I've seen it stated several times that when felling a tree the back cut should be made horizontal and not angled, but I've never seen it written as to why. Anyone got the answer on that one?
Got Wood said:I can tell ya why based on experience.... Was cutting a about an 10" diameter trunk, made my notch then did NOT make a horizontal back cut - my back cut was angled down. what happened was the trunk instead of tipping the direction I wanted it too, slid down the back cut and notch, and ended up hinging the wrong way and fell directly backward knocking my in the head. Luckily it was a glancing blow and I was not injured but I learned my lesson.
Carbon_Liberator said:I always put a slight down angle (down towards the center) in my back cuts and I'll tell you why.
I use to believe a horizontal cut was the safer way and did it that way until once when I was cutting about a 20" diameter tree who's branches were touching the branches of trees around it. I knew this tree would probably resist falling because of the other branches, but I had my wedges ready. Icut my wedge and cut the (horizontal) back cut down to what I figured was a good hinge and started pounding my plastic wedge in. It didn't go, so I cut a little more out of the back cut, and pounded some more. I buried the plastic wedge and it still didn't want to go over, I didn't want to cut any more because my hinge was already very thin so I took a steel splitter and started driving that in the back cut. I started to see that back cut open up I gave it one last pound and CRACK!, the hinge snapped right off and the tree slid backward along the horizontal cut. popped of the trunk and buried itself in the ground on my side of the trunk an inch from my foot, and proceeded to fall in the correct direction. I had no time at all to react, it was sure luck that it missed my foot.
Had I put a slight angle (down towards the center of the tree) on the back cut there is no way the tree could have slid UP and over the back cut and landed on my side of the trunk.
Got Wood, it sounds like you put the ANGLE (up towards the center). A tree can still fall over backwards even with a horizontal back cut if it's leaning the wrong way.
If I remember correctly the slightly angled back cut is the way they recomended it years ago, I do not think a very slight downward back cut is a problemAbeAinPa said:I see this is perhaps not as clear cut (no pun intended) as I thought it might be. I have always put a slight downward angle on my back cut so when I saw it referred to as incorrect, I really wanted to know why. There are a couple of good points each way here so perhaps this is one of those, "it depend" answers. I can see where if you're going to use a wedge a horizontal back cut makes sense, but in the case where a tree is almost definitely going to fall where you want it, perhaps a angled back cut works just as well and perhaps even supplies an extra margin of safety. Thanks for all the input.
Thats some very good info, but the angle of the back cut is much more severe that what I remember being recomended, just a slight downward angle is what I use, never had a problem but then again that could have been luck.CJRages said:I have been pondering this question since the weekend before last... I helped a man from our church clear a wooded area near his home. He used this angled back-cut exclusively... Here is a cross-forum link... I think it does a good job of describing the physics at work.
http://www.treeworld.info/f9/angled-back-cut-backcut-tree-felling-1559.html
TreePointer said:You want to control how much holding wood you have in the hinge. More experienced cutters may even want to have the holding wood narrower on one side than the other side. This is a lot more difficult to perform with an angled backcut.
Also, think about the grain of the wood and how it can split along that grain. A backcut that cross-cuts the wood grain at a 90 degree angle can better handle the pushing froces of the felling wedge by essentially having them pushing in the direction of the grain.
When a wedge is inserted in an angled backcut, the sides of the wedge will apply force in a direction that can cause wood to splinter with the grain (similar to a barber chair, but in the stump section of the tree). This can happen even if you don't use a wedge--think about the forces on the stump portion of the tree if the tree happens to fall back on the backcut.
The bottom line is that you want to have as much control as possible when felling a tree.
Danno77 said:nice link, but I guess I'm still fuzzy on why it's BAD to do an angled cut. They disprove why people think it's better, i get that. Just seems like it doesn't work any worse if you do it right, so why all the hubbub?
Actually I already stated a positive in my previous post. I nearly lost my foot because the tree was able to slide backwards off the trunk when the hinge broke prematurely while I was pounding a steel wedge in the straight (not angled) back cut.mtcates said:TreePointer said:You want to control how much holding wood you have in the hinge. More experienced cutters may even want to have the holding wood narrower on one side than the other side. This is a lot more difficult to perform with an angled backcut.
Also, think about the grain of the wood and how it can split along that grain. A backcut that cross-cuts the wood grain at a 90 degree angle can better handle the pushing froces of the felling wedge by essentially having them pushing in the direction of the grain.
When a wedge is inserted in an angled backcut, the sides of the wedge will apply force in a direction that can cause wood to splinter with the grain (similar to a barber chair, but in the stump section of the tree). This can happen even if you don't use a wedge--think about the forces on the stump portion of the tree if the tree happens to fall back on the backcut.
The bottom line is that you want to have as much control as possible when felling a tree.
Its funny reading this because before I did tree work as a professional I actually cut my back cuts this way. I sometimes angled them also. It gives the allusion of steering the tree but it really only makes it more likely that you loose control. I bought a book on professional timber falling by Douglas Dent and learned the right way to do it.
I've been doing tree work for over 20 years professionally and you are exactly right in this post. It was in the book. An angled back cut serves no positive purpose but it does have the negatives that TreePointer stated. There is no need to angle the back cut at all. It serves no purpose. You should not only make the back cut perfectly level but make it 2 inches higher than the hinge. It leaves a 2 inch step (Its called Stump Shot) to prevent the tree from sliding back when the hinge breaks. Another thing is to cut as wide a notch as you can. The hinge stays connected until the notch closes. At the very least take out a 45 degree notch. If you make a 90 degree notch the tree is on the ground when the notch closes and gives the ultimate in control.
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