How would you have removed this tree

[MF283]

I'd say if he had messed up, we wouldn't be seeing a video, luck, skill wins a lot, just looking at the surrounding, i'd say they didn't have the $$ to pay for a high price outfit.

Ronnie

 

[RobS]

My guess is the buildings were slated for demo anyway. Good skills but easily could have gone poorly...

 

[motownbrowne]

I did google it and I wouldn't make the back cut the way they did in all of the unsafe videos., they were much too sharp a slant and right to the point of the notch. The cut should end up above the point of the notch so that you still have a hinge.... and yes, so I don't have to use wedges. No need on a smallish tree like that. If it were a windy day or even a slight risk of that tree going the wrong way, we would climb it and put a long bull rope in the top and pull it along with the notch.... not trusting a wedge to send it the right way... not around houses... in the woods maybe ok. I agree he looked like he had droppod a lot of trees in the woods.

Climbing and setting a rope is always a good idea, but there's still no benefit to a sloped back cut. It certainly doesn't encourage the tree to fell one way or another.

 

[Ford850]

That's how the loggers do it here, and is almost an art to watch them.
It looks like a couple buildings they might be taking down anyway. Both have simple metal roofs with no fascia boards, soffits or gutters. The deck is falling apart. The power drop line from the pole was already disconnected and is coiled on the deck. At the end of the video you can see there are dozens of downed trees with a skidder right up close to the building.

 

[LD1]

I would have made the cut on the back side, away from the notch, above the notch about 2 inches and slanting down toward the notch. That way I wouldn't have to use wedges. I think he was lucky, thats all. I have dropped and watched my brother drop 100's of trees in his tree service. Who has their saw on the side the tree is going to fall? He is just lucky it didn't pinch the saw.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk0JSn5WDTE

The slanting back-cut thing is not a good method. It has no benefit, it prevents you from using wedges, and makes it unnecessarily difficult to line up the back cut with your hinge. If you're felling trees, there's no reason not to have wedges on your belt. They are great tools. What exactly do you think making the back cut on a slant achieves?? Google it, it's been thoroughly explained why it's not safe.

Regarding this video, I agree with the poster who said that the guy is a professional felling this tree at his home or the home of a friend. No way Joe Schmoe takes this one on and nails it like that.

I agree, no benefit to a sloped back cut. IT does nothing to prevent saw pinch. The notch cut and natural lean of the tree determine if a saw is gonna pinch. Wedges are assurance and can guide a tree to a precise location if you are good. Or can overcome a little natural lean and fell a tree in a direction other than it would normally want to go.

Have felled hundreds of trees myself. And the only thing a sloped back cut does is leave an ugly stump, and an ugly log

 

[Egon]

I agree, no benefit to a sloped back cut. IT does nothing to prevent saw pinch. The notch cut and natural lean of the tree determine if a saw is gonna pinch. Wedges are assurance and can guide a tree to a precise location if you are good. Or can overcome a little natural lean and fell a tree in a direction other than it would normally want to go.

Have felled hundreds of trees myself. And the only thing a sloped back cut does is leave an ugly stump, and an ugly log

If chained up right the sloped cut end drags easier!

 

[Ed of all trades]

When I first started I had an old logger tell me not to throw a tree where it will go easy. Always throw it to one side if you have room, that way when you need to you know what you are doing and what you can't do. Ed

 

[/pine]

When I first started I had an old logger tell me not to throw a tree where it will go easy. Always throw it to one side if you have room, that way when you need to you know what you are doing and what you can't do. Ed

I've cut my share of trees but whenever I get a chance to cut a healthy tree in an open area I always like to steer them a little away from their natural lean...specifically for honing felling skills...

 

[PhysAssist]

I'd say if he had messed up, we wouldn't be seeing a video, luck, skill wins a lot, just looking at the surrounding, i'd say they didn't have the $$ to pay for a high price outfit.

Ronnie

Sure we would, but on Tosh.0, Ridiculousness, AFV, or another show that uses videos ripped off from the interweb to give washed up actors and comedians some way to generate income and waste time.

 

[2ndhalf]

There is a reason that a licensed/bonded tree trimmer does things the way they do.. with Caution.. a tree that size hitting a house could completely make it unlivable and guess what, your building a new house... how much money did you save then.. hopefully you make enough off of AFV to build you a new place.

 

[SPYDERLK]

I agree, no benefit to a sloped back cut. IT does nothing to prevent saw pinch. The notch cut and natural lean of the tree determine if a saw is gonna pinch. Wedges are assurance and can guide a tree to a precise location if you are good. Or can overcome a little natural lean and fell a tree in a direction other than it would normally want to go.

