BC Feller Training Standard You Tube Series

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Montanalocal

Montanalocal

Minister of Fire
Dec 22, 2014
551
Helena MT
Since it is getting close to cutting season, I thought I would offer the BC (British Columbia) faller training standard series of you tube videos on felling.

I review it every once in a while and always learn something new.

The numbers 5 though 17 are good, with the best being 8 through 13(#13 falling hazards-the best) and 17, bucking, being some of the best. It might be good to bookmark.

# 5 Site Assessment

#6 Preparing to fall

#7 Thick Bark

#8 Undercuts

#9 Wedging

#10 Small trees

#11 Slope

#12 Heavy Lean

#13 Falling Hazards

#14 Winter Falling

#15 Limbing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN3Nki2Sy5w

#16 Kickbacks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vfE960hrJw

#17 Bucking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jYMJ-knes
 
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Great resource. Just checked out the one on small trees ... BC is pretty progressive in the worksafe programs. Always good to see video support for training! I don't do any felling but have my own Jonsered from when I used to buck up from tree length for the outdoor boiler. Rarely sees any use as the boiler is long gone...
 
Thanks for the thread and the links. Some of them are a bit out of my league but I definitely got a few good tips and lessons. I had no idea what a Barber chair was in the woods. Now I know. That lead me to a series of videos on chainsaw accidents and very gruesome injuries. I would have posted them here but I got sick part way through - too graphic for my comfort. Being self taught, I probably should have had a few limbs missing by now but I've been more lucky than smart. ;em
 
I think I have watched them all at least twice in the last couple of months. There is an awful lot to try to absorb there. I don't do any falling but really want to understand the fundamentals. The series put together by Husqvarna is also very informative but not quite as complete.
 
Thanks for posting this, Im surprised in my surfing I havent come across these. I watched up to small trees ( most seemed pretty big to me) and look forward to the rest of it especially winter. I dont go for the massive fir, pine and larch here as its to much for my back. Good tips throughout! Vancouver island north and south were interesting and reminded me how green and lush it is out there. I grew up on the wet coast and spent close to 10 years living, hiking, climbing and cutting in the whistler area. The kootenays has a bit of that but much drier. My wife heard the chainsaws (music to my ears) and wondered why I was watching video of other people cutting trees. I told her I was learning how to be safer and she instantly got it. Shes the one who bought me my first pair of chaps.
 
Great videos, but the critic in me couldn't help but notice a few things...

"When leaning around the tree to check things, always engage the chain brake", yet the only faller in all the videos that actually did that was the one they commented on and emphasized.

"When trimming bark on thick-barked species, always cut away from yourself to keep dust from coming back at you", yet the very next video showed the guy doing exactly the opposite.
 
CountryBoy19 said:
"When leaning around the tree to check things, always engage the chain brake", yet the only faller in all the videos that actually did that was the one they commented on and emphasized.
Click to expand...
I noticed this as well and agree with you so was watching for it. I did find one other guy who did it once.
 
What I want to see is how to safely fell a tree that is heavily leaning the opposite direction to where it needs to fall or one that hangs up in a tree that you don't want to cut down.
 
Montanalocal said:
Since it is getting close to cutting season, I thought I would offer the BC (British Columbia) faller training standard series of you tube videos on felling.

I review it every once in a while and always learn something new.

The numbers 5 though 17 are good, with the best being 8 through 13(#13 falling hazards-the best) and 17, bucking, being some of the best. It might be good to bookmark.

# 5 Site Assessment

#6 Preparing to fall

#7 Thick Bark

#8 Undercuts

#9 Wedging

#10 Small trees

#11 Slope

#12 Heavy Lean

#13 Falling Hazards

#14 Winter Falling

#15 Limbing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FN3Nki2Sy5w

#16 Kickbacks https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vfE960hrJw

#17 Bucking https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7jYMJ-knes[/quot

That was cool to watch
Click to expand...
 
DougA said:
What I want to see is how to safely fell a tree that is heavily leaning the opposite direction to where it needs to fall or one that hangs up in a tree that you don't want to cut down.
Click to expand...
I'm pretty certain the videos covered how to safely fall a tree that is leaning heavily in the opposite direction of the fall. If it's not covered in those videos then it isn't safe to fall it in the opposite direction without a cable or roping it down in pieces. Physics cannot be overcome or ignored. There will be trees where there is NO POSSIBLE WAY to safely fall it in the opposite direction of the lean. In that case you get what you get, you either use a cable to help it over (not practical for the audience those videos are geared towards), you cut it in pieces and rope it down (also not practical for that audience), or you fall it in the direction of the lean.
 
