Red Oak Drop

Its sometimes hard for me to see fine details with my gawd awful internet connection, but 0:23-0:30 sure seems to show bypass. Freeze frame at 0:27-0:28 for a good look. I certainly can't see how deep the bypass is, but bypass is bypass in my book.. When that kerf inevitably starts closing up early your holding wood has no choice but to start breaking early and loosing its effectiveness. I realize some might call this nitpicking, but when pulling over back-leaners near homes/valuables its those small details that can make the different between a nice paycheck for a hard days work, and bowing your head in shame as you call your insurance agent.

Other than that the young fella did a solid job with this tree...... Likewise on his "We zip-line some stuff" vid. Solid work......
 
Last edited:
rico said:
Its sometimes hard for me to see fine details with my gawd awful internet connection, but 0:23-0:30 sure seems to show bypass. Freeze frame at 0:27-0:28 for a good look. I certainly can't see how deep the bypass is, but bypass is bypass in my book.. When that kerf inevitably starts closing up early your holding wood has no choice but to start breaking early and loosing its effectiveness. I realize some might call this nitpicking, but when pulling over back-leaners near homes/valuables its those small details that can make the different between a nice paycheck for a hard days work, and bowing your head in shame as you call your insurance agent.

Other than that the young fella did a solid job with this tree...... Likewise on his "We zip-line some stuff" vid. Solid work......
Click to expand...
Yes maybe a little, but i like how he stayed on the cut and controlled the hinge and didnt rush it. Let the hinge do its work. Loved how it was snowing. Good work
 
Yep. Some solid work, but bypass is bypass. Very rarely a good thing, including in this case....Attention to detail, 30 seconds of work, and any risk that a bypassed undercut might bring to the job is completely erased...
 
Lets also remember that similar to falling a heavy head-leaner, leaving bypass on your undercut is probably not the best strategy when pulling hard on a back leaner.
 
Last edited:
Solid work for a young fella is all I can hope for :) , and I agree about being thorough and making a nice clean notch, the small bypass seen here at the very edge of the notch did not go in far enough to endanger the hinge from breaking.
 
Brady Chapman said:
Solid work for a young fella is all I can hope for :) , and I agree about being thorough and making a nice clean notch, the small bypass seen here at the very edge of the notch did not go in far enough to endanger the hinge from breaking.
Click to expand...
Well hell, I raise the "solid work" to super duper solid work then...I watched a few of your vids and for someone who has been climbing for 6 yrs you have a really good handle on things and seem to be ahead of the learning curve...

As much as I hate to be the turd in the punch bowl I will mention that when watching your "Lethal Weapon 550XP" vid I noticed far side bypass on many of the undercuts you made aloft (very common). Might be one of the reasons that little top you lost backwards sat back on you so quickly? Certainly didn't help...

My objective for pointing out any bypass is clear....We should always take the time to clear our undercuts of bypass....Nothing but good can come from doing so....

Off the soapbox. Keep up the good work buddy...
 
Last edited:
rico said:
Its sometimes hard for me to see fine details with my gawd awful internet connection, but 0:23-0:30 sure seems to show bypass. Freeze frame at 0:27-0:28 for a good look. I certainly can't see how deep the bypass is, but bypass is bypass in my book.. When that kerf inevitably starts closing up early your holding wood has no choice but to start breaking early and loosing its effectiveness. I realize some might call this nitpicking, but when pulling over back-leaners near homes/valuables its those small details that can make the different between a nice paycheck for a hard days work, and bowing your head in shame as you call your insurance agent.

Other than that the young fella did a solid job with this tree...... Likewise on his "We zip-line some stuff" vid. Solid work......
Click to expand...

I noticed the same thing and agree that with such an important cut, its time to get your notch perfect. However, as seen in the video, the bypass did not cause the tree to cease and the hinge to fail before doing its job of ushering the tree to its lay. This was due to the flexibility of wood fibers, which will, of course, vary according to species. So the amount of bypass is a critical factor. If that bypass was deep enough to seize the tree after the bypass kerf closed, he could have been in deep dew. If you've seen bypasses in other videos, it is likely that there is a systemic issue. This is important to address before it comes back and bites him hard.

Brady,
do you make the top cut first? You may consider using the plate cut which ensures no bypass and gives the hinge fibers on the front of the hinge a little height.

It took balls and confidence to do that job in the snow. Hope you cashed up well. Its a good feeling knowing that you can drop a tree when others would be using a crane or climbing and rigging. You should get paid for your skills and guts.
 
Daniel said:
I noticed the same thing and agree that with such an important cut, its time to get your notch perfect. However, as seen in the video, the bypass did not cause the tree to cease and the hinge to fail before doing its job of ushering the tree to its lay. This was due to the flexibility of wood fibers, which will, of course, vary according to species. So the amount of bypass is a critical factor. If that bypass was deep enough to seize the tree after the bypass kerf closed, he could have been in deep dew. If you've seen bypasses in other videos, it is likely that there is a systemic issue. This is important to address before it comes back and bites him hard.

Brady,
do you make the top cut first? You may consider using the plate cut which ensures no bypass and gives the hinge fibers on the front of the hinge a little height.

It took balls and confidence to do that job in the snow. Hope you cashed up well. Its a good feeling knowing that you can drop a tree when others would be using a crane or climbing and rigging. You should get paid for your skills and guts.
Click to expand...
I can assure you that the small bypass (that was limited to a few inches at one corner) you see in the video was not in any danger of diminishing the strength of the hinge. The camera angle made it looked deeper than it was. And I can also say that I am not cavalier about my notches, especially ones that involve a dangerous backleaning tree. The video that Rico was talking about was an older video that was taken a year and half into my climbing career, so needless to say I was still pretty green. There were a bunch of sloppy cuts made in that video, but that sloppiness is not indicative of a systemic issue; its just a snap shot of a green horn climber. I have grown by leaps and bounds since then.

I appreciate the feedback, however, and I agree that it is a wise policy to be meticulous when forming your notches, and in every other aspect of an important fall. I probably didn't need the 3:1 on that tree, but like I tell my guys all the time "I like overkill." I agree I could have used a little more of that mentality on that notch.

And it is a good feeling being confident enough to drop a tree when others would spend all day dismantling it. I know a guy who is a talented bucket operator and a decent climber that is hesitant to drop trees whole if there is any chance of hitting anything. The balance between being safe and being productive is an interesting thing that often times varies with each situation. Of course being cavalier, reckless, and endangering peoples property is irresponsible and immoral. But going too far the other way can seriously suppress production to the point where it's hard to make money and stay in business. There is a healthy balance in there somewhere and not always the easiest thing to navigate if you are trying keep both safety and production at a premium.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

New threads New posts

Back
Top Bottom