Opinions on Cuts

Snap cuts really shouldn't be used, IMO. You inevitably create a scenario where the crane is lifting more weight than the pick in order to break it off. Straight through where applicable, but the shelf cut and v cut are great tools for questionably balanced picks. Don't forget a traditional face and back cut can work well in some situations too. No matter what cut you make you want to be completely cutting the piece off, not letting the crane or gravity separate fibers.
 
I carry a wedge on a lanyard and make a straight back cut to the crane most of the time.
I make face cuts for pieces to boom up on.
I save the shelf for weird positions.
 
A shelf or V-cut almost always for me. Keeps the piece in place and time for the climber and crane to react. Also no extra lifting power needed. On stem parts i often cut just through, no problem when you guest the weight right. Iv used a facecut ones to boom a leader up, that i wasent sure i can balance out and it was realy close to the roof.
 
I make one plane cuts for nearly every pick. But with a certain order of saw direction so that when you get down to the minimum fibers, the movement wont pinch until the cut is 100% complete.
 
"Snap cuts really shouldn't be used, IMO. You inevitably create a scenario where the crane is lifting more weight than the pick in order to break it off"
I wondered about this too, but suspended my scepticism when told that it's common for helicopter logging to make a cut from both sides horizontally in the same plane, but leave about 3/4" "hinge" more to one side of the trunk (i.e. not in the center). Usually heli logging will indicate to the machine the direction to pull the tree with tape near the ground - the pull being made in the direction of shorter distance to the "hinge wood". Been told that crane can do the same with boom movement rather than straight vertical cable up. Further thoughts? Still personally prefer a "V" cut usually.
 
Snap or by pass cuts are very effective cuts. The key is to not be too thick between the cuts or as previously stated the crane will need to apply to much pressure and cause a shock load. They are also very useful for new cutters with cranes until they gain more experience
 
allmark said:
Snap or by pass cuts are very effective cuts. The key is to not be too thick between the cuts or as previously stated the crane will need to apply to much pressure and cause a shock load..
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...And helps to have that small tension opposite side of pick,
so; can close face and stretch opposing tension to snap.
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Like, leave 3/4" tension strap(a la'ghostice )not in center;to give most leveraged distance(compression close crane side to tension fiber opposing side) for crane against tension hold .
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Tapered Hinge into upward open face great for working off balance horizontals into vertical pick with crane in good wood if operator agrees.
Then can have Dutched opposing side to force tearoff and also serve more towards crane in end game of sweep upward.
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Crane is how we show the last resort to drop something is up!
 
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allmark said:
Snap or by pass cuts are very effective cuts. The key is to not be too thick between the cuts or as previously stated the crane will need to apply to much pressure and cause a shock load.
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Yup, what he said. I also like to line them up inline with the boom. Put the lower cut toward the crane, ball opposite. The the operator can boom up to separate. You can double kurf the lower cut as well, becomes a shallow face.

Tony
 
I will also add, if you're shock loading the crane with bypass cuts, your doing it wrong. The bad thing about doing it right is sometimes they won't end up holding as they will let go prematurely. We use this a lot while cutting from a bucket truck. We use the method that Tony described. Boom up a bit and it just comes off smooth.
 
Would always treat crane like is gin-pole setup onsite temporary support from army manual fm 5-125.
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Crane is ownly as good as ground it stands on,
>>in usage pick straight up from overhead only, watch geometries, never impact.
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Geometry change can be high impacting force change at already high baseline load X length etc.
force is = leveraged static loading X speed SQUARED .
>>don't allow movement on boom against to keep speed squared and it's impact out of equation against thin gin pole.
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Let it serve it's function; but: Baby this puppy!
 
Snap cuts are only as good as the person making the cut. When done properly there is no better way to make a cut....move to a safe zone....position yourself in the best possible spot or descend completely out of the tree and escape the entire situation before detachment. A proper snap cut has a bypass of more than 33 percent of the stems diameter.
 
Finally! Been trying to find this type of info for a while. None of the magazine articles cover this much at all. Thanks. Could someone explain the difference between a snap and shelf cut? I figured they would be the same. Unless the shelf is part of the v??
 
A snap cut is a cut where the branch is cut through from both sides, past the center point of the branch. The cuts are stacked though, one above the other, so that the piece can be “snapped” off without a lot of force.

A shelf cut is where a slash cut is made into the branch on the bottom side and a perpendicular cut is made from the top to meet the slash, leaving a shelf for the end of the branch to sit on until it’s lifted off.
 
Thanks. I think I got it. So the shelf cut is pretty much a v cut where the lower part of the v is nearly horizontal to hold the cut branch. Confusing to me since I often tell the crane operator how big of a "shelf" I'm leaving on a snap cut. Guess I should use the term "bypass" or "offset" instead.
 
TreeFan said:
Thanks. I think I got it. So the shelf cut is pretty much a v cut where the lower part of the v is nearly horizontal to hold the cut branch. Confusing to me since I often tell the crane operator how big of a "shelf" I'm leaving on a snap cut. Guess I should use the term "bypass" or "offset" instead.
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Yes, I think you’ve got it as well. And yes, it’s probably better to use “bypass” or “offset” when talking about snap cuts. Especially since they’re usually used on a vertical stem.
 
It does make sense. Is making it nearly horizontal particularly useful? I usually slant it back slightly so the cut holds the pick in a bit, but maybe that leads to more saw pinching on the second cut?
 
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