NEVER Do This When Cutting Down A Tree!!
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 31 พ.ค. 2024
- TH-cam is full of videos portraying new homesteaders and other folks wandering out into the woods for the first time with a brand new chainsaw, a 20 inch bar and very little experience and knowledge. All to often I have seen dangerous tree fellings on videos where luckily no one got hurt but it very easily could have gone the other way.
In this video we show you a very dangerous mistake that could cause a tree to fall backwards, sideways or anywhere you don't want it to go.
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My neighbor used a much better method. He used his shed, which he built last year, to keep the tree he was cutting down from smashing on the ground. It worked great.
haha
lmao
MrDeadInMyPocket LMAO
MrDeadInMyPocket I done the same on a tree leaning over my shed. thought still if it lands on the old shed and smashed it then 2 job's. old shed was fine the tree rolled off it and flattened the greenhouse in next doors garden. sods law but he wanted the greenhouse taking down so wasn't bothered ether saved him a job lol.
MrDeadInMyPocket ml
Stump shot (back cut being higher than the face cut) is critically important to keep the butt of the log from kicking back over the stump if the tree hits something during the fall. Secondly, it allows the wood fibers in the hinge to more freely flex, guiding the tree farther through its fall as the tree goes over instead of being broken sooner. Then again, I'm just a guy who certifies the highest level of fallers for the largest land management agency (based on number of employees) in the United States, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about.
I agree that cutting off the holding wood is the biggest mistake that most people make in falling fails. Stump shot is not a mistake. Heck, OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) actually requires it in their rule book.
I work as a utility arborist. The reason for a 1 inch step up on the back cut is to prevent the stem from pushing off the stump the opposite direction. Also, you should always have at least 1/3rd of the diameter of the tree as holding wood. This is why we have ropes, wedges, and turfers. When there are powerlines, you don't get to just simply go with a lean. I kind of wonder if your brother has ever needed to fast cut a top, to have it fall straight down without tipping.
A lesson I learned the hard way this week is that even if you cut your wedge properly, you still need to take into account other trees and sometimes the branches can make things... problematic...
You should of accounted for the fall plan
Yep. I learned a lot from that. By the grace of god, no property damage no injuries.
Stfu feds
What the hell does federal agents have to do with anything?
@@newjerseydiesel8962 ya fukin pro. you need to be an instructor. reminds of a fella at work that always says what we should have done after we already did something and it didnt work
It is very necessary to make your back cut at least 2" above your notch cut, I cut timber professionally for 3 years and later taught timber felling classes for another 3 years, the reason for making the back cut higher than the face cut is to keep the tree from skidding backwards off the stump as it falls, I had an uncle that made the mistake of cutting his back cut at the same level as the face notch cut and the tree slid off the stump catching him in the crotch and using the stump as a fulcrum it threw him 60' through the air where he landed in a pile of basalt boulders, it caved the side of his head in and by only a miracle, he lived through it, do not teach people to make there back cut the same level as there face cut, that is what is very dangerous! When you cut a tree down be sure to leave about 1/10th the diameter of the trunk for holding wood and if the tree won't go over, use a wedge to help it but don't cut your holding wood all off ever, that also is very dangerous.
Yeah, maybe in Sweden it is done differently, but what was instructed here I don't agree with at all.
Buckin billy just spit his morning coffee out watching this
I can picture that.. And hear the comment straight after too..
🤣🤣🤣🤣 yeah he definitly would be sheddin tears from laughing to hard at this.
You can do the second cut higher but not that high. Generally you want to do it a little higher so it doesn’t kick back when it falls. The danger is when you cut too deep and you don’t have a lot holding the tree from rotating or falling in another direction.
The hinge wood was a little thin and the back cut was a little high. When falling trees that is among other trees you want about a couple of inches so that when the tree starts falling and falls into other trees the tree has something to push against to prevent the butt of the tree from shooting backwards. This helps to keep things a little safer.
I am just amazed on how well you’re folks from Sweden speak perfect English
Me too
@@franksmith7419 Yeah. Would be nice if he could teach the Englishmen
Bro it's like all of Northern Europe that all speaks better English than we do. They adopted it (I think) to communicate better with each other (i.e. because they all have different local languages).
I'm a saw instructor for the US Forest Service, and I wholeheartedly agree with your main point, which is the need for CONTROL of a falling tree, and that proper cutting technique is the way that you accomplish that. This was a very nice demonstration of how to do it wrong.
If this were a full sized tree, I'd be terrified to tap that wedge--no way of knowing where the bottom of that tree is going to go!
Ken Murray
That's why they wear safety helmets, because they never know which way the tree is going to fall.
any which way reckon
If it were a full sized tree, it would have fallen the direction of the wedge cut way faster, and would not have needed a wedge...
I'd love to say this was someone else, but I gotta own this.