DougA said:
What I want to see is how to safely fell a tree that is heavily leaning the opposite direction to where it needs to fall or one that hangs up in a tree that you don't want to cut down.
Click to expand...

I've watched some videos on youtube where they managed to fell a tree in a way I didn't even think was possible. Of course, I've watched an equal amount where the guy had no business running a chainsaw, and you wonder how they didn't get hurt.
 
CountryBoy19 said:
There will be trees where there is NO POSSIBLE WAY to safely fall it in the opposite direction of the lean
Click to expand...
I did watch the video but they were dealing with trees where you could put 2 hydraulic jacks under them with a remote pump. That's great with 48" trees but not when they are 16". Your quote is probably the closest in that there is no way to do it safely.
The reality most of us face is felling dead/problem 12-24" trees in a crowded woods that have a 40' crown. That's a far cry from clear cutting 48"+ fir in BC with a 10' crown. That's not to say that the videos aren't useful for all of us. Even if I get a few tips, they are useful.
I regularly get trees that fall 20 deg then hang up on neighbors. It's easy if you want to clear a whole patch but dangerous when you only want to remove a selected few. I sometimes tie them to the Kubota to help them fall where I want. My Kubota bonnet has a very nice dent to prove it. Amazing how some trees are a lot taller than you thought. ;hm My bush has a dozen or more widow makers that need to come down but they'll stay hung up until they blow down.

sportbikerider78 said:
And all of them make me want a professional saw.
Click to expand...
The only real difference is how aggressive the teeth are. A sharp chainsaw seems to pull you through the log rather than you pushing it through. Of course, it also slices through limbs very quickly too.
 
DougA said:
I did watch the video but they were dealing with trees where you could put 2 hydraulic jacks under them with a remote pump. That's great with 48" trees but not when they are 16". Your quote is probably the closest in that there is no way to do it safely.
The reality most of us face is felling dead/problem 12-24" trees in a crowded woods that have a 40' crown. That's a far cry from clear cutting 48"+ fir in BC with a 10' crown. That's not to say that the videos aren't useful for all of us. Even if I get a few tips, they are useful.
I regularly get trees that fall 20 deg then hang up on neighbors. It's easy if you want to clear a whole patch but dangerous when you only want to remove a selected few. I sometimes tie them to the Kubota to help them fall where I want. My Kubota bonnet has a very nice dent to prove it. Amazing how some trees are a lot taller than you thought. ;hm My bush has a dozen or more widow makers that need to come down but they'll stay hung up until they blow down.
Click to expand...
I hear your request. Ultimately, these videos are tailored to a specific group of people: the people that are generally clear-cutting ever-green type trees in large forests. That type of falling just doesn't match what most of us do. I guess you just gleen the info you can from them and move on because once you throw in the variables that we deal with things get a LOT more complex and it's not as simple as making a short video series to educate people. It takes a lifetime of falling eastern hardwood to learn about the tricks of the trade RE: not snagging on neighbor trees during selective harvests etc. Of course, dead trees throw a lot of added complexity in before you even sink a saw into them.

The only real difference is how aggressive the teeth are. A sharp chainsaw seems to pull you through the log rather than you pushing it through. Of course, it also slices through limbs very quickly too.[/quote]
That would be limbs of the human type and not the tree type?
I agree, I think the main difference is that a pro saw has the torque/power to pull a chain through wood with much more aggressive sharpening techniques (rakers filed down a bit further etc) and that is where the faster speed comes in. Also, don't forget that those are softwood varieties, and if you took those exact saws and put them in my neck of the woods cutting a dead, dried up Black Locust tree they wouldn't be sinking through the wood nearly that fast.
 
That would be limbs of the human type and not the tree type?[/quote]
Both types. Actually I find human limbs are much more threatened when you are limbing. I have never had a chain pop off when felling a tree but kickbacks and chains coming off seem to be more of a problem when limbing.

The other thing I noticed in the videos is that most of the guys I know always wear safety glasses under their face guards. Lots of times, the guard doesn't stop all the fine stuff and it gets into your eyes.
 
DougA said:
That would be limbs of the human type and not the tree type?
Both types. Actually I find human limbs are much more threatened when you are limbing. I have never had a chain pop off when felling a tree but kickbacks and chains coming off seem to be more of a problem when limbing.

The other thing I noticed in the videos is that most of the guys I know always wear safety glasses under their face guards. Lots of times, the guard doesn't stop all the fine stuff and it gets into your eyes.
Click to expand...
There really is no fine stuff in a Douglas fir or even a redwood. You get big chips start to finish. Both are soft woods that should give you nice big chips unless your chain is dull.
 
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