Great topic, guys. just joined tonite. Just after treebuzz came up, my puter crashed, I lost my bookmarks.
Anyhow, while not shortwinded, I'll try not to pull a "spyder"......
Doug Dent's book is great. Also Jerry Beranek's "Fundamentals............." (His CD aint bad either, waitin' on the DVD movie)
MA, while a bit slow, is sure safe. I've done my share of yardin' over the big stuff with 4x4, chip truck, self loader, track hoe, Simpson capstan winch (Stihl pwr), etc. I agree with those that say it is OK, it just takes finesse, and impeccable communication.
Regarding MA, at last spring's Arbormaster, Rip Tompkins showed us how to add a single block inside a 5-1 to create a 15-1, I think it was!! Way cool.
Learned quite a bit there with Rip, Ken and Duane, for sure. I'm sure doing more open face work. Cant see much practical use for plunge cutting except for head leaners, however.
I don't do a whole lot of logging, or dropping long sticks or trees. However, when we do, it is usually conifer, esp douglas fir, which is very predictable. I'm usually trying to save every inch of good timber, so a humboldt is most used. And I'm close to the ground, unless there's butt swell, so my face is rarely over 45%. Drops just right 99.5% of the time with little or no fiber tear.
But when I told Ken Palmer of the following technique, he rolled his eyes and tried to lecture me on the huge risk I am taking. I dont quite see it that way. Let me know, guys, what you think.
Here goes: (Tip: Jerry Beranek has a section describing how a log will spin in air while falling from a certain height, depending on its length, and its length relative to how high off the ground it is.)
Anyhow, when piecing out logs for export, we need 30-40 foot logs. When i'm up over 70 feet, it is quite hard to know what will happen, so i usually cut 16-26 foot logs. They can easily flip over, so you must have a safe drop zone out quite a way. But the 2nd log from the ground, say a 34 footer 36 feet up will come down nose in at a 30-45 degree angle. I prefer it a bit flatter. Almost flat is no good, the log can break.
So to slow down the spin rate, I form a deep face, in 50-60 %, but very shallow, say 15-25 degrees. I put in generous splint cuts, (ears), and cut away. First, I have made sure that NO knot, or any abnormal grain structure is within 4-6 inches of the cuts. After the groundies give a delicate tug to get 'er going, I speed through the lat bit of holding wood,the log pops off neatly, and lands just right with a bit less rotation. it will jump out a few feet further, which can be better if there is a structure behind the fall direction. I've gotten pretty confidant, dropping these long sticks in rather close quarters, but all the same, would rather not!! Just the opposite of open face, certainly risky, but so far, so good...........
That's why the crane was so handy last week.
We got over 3000 board feet out of two firs, plus a couple lousy hemlock short logs. heavist stick was 11200#. The other site produced over 4000' from 9 fir, none huge, but not much taper for city trees. tallest one was 140 feet, no more than 32" at the ground. On another, the 35 ton crane picked the whole 91 foot stick!! Sweet!
Dan Kraus and Michael Oxman came by to kibbitz. Michael, the erstwhile cinematographer, had trouble with my directions, got lost, and missed the show. To bad the crane wouldn't wait for the camera, unlike Hollywood.
I shot some picks with my gear, but it ain't digital, and I'm slow at converting the images. Perhaps..........
[ February 05, 2002: Message edited by: Roger Barnett ]
