Landing pieces flat

[Wade E Griffith]

I never heard of any rules for getting them to land flat. I chunk out tall conifers all day long. Might take 6 ft pieces or half a tree. I get them to land flat 90 % of the time. I adjust my face cut so they'll flip once. Some times I'll have the ground guys give it a added tug as it falls to help get that flip. I got a lot of little tricks.
I don't know if a "rule",could work. Its more intuition and experience.

 

[Z'sTrees]

I never heard of any rules for getting them to land flat. I chunk out tall conifers all day long. Might take 6 ft pieces or half a tree. I get them to land flat 90 % of the time. I adjust my face cut so they'll flip once. Some times I'll have the ground guys give it a added tug as it falls to help get that flip. I got a lot of little tricks.
I don't know if a "rule",could work. Its more intuition and experience.

That's how I felt as well until learning Mr. Beranek's 1/5th & 45 degree notch rule.

 

[treebilly]

Mr Beranek's 1/5 rule works on a verticle spar. Great guideline to start with. A bit of lean and lay of the ground are up to your experience to figure out. Mr. B has done wonders for me with his book. I was a good climber before. Now I consider myself above average. Honestly there are so many simple tricks in the fundamentals that anyone can be great if they can absorb them all.

 

[CutHighnLetFly]

I adopted the 1/5th guideline when chunking things down and it's been a real good thing to go off of.
Like said before, unless you have guys moving that stuff while your working your way down, usually you only gotta do this twice before you can start just dumping them onto other logs.

How about limb wood? I do a deep under cut then a lined up top cut. Always heard it called a pop cut. But sometimes I'll make the under cut that's like 2 kerf widths so it hinges down a smidge. It's tough finding the perfect timing to get a piece to drop with no flip and lay flat, or decide to get it to do some sort of rotation and land flat.
Wadda you guys do

 

[Z'sTrees]

Undercut as deep as you can then nip the sides at least thru the sapwood, then in from the top hard and fast. Step out from the branch collar some too.

 

[GreenMntnBoy410]

Wow, was surprised to see this thread still active. Suffice to say, I've gotten pretty good at eyeballing chunks, I'd say my success rate is 90 of getting them to land flat with the 1/5th rule. Like many have mentioned, there all a lot of variables involved and it becomes an intuitive thing after awhile. Couple months ago I had em stacking on top of each other like a boss!

 

[frashdog]

I can land a piece flat with out a flip.

Mini humbolt/bypass notch and cut it free when proper angle is achieved.
Make sure you have a good sized (power) saw and sharp chain so you can cut it free when you want.

Same theme works with "darting" big tops, that won't fit if they lay out after being cut.
I frequently "replant" the tops near the base of the tree.

 

[Tom LoGudice]

The best tip I've ever been given is to cut pieces that are 1/5 the total height. Assuming the spar is vertical and you use a conventional notch they land flat after doing a perfect 3/4 rotation. Obviously lean can have an influence so you can cut cut the piece shorter or longer once you get the feel for it. Just remember that the piece length is 1/5 the height above ground, not necessarily the length of the spar if you were working on a slope for example.[/QUOTE
Learn something everyday. I used the Humboldt knotch works for me. Must try try the 1/5 lenght rule.

 

[beastmaster]

I can land a piece flat with out a flip.

Mini humbolt/bypass notch and cut it free when proper angle is achieved.
Make sure you have a good sized (power) saw and sharp chain so you can cut it free when you want.

Same theme works with "darting" big tops, that won't fit if they lay out after being cut.
I frequently "replant" the tops near the base of the tree.

I use the same cut at times. Sometimes because of the height and length thats the only way to get a piece to land flat.