Years back I was heading a team tasked with recovering a plane fuselage from a mountainside. To get the chopper line in we needed to fell half a dozen trees. Our pro took them out but we lost light so we came back the next day - minus the pro.
When an additional tree (225' x 36" dia) needed to come down I figured I could handle it (after all I watched him do 6 the day before!)
2 cuts... one low and one on the opposite side 6" above it.
Stopped to refuel chainsaw and BANG... this three to five ton behemoth snapped and the base shot past the point where I was standing 30 seconds earlier. It continued 15-20 feet where it impacted a 10" dia tree and UPROOTED IT. I learned later this was called a 'barber chair' cut and every bit as dangerous as you describe.
Fortunately, God loves animals and idiots.
Almost got squished to death by a barber chair 40 years ago. 17" tree landed on my lap. I was wondering why I was still alive when I noticed the tree got stopped by rock. That's when I read the faller's booklet on falling and found out what a barber chair was. I made my last big piece of wooden furniture that day!
This is the only tree cutting video tutorial that I have ever watched, and I watch many, that teaches to not make your back cut at least 2” above your under cut. This doesn’t make sense. What they should have focused on is, don’t cut too far. Leave a sufficient hinge. I have been cutting 80’-100’ pines and with a tree that tall, a 2” hinge will allow the tree to fall in the direction of the notch.
good to see that tip again. My dad showed and told me 60 years ago that was not a good way to cut down trees. But many people think I do not know what I am talking about when I say it. Glad you did a video on it.
I didn't look this up.
I would have never thought to look this up, yet here I am.
man it is so satisfying to see someone who cuts their trees low, drives me nuts when people cut shit at waist height
I learned much by watching "idiots with chainsaws" on TH-cam.
Good video, I agree that different countries have different methods of teaching basic felling cuts. In the UK I guess it's similar to Sweden. We are taught to make the back cut about 1" or 25mm higher than the bottom of the face cut, a little higher is acceptable but never make the back cut lower than the bottom of the face cut.
The hinge thickness as we are taught should be about 1/10th the diameter of the tree but again with experience some species may need a slightly stronger hinge
I think in reality once you start working as an arborist/lumberjack experience will say how you use different cuts but for less experienced guys it's easier and safer to stick to the recommended basic method until you gain more experience.
Good video, very interesting to see how your brother works compared to how I was taught, quite similar I think, I hope you both can show some more treework.
I hope we all have a safe week ahead.
Thanks for the info.
After 20 years of safe(ish) chainsaw use I was forced to take Chainsaw Safety Certification, because a new law required it for anyone working with a saw in Ontario (or Quebec) Canada. So I have taken it in both provinces, and we were taught; Face cut 1/3 of tree, back cut 1/2 of tree, which would leave 1/6 for a hinge, Back cut 2" (50mm) above the face cut.
Differences in legislation in various countries is so interesting.
TrollForge I'm on the east coast of canada and i cut my own firewood which makes me a professional know it all amateur and I understand totally why each country has its own tree felling methods... it's coz the laws of physics vary from country to country.
That way prevents kick backs it works well for me
Jason Nester The point I think was to make the cuts don't overlap. Having a step isn't the big issue, but making sure there are enough vertical fibre's fully intact top to bottom to hold it
My wife's tenant complained that the tree on the drive had out grown it's space,it wasn't a massive tree,being about 15 ft with a 9-10" dia. trunk. The neighbour who had a similar tree had dug theirs out for the same reason,it took 3 of them all day apparently. I went down there with my commercial vehicle spec lift recovery truck and using the winch cable I lashed the trunk to the spec lift arm and used the hydraulics to lift the arm upwards. With 18 tons of lift available to me it relinquished instantly with most of the roots and a large chunk of soil. The neighbours appeared and you could see the dejection on the faces of the father and the 2 boys,knowing they spent a day toiling for what took me probably all of 4 minutes total. I don't know what sort of tree it was but it had very smooth bark like a birch, but was reddish brown in comparison,it had small, soft,oval light green leaves and blossomed pink-white in the spring,it took a year or so to dry enough to not stink of shit when burnt.
Great video - what you have just described is the "holding wood". It's a crucial hinge that guides the tree and helps it fall in the right direction. It's also one of the first things I was taught when I was first trained as a sawyer 25 years ago. Thanks!
Were you a sawyer or a faller !
@@donholmes3267 Boss called us "sawyers". But I suppose either would apply.
Tree felling vids are the best! I'm an amateur, that drops trees at my own place. I never had any training or anything, just TH-cam for all my knowledge. I've probably watched 200 hours of arborist vids, dropped 50-100 trees and every tree still gets my blood pumping. I watch all your vids. You put out great stuff, thank you for sharing.
Thanks for watching.
