Advanced Falling Cuts

[RHP Logging]

Yeah he told me he was up that way a while back.  Good timber too if i recall. 

My trees here average 200bf per tree. There are jobs where the average gets up to 500bf.  I buck in the woods(forwarder) and cut pulp out of tops or surrounding pole wood so that 15-1600bf number is the total volume converted.  Thats scribner.  I know doyle is a touch different.  I work alone so i cut half/skid half per day. I've never cut tree length in the woods.  When i got started i just wanted to cut.  Just didn't happen that way.  Had to make my own show.

Clint is a good guy.

[teakwood]

When you post a link of a video take the s out of https, just http. then the video appears in the post, i learned that here in the FF.

[RHP Logging]

When you post a link of a video take the s out of https, just http. then the video appears in the post, i learned that here in the FF.

I just tried that, didn't work.  I hit the "insert a link" button and pasted the address in there. Is there another way?  Maybe I'm takin the wrong address. I did it fine on another site, but they have different buttons over there.

[1270d]

Just highlight the URL of your video then copy it by pressing ctrl c.   When writing your post, press ctrl v to paste your link in.    Then you can remove the "s" to have the video show instead of a link.

[John Mc]

Thanks for the video, RHP. It's an interesting cut.

One of the problems with trying to film yourself cutting, once the camera is set up to show the cut, it's hard to see what's happening to the tree. Does the tree actually change direction on the way down (for example: start falling due east, then swing a bit to the south), or is it just a way to overcome back lean without using a wedge?

[treeslayer2003]

bitz you go just a little farther around with the kerfs than i do......of course it depends on the stick. about half the time it will pinch my tip just for a second as it turns on the stump. i always think it went well if the top kerf breaks down.

[treeslayer2003]

Thanks for the video, RHP. It's an interesting cut.

One of the problems with trying to film yourself cutting, once the camera is set up to show the cut, it's hard to see what's happening to the tree. Does the tree actually change direction on the way down (for example: start falling due east, then swing a bit to the south), or is it just a way to overcome back lean without using a wedge?

yes, it will start on the soft dutchman and as the kerfs close up the stem will actually turn into the face. assuming your hold wood is holding/pulling.
i will usually but not always combine it with a sizwheel.

[RHP Logging]

Just highlight the URL of your video then copy it by pressing ctrl c.   When writing your post, press ctrl v to paste your link in.    Then you can remove the "s" to have the video show instead of a link.

Thanks, I will have to give that a try.  Hows loggin up there goin?

[treeslayer2003]

Not particularly advanced technique on this one but it was on a day that tested me as a faller yesterday. Strong wind in one direction. I had a lot of fun using the wind to set my lead, didn't use a wedge all day and had a lot of back leaners.

I had to stayed glued to the stump on each one to make sure it didn't pull up the trunk.

Humboldt with a snipe and chased full throttle down to the ground



I generally make my sight cut right above the flare easier and faster.

I don't ussually use anything more then working the hinge on the way down to swing soft wood which is what I mostly cut. I'm anxious to get into some hardwood soon so I can try out some of these cuts particularly sizwheel.

the sizwheel works dang nice in the bigger yellow pine down here  ;)

[RHP Logging]

Like treeslayer said it does come around to the front.  I wish i could get about three cameras on it to get all the angles.  Still doesn't do justice to being there.  The tree was leaned to the southeast and faced to the north.  Basically you are undercutting the tree so it drops out towards the east and then as it hits the next kerf it keeps moving more north and so on.  You can see the movement in the kerfs closing and the stem comeing around.  To sum it up you are pre-sawing lean into the tree.  When i orignally nipped the back it wanted to sit back.  So i nipped the front and it sat out to the east a touch (kerf closes up). Then i nip the back, watch tree move east and a little north, repeat until its finally working on its own..  I didn't have much holding wood left, but there usually isn't.  The thing is the multiple kerfs give the tree somewhat of a "soft" movement meaning it doesn't put the pressure on the holding wood like a regular dutchman would.

[RHP Logging]

bitz you go just a little farther around with the kerfs than i do......of course it depends on the stick. about half the time it will pinch my tip just for a second as it turns on the stump. i always think it went well if the top kerf breaks down.

The first kerf should be halfway through the entire tree. I guess it depends on the tree like you said for the other kerfs, but it seems like you need them where the tree needs to sit out and drop down so it can come around.

[CCC4]

My main stay is the single kerf dutchman but I will throw a soft Dutchman ever once in a while. Also been known to throw a thin, fairly deep conventional in the compression corner then the tree finalizes into my Humbolt...seems to get things moving pretty good.

[1270d]

Just highlight the URL of your video then copy it by pressing ctrl c.   When writing your post, press ctrl v to paste your link in.    Then you can remove the "s" to have the video show instead of a link.

Thanks, I will have to give that a try.  Hows loggin up there goin?

