I was a lot younger then, and a rather athletic and hardened individual with the physique of a Viking raider, but still fell an occasional tree with an axe just to see if I still have it.

Basic directional felling using the inertia of the tree still comes into play, but wedging is difficult.  There are ways to add a notch and leverage to the equation, but they are all but lost to the sands of time and could not easily be conveyed over the internets.  You basically open your face at aprox 45 degrees after clearing a path for your swings.  You then open your back cut also at about 45 degrees, a little bit above your face cut.  As you near your 5-10% of tree diameter hinge, you drive partially through with downward angled strikes across the back cut, and be ready to push or run like hell, depending on how well you gauged your trees potential energy.

Thanks! I'm learning a little bit from old books too.

[Will.K]

Ok - here goes; I am going to be a Sally Safety but - If you don't have a lot of experience with an axe, and you are going to be using it below knee height ( either for felling or bucking), you should Really consider getting steel toed boots, and shin guards.  Baileys or Forestry Suppliers shells shin guards.  Axes make nasty cuts etc, etc,etc .      There is kind of a romantic image of walking into the woods with a 5' one man saw over your shoulder and an axe in the other hand.  Go for it is my advice - volunteer labor, do what is enjoyable.

I'm not exactly a romantic. I just wish to decline, in all areas of life, superfluous things. 

[Sauna freak]

I will add, that in felling with an axe, sharpness and quality of the steel and design of the head are paramount.  Most of the axes available today at hardware stores, etc should have "" marks around the word axe.  They're designed (if any design work even occurred) for splitting of kindling and such.  The edge angle is too obtuse, and on single bit axes, the edge is too rounded without enough weight on the toe and often rounded at the heel.  The more expensive Scandinavian made axes are an exception.

In Northern MN, our fire cache still had a good number of 1930's CCC pulaskis and double bit cruising axes in inventory, many with shiney new handles installed by someone who knew what they were doing.  They were a quality head, and had generally been well maintained over the years by some of the old lumberjacks who ran the shop.  I always carried a file and stone with me, and kept mine razor sharp, taking care to maintain the proper angle of edge and not round out the toe and heel.  I also carried a few thick copper nails found around the shop (I think they were used at one time for embossing a date on survey marks) if a handle loosened up.  Driving one or 2 into the eye was an easy field expedient fix for shrunken wood.

If you've got the strength to swing it, a pulaski makes a marvelous felling axe with the added bonus of a root grubbing end for that kind of work.  Even the new made ones are pretty well made that I've seen, although the handles can be hit or miss. They run heavier than the CCC ones, as I believe those took more time to grind away some excess steel gaining almost a hollow grind to the cutting edge.  Look for grain flow through the handle, not angling out the side or edge at any point, and no sapwood.

[Daburner87]

What kind of ax are you using Will?  

Have you read The Ax Book by D. Cook? It is the bible of ax related information. It is one hell of a good read.  A Lansky puck is something I recommend.  Fits easily in your pocket for sharpening.

My advice cant match what I learned reading the ax bible, but my simple  recommendation is use accuracy over brawn.    Ive seen guys swinging like mad men and tire themselves out in two minutes, and those sloppy over powered swings cant match a consistently paced snappy accurate whip of the ax.


Somewhere on youtube there is a video of a couple of old men who outwork a couple of muscle heads by slow and steady accurate ax swings.

Be patient.  Felling a tree with an ax is not a race.

[Will.K]

I'm using two axes, one with a double bit, no markings I can see, that I've had around for years, and a a heavy single bit junker for chopping out roots. The double bit has been through some hard times and the edge isn't exactly smooth but it sharpens and cuts surprisingly well. I'm also using a little Eastwing camp axe for swinging in awkward spots. 

 I'm a scrawny lad, and learned a long time ago that I wasn't going to overpower much.