TonyLittleNutz Q
Aww hell, just drink beer til ur confidant then drink 4 more and fire that stihl up baby.
Don't DROP TREES. Attach a rope up on the trunk and PULL IT DOWN.
Watch tree cutting fails on TH-cam and you will learn from their mistakes
Your advise is exactly opposite of every other arborist and tree feller I have known or video I have watched. The back cut, MUST , be higher than the bottom of the wedge cut. In your demonstration the tree fell PERFECTLY. Where you stop the back cut depends on the diameter and size of the tree.
Lenny F back cuts are higher
The point he was trying to make is to not cut completely through your holding (hinge) wood. The fact that the tree fell "perfectly" doesn't prove a thing, that was just luck, there was nothing guiding it's fall other than he pushed it with his hand in the direction of the fall.
It would have been nice however if he had then cut down a tree correctly showing how you use holding wood to direct the fall.
Back cut too high
Lenny if tree was intact, with this cut it could easily go any direction. That is point the hinge was to weak. A breeze, a heavy side limb twisting tree, gravity, rotting core, would be disastrous.
The height of the cut is not the issue. The point they are making is to be careful not to cut too much because it is easy to do so.
I’m an American who’s 1/2 Swedish. My grandpa (my moms dad) is 100% Swedish. He moved to the USA from Stockholm. Great video guys!
Doesn’t that make you 1/4 Swedish
You must have very cooperative trees in Sweden. That offset is used to backstop the tree when the notch closes or if your hinge breaks prematurely and the tree begins to rotate around its centre of gravity rather than the (now broken) anchor point. I have watched your other video, falling an un-notched tree, and it amounts to basic limbing technique with wedges. If you wanted to go with the lean, you could just hack through it. It's a completely valid method for small trees, but should the hinge break prematurely, the butt end will fly back a metre or several and hit you in the face faster than you can retreat. A notch with the back cut an inch or two (depending on tree size) above the apex prevents this. On large trees you cut well above the root flare, which might be 1.3 metres or more above grade. This creates a huge lethal area for that trunk to fly around in once the hinge breaks. The safest method is to cut a wide but shallow notch which provides a reference for you to back-cut a precise hinge to, roughly equivalent to 10% of the diameter of the trunk. The back-cut should be above the apex of the notch to create the back stop. Without the notch you're guessing at the bounce off a round stump. For small trees with small root flares, if you want to work that close to the ground all day, well, go for it. Personally I find it necessary make a second stump-cut anyway - which I'd rather do without 12 tonnes of wild windy wood sitting on it. I say this as a guy with no scars who mostly just angle-cuts leaning 0.5 metre leaning white cedars like twigs. 12 trees, six minutes. I'm not a safety guy, but being that close to the ground with your face that close to a couple of tonnes of potential destruction is only for the very nimble, or the foolish. The above-notch back cut is the standard for a reason.
100%
Yeah this video is bad information. The backcut should be offset to keep the tree from kicking back off the stump. If you can’t judge the proper hinge wood thickness then don’t cut a tree. I do agree the back cut shouldn’t be excessively high but shouldn’t be level either. All they demonstrated in this video is cutting too far into the hinge. Cutting the backcut and face cut even probably works fine on 12” for trees but bigger hardwood trees are a different game
I agree. Use a breaking bar rather than cut the hinge so thin. If its something big you should be using wedges anyway.
I am glad that i have read your comment on it.In this video it is clearly explained that the back cut must go higher....(link:th-cam.com/video/XxfHpSfIKRs/w-d-xo.html)
I was confused a bit thank you very much for the clarification.
When felling I use the correct notch for the type of wood the tree is. Here in the NE U.S. some hardwoods are straight grain and can split the tree where others are more of fiber grain and hold together like some Elm trees.
Many thanks for the video - most enlightening. I'm constantly amazed at the very high level of English you Swedes always master. It puts we mother tongue speakers to shame!
Great video, love the comments section too, most important lesson was:
3:45 [the hinge] "... didn't guide the tree". 😰
Anytime you OVER CUT. Your hinge, you are making a mistake. Cutting above the wedge is not a mistake. Over cutting is the mistake. I always make my bottom flat cut first because I find it easier to sight down on the top cut to meet the first cut.
The first sensible comment on tree felling I have seen on here for a long time.
Hey, whadda know, Blair is over here too, hi there Blair!
i agree you keep the back cut higher and watch both sides as you cut to check your hinge and you can also control the swing of the tree with the thickness of the hinge on one side or the other plus the raised rear cut will help prevent tree from sliding back plus the higher you cut depends on the lean of the tree so it'll tear downwards instead of upwards ruining the timber and loosing control of the tree
arborist blair.......... Exactly, just what I thought. Lived in Sweden for ten years. and always dissagreed with the locals about this point... Always cut above the wedge. Many, many hundreds of trees ... never had a problem..
the top cut should be made first when making your face cut. there are two marks on the saw which act as sights and are useless if performing the bottom cut first.
