Tips for a clean felling job

[12three]

I'm getting ready to take down a few larger trees on me and my neighbor's property (he believes in me a little too much) but I know I'm kinda anxious, I have felled one or two trees but in open tree areas or so but not somewhere. Anyway I wanna make sure I get a clean, controlled cut without any surprises. I just need help refreshing my memory on useful advice on safety gear or spotting hazards before the first cut and some maybe little motivation from people that know this stuff

 

[Canaan_Realian]

ounds like you've done the easy ones, now it's just about scaling up with more caution. Treat each cut like practice... measure twice, cut once. You'll be fine if you remember trees don't always fall the way you want, so plan for "what if" instead of just "what should."

 

[cjmac163]

Honestly, if you are that anxious, flip through some videos and books. Watch a couple Buckin Billy Ray videos on youtube, or flip through "To Fell A Tree" by Jeff Jepson. If you have a strong foundational knowledge of how trees fall with different undercuts and how holding wood works, this will simply knock the cobwebs off of your existing knowledge and solidify your confidence. You will also likely pick up some new tips and ideas. Make sure you have a variety of wedges, and worst case scenario, set a rope in each tree, to ensure the tree wont sit back (if they are back-leaners).

Do not become overconfident. The fact you are showing concern is good, even healthy. But if you have an understanding of what needs to be done to safely get the tree on the ground, do not doubt yourself either. Be confident in your decisions, trust yourself, but work with caution and a healthy fear of the trees.

Best of luck to you, friend!

 

[Steve Woodrow]

make certain there are no utilities, power, phone, septic etc above or below ground anywhere in the fall zone. Walk away if there are.

 

[What]

I like to always look up first, from a ways back, look for lean, branches heavier on 1 side, and especially wind direction. Always be ready for anything, including it getting hung up, which requires extra care trying to get it down, if it does get hung up in other trees. I have fallen somewhere in the area of 135,000-140,000 trees, and every time I think I've got it all figured out, I don't.

Oh, and wedges are your best friend, along with a good undercut.

 

[kleinblu3]

Honestly, if you are that anxious, flip through some videos and books. Watch a couple Buckin Billy Ray videos on youtube, or flip through "To Fell A Tree" by Jeff Jepson. If you have a strong foundational knowledge of how trees fall with different undercuts and how holding wood works, this will simply knock the cobwebs off of your existing knowledge and solidify your confidence. You will also likely pick up some new tips and ideas. Make sure you have a variety of wedges, and worst case scenario, set a rope in each tree, to ensure the tree wont sit back (if they are back-leaners).

Do not become overconfident. The fact you are showing concern is good, even healthy. But if you have an understanding of what needs to be done to safely get the tree on the ground, do not doubt yourself either. Be confident in your decisions, trust yourself, but work with caution and a healthy fear of the trees.

Best of luck to you, friend!

Thanks for the advice! I'm new to logging and just started working on my family's land. I've watched some Buckin Billy Ray videos and they helped a lot. I haven't read To Fell A Tree yet. Does it talk about bore cuts and trees that lean back? Also, how do you know when to use a rope instead of just wedges?

 

[cjmac163]

Thanks for the advice! I'm new to logging and just started working on my family's land. I've watched some Buckin Billy Ray videos and they helped a lot. I haven't read To Fell A Tree yet. Does it talk about bore cuts and trees that lean back? Also, how do you know when to use a rope instead of just wedges?

Sorry for the late response! Been hectic for me lately!

I hate to use this line as advice, but your discretion will only improve with experience. For the most part, the ability of a wedge really depends first on the diameter of the tree, and second, how severe of a back-lean the tree has.

Generally speaking, you can move the very top of a 100' tree over 10 feet with wedges, if needed. It takes some sweat and elbow grease, and a bit of patience, but the goal is to move the center of gravity to the side of the hinge which you want the tree to fall. It is also typically much easier to wedge a tree the larger it is, but you lose potential canopy movement distance as diameter increases. If you cannot wedge the tree enough to get the weight past the hinge, then it is wise to use a rope, or consider a different direction for felling if possible. I really dont wedge anything less than 10-12 inches, as there generally isn't very much room for wedging on smaller trees, and still being able to accomodate your chainsaw bar if further cutting is needed as the wedge is being driven closer to the hinge.

Hope that makes sense, and helps you some!

 

[12three]

Sorry for the late reply all,
Appreciate all the advice, still got that healthy fear you guys mentioned, which I think kept me focused haha. We ended up watching a bunch of those buckin billy ray videos cos my neighbor just won't let it go , anyway it helped a lot with reading the lean and understanding how the hinge wood works, we used wedges on both trees and set a rope on the bigger one that was leaning slightly back
It took us hours and two 30 mins breaks between , man! we still even had intervention from another neighbor towards the end
Thanks for the encouragement and the practical tips, rest assured I went through the replies here first, just forgot to give an update

 

[12three]

Honestly, if you are that anxious, flip through some videos and books. Watch a couple Buckin Billy Ray videos on youtube, or flip through "To Fell A Tree" by Jeff Jepson. If you have a strong foundational knowledge of how trees fall with different undercuts and how holding wood works, this will simply knock the cobwebs off of your existing knowledge and solidify your confidence. You will also likely pick up some new tips and ideas. Make sure you have a variety of wedges, and worst case scenario, set a rope in each tree, to ensure the tree wont sit back (if they are back-leaners).

Do not become overconfident. The fact you are showing concern is good, even healthy. But if you have an understanding of what needs to be done to safely get the tree on the ground, do not doubt yourself either. Be confident in your decisions, trust yourself, but work with caution and a healthy fear of the trees.

Best of luck to you, friend!

Definitely these buckin billy ray videos haha and thanks for the book reco, I'd check it out

 

[cjmac163]

Sorry for the late reply all,
Appreciate all the advice, still got that healthy fear you guys mentioned, which I think kept me focused haha. We ended up watching a bunch of those buckin billy ray videos cos my neighbor just won't let it go , anyway it helped a lot with reading the lean and understanding how the hinge wood works, we used wedges on both trees and set a rope on the bigger one that was leaning slightly back
It took us hours and two 30 mins breaks between , man! we still even had intervention from another neighbor towards the end
Thanks for the encouragement and the practical tips, rest assured I went through the replies here first, just forgot to give an update

Man, everyone starts somewhere! Glad to hear you got it done, and I hope you learned a lot!