Felling trees that bunched together ???

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HDRock

Minister of Fire
Oct 25, 2012
2,239
Grand Blanc, Mi
How do you go about felling a tree like in the pic , when there is no room to get the saw in, and make a
back cut ??

IMG_20121219_155605.jpg
 
Very carefully, very carefully.==c Where is Scotty when you neeed him. He gave me great take down advice. Oh Scotty Overkill you're expert advice is needed!
 
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Check this out...

 
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Looks like tons of room for back cuts there. Even if both are leaning the same way, you should be able to make your notch at an angle to the lean and leave room for the back cut. Obviously, cut the one on the lean side first.
 
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Notch & careful plunge cut & you shouldn't even touch the adjacent tree.
 
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Looks like tons of room for back cuts there. Even if both are leaning the same way, you should be able to make your notch at an angle to the lean and leave room for the back cut. Obviously, cut the one on the lean side first.
Leaner's have greater chance to barberchair!
Plus they usualy have unbalanced top's.
Plunge cut's give you control.
 
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Well, all trees have a lean. I've never seen a perfectly straight one. Yes, if there is a big lean barber chair could be a concern with some species but that is a separate consideration that should be given to any tree before you cut.

If there is no concern with barber chair, a conventional notch and back cut is an easier way to go and I see plenty of room to do that in that case. Another consideration is to make sure the limbs are not intertwined. That could be a problem regardless of felling methods.
 
We can't see the whole tree but what we can see it does not look like much lean there. Cutting it at about the 3' level gives plenty of room and no plunge cut is needed.

The video must have been done just for show because that was a lot of work for something that should have taken about half the time. Notch was not very deep either. Go 1/3 but he says no more than 1/3. He was a long ways from that 1/3 in. But, he was attempting to show something so he can be forgiven.
 
Well, all trees have a lean. I've never seen a perfectly straight one. Yes, if there is a big lean barber chair could be a concern with some species but that is a separate consideration that should be given to any tree before you cut.

If there is no concern with barber chair, a conventional notch and back cut is an easier way to go and I see plenty of room to do that in that case. Another consideration is to make sure the limbs are not intertwined. That could be a problem regardless of felling methods.


The gap between the trees in the center of the pic is the one I am asking about, and I measured the gap, and it is 2 3/4in, so there is not room to do a regular straight in back cut on that tree.

Another pic , and the second pic is the same trees but , the one in question can not be seen in the second pic
 

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I would plunge cut it carefully because in my opinion you have better control over where and when it falls. But then I love plunge cuts ;). That said it does look like it could be dropped from the back easily enough though.

Pete
 
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There is room for a back cut there. There is nothing that says you have to do the back cut in between the trees. Put the notch where you can reach the back cut. Unless I'm missing something, that is the easiest way to go and what I would do. A plunge cut would work too, but would be more work and take longer.
 
I'm not going to explain it but, I see now, how there is room fore the back cut
 
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We can't see the whole tree but what we can see it does not look like much lean there. Cutting it at about the 3' level gives plenty of room and no plunge cut is needed.

The video must have been done just for show because that was a lot of work for something that should have taken about half the time. Notch was not very deep either. Go 1/3 but he says no more than 1/3. He was a long ways from that 1/3 in. But, he was attempting to show something so he can be forgiven.

There isn't much lean on that particular tree
 
Don't know about local availability, but Google says its available on the web. You have a local book store? Wow, that so 20th century.
 
Don't know about local availability, but Google says its available on the web. You have a local book store? Wow, that so 20th century.

Ya it's pretty cool , order on line, pick up at store, just like auto parts ;)
 
The plunge cut is more work but its the "rules" for USFS and NPS sawyers. A major cause of serious woods injuries is the uncontrolled falling of trees after the cut. The notch and bore cut technique substantially reduces this issue. Once the notch and bore cut is in place, the the actual felling is a far more controlled event and that reduces injuries.
 
The gap between the trees in the center of the pic is the one I am asking about, and I measured the gap, and it is 2 3/4in, so there is not room to do a regular straight in back cut on that tree.

Another pic , and the second pic is the same trees but , the one in question can not be seen in the second pic

Take one at a time starting with the one on the far right. The one on the far left I would want a bull line in as well.
 
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The other guys all gave great info on bore or 'plunge' cutting, and wedges and a hammer are wonderful tools in any felling/bucking situation, especially with the big trees. The best advice I saw in this thread was to be VERY VERY CAREFUL. Don't get in a hurry and be a cowboy, because that is when VERY BAD things can happen! Like SmokinJ said, use a bull line (or strong cable) just as a precaution, if you aren't sure of the lean of the tree. You can use a truck or winch to help bring it over, too. Either way, did I mention to BE CAREFUL?
 
There's no substitute for experience,having the proper equipment & working safely.Common sense & not rushing into things play a huge role also.

In other words - dont go all crazy like those idiots on Ax Men.;lol I sure wouldnt want those clowns working around me,especially that swamp logger using his big stihl BAREFOOT! _g:rolleyes: Can't believe the insurance company for the TV network allows that crap,even for ''drama'' on a BS staged TV show.
 
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