Above all friends stay safe. Trees can do anything when falling. I owned a small sawmill and as a designer/consultant designed many types of forest products mfg equipment. Both for my own company and for consulting engineers to the forest products industry, such as Mid-South Engineering.
My main joy was working in the woods on our mountain place. I had many close calls but was never seriously hurt. Above ALL however you fall a tree be CAREFUL.
FRANK
thank you so much i just finished cutting a huge tree 🎄 in my front yard and i was able to make it fall right where i wanted, thank you for your instructions. i was given an estimate of 1500$ to do it, again thank you so much
So glad you posted this. I see way too many homesteading and Bushcraft video where they make no directional felling cuts. They just making a back cut that goes all the way through the tree and the tree slides down the cut and falls back at the Faller. They can twist and fall in any direction. And Never go falling trees without a good selection of wedges
The issue is height of backcut relative to the birdsmouth notch, and not cutting too far. But I don't agree with their advice - placing the backcut at least 1" higher than the notch is done for a reason.
You guys show the best way. I tried finding your video after some years to show my son. When I found you this time I subscribed.
I was wondering what ever happened to bam margera
kyle hux thank you. I was way too stoned when I watched this and didn't know if I was only one that thought bam turned TH-cam guru.
i am aswell stoned and thought it was bam
Lol, spot on!
He beat his wife? Wow, class act beginning to end.
kyle hux as long as he's gone and stays there, who cares???
For amateurs looking to find techniques to cut hardwood.......... let me say you can take 99 percent of the stuff here on youtube and throw it out the window. Almost all the videos on youtube are of softwood that is mostly straight and true. In hardwood country the trees are uneven, close together, branches in all directions.... and most of the time it is impossible to make the tree fall in a certain direction no matter how much fancy pants cutting you do. The trees can be hollow and split, spin, or just plain old... you judged wrong. I ALWAYS have a 360 degree opening when falling hardwood. I try to fell it in a general direction, but even after 30 years of cutting.. sometimes physics gets the best of me. ALWAYS leave yourself an out. And... if I don't have 360 degrees of room around the tree, or have stuff around the tree that cant have a tree fall on it, I use heavy equipment. Cable and a loader to pull tree..... its the only way to safely do it.
I like using a come-along and taking off limbs from the back side to keep my tree heavy on the side pointing to where i want it to fall, but they really can do some strange things, i had a tree wit a 4' base that was completely hollow up the center and when it broke it basically exploded and fell in all directions because we had too much torque pulling it in the opposite direction it wanted to go...
Closest call I've had with a tree.
banshee, man you are right about hardwoods. Them rascals won't cooperate. Pines fairly easy to make fall where I want, not oaks. Southern reds, white oaks, etc. where I cut.
You're damn sure right about that
Plenty of straight Maple, Oak, Birch where I am at and I can fell them exactly where I want. It's not a simple softwood vs hardwood, each tree and where it's at is different. Best advice you can give newbs is don't mess with trees big enough to do serious damage.
Soft wood, hard wood. Try seasoned dead wood! You can leave a 10mm hinge on a 500mm tree and the sucker will stop and hold when the gob cut closes. And so dangerous if you not careful when putting it through the chipper. Like being hit by a car. Iv never seen a video on TH-cam of someone felling a decent size deadwood tree. They don’t teach you that on any course either.
My brother in law was killed back in 2003 cutting down a tree. He was comfortable cutting down smaller, lighter trees, and he thought he could handle the big ones. My only point to this is that if you don’t truly know what you are doing, don’t attempt it. I grew up on a farm and with the “we can do this ourselves” mentality, and even I don’t mess with the large trees. Paying the professionals is expensive but, trees are no joke.
Agreed! Back cut should be 2 inches max from the gunning cut, ensures u have That holding wood to guide the tree down smoothly
I am a beaver. I chew trees down with my incisors, which by the way never stop growing.
I notch the tree with never a care in the world. Try it some time.
Great video, gets right to the point. Keep rocking dude. :)
I've never cut down a tree, or even used a chainsaw, but I liked the video.. I like seeing people doing what they do best.. Good job, and thanks for sharing.. Love from Ohio..
The example given of having a tree not slide down hill off the stump can also be prevented by using a Hobart cut; where the wedge is from the bottom instead of the top. Very effective in my experience. As you say though, precision is key. Good video gentlemen. Thank you.
Your brother is like an international tree hit man for hire.
It amazes me how swedes speak fluently English, while in USA people struggle to learn it
I have watched Nick Lidstrom and Henrik Zetterberg for years playing for the Detroit Red Wings and give perfect interviews in English. Then there are the African Americans in the NBA and NFL give interviews where I can't understand a single word.
