Cherry tree bucked

Soundchasm · Mar 26, 2014

I've got the tree bucked and have begun to split, so the pic is before splitting. 35 rounds on the ground, and another three in the stump, surely. There are only a few limbs. Rounds are 16" since that's the bar length of my Husky 435. I'm sort of proud of bu cking it flat on the ground and never grounding the saw. Well, maybe barely once or twice. Diameter is <24" at the largest piece.

My plan for the stump is to see if I can cut straight horizontal at 16" lengths. I ordered some plastic felling wedges (5.5") and think I see how to do it in my imagination.

Absolutely HATED to have it taken down and discover it wasn't diseased like its neighbors who volunteered to go horizontal. But I don't think any other trees can hit the house, and a red oak is already planted.

splitoak · Mar 26, 2014

Cherry is probally one of my favorite woods...smells good..splits well and burns hot..lookin good..

Ralphie Boy · Mar 26, 2014

Nice, and so close!

splitoak · Mar 26, 2014

Its strange to me..all the cherry ove cut so far has smooth bark and the ridges go E/W like these pics..are they a different species or what?

Ram 1500 with an axe... · Mar 26, 2014

Looks like a very nice batch of cherry to me.... Have fun splitting.....

mass_burner · Mar 26, 2014

splitoak said:
Its strange to me..all the cherry ove cut so far has smooth bark and the ridges go E/W like these pics..are they a different species or what?

smooth bark, the cherry I've seen here the bark will scrape your skin off.

splitoak · Mar 26, 2014

Here is a pic....smooth as in not like oak...the pieces here on the right you can see it...all this is cherry.....just the big rounds in the front

Jon1270 · Mar 26, 2014

I bucked a cherry yesterday myself, not quite as big -- maybe 20" dbh and not nearly as conveniently located. It had blown over across a gully, with the butt jacked up off the ground a couple of feet, sitting on the root ball. Several rounds rolled down into the hollow and will have to be hoisted out somehow. There was air space below on almost every cut so the saw never got near the dirt, but the stresses involved made it the trickiest cutting I've ever had to do (which, admittedly, isn't saying much). I managed to get it all diced up without ever getting the saw stuck or getting myself crushed, so I'm feeling good.

Soundchasm · Mar 26, 2014

splitoak said:
Its strange to me..all the cherry ove cut so far has smooth bark and the ridges go E/W like these pics..are they a different species or what?

This is Black Cherry. Some of the bark in your shots looks like Sour Cherry.

Soundchasm · Mar 26, 2014

Ralphie Boy said:
Nice, and so close!

The good news is that is isn't as close as a predecessor. :eek:

This one came down 5/11 during a mother of a storm. Had to chainsaw my way out of the sunroom. God bless that Sugar Maple. Without it I might have had to chainsaw my way out of the basement.

Woody Stover · Mar 26, 2014

That's a nice, big one....and there's still some meat left on that stump! ==c

Jon1270 · Mar 27, 2014

Here's mine. It's beautiful wood, but I'm not looking forward to humping the bigger stuff out of the gully.

Soundchasm · Mar 27, 2014

Holy cow, Jon, look at the size of that thing! Nothing makes life tougher than a misplaced hill. I'm splitting mine in half before I put them in the truck bed. The bright side to procrastination is that each round will weigh less tomorrow than it does today. ;lol

Jon1270 · Mar 27, 2014

Soundchasm said:
I'm splitting mine in half before I put them in the truck bed.

Where possible I've been rolling whole rounds to the car, but the big ones down in the hole are getting quartered where they lie. Fortunately this mess is just down the block from home, so I can do the work in small bits without wasting a lot of gas money.

BEConklin · Mar 27, 2014

Soundchasm said:
My plan for the stump is to see if I can cut straight horizontal at 16" lengths. I ordered some plastic felling wedges (5.5") and think I see how to do it in my imagination.

I use plastic felling wedges to buck big logs on the ground too. Cut down into the log until you can just barely see the saw kerf starting to close at the top..then hit the brake and leave the saw idling in the cut, drive a wedge into the top of the cut, and finish the cut. The wedge opens the kerf up so your saw won't jam and it can even lift the log just enough so the saw doesn't ground out. But I usually cut until there's a little tab of wood and bark left, then take the saw out and kick the round. The tab will usually break and the round will roll out of the way for the next cut. Only problem with this method is sometimes the wedge drops down onto the saw and the plastic edge gets a little chewed up....but they still work just fine.

MI wood guy · Mar 27, 2014

BEConklin said:
I use plastic felling wedges to buck big logs on the ground too. Cut down into the log until you can just barely see the saw kerf starting to close at the top..then hit the brake and leave the saw idling in the cut, drive a wedge into the top of the cut, and finish the cut. The wedge opens the kerf up so your saw won't jam and it can even lift the log just enough so the saw doesn't ground out. But I usually cut until there's a little tab of wood and bark left, then take the saw out and kick the round. The tab will usually break and the round will roll out of the way for the next cut. Only problem with this method is sometimes the wedge drops down onto the saw and the plastic edge gets a little chewed up....but they still work just fine.

I use exactly the same method and it works great.I'm almost ready for a new wedge,from saw hits.watch out I got hit in the head last wk when chain hit the wedge when Iit dropped.

fireview2788 · Mar 28, 2014

I remember that hail storm. I didn't lose any trees but did get a new roof out of the deal.

fv

bob burke · Mar 28, 2014

It brings me great pain to see cherry used for firewood. It makes such beautiful furniture. Granted, the leads are worthless for cabinetry, but I'm always melancholy when I burn a cherry.

BEConklin · Mar 28, 2014

MI wood guy said:
I use exactly the same method and it works great.I'm almost ready for a new wedge,from saw hits.watch out I got hit in the head last wk when chain hit the wedge when Iit dropped.

Luckily you had the mesh visor down on your helmet...right?

Cherry tree bucked

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