Have felled hundreds of trees myself. And the only thing a sloped back cut does is leave an ugly stump, and an ugly log

Agree. Sloped back cuts are intuitively silly.

The hinge is what guides a tree to a precise location. Plastic felling wedges behind the saw can overcome slight balance problems and get the tree falling before you cut the hinge too thin. The hinge must remain intact for about 45 degrees to be fully effective. Minor wind will have no effect while the hinge lasts.

 

[5030]

I take down lots of trees and trim damage too, but in that instance, I'd hire a tree removal company and check their liability insurance policy and effective date before hand.

Better safe and covered than sorry about the outcome.

I had an addition built on my shop and the contractor told me he had insurance and I took his word for it. he fell off the roof and broke his back and tried to litigate against me. Just so happened I had 2 witnesses when he told me he was insured. His litigation failed plus he had to pay my insurance carrier back for attorney costs.

Honesty is always the best policy.

 

[CobyRupert]

Agree. Sloped back cuts are intuitively silly.

The hinge is what guides a tree to a precise location. Plastic felling wedges behind the saw can overcome slight balance problems and get the tree falling before you cut the hinge too thin. The hinge must remain intact for about 45 degrees to be fully effective. Minor wind will have no effect while the hinge lasts.

How do you keep the hinge intact for 45 degrees? Isn't brittleness of the fibers more related to the type of tree, season, etc..? Can relative height of the backcut to the open side wedge height effect how long hinge holds?

On another subject: Look at the last 2 seconds of vid where it shows the stump on the open face side. We never see what kind of wedge he cut on the trunk that falls, but judging from the uneven wedge cut on the stump, it seems lucky the trunk didn't kick left on it's way down.

 

[motownbrowne]

How do you keep the hinge intact for 45 degrees? Isn't brittleness of the fibers more related to the type of tree, season, etc..? Can relative height of the backcut to the open side wedge height effect how long hinge holds?

On another subject: Look at the last 2 seconds of vid where it shows the stump on the open face side. We never see what kind of wedge he cut on the trunk that falls, but judging from the uneven wedge cut on the stump, it seems lucky the trunk didn't kick left on it's way down.

Google "open-face notch". By making an open faced notch you make it so the hinge stays intact much longer than a standard or Humboldt face cut.

 

[LD1]

For control, a larger notch or open face is better. But pulls fibers and not a good thing for logging. Loggers use a smaller notch so once it starts to fall in the relative desired direction, the notch closes and pops the hinge with little fiber damage.

All this goes out the window on dead stuff. Degree of rot or deadness is unpredictable and therefore so is control without a line, or dropping a piece at a time

 

[oosik]

In this particular case, I don't think it makes a lot of difference whether this guy is a newbie or seasoned professional. Plain and simple LUCK had a lot to do with the outcome. Considering this was the one perfect outcome - there are at least half a dozen, less than perfect, alternate outcomes. This method is not the way a professional would have done it.

 

[turnkey4099]

Agree. Sloped back cuts are intuitively silly.

The hinge is what guides a tree to a precise location. Plastic felling wedges behind the saw can overcome slight balance problems and get the tree falling before you cut the hinge too thin. The hinge must remain intact for about 45 degrees to be fully effective. Minor wind will have no effect while the hinge lasts.

It also clues on that the faller was a rank amatuer. I heard of a guy got an 'in' to cut black locust (rareity in these parts) and took out a power pole. Ihad be sort chasing that site myself so went out to look. Stump clearly showed that he had tried to use the sloping cut plus wedge to try to force the tree opposite the lean. I had eyeballed that tree myself and knew it leaned wrong. $10,000 later he was a wiser person. I heard that his home insurance paid.

Harry K

 

[sea2summit]

It also clues on that the faller was a rank amatuer. I heard of a guy got an 'in' to cut black locust (rareity in these parts) and took out a power pole. Ihad be sort chasing that site myself so went out to look. Stump clearly showed that he had tried to use the sloping cut plus wedge to try to force the tree opposite the lean. I had eyeballed that tree myself and knew it leaned wrong. $10,000 later he was a wiser person. I heard that his home insurance paid.

Harry K

Honestly I think the other guy is the home owner and tried to do it and the feller is a friend that came to the rescue. In the first part of the vid it looks like they are talking direction of fall and the feller motions he's going to take it the other way IMHO.