Natural selection?

[Jon1270]

For the education those less experienced among us (e.g. me), what would you say the guy in the first video did wrong? I've bucked some good-sized trees that were already on the ground, but never had to fell a tree of any size. To me, it looks like he's handling the saw a little recklessly and moving his body around more than is necessary. It's hard to tell because of the low-res video but the hinge looks like it might've been a little insubstantial on the far side. What am I missing?

 

[Jags]

what would you say the guy in the first video did wrong?

Not to be a smarty pants, but other than not getting himself killed it would be easier to list the things he did properly.

1 - didn't get killed.

Jon - he was beyond reckless. Swinging the saw like a switch. Not using the chain brake during movement. Who drops branches on their head?? The back cut was a disaster waiting to happen. You should not "ring" the tree for the back cut. Etc. Obviously not a well educated saw user.

Not to mention - I will NOT be that close to another chainsaw dropping a tree. The dude in the background looked even less educated.

 

[Jon1270]

The back cut was a disaster waiting to happen.

I believe you, but could you be more specific about what "ringing the tree" means, and why it's a problem? I get that he was reckless with the saw, the chain brake, proximity to the other guy, dropping that branch on himself, etc.; that stuff is fairly obvious even to me.

 

[Jags]

The backcut should have been a single cut evenly heading towards the hinge area. If you will notice, he was using the back side of the bar/chain and "ringing" the backside of the tree. He was making a couple inches of cut around the whole backside of the tree. Not proper for a few reasons.

 

[Jon1270]

I did notice that he was using the back/top of the bar. It looked weird, but I guess that might've been a result of where he preferred to stand when making the final cut. Maybe the ground was better on that side of the tree? I imagine it's less than ideal because it means you have to lean into the saw so it doesn't push itself out of the cut.

I still don't grok why scoring the back of the tree is a problem. Bad practice, because what happens of the tree is rotten/hollow and starts to fall unpredictably? Or something else?

 

[Jags]

I still don't grok why scoring the back of the tree is a problem. Bad practice, because what happens of the tree is rotten/hollow and starts to fall unpredictably? Or something else?

Lots of things can be affected by that.
Yes - what if he is cutting the only wood that is solid and the tree drops at an angle from intended.
Reducing the diameter of the tree at the hinge area is bad - it WILL reduce control.
Very unpredictable drop timing. (knowing exactly where the hinge is and where your saw is to it in relationship).
Plus - he failed at the back cut - it should have been two inches higher.
There is NO upside to it.

Anyhow - I am not really trying to beat this guy up, or show "superiority" - I just hope pointing some of this out may help others with why it was not a good approach.

 

[Jon1270]

That makes sense. Thanks for the clarification.