Lol english is ez 2 learn, like from school from 7yrs old + games n gg ;p
Orange Juice Ebonics ruined American English.
Maybe you should be amazed at the fact the people from other countries -
often need - to speak English, whereas people in the U.S. don't have to learn a foreign language. Once you realize the significance of that fact, thank a veteran.
Nobody needs to speak another language, its just expanding your interaction with cultures. Americans dont speak more languages because the education system cant even teach them basic math or geography let alone another language. Veterans fought to help the UK and corporate interests and didnt help the average American get out from being a debt slave to the federal reserve cartel.
When I heard that accent I thought, Yes, these fellers know about timber lol. Great video thank y'all
Ive been cutting trees for 40 years I do that exact same cut never had a problem and some dam big trees. Trick is know your lean which dictates how far the first flat cut is, then all is good
This particular example has a pretty decent hinge, but the main key is that you need to use the edge of the V as the gauge for your hinge thickness, not the thickness straight across where you follow the back cut through. A v that is straight across on top and tapered on bottom is easier to judge since the top of the V doesn’t slope.
Very good demonstration. I don't let me brother cut down trees when we are out cutting for firewood.....he just knows that the tree is most likely going to hit the ground. but no clue as to the direction.
Good lesson: Make sure that the hinge (holding wood) is thick enough to prevent the tree from falling in any direction except towards the notch.
P.S. I'm jealous of you Swedes -- you speak English much better than I could ever speak Swedish.
Stupid is as stupid does. You guys have to have a guardian angel
one thing i would add about safely felling a tree, especially for an inexperienced sawyer, is to do the cutting at a comfortable waist height, working a heavy saw while kneeling is awkward and makes it harder to get away once the tree starts falling. i would have used the word hinge more often in the explaination. you showed what it looks like with no hinge left, but i can imagine a more in depth description of the function of the hinge, and how to make a correct one would have helped out many who dont know any better. skol!
HI there. Thanks for your comment. I talk about a video where we show the hinge more in this video.
And waste good timber? Not any more
Forest service here demands that the stump you leave is 12inches or less from lowest point around the tree. takes me seconds to fell a tree no need to waste the round by cutting at waist level.
@@jeremykemper3780 - Are you inexperienced?
@@corpsiecorpsie_the_original not at all I've been feeling trees for years now I stand by my comments lol
Yeah, exactly! I'm a horticulturist with basic arborist training. I'm talking a 1 week intensive training on a special school on the other side of the country, where we learned all about safety measures, safety gear, chainsaw maintanance and then 2 days of actual cutting. This is not your standard home and garden handywork. Just search for 'chainsaw accidents' to see the brute power of the forces you're dealing with. Try not to have nightmares afterwards. Arborist is one of the physically most dangerous jobs in the world. Also, keep other people well out of the way. Most people magically turn into complete idiots around tree felling. Count on it. You *can not* outrun a falling tree.
side step
melovescoffee not if you are from the Prometheus school of running away. (its the bouncing that give trees a really unpredictable motion)
Very informative video. By the remarks I see here I think everyone got the right impression on how not to cut a tree from falling the wrong way. You left one thing out. The shed! LOL God bless and keep you all safe.
I gave it a thumbs up. It was informative for people unfamiliar with cutting trees.
I think people's problem with this video is that it seems like you are saying never make the back cut higher, instead of always leave a real hinge that does not violate all of the vertical fibers. Everyone I know in America makes the back cut higher. It's the standard recommendation, and it just works. No one here with any experience seems to have a problem with cutting too far. It's not just felling uphill, but also hitting obstructions as the tree falls, or if the tree twists for any reason or the hinge doesn't behave as planned Beyond cutting too far as you say, which is a great point, I can only see it as good insurance to make a high back cut. I think the emphasis should have been more specific that the important part is to leave a hinge. It seems to me that the point is largely missed due to a sensational overstatement and vague emphasis.
The hinge depends on the type of wood, thickness, and angle.
angle of my hang down is important
I LOVE the helmet with the built in ear protection and face shield! When not needed everything just moves away from your head! AWESOME! I want one!
Bailey's in Oregon , all kinds of good stuff for working in the woods .
Thank you for this video. I just cut a tree today using the incorrect method and fortunately, no one was injured but our pucker-factor was high. Thanks again for the video.
Great for the newbies! Proper wedge cuts you can fell trees in the direction safely..
Retired 40 years Arborist >
This is true. I bought a new saw and it came with felling instructions that describe the same as this video. The video is better. You may save life’s, trucks, cars, sheds, and homes with this video.
Excellent explanation. It is more than obvious that your brother knows how to keep that chain in amazing condition. Thank you.
I thought that chain was rather dull... A sharp chisel chain throws out huge amounts of big chips from the cut.. His saw was throwing out not many tiny chips of wood...