It isn't going.   Snowing now and going to be cold for a week or more, just not cold enough to hold the trucks up.    Once the weather starts looking up we can put up some wood. 

[RPowers]

I'm really liking this thread. Thanks for sharing guys!

[killamplanes]

Hey sorry for late reply bad storms took wifi out. I cut for myself by timber lump sum with tree count ie 200 trees in 40ac 30k whatever very little shares here. I sell to probly 5 mill veneer exporter down to blocking I have a small mill and cut ties mainly sycomore odd ball stuff I cant get mills to pay up for the grade mill I use 3hour round trip. Lots of time spent in my truck work by myself 100% of time not for the werry. But I do good. Stay booked a year out 2 sometimes but I pay up front get to it when I get there.. not for everybody but works for me I cut cut good timber I can be choosee because I one guy not tryin to keep crew busy but u aint gonna steal timber here bring big check book and now ur markets..

[RHP Logging]

Don't worry about me, i start feelin all dirty when i get close to the state line!  Haha!

[RHP Logging]

Like CCC4 said the single kerf(plain ole Dutchman) is a main stay.  I use it everyday and it saves a lot of time instead of wedging.  This ash was leaned out to the left. In terms of how I laid it out and where it was leaning- lets say where I faced it was 12 o clock.  It leaned at 9 o clock.  If I cut it with the lean it would have gone down the shorter part of the hill as well as split the crotch.   My guess is I wouldn't have had much left other than a short butt log.  Where I laid it out the ground was longer and I got the crotch to lay flat.  This saved out all the logs. Yes I did pull some of the side out, but it really just saved the debarker some work.  Usually the stump pulls instead, but this ash was pretty high and dry up on this hill.  Of course I didn't clear as much from in front of the camera as I could have, but I cut the entire far side of the hinge off first(the 9  o clock side under the lean). Could I have done the same with a full hinge and a wedge, maybe?  I don't know that I could have gotten it on the longer sidehill without swinging it some. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J1u_8NRTVt4&feature=youtu.be

[RHP Logging]

Heres another regular Dutchman in use.  You can see the limb weight and lean of this hard maple is out over the shed.  Hard maple does not hold particularly long on the stump when swinging, but this one came around.  Removing the far side of the hinge in a Dutchman usually gets the movement going sooner than if I had left  a full hinge.  Could the same have been accomplished with a full hinge and a little wedging?  Probably, but this cut does save time and energy as well as allowing more options to fall back on.

I still couldn't get the video to show up in the post after trying the options mentioned.  I'm probably missing something dumb.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49f9div3Wdo&feature=youtu.be

[Peter Drouin]

Nice job, What are the silver things hanging on your shirt? There's one on each side.

[Autocar]

For myself I like low stumps flat as the dinner table and know splinter pull. I run a 32 inch bar and I always swing the heart out and leave only a small wedge on eather side of my knotch. Always carry a axe and two wedges and would fell lost with out them. The past few years with the dead ash I will put my knotch in then bore thur till my bar comes out the other side then get my hinge set up then swing on thur having compleate control of the tree till it tips over. Not a big hinge fan but will use it on small trees. Not any names on my cutting other then 44 years of Autocars way  ;D     We all have different ways and as long as we all come home safe each night from the woods we are on the right track !

[John Mc]

To include a video in the thread, try cutting off the end of the web address you been using: the part that says "&feature=youtu.be". I'm not positive this will work, and I don't have a video to try it with right now, but I know that part is not needed to get you to the video. (might try this with and without the "s" in "https")

[RHP Logging]

Nice job, What are the silver things hanging on your shirt? There's one on each side.

Thank you.  They are tally clickers.  I keep track of trees and logs.  Thats how i know where i'm at for the day or job. I keep em in the forwarder too.  Counting bunks of logs and pulp.

[Peter Drouin]

That is a great idea. 8)

[isaaccarlson]

It is nice to read such a polite and open discussion on felling!  I have used the soft dutchman on more trees than I care to count.  The way it gets cut can be a bit different from tree to tree, but you can swing them up to a full half turn if the wood is good and the tree is set up for it.  I manage a tree lot for a guy and he pays me real well for my time.  It is mostly white oak with some red oak mixed in.  Good stuff.  There are a few nice saw logs in there but they are smaller.  He makes firewood.  I have to swing trees half of the time just to snake them between keepers.  Sometimes I climb and trim the top out so I can drop a stem.  His lot has a lot of leaners and dead wood.  It is looking much better now and will be full of nice white oak in another 20 years.

Again, thanks for the awesome conversation and manners!

[John Mc]

I agree, this is an interesting discussion, which has avoided one school of thought trying to "out macho" the other. That's one of the reasons I spend time here, and have largely given up on other, related sites. The open, collaborative atmosphere beats the trolls and juvenile insults any day.