Ever heard of the Soft Dutchman?

Out in the woods dutchman's are useful for manipulating hingewood to steer side leaners. Especially with second growth Douglas Fir. But the dutchman never comes with a full guarantee. Most of the time it's a slice shot, 8-ball side pocket.
 
bore cutting and using wedges could have halved the time it took to fell that tree... It also would have left the chopper 15 feet from the tree stump instead of kneeling next to it the ENTIRE TIME the tree fell.
I guess that I dont buy the fact that he claims it is a valid method. To me it seems sketchy and a wast of time (considering he had wedges in his pouch)
Just my opinion... I am sure he is great at what he does
 
He definetly looks expert. But, 180 degrees?? I can't really see getting something to swing by it self much more than 90 degrees.
 
If you saw enough kurfs on one side of a stem it can act like a face cut. The wood between each cut collapses. I've used the technique many times to bend limbs over.

The technique 101 used in the video is a series of kurfs on one corner under a dutchman.

There is no true formula to follow. It is strictly applied through gut feeling, experience and instinct.

And I will add again, the method never comes with a full guarantee. For novices the loss rate is very high. And too, what you can do with Douglas Fir at the stump you can not with many other species.
 
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..It also would have left the chopper 15 feet from the tree stump instead of kneeling next to it the ENTIRE TIME the tree fell...


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I don't think his choice to stay right there, while the tree was falling, had anything to do with the method. He could have ran some if he wanted to. He didn't.

But, it is a good observation. I too would rather get out of there when a tree is falling.

I would like to practice that one too, but my urban forest may not be the most ideal place to practice.
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I liked it.
 
The secret to that is weakening the wood below the hinge across half the length of the hinge wood.
The hinge breaks early on the dutchman then continues to break slowly across the entire hinge allowing the tree to spin around.
The guy is a pro faller.
 
Real narrow face might not be good for a tree that doesn't favour the lay.
A deep face with wedges I would attempt.

I'm intrigued with the mechanics of this.
It's like blowing up a building and incorporating the weight to assist in the dirction of fall.
This method uses the weight of the tree and the series of cuts below the hinge to create something the tree doesn't really want to do.
The cuts undermine the tree below the face to weaken the tree on that side causing the tree to collapse on itself.
The secret is to gradually increase the length of the cuts below the face and hinge to maintain strength in the holding wood on one side only.
I don't know why he wouldn't stick a wedge in the back cut instead of the axe.
It looks like he's placing the axe too deep to be an indicator of movement in the tree.
If he's using it to keep the tree from coming back then he's in trouble if the tree sits back on it.
 
I've sen a similiar technique I learned fom a faller from the Alps called the faulbaumschnitt. It means rotten log cut, the "face" is a series of kerf cuts, each one shallower than the last. The idea is the same, the kerf creates a void which allows the tree to fall, but the breaking and stacking of the plates slows the process and allows the rotten or brittle hinge wood to have the maximum effect it's going to.

this was an interesting application of that same idea.
 
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