Great vid, in the UK with the rise of Swedish log burners many use chainsaws with little or no experience. I'm always wary and respect the maintenace and condition of the tree. Once nearly had a tree kick back on me, my fault and could have killed me. Great stuff dude.
#1 mistake I see on 90% of videos is people cutting these oversized open faced notches and over cutting it where it meets.
At first glance I thought Bam Margera was showing us how not to cut down a tree lol great video! And good info. Thanks!
I am no good on a skateboard. ;)
ha! me too the fingerless gloves had me doing a double take
yup
I'm going to cut this tree down and land it on my house. Welcome to Jackass.
The top cut should be made horizontal (level) and the bottom cut slanted in. Completely the opposite of what's usually done. That way the tree can't kick back. Draw it out to visualize it!!
You guys cut that notch pretty deep for such a skinny tree. Also, I personally like to use a much steeper angle. I just use the natural angle of the saw which is about 60-70 degrees instead of 40 degrees. I cut in about 20% of the chest height diameter of the tree, also known as DBH or diameter breast height, which makes sure that the hinge is still in the sapwood. I then plunge cut into the tree, and leave about an equal width, 10% DBH, left at both the front and back of the plunge cut. That lets you set your hinge to exactly the thickness you want, and it leaves you with a small portion of the tree left to remove at your leisure once you've reassessed to make sure that everything is good to go and everyone is clear. When everyone is ready and clear you can stand back much further, and make just one tiny little cut anywhere from level with the apex of the notch to 1-2" above the apex. Once that cut is made you can clear out quickly, and that tree should fall in the direction you intended with a perfect hinge thickness if you did your prep work properly. Some of the saws that come out of Europe are absolutely amazing, but let's face it... for felling trees you need to look no further than the Pacific Northwest of the United States. Those guys know how to fell a tree better than anyone on the planet. For example, they often cut the notch upside down because those notches can end up weighing 800 lbs or more on some of the trees they cut. Anyone out there really want to lift out an 800 lb wedge every time you cut a tree? Cut the notch upside down, and the notch just falls out on its own courtesy of gravity.
If anyone out there wants a really great video about felling trees, then I highly recommend the videos below from Husqvarna. They might be a little slow for those of you who have spent a fair amount of time around a saw, but they really are great. A person with basically no experience whatsoever could watch these videos, and be ready to safely fell a tree afterwards with no other instruction. They even cover topics like compression and tension for when you're bucking and limbing a tree after it's been cut down.
th-cam.com/video/Dk0JSn5WDTE/w-d-xo.html
th-cam.com/video/Teb2bQsqx44/w-d-xo.html
"Oh, I'm a lumberjack, and I'm okay,
I sleep all night and I work all day.."
"I run from trees falling out of place,
And dodge chainsaws hurtling for my face."
Or wait, that's not how that song went... shit.
@@Fraggr92 Truly Canadian.
40 years in the lumber business and I've seen pretty much everything. This is no better or worse than any other method I've seen used.
If there's a chance it can hit another tree cut that way I can jump over the lower cut and come back at you. I know two guys that drove home with a pant load each because of that. LOL
wtf are you talking about? They cut right through the hinge.
You are so right about this
Good point on the cutting dow the tree I have cut down many trees and I never pay'd attention to this problem Thank you so much for shearing the video
Interessting, I learned to always make the back cut above the v of the wedge so the holding wood doesnt cause the tree to split. This was from a course by Canadian dept of natural resources. They also talked about how some of the techniques used by their crews were adopted for safety without being proven to be safer or better in any other way. Its cool to see the differences in the way people work, I thought that cut looked like it needed a bit mor holding wood (1/10 of the diameter) but otherwise just like I learned.
Keep up the great videos I appreciate the knowledge.
The instructions that come with every Stihl chainsaw have a diagram showing 10% of the diameter being needed as hinge wood. Pretty sure they put that in for a good reason, maybe stopping the butt of the trunk kicking back at you
@@climberpaul That guy was saying the method he used was wrong, but I have seen experts say that those cuts were correct, and prevent kick back.
@@grancito2 Your right, the method isn't wrong, the execution was purposely butchered for demonstration. If you draw a line straight up from the apex of the notch, you will clearly see there is little to no hinge wood left, and the higher your back cut the tougher it is to judge. Bottom line is to pay very close attention to the apex and no other part of the notch when making your back cut.
