Burning Down house and a poor Fell.

[Danno77]

Took this tree down on Friday. I counted the rings in it as best as I could and came up with 64 of 'em. Grandpa says he planted the tree in about 44, so I was close. He planted this tree and the others pictured as a windbreak on his boyhood farm as an FFA project in high school. My sister and brother are building a new house on this piece of the land, and I thought it was time for this thing to come down, it's looking kinda sick.

I'm not sure how well the pictures of the stump will turn out, but I thought they were worth posting because I just mentioned to another member what can happen with a crooked cut on a tree. Everyone makes mistakes, this wasn't horrible, but it's a nice proof of concept.

I eyeballed the natural lean of the tree, and decided it was good to just let it fall that way, made my face cut accordingly, then started to make the back-cut. I'm cutting, and cutting, and cutting, and it feels like the tree should be going, but it's not. so I stop and check out the hinge, it's thin enough on my side that I should be pretty close, then I look at the other side and that's when I notice that my face cut was crooked. Not horrible, mind you, but the far side was a good 1.5" off of the closer side. Since my back cut was level this meant that I had a lot more hinge on the far side. I didn't feel safe cutting on the front of the tree to even out my face cut, so I changed up my back cut to be crooked to match the face cut. Well, the tree fell, it fell the wrong direction (but I expected it to) and not horribly off. It rolled completely off the stump as it fell, as well. Just like i knew it would. In the end, I only took a few branches from the tree next to it and i was only off a little (I was aiming for noon and got maybe 10:30, so maybe 45 degrees MAX)

Now I've got this truck load of Pine to burn for next fall. I took a reading as soon as I got home and it said 25% just about everywhere I checked.

 

[Jags]

It happens Danno. I do try to minimize that by making the top cut of my wedge and then leave the saw there - stand back and take a look. I do the same on the back cut for height compared to my wedge cut as well as level-ness with where I want the hinge (usually only on big trees though).

 

[smokinj]

Its not horrible but not far from it! Wedges are your friend.....

 

[Danno77]

Its not horrible but not far from it! Wedges are your friend…..

lol, thanks for the smack in the face with a dose of reality. We've said it before, Jay, only takes a teensy error to be deadly in this game. I walked away from it, so I win (this time). See that picture of me with the saw. See the front pocket of the bibs. Yep, they didn't come out for this. Maybe they should have.

 

[Adios Pantalones]

Yup, and it happens on easy trees when you think it'll be a snap!

 

[smokinj]

Its not horrible but not far from it! Wedges are your friend…..

lol, thanks for the smack in the face with a dose of reality. We've said it before, Jay, only takes a teensy error to be deadly in this game. I walked away from it, so I win (this time). See that picture of me with the saw. See the front pocket of the bibs. Yep, they didn't come out for this. Maybe they should have.

Your right They should been in place! Having a level first cut when taking the wedge (facecut) is the most inportant cut! (this cut can be redone if your not happy with the way you started it) Just make a lower first wedge cut! Its good that you put the pic on its the very best way to get better!

 

[thewoodlands]

Its not horrible but not far from it! Wedges are your friend…..

lol, thanks for the smack in the face with a dose of reality. We've said it before, Jay, only takes a teensy error to be deadly in this game. I walked away from it, so I win (this time). See that picture of me with the saw. See the front pocket of the bibs. Yep, they didn't come out for this. Maybe they should have.

Danno77 you're a pro compared to me, the wedges dropped it in the area I wanted it to go. This is why I buck up downed trees!

zap

 

[smokinj]

Its not horrible but not far from it! Wedges are your friend…..

lol, thanks for the smack in the face with a dose of reality. We've said it before, Jay, only takes a teensy error to be deadly in this game. I walked away from it, so I win (this time). See that picture of me with the saw. See the front pocket of the bibs. Yep, they didn't come out for this. Maybe they should have.

Danno77 you're a pro compared to me, the wedges dropped it in the area I wanted it to go. This is why I buck up downed trees!

zap

lol very pro stump BUT THE WEDGEs CAN SAVE YOUR @SS!

 

[Beowulf]

I love my wedges

Thanks for posting the pics and commentary. Glad it worked out ok. Stay safe!

 

[Wood Duck]

If that is a bad fell, I think you're in good shape. It seems like bad could get a lot worse.

Those are Norway Spruce, by the way.

 

[Danno77]

If that is a bad fell, I think you're in good shape. It seems like bad could get a lot worse.

Those are Norway Spruce, by the way.

Thanks for the ID on that. I had been wondering. All I knew was that it was pine and when they are on the ground just about every branch is loaded with energy. A real pain to clean up the trunk to buck it. What gives the ID away? is it the bark, the tree structure, grain pattern or something I'm totally missing?

 

[Backwoods Savage]

Danno, as you might guess, I've felled a lot of trees over the years. Still, it seems that after I injured my back I seem to be off on the cutting from time to time now. They usually still go where I want them to go but occasionally one gets ornery. Then you have to take command!

 

[Wood Duck]

You can tell they are spruce based on the sharp-pointed christmas tree shape (indicating spruce, fir, or tamarack), small needles, and lots of branches. Pine vary by species, but in general have fewer branches, longer needles, and a more rounded shape. You can tell they are Norway Spruce by the small branches that hang vertically down from the large branches. These give Norway Spruce a distinctive shape that you can recognize as far away as you can see the tree. Also, Norway Spruce grows longer branches than some types of spruce, large, lower branches often swoop downward, and seems to have more space between branches, giving it a unique overall shape. The bark is also typical for Norway Spruce, but that isn't how I identified the tree, and I am not sure if it is distinctive from other types of spruce.

 

[billb3]

+1 on the Norway spruce - the little branches hanging down and the big branches tend to break with snow and ice loads in the Winter and heal causing the whole branch to 'droop' even more than they already do.

The 2nd one from the left is either something else or really sick or something.

We have a bunch of them behind our house.
I remember my father getting a box of seedlings ( from Musser Forest, I think) aroundabout 1957/1958.
Trees all look pretty much like that (with squirrel nests at the top)

 

[Danno77]

+1 on the Norway spruce - the little branches hanging down and the big branches tend to break with snow and ice loads in the Winter and heal causing the whole branch to 'droop' even more than they already do.

The 2nd one from the left is either something else or really sick or something.

We have a bunch of them behind our house.
I remember my father getting a box of seedlings ( from Musser Forest, I think) aroundabout 1957/1958.
Trees all look pretty much like that (with squirrel nests at the top)

second one from the left is the one that came down.

 

[wendell]

Looks like this is becoming the ugly stump thread. ;-)

Ditto what Jags said.

Never start your back cut until your notch is perfect because it is easy to correct until the back cut is started. Also, use your wedge in the notch as an aid to make you have the tree going where you want.

Also, if I understand what you said earlier about your hinge, being crooked like your notch was wouldn't have made a huge difference as it is the even thickness of the hinge that is most critical, the sheer stress of the uneven height much less so.