Felling Diagrams

[John Vander]

 

 



 



 

These are standard felling procedures for double leaders. In the first pic, the leaders are pretty low and are felled so they will fall away from each other. In the second pic, the scarf (left) is first prepared. Then the crotch is ripped by cutting down (no.1). A bore cut is done (no.2) that serves as a back cut. Once this leader is down, the remaining leader is felled standard. In the third pic, the weight of the leaders are in the same direction. The scarf is first set in place (left), followed by a downward cut to rip the crotch (no.1). The second cut, (bore cut) is a back cut to fell the first leader. A new scarf is then set in place where the crotch was ripped, followed by a standard back cut.

[MidWestTree]

Wonderful contribution!!! Thank you for taking the time to post these, most helpful for anyone looking for advice on felling technique's.

[John Vander]

You're welcome my friend. I'll add stuff as I get it done.

[luvmexfood]

John, again thinks for taking the time to do these. I had to do a double leader the other day and had not seen these yet. Never thought about the vertical cut. Went high and cut only thing I did not like was that I was cutting at eye level. Have another when I get in that area. Only thing it is a hickory with a major split in the area where the trunks come together.

Sort of figure when I make my face cut it may try and come down. Would like to salvage the logs. Am going to study on it before attempting. Would like the logs but may not attempt. My head, while ugly, looks pretty good where it is.

[John Vander]

luvmexfood: I'm glad you could benefit from these diagrams. That hickory with the split: at what angle is the leader hanging? Is the crotch below DBH?

[John Vander]

 

 

STORM DAMAGED HEAVY LEANER

This is a situation where the tree didn't come down all the way, but is leaning heavily. Bind up the leaner above the back cut area. Prepare a twin scarf, making sure that the scarfs meet correctly in the direction of the planned fell. Cut from the back SLOWLY and watch for movement. In softwood straight bole trees this works well, but in the case of hardwoods with trunks that carry a lot of weight in side branches special care should be taken. Heavy limbs could twist the tree and spin it around if the weight carried by the limbs does not face the same way the tree is leaning. Best to pull it down with heavy machinery. Use this method only where there is no access for machinery.

[Andyshine77]

Very nice diagrams, thanks for posting. Some of the felling books are in B&W and are not as easy to fallow, as these color coded diagrams.

[John Vander]

 

 

Fallen Tree on Slope

This is a sticky one. Major end bind is present on this tree. If the tree's roots are loose (no longer in the ground), the tree might slide down the slope if cut at the bole. If supporting bottom branches are cut, the tree might spin over. First remove the top limbs. Although they do not have as much bind in them as the bottom ones, they still can trap a saw quickly. Use the limb-lock method to take down the top branches first. Cut gingerly on the compression side of the limb, watching carefully since the cut will close real fast. DON'T cut too deep. Cut then from the tension side, bypassing the first cut to sever all fibers. Use the bottom branches of the tree to support the bole while cutting the top branches. This is for a medium sized tree. Large trees that hang off sloped way above DBH should rather be pulled down with a dozer.

[John Vander]

 

 


 

HEAVY LEANER HANGING

If the stump is cut without caution, this thing will fly up and take your head off. It's maximum top bind. Make a V-cut on the opposite side to get rid of some wood. Bore in and clear out the inside but be careful not to remove too much wood! Make sure the bore is in line with the V-cut. The bottom area "b" is not cut, but will help as a brake to slow down the opening of the cut. The weight of the tree needs to come to the ground first for safety sake. Use a shoulder cut bypassing the bore cut to sever all fibers. The shoulder will protect the saw as the root plate flies up.

[LaegersATC500R]

 I never knew there were so many ways to fell a tree. It's a nice compilation of techniques. Thanks for this thread!!

[Thehardway]

Thanks John,

It might be useful for a few of us to post some pictures of challenging trees and videos of real trees being felled which can be used as examples of the various cuts, tehcniques etc.  and then they can be critiqued by the FF community.  I always find a picture worth a thousand words and a video worth a million. 

[mesquite buckeye]

Great stuff John. I think it would be a nice addition to demonstrate/illustrate felling trees where high valued structures or growing stock are in the direction of the natural fall, such as side falling head leaners, or backfalling back leaners. These situations come up frequently in the forest, and many people would benefit from learning the special methods needed to deal with them, including the use of wedges, winches, comealongs etc.

[John Mc]

If you want to see some good how-to videos, just search for "James the narcoleptic tree cutter" on YouTube.

[mesquite buckeye]

I've seen those. Can't believe the guy is still alive.

[MidWestTree]

If you want to see some good how-to videos, just search for "James the narcoleptic tree cutter" on YouTube.

I just left YouTube, and my opinion regarding the worst climbers I have ever seen has been altered by the antics of James.

[JohnG28]

Wow. There are a lot of adjectives that I could think of to replace "narcoleptic" and still make a very accurate title also.  :D

[LaegersATC500R]

That guy (fool) needs a saw with out a chain. The world would be a safer place. There is no good reason in the world to do that type of tree work. huh-smiley

[John Mc]

That guy (fool) needs a saw with out a chain. The world would be a safer place. There is no good reason in the world to do that type of tree work. huh-smiley

Well, that was kind of the whole point of the video...

No safety gear and drunk is no way to operate a saw, even on the ground, let alone when climbing.  He also seems to have no idea what he's doing, which is bad enough in itself.

[luvmexfood]

luvmexfood: I'm glad you could benefit from these diagrams. That hickory with the split: at what angle is the leader hanging? Is the crotch below DBH?

Hohn Ive got to get back up their and look at it again. Best I remember split starts about 2 ft off ground and was probably 4 or 5 inches where the tree started forking which is around 4 feet u. Rest of each log is solid.

[John Vander]

 

 

BUTTRESS ROOTS
Make sure to cut buttress roots that will pull the tree off the desired falling direction! This also makes proper scarfing possible.

[John Vander]

 

 

Compromised Hinge

It is essential to make the back cut parallel to the scarf. If not, the the hinge will be of uneven strength across. The hinge might break loose on the weak side resulting in the faller losing control of the direction of the fall.

[shootingarts]

I don't want to sidetrack this great thread but I stumbled on the "James" youtube last night. Takes a lot of guts to even make spoof video's like that but I believe that is what they were. I do know for certain that some of the other tree felling mistakes by home owners and amateurs are spoofs, a friend and his in-laws are the ones responsible for several.

They make various fail tapes in the process of doing jobs safely while moving cameras around a bit and repositioning things after the fact. They have fun doing it and don't mind people laughing at their expense, that is why the tapes are made. I guess fifteen minutes of fame, also making their own fun.

Obviously some fail video's are real, got to take some with a pinch of salt though. I can't believe anyone would have "James" on their place five minutes, much less give him three tries!

Hu

[John Vander]

Thehardway: I don't own a camera :D but I can try to take some photos.

mesquite buckeye: I'll try to get some diagrams done for felling trees near structures.

[John Vander]

 

 

Felling a STAG

Stags are dead trees that have no top weight since there is no crown. Make the scarf deeper than usual (a) and set the back cut lower but NEVER at the same height as the scarf. Put a safety line (rope attached to the top of the tree to assist felling) in place.

[John Vander]

 

 

FISH CUT

Use this to avoid splitting on softwood trees. Works well when used with wing cuts. Bore into the apex of an open face cut about 6 inches.