Good video
Cutting above prevents kick back, tho 1” is plenty is leaving 10% for hinge
I think 30% hinge was meant to mean 30% face cut
30% hinge would result in a lot of wedge banging if the tree needed to be laid out in a particular direction off the lean
10% is a guide, often more on one side less on;the other or different lean and more importantly species
@@ravenshield7823 yes, even 2” high as long as the holding wood left is sufficient and behind the apex
I worked on a storm crew several years ago, and had to clean up after a "professional" who cut down a large (roughly 3 ft across) oak tree, using EXACTLY the method that you demonstrated in this video. He had a rope in the top of the tree secured to the bumper of his minivan (remember, he WAS a professional), so as to make the tree fall the only safe direction there was in that location. But once he had made his cuts and there was nothing to keep the tree from snapping off, gravity and the wind took over and the tree fell exactly opposite the direction he wanted. Sorry, but a 4,000lb minivan just can't compete with a 40,000lb tree. It dragged his vehicle roughly 100 ft across the homeowner's front yard, and the tree took down the high-voltage power lines, telephone lines, and television cables across the road, broke the utility pole in the neighbour's yard, and hit the house across the road. I shudder to think of how much his mistake cost him, because even if he were insured as a tree-cutting business (which I doubt), even insurance isn't going to cover him for being stupid.
Wow. That sound so scary...
Swedish Homestead Extremely so. Thankfully, no one was injured. With the power lines being taken down like that, it could have been deadly.
"Professional" just means you get paid (most of the time) for what you do. It doesn't mean you know what you're doing or that you're any good at it!
dlwatib I had that discussion with my nephew just the other day. You can be a professional without being an expert, and you can be an expert without being a professional. The objective is to become both.
Patrick Ancona Homeowners have insurance that would pay for any property damage (granted, if they're renters and they don't have renter's insurance, their personal belongings wouldn't be covered, but that's a different matter of stupidity. The landlord would still have insurance on the physical property). In the case above, the homeowner would have simply not been required to pay Darwin for the tree job. Anyone who works for the dumbass is screwed, though. So is the power company, who would have sent a bill to them, but probably never collected anything. As for suing them, I found out the hard way that the court's not going to financially penalize a guy's family to pay for his stupidity. I've been on disability for nearly 10 years, but I never got a dime for Worker's Comp Insurance because the guy I was working for never paid for it. I get injured and never work again, and he gets to carry on with business as usual, simply because he has a wife and kids, and the court isn't going to take food out of his family's mouths to pay for his business mistake. Basically, if someone owns their own business and they screw up without insurance, you're pretty much SOL.
Thank you for creating and uploading this video. It is very useful, indeed.
I don't cut down many trees but that is exactly how I was shown and how I've been doing it. I will definitely take your advise when I'm next in the summer house. Where r u living? I'm in Stockholm
As I learned - which might be different from you guys in Sweden - The Humbolt precut is good for exactly those situations (slopes etc.) , which makes perfect sense, since it is very easy to align the 2 horizontal cuts, with the opening in the pre-cut dropping away from both of them. This way the back of the stump still remains high, so the trunk does not skate back over your legs, since the hinge bends over forward, and catches the back of the stump when it falls. Any thoughts?? Of course this makes it more difficult to use the sightline on the saw, but other than that.
tree cutting should begin with selecting a run away route, to run towards when it goes poorly.
Pick an escape route, and move or kick any obstacles out of the way before any cutting.
And pack spare pants 👍
Thank you for making this and your safety.
Thanks for the advice. Good very clear sounding English language.
A few years ago I needed to fell a tree that was between my house and my shed. I'd never done that before. So I go on TH-cam and watched several videos on how to do so. The day comes to fell the tree. With everything in place I look at the space I have to safely drop the tree in, think about my plan. I shut the chainsaw off, go inside, make a phone call. Next day the arborist shows up. Does things the right way, the tree is on the ground. House and shed are fine. Sometimes the learning curve isn't worth going into.
LOL my wife wouldn't let me cut down two trees in our back yard that were leaning over the shed. Arborist came and made short work of it, leaving me with a bunch of logs for firewood. It cost $950 but we still have a shed!
Smartest comment I've ever seen on a TH-cam chainsaw video. Congrats!
Agree. Surely there are people who can do it first time right but thinking about professionals getting injured I don’t think it’s a smart way to start. I would say get the pro to fall it for you and if you really want to learn do the rest of the job yourself. It is satisfying feeling to do it right but it’s not same as painting your kitchen that would cost you only paint you waste when you do it wrong.
wise man once said, best to learn on neighbors shed, or in laws shed !!!!!! ancient native American logging advice
Sounds like you missed out on all the fun...
I think you are doing good teaching this.
Appreciate your professionalism
Thank you for your videos. We just bought 21 raw acres and we'll be testing out your methods soon! (Starting with very small trees!!!)
ok I will practice on my neighbours tree
My method: Start cutting ... have someone crossing their fingers for you. Has worked so far.
Your method: Sounds safer ... not as exciting.
