Gerald_Beranek
New member
- Location
- Ft. Bragg, Ca.
The origins of the Humboldt style face cut goes way back to the days of the crosscut saw and axe. There's massive old growth stumps here, like 15 foot in diameter, that exhibit the snipe hand chopped out from the bottom. Now I'll tell you, that has to be pure misery to hand chop out an undercut of that size from the bottom. Either the chopper was totally out of his mind or he knew something the others didn't. Well, simply put, the theory of the Humboldt cut is to prompt the butt of the tree off the stump, or, to fall off; for reasons: 1: to minimize breakage, and or, 2: have the tree conform to particular ground contours, or slope. Number 2 often times take the prescedent over #1, but the intent is generally to minimize breakage either way.
Now the mechanics of it takes a lot more explaination. In fact, so much more that it can't all be covered in one simple post. The main reason being; each situation is unique. What can be said about it is... timing.
The Humboldt cut works in two stages. The first is to use the hingewood to guide the tree. The second is to free the tree of that guidance and kick it free of the stump. Now just try to imagine rocking forward on you heels and then tipping over on your toes, without bending them. And let's say your heels got gum on them to help stick to the floor. You know there's going to be quite a jolt. When that tree rocks over on its hingewood and hits that snipe it can throw a shockwave, or ripple, up the stem that can actually blow the top out of a tall tree thats falling over at one hundred miles per hour. Most especially so if there's a defect in the top or stem. But that's not really the point. The point is,, what happens to the body of the tree after it hits the snipe. It's quite litteraly,, launched forward. The exact moment, or timing, when that happens is governed by the width of the gap at the hinge and the depth of the snipe. Now the angle of the snipe plays an important role also. It can be straight off or be a long slow angle.
Greg's example with the Valley Oak shows quite the gap at the hinge for the size of the tree, and I'm betting that tree was three quarters the way over before it hit that snipe. Obviously it wasn't important in his situation that the tree leave the stump quickly. In fact, in close quarters, that big gap at the hinge and the ensuing delay of the hingwood breaking would be preferred. A narrower gap, say half as much, would have closed the face much sooner and kick the tree off the stump before it hit the ground.
Why the block out version? A lot of people ask. It's just an easier way to widen the face, rather than cutting a 5 or 6 foot high snipe. Like you seen in a lot of the old time pictures of the men standing in the undercuts. Hey, in trees of that size a gap at the hinge and a snipe off the stump is much easier to achive the same effect. But that knowledge didn't come til later. Today, with the ability of the chainsaw to bore out the undercut the gap is achieved very easily. However, many people believe that boring the corners of the undercut is taboo. Removal of the undercut with a gap should be always be split out, they say. There's a time for both I believe.
To sum it up in a nutshell, in combination with ground slope and contour, and the particular tree the mechanical possibilities of the Humboldt cut could seem endless. But the basic rules always apply.
Hope that helps
Jerry B
Now the mechanics of it takes a lot more explaination. In fact, so much more that it can't all be covered in one simple post. The main reason being; each situation is unique. What can be said about it is... timing.
The Humboldt cut works in two stages. The first is to use the hingewood to guide the tree. The second is to free the tree of that guidance and kick it free of the stump. Now just try to imagine rocking forward on you heels and then tipping over on your toes, without bending them. And let's say your heels got gum on them to help stick to the floor. You know there's going to be quite a jolt. When that tree rocks over on its hingewood and hits that snipe it can throw a shockwave, or ripple, up the stem that can actually blow the top out of a tall tree thats falling over at one hundred miles per hour. Most especially so if there's a defect in the top or stem. But that's not really the point. The point is,, what happens to the body of the tree after it hits the snipe. It's quite litteraly,, launched forward. The exact moment, or timing, when that happens is governed by the width of the gap at the hinge and the depth of the snipe. Now the angle of the snipe plays an important role also. It can be straight off or be a long slow angle.
Greg's example with the Valley Oak shows quite the gap at the hinge for the size of the tree, and I'm betting that tree was three quarters the way over before it hit that snipe. Obviously it wasn't important in his situation that the tree leave the stump quickly. In fact, in close quarters, that big gap at the hinge and the ensuing delay of the hingwood breaking would be preferred. A narrower gap, say half as much, would have closed the face much sooner and kick the tree off the stump before it hit the ground.
Why the block out version? A lot of people ask. It's just an easier way to widen the face, rather than cutting a 5 or 6 foot high snipe. Like you seen in a lot of the old time pictures of the men standing in the undercuts. Hey, in trees of that size a gap at the hinge and a snipe off the stump is much easier to achive the same effect. But that knowledge didn't come til later. Today, with the ability of the chainsaw to bore out the undercut the gap is achieved very easily. However, many people believe that boring the corners of the undercut is taboo. Removal of the undercut with a gap should be always be split out, they say. There's a time for both I believe.
To sum it up in a nutshell, in combination with ground slope and contour, and the particular tree the mechanical possibilities of the Humboldt cut could seem endless. But the basic rules always apply.
Hope that helps
Jerry B
