Don’t pick on me too much. Got the saw trapped (not the bar pinched).
Doesn’t everyone take a floor jack to the woods?!
![[Hearth.com] Floor jack - Rookie mistake](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_4469-webp.232006/ "[Hearth.com] Floor jack - Rookie mistake")
![[Hearth.com] Floor jack - Rookie mistake](https://www.hearth.com/talk/attachments/img_4470-webp.232008/ "[Hearth.com] Floor jack - Rookie mistake")
Doesn’t everyone take a floor jack to the woods?!
Floor jack - Rookie mistake
- Thread starter billfred
- Start date
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XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
Not sure you are aware but loggers out west on the big trees have use hydraulic bottle jacks on occasion. They plunge cut a rectangular notch in the trunk, then cut a front cut and start the back cut, then slip the jack in, pump it up and finish the cut. Not so easy on typical smaller diameter east coast hardwoods.
XmasTreefarmer
Feeling the Heat
peakbagger - Interesting. It's all about control when you are felling a tree isn't it? Sometimes you have a tree that is totally "neutral" and easily drop it where you want it with a basic notch and then the back cut. Other times you want it to go one way and it wants to go the other
When that happens I'll usually just let the tree have its way and then I can skid it out with the tractor to work on it.
If it's not too far out of neutral, I've had good success using felling wedges to get it to go where I want it to go.
When that happens I'll usually just let the tree have its way and then I can skid it out with the tractor to work on it.If it's not too far out of neutral, I've had good success using felling wedges to get it to go where I want it to go.
Haha! Been there, done that. And I'm not even all that experienced at felling trees. I usually take a crowbar with me, and a handsaw. Between the two I usually can get it unstuck inside of 15 minutes. So far...
I like the jack idea. I usually start cutting from the brushy end first though, so anything that falls is small and easy to handle.
I like the jack idea. I usually start cutting from the brushy end first though, so anything that falls is small and easy to handle.
Next time, if you're worried that things might move while you're jacking around, you can take the powerhead off of the bar and either move the powerhead somewhere safe or put your backup bar on the saw and cut the log off of the stuck bar.
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ValleyCottageSplitter
Feeling the Heat
Worth it for Hickory! I've had problems with some hangups like that. Sometimes a wedge can loosen the saw a little bit.
With that side bind you won't be able to cut straight down. I had one like that and no angle wouldn't bind. If you got the saw free I might just cut down that tree to the side so you have a nice straight drop. Then you can just do a cut about 1/4 of the way through and then upper cut the bottom 3/4.
Wow and those rounds look perfect size. That's about the max size they get when you can easily split them in half with a maul.
With that side bind you won't be able to cut straight down. I had one like that and no angle wouldn't bind. If you got the saw free I might just cut down that tree to the side so you have a nice straight drop. Then you can just do a cut about 1/4 of the way through and then upper cut the bottom 3/4.
Wow and those rounds look perfect size. That's about the max size they get when you can easily split them in half with a maul.
Easy Livin’ 3000
Minister of Fire
Cant say that I have ever had to break out the floor jack! Invest in some plastic wedges and this will not happen again
I got stuck the other day. I had my maul and splitting wedges with me. They easily set my chainsaw free. I bring those just in case I have some big rounds I want to half before loading in the truck. The jack I have used on my own property but it is not something I want to be hauling around. It's a big heavy one.
Had that happen to me a couple years ago. It was a Shagbark Hickory as well.
Tree leaned back and pinched the bar. Back then, I didn't have a good 2nd chainsaw and I couldn't get my tractor in a safe position to push the tree down (very dangerous operation BTW, NOT recommended). However, one thing I did have was another bar for my MS-362CM.
So I took the chainsaw powerhead completely off the bar and took it back to my shop. Fitted it with the other bar and chain and simply started another cut just above the pinched bar. That was probably 4 years or so ago - and that wood is now my favorite BBQ smoking wood, it's all I use it for.
Tree leaned back and pinched the bar. Back then, I didn't have a good 2nd chainsaw and I couldn't get my tractor in a safe position to push the tree down (very dangerous operation BTW, NOT recommended). However, one thing I did have was another bar for my MS-362CM.
So I took the chainsaw powerhead completely off the bar and took it back to my shop. Fitted it with the other bar and chain and simply started another cut just above the pinched bar. That was probably 4 years or so ago - and that wood is now my favorite BBQ smoking wood, it's all I use it for.
Jay106n
Minister of Fire
plastic wedges at the top of the cut can prevent that. That being said, a good long pry bar can get a lot accomplished, I picked up a bottle jack several years back and have used that as well as others have mentioned. Nice to see someone else who's not perfect lol. Lots of logging in Maine over the past year or so taught me the value of plastic wedges as well as a second saw to rescue the first, haha.
It's has happened to all of us.
Tip, if you have to leave the saw, unbolt power head and leave he bar and chain.
I use a floor jack all the time. The tree looks hung up. So I would have back cut 6 ft sections out. Or drag it backwards with a come along. Easy to say now. They do pinch so fast.
Tip, if you have to leave the saw, unbolt power head and leave he bar and chain.
I use a floor jack all the time. The tree looks hung up. So I would have back cut 6 ft sections out. Or drag it backwards with a come along. Easy to say now. They do pinch so fast.
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