Healthy Tree...Accident Happens

not much hinge left after all that manic sawing.. Looks like you cut all your holding wood on the right side and didn't leave much on the left (that's why it rolled and steered the way it did).. Take your time and set your hinge on the opposite side of the holding wood cutting in a way you can maximize your short bar and keep the chain speed up as you simply walk around to double cut on the holding side last.
good practice though.
 
evo said:
not much hinge left after all that manic sawing.. Looks like you cut all your holding wood on the right side and didn't leave much on the left (that's why it rolled and steered the way it did).. Take your time and set your hinge on the opposite side of the holding wood cutting in a way you can maximize your short bar and keep the chain speed up as you simply walk around to double cut on the holding side last.
good practice though.
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Evo for the win! Always go set that far-side hinge first, then you can stand in the pocket and really guide the tree into your lay. None of this matters much if you cut off your hinge, or your undercut (this one looks funky) isn't on the mark.
 
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Props for honesty.

I took a risk the other day on an unfinished fence, and smashed two 2x4s, and while working for their neighbor, broke a new, $3 fence board.

Normally, I don't break anything, but $10 in materials, 5 minutes of install on $6k of work, I'm okay with.
 
Needs smooth saw use. Its not a wedge. I would have started on the tip side, set my depth and walked around as the saw cut. In this case i'd have run the end of the saw around clockwise. If I needed more hinge wood I'd have maybe started on the opposite side. That poor saw is a little bruised up.
 
Perhaps you could have taken another 10' or so off the top of the spar before felling it too. Using the stick-trick to determine how much spar height to leave without impacting those trees might have negated the need for trying to thread a needle with the rest of the spar. Only takes a minute pre-climb, and then you know just how much to take off while you're clearing out the top.
 
Tony said:
Bore cut it. Set the hinge first, finish as you take the escape. Not trying to bust you down, but no accident here. Poles go where you gun them, point blank. If a spar/ pole does not land according to the gun, then you fucked the hinge.

Tony
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As long as your face cut angle is not too shallow. If your hinge is perfect but face closes too soon you can still get drift. Bore cuts are pretty dummy proof though as well as safe and easy to retreat from
 
many good points... and thanks for posting Kenny... that's an important piece of video.. everyone, including me, likes to put up bragging rights videos, but its often the case that more can be learned from watching things go wrong.. I have been an advocate of thicker hinges for many years, especially on poorly hinging trees, such as tulip and silver maple. Its pretty clear as was pointed out above that the right side of the hinge was destroyed, so when the face closed the spar rolled, though not as clear from the video that this threw off the lay, but it almost certainly had to. Lots of things would have made a difference, bore cut, wider face, shortening up the spar etc... BUT IMO the easiest most reliable way would have been to set a pull line, especially easy to do while you were up in the tree, and then pulled with equipment...

For me standing at the base of the tree and cutting until the tree starts to move is "old school"... and normally only done when the DZ is so tight I need to steer the tree on the way down. With pulling power and a high set line, there is generally no reason to stay at the stump for the fall... The old system of keep cutting until the tree starts to move always has the danger of overcutting the backcut and wiping out the hinge...
 
Daniel said:
many good points... and thanks for posting Kenny... that's an important piece of video.. everyone, including me, likes to put up bragging rights videos, but its often the case that more can be learned from watching things go wrong.. I have been an advocate of thicker hinges for many years, especially on poorly hinging trees, such as tulip and silver maple. Its pretty clear as was pointed out above that the right side of the hinge was destroyed, so when the face closed the spar rolled, though not as clear from the video that this threw off the lay, but it almost certainly had to. Lots of things would have made a difference, bore cut, wider face, shortening up the spar etc... BUT IMO the easiest most reliable way would have been to set a pull line, especially easy to do while you were up in the tree, and then pulled with equipment...

For me standing at the base of the tree and cutting until the tree starts to move is "old school"... and normally only done when the DZ is so tight I need to steer the tree on the way down. With pulling power and a high set line, there is generally no reason to stay at the stump for the fall... The old system of keep cutting until the tree starts to move always has the danger of overcutting the backcut and wiping out the hinge...
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Call it old school if ya wish, but folks who make a living falling timber have and will continue to stand in the pocket working their hinge to hit a tight lay. It’s simple shit that works. Nail your undercut, get tree weight into undercut, then caress your hinge to work the tree into tight lay. Easy Parcheezy. No offense to Mr Sanchez, but it looks like he simply made some bad cuts. Happpens to the best of us, but there’s no need to reinvent the wheel here.
 
Its a different game falling trees in the woods.. I know a lot of men do both, and take the lessons and techniques that work in the woods and apply them to the backyard... techniques that are developed to save your life in the woods may have zero benefits in the backyard.... the tree care industry continues to suffer from the influence of timber fallers. Thats not a put down... I have huge respect for the fallers I see on youtube, amazing skill and expertise.

Most timber fallers would consider my skills sub-par, especially for things like cutting a humboldt, which I rarely do... But I can fall tree with a few ropes and machines that they would and could never do with their tools and skill sets...
 
Daniel said:
the tree care industry continues to suffer from the influence of timber fallers. Thats not a put down... I have huge respect for the fallers I see on youtube, amazing skill and expertise.
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Actually its quite the opposite. Much of the arborist world would greatly benefit from a season or 2 working with a good faller. Far to many folks in the tree care industry don't have a very good grasp on the proper mechanics of cutting. You teach a good climber to become a kickass cutter/faller and you have the makings of a great tree-man. Mr. Beranek, August, and Reg all come to mind!
 
I know what you mean.. There is a serious lack of even the basic knowledge of how to cut a notch and backcut among the arborists around here... True world class climbers that plain and simple suck at saw handling...

But that's not what I'm talking about.... I'm talking about the techniques that are specific to timber falling that are blindly applied to suburban arboriculture..
 
You could pound wedges for an hour and not budge this locust hinge....
heavy side leaner over the house...
Nothing too special really, but few around here would have the skill and confidence fall the tree
 

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I agree with Daniel. A pull line is just an extra bit of insurance. I even use what I call a radius line on some spars. I will make a radius off of a near by anchor that will keep the spar from drifting the wrong way. Then tie this line to a spot near the pull line. They have never been pulled on, but if a spar did want to go the wrong way it will keep it in line. It usually takes me a few extra minutes to set up and the piece of mind is worth it.
 
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