Conclusion: Should absolutely listen to you. Thanks for the advice.
i do it a bit different ..but i think better .. yes you are correct YOU NEVER OVER CUT YOUR HINGE....i make the top of my wedge flat/horizontal and cut the bottom cut upwards..you can do it the other way..i just find it easier to gauge where the bottom of the hinge is . my back cut is made above. you can still make the hinge as wide as you like .the reason is it stops the tree jumping backwards ..the can happen if the tree has to fall past branches on other trees
love your TH-cam and what a greAT fAMILY U HAVE
That was great. God bless you guys in Sweden, from Colorado.
Same, from Oklahoma
A number of years ago, a guy I used to work with was using a chain saw in his yard, up on his ladder--the chainsaw was above his head....he fell, and died. I learned, never use a chain saw above your head, or on a ladder.......
I hired aguy that took that saw way above his head on a ladder and knocked that was tree down, some got it, some don't.
Sometimes despite your best efforts a tree seems to have a mind of its' own. Some factors to consider when cutting down trees is the wind direction and which side has the largest or heaviest limb growth. This is especially important on tall trees.Good video here pointing out the importance of making the proper cut & the use of the proper PPE personal protective equipment. Safety is "NO ACCIDENT"
I strongly agree with you about with the cut should be at the same level to get a a proper hinge. But in the video you did cut to much of the backcut and overshooting the facecut and that is another issue all by it self to be doing that.
The problem with offsetting the backcut from the facecut and not overshooting is when there is fibers in the tree that are not running in an angle and therefore by not having the cuts at the same level you can still end up with cutting the fibers even if you leave enough space.
In America, you can't tell anybody anything that owns a chain saw. They are stubborn and would rather drop a tree on their house or truck than to follow advice.
John Tate But they make for great youtube videos.
John Tate but we are the greatest contry in the world... yeah... well we have the biggest ego at least.
John Tate wat
not only in america :)
Rich...I don't think so. I respect every last wood cutter out there. They work
the most dangerous job in the world, especially the logging guys that
are out there every day dropping trees for industry. I wouldn't want to
see any of them hurt. My comment is towards the weekend yahoos that
rather drop a tree on their house than pay a professional.
Yeah, but you didn’t link how to fell a tree “right there”!
Yes it is dangerous, I think they are still training people to cut above. Also the closer you cut to the ground. The fibers do not run vertical as one would think. It is always best to have the cuts meet and have a safe excape path off to the side incase the trees slides back. This is something I have rarely seen but they teach the step method to prevent the tree slidind back off the stump. I do believe cutting all the fibers and having the tree fall out of control is way more dangerous. Thanks for the video.
Having a stumpshot (a backcut that is higher than your face cut) can prevent a barber chair(a tree that essentially collapses on itself and fall backwards) and is not necessarily bad. Excessive stumpshots will cause dangerous problems.
What this video displayed was an inadequate hinge. The message is clear and true throughout the arborist world. Never cut through your hinge!
I pretty sure this is called barber chairing, least that's the term I have been raised on. It can also lead to the tree to just bent the fibers and the tree still fall, leaving them high tension fibers ready to jump into your face.
It's not baber chairing, barber chair is where the tree trunk splits as you are trying to fall it, it can be caused by rot or a lot of tension because the tree has a heavy lean also some woods a more susceptible than others.
Barber chairing is where the wedge is overcut on one of the cuts and it acts as a hinge where the wood squeezes together which puts such force up the centre of the tree that it splits along the length of the tree until it snaps somewhere up the tree. it can carry so much force that it just explodes in the persons face, and the end result is half the stump cut with half of the tree sticking up from the other half, kind of resembling a barbers chair.
Though there are other causes like what M C said. It's important to be able to discern which videos you want to listen to, preferably ones made by people who have clear professional experience, and not just someone who says he is because he has a chainsaw and a camera.
You forgot to shout "TIMBER!"
Thank you! From Tallahassee Florida USA
Great video really enjoyed watching it thanks for sharing, y'all stay safe and God bless 🚜
Thought you were showing how to do it properly, was almost screaming at the screeen till I realized you were showing the wrong way.
Actually, having your back cut above the horizontal portion of the face cut is called stumpshot and is crucial so that if your hinge fibers snap too early due to unforeseen circumstances the tree will not shoot backwards injuring the feller. Stump shot is not necessary for a open face cut or humbolt face cut. please don't spread misinformation.
John Zap yes at least someone knows what they are doing, it's sad to see so many people agreeing with this, the only time you are safe to cut a tree level with the face cut is with a humbolt or modified humbolt, and even then Osha wants to see 2 inches above
John Zap Pretty sure the point of the video was about the cuts overlapping and ruining the hinge
zach chilson,
What's a humbolt?
What is a fucking feller?
Noun 1. feller - a person who fells trees
Thank you for all the videos Simeon.
Thanks for this tip. I was felling small eucalypts on a property a few months back. Not sure if I made this exact mistake, but it will make me think twice next time.