finally felled my first tree

[ohiojoe13]

I cut down that standing dead ash tree I asked you guys to id. It's the first tree of any size I have cut down. A few lessons learned. It ended up getting hung up in another tree so I had to cut it down too. Can you guys Id it. I haven't started bucking it yet so just this one picture. Thanks

 

[pen]

Ugh, leaners are dangerous. Glad it worked out OK.

Looks like a hard maple from where I sit.

pen

 

[ohiojoe13]

Ok hard maple sounds good to me.

 

[pen]

Ok hard maple sounds good to me.

We'll see what others say.

At that size, I've made mistakes before with maples. I'm leaning towards hard maple but have had some softs that surprise me, until I put the saw in them to buck it up and have it chew through much faster than it does on hard maple. Or even hefting a round, soft maple is lighter to lift in comparison.

That's my knee jerk reaction, we'll see what others chime in with.

Stay safe.

pen

 

[ohiojoe13]

Well it does look like a tree that I had id for hard maple. Some ppl said hickory.

 

[pen]

leaves on the ground look pretty maple-ish.

If you can get a good look,

sugar (hard) maples

(broken image removed) Red Maple or Soft Maple

hickory

There are others too of course, but that's just to get you close.

 

[ewlsey]

That's not Ash. Looks like Sugar Maple. Could be a young Pignut Hickory.

 

[ohiojoe13]

That's not Ash. Looks like Sugar Maple. Could be a young Pignut Hickory.

The dead ash got hung up in the tree that I posted a picture of

 

[BobUrban]

Best guess I say maple. Be really careful when freeing a leaner by cutting it's partner. Scary!!

 

[ohiojoe13]

I think what happened was i didn't cut the face notch big enough. The notch was closed when it got hung up. So I think if I would have had a bigger notch it would have came all the way down. I don't know if I'm explaining that right.

 

[pen]

If you haven't seen this video, I'd highly suggest taking the 45 mins and giving a view.

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[ohiojoe13]

If you haven't seen this video, I'd highly suggest taking the 45 mins and giving a view.

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I did watch that the other day. I thought it was helpful.

 

[Fred Wright]

Don't feel like the Lone Ranger, my compadre. Hung a few trees myself when I started. Sometimes it can't be helped ~ there's no clearing to drop 'em.

That said, please be careful when cutting a tree that's supporting a hanger. It can be dangerous and I don't recommend doing it with a saw alone.

The tree pictured looks a lot like the red maple I've been cutting here.

 

[firefighterjake]

OK, but now for the burning question that is on everyone's mind . . . well my mind . . . at least.

When the tree starting toppling did you yell "Tim-berrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr?"

 

[mass_burner]

I've only fell a few, so not an expert. 3 things to keep in mind...plan well, whatever happens, don't panic, and wait to see where the tree is falling before moving off in the opposite direction.

 

[firefighterjake]

I've only fell a few, so not an expert. 3 things to keep in mind...plan well, whatever happens, don't panic, and wait to see where the tree is falling before moving off in the opposite direction.

I've always made it a habit to not move into the opposite direction of the falling tree, but rather backwards, but at an angle . . . not sure why I do that . . . there must be a reason though.

 

[ohiojoe13]

Thanks for all the good tips. Lol I didn't yell timber. I'll remember that for the next time.

 

[xman23]

I learned a few new things from that video. I heard about the plunge cut, to setup the hinge, but never tried it.

I don't know what the pro's do with hung up trees, but I would never go under one to cut the tree holding it up. I use a come along and drag the tree backwards.

 

[Mag Craft]

No matter how many trees I cut down I always get a bit of an adrenalin rush.
On hang ups I use some steel cable that I made up from winch cable and then pull them down.

 

[CountryBoy19]

but at an angle . . . not sure why I do that . . . there must be a reason though.

To shield yourself from a barber chair or one of the many other things that can go wrong and cause the direct opposite direction to be a hazardous area?

 

[firefighterjake]

To shield yourself from a barber chair or one of the many other things that can go wrong and cause the direct opposite direction to be a hazardous area?

Perhaps . . . I really don't know why I do it that way . . . but I always have . . . always angle back and away from the falling tree and I've always planned out that route ahead of time. Could be something I just picked up from cutting wood with my dad . . . just seemed like the safe thing to do.

 

[billb3]

bark doesn't look like the red maples here, nor the norway maples, but the wood kinda does.

almost half the maples I cut, leaners or not barber chair on me. Man I hate that.
the swamp maples here mostly have multiple trunks too so extra complications taking them down
on guard and an untrusting eye for sure

 

[Wood Duck]

That tree looks like the Red Maples around here, but Sugar maples are very similar.

 

[TreePointer]

Looks like sugar maple to me, too.

Looks like you had a shallow notch, too high of a backcut, it didn't fall so you came in with a deeper front cut into the notch. Lucky not to wreck your bar, right?

 

[Ashful]

A pro feller gave me some good advice, recently. It was, "don't just watch your saw... watch the widowmakers." He said it took a while for him to get used to spending most of his time looking up while making the back cut, rather than watching his saw in the cut. A less than perfect hinge won't kill you... the branches that come down when the tree you're cutting brushes another tree are what will kill you.

Good advice for me. I plan my landing zone based on what the tree may hang on, and carefully plan my cut to hit that zone, but don't spend enough time looking up while actually making the back cut.