No longer a felling virgin. Now with pics.

[Sinngetreu]

apologies if that's how it's coming across .. in my defense I've already posted a good instructional video for beginners.
just wanted to see if anyone else noticed why said video can be dangerous for beginners.

information on keeping folks safe should be shared.

kudos for those warnings about widow makers from above!

To be honest, I wasn't sure how to take your posts. I haven't responded much because I didn't want to start a heated discussion.
That said, I do appreciate the words of wisdom. Knowledge from experienced guys is worth gold to me.

I do understand what your saying. I guess the only thing that gets me going is that I'm not new to saws and cutting. I'm just new to felling. Trust me, I get the danger involved and I'm not about to do something that is beyond my capabilities.
The video I posted (from Husqvarna) was one of the more involved videos that I watched and felt that it had a lot of good merits. Did I attempt a plunge cut? Heck no! And I don't think any beginner should. Did I use the information to formulate a plan of attack? Yes. That and more from other videos that I watched.
I also watched a lot of other videos for the fun of it and picked up a few nuggets along the way (as well as a lot of what not to do's).

In the end, I did exactly what I wanted to do and did it safely. That's whats important and that's what I was excited about. I had a great first experience. I do have a few people around me that fell trees, but I wouldn't use them as a good example, so I take a bit of pride in the fact that I was able to do it correctly, effectively, and safely. It felt great.
Am I going to go half cocked on the next tree? Heck no! In fact, I just downloaded another series from BC Forestry standards on felling that I will study. You can never have too much information.

Please don't take this post as an angry post, but I feel that there may be some communication gaps here. Maybe I'm not able to say what I want to say effectively. Its really hard to convey the right feeling in text.

 

[jatoxico]

Sinng, I watched quite a bit of the BC Forestry series. I thought they were really well done.

 

[Sinngetreu]

Sinng, I watched quite a bit of the BC Forestry series. I thought they were really well done.

That's good to know because it is taking forever to download it.
The first video I watched was about a feller that was killed while bucking a windfall that was under pressure. I thought they did a good job of explaining it and recreating it to show what happened. A terrible way to die, but it was a good example of what could happen in that situation. It was a little beyond anything I will be doing anytime soon, but it was still interesting.

 

[_CY_]

To be honest, I wasn't sure how to take your posts. I haven't responded much because I didn't want to start a heated discussion.
That said, I do appreciate the words of wisdom. Knowledge from experienced guys is worth gold to me.

I do understand what your saying. I guess the only thing that gets me going is that I'm not new to saws and cutting. I'm just new to felling. Trust me, I get the danger involved and I'm not about to do something that is beyond my capabilities.
The video I posted (from Husqvarna) was one of the more involved videos that I watched and felt that it had a lot of good merits. Did I attempt a plunge cut? Heck no! And I don't think any beginner should. Did I use the information to formulate a plan of attack? Yes. That and more from other videos that I watched.
I also watched a lot of other videos for the fun of it and picked up a few nuggets along the way (as well as a lot of what not to do's).

excellent .. you mentioned why the Husky video is not a good one for beginners. plunge cuts should not be used until one knows exactly how saw will react. to learn how your saw will react .. it's a good idea to take a full size log to do a bunch of plunge cuts .. after you bury your bar a few times .. your tip will catch and kick back bar with huge forces. be sure to stand with your body to side if bar should kick back.

when starting out falling .. take your time .. plan out your cuts .. clear out escape paths .. look overhead .. this instant trunk moves .. move away quick as possible in a methodical manner. if saw gets stuck .. leave it.

then go back to read your holding wood .. did tree fall in planned direction?
if you've got to fall a leaner .. use a 2in or larger trucker strap several feet above your cut.
forget about those advanced cuts for now .. stick to basic cuts for now .. you'll get to those advanced cuts soon enough.

there's lot more techniques related to inserting a rope into tree to insure falls at certain angles.
the really dangerous cuts are folks that do storm damage .. where tree are under tension from other tree half fallen, etc.

another vote for BC Faller training series

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disclaimer .. not responsible for anything .. chainsaws are dangerous!

 

[smokedragon]

In the end, I did exactly what I wanted to do and did it safely. That's whats important and that's what I was excited about. I had a great first experience. I do have a few people around me that fell trees, but I wouldn't use them as a good example, so I take a bit of pride in the fact that I was able to do it correctly, effectively, and safely. It felt great.

Well said. I grew up around this stuff, and my grandpa made us boys fell 18" diameter trees with axes when we were 13 - 14 years old. Still have to be cautious and know how dangerous it is.

Nothing feels better than dropping a tree exactly where you wanted it to fall

 

[WiscWoody]

Brother Bart told me a few months ago that one of the founding members of the web site had a tree come down on him some years ago paralyzing him.

 

[WiscWoody]

You beat me to it.

One of the biggest mistakes novices make and seasoned veterans too when felling trees it NOT LOOKING UP.

Everything that will kill or seriously hurt you is above you.

I watched a documentary on one of the online TV streamers, I think it might have been Hulu+.. It was about a logger that logged in the Oregon hills where processors couldn't be used. It was a real good show that followed him for a few days as he felled trees and talking about widow makers and such. I think he cut with a 390XP and while cutting he was always looking up. I should look for the show again but I don't have Hulu+ any longer! just Netflix and Amazon Prime now.

 

[Sinngetreu]

Here are a few pics of my son and I doing the clean up.

 

[WiscWoody]

I watched a documentary on one of the online TV streamers, I think it might have been Hulu+.. It was about a logger that logged in the Oregon hills where processors couldn't be used. It was a real good show that followed him for a few days as he felled trees and talking about widow makers and such. I think he cut with a 390XP and while cutting he was always looking up. I should look for the show again but I don't have Hulu+ any longer! just Netflix and Amazon Prime now.

I went to the free Hulu site on my PC the other day and the show is free to watch. It's call Risk Takers. The series has maybe 20 different shows with a theme of the most dangerous jobs out there. The logger that they follow in the show cuts down up to 200 trees a day, just slightly more than I cut around here.... not!

 

[WiscWoody]

Here are a few pics of my son and I doing the clean up.

View attachment 129535 View attachment 129540 View attachment 129541

You know what's funny, I thought you were a brother looking at your avatar picture. It must've been those dark glasses!! Lol

 

[Sinngetreu]

I went to the free Hulu site on my PC the other day and the show is free to watch. It's call Risk Takers. The series has maybe 20 different shows with a theme of the most dangerous jobs out there. The logger that they follow in the show cuts down up to 200 trees a day, just slightly more than I cut around here.... not!

Thanks, I'm going to check that out for sure.

 

[Sinngetreu]

You know what's funny, I thought you were a brother looking at your avatar picture. It must've been those dark glasses!! Lol

Ha Ha Ha, A brother of a different color.
Those are my safety glasses, but they remind me of a pair that Lenny Kravitz used to wear.