I just want you to know, you have taught me how to fell trees enough that I have dropped hundreds of trees and feel that I have done it safely and efficiently. All the guys that have seen me cut or seen the stumps want to know where I learned to humbolt cut the face. Thanks for putting out quality information with a touch of humor.
I use the 2nd method for the majority of trees that I cut. In the East we tend to use shorter bars (16"-18") so I often can't get all the way across the back cut anyways. Tip for extending the life of your wedges: make the other half of the back cut 1/2" higher than the first half that has the wedge in place. You'll get fewer orange shavings that way.
I apreciate your videos and the way you teach! Amazing work and knowledge. I have been felling some old dying red maple trees to make boards and you have absolutely given me a lot more confidence in the cuts I make. Much different when you are under the tree then in front of a computer.
For all you do, Thank You So Much! I LOVE watching your channel and at age 69, I'm still learning a bunch. We're suppose to get rain today and tomorrow in northern Wisconsin and I'll be glad when it gets here. I have a bunch of wood waiting to burn underneath tarps right now. The sky is dark and there is a musical breeze running through the trees. As I type this, I can smell the rain coming. Uh Oh! Wind is picking up. The whole state is Yellow and Orange ( very high fire danger )! Can't wait for it to go back to green again! Best Wishes and Take Care, Tom
Greetings from Dorset. Confident felling, accurate felling cuts with a sharp saw. Nice. The 'backwards' technique is simpler to explain but harder to do if your felling isn't confident and your cuts accurate. Or the saw is a bit blunt or cutting a bit of a curve or you're new to felling or perm any of them. Put another way it's easy to cock it up. So over here we use (are taught) the Danish pie cut or cushion cut. Which is kind of like your second technique but with conventional birds mouth (or gob, what you call face cut) which is put in first, about 1/3 of the way through the stem. Then you cut a 'quarter' out of the back (half the felling cut) and insert the wedge and tonk it with the sledge to set it. Leave a good parallel hinge. The tree won't fall because of the wedge being there. Then your felling cut, which is just over 1/4 of the stem and usually just higher or lower than the first felling cut - the two cuts just overlap. Stop at the hinge. Wedge it over. I tend to use hi-lift wedges not those shattery plastic things. Less likely to run into the back of the felling cut if you've not got everything totally bob on. So I'll use a holding wedge (pocket sized plastic thingy) in the first part of the felling cut. And I'll use a small saw with a short bar and semi-chisel chain 'cos I'm old, grumpy and have had carpal tunnel syndrome and it resolved without the damn operation (lucky) and I really don't want it again. cock up informal•British: ruin something as a result of incompetence or inefficiency. "David Cameron cocked up the Brexit elections 'cos he never believed anyone would vote for Brexit and was too lazy and out-of-touch to bother telling people what the down-sides of Brexit would be". A polite person would never call David Cameron (or Boris Johnson or Keir Starmer) a cock 'cos that is something completely different. Etymology The first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from a 1948 Dictionary of Forces’ Slang. The OED suggests that it derives ultimately from the noun cock, but gives no further detail.[1] The nature of the earliest citation suggests that this expression entered the wider language from military slang, making etymologies from typesetting or archery (see below) seem unlikely. The term is sometimes attributed to the days of manual typesetting, when a letter that had become wedged slightly higher than the other letters on the line was said to be “cocked up”. Another claim relates to medieval archery. One of the three feathers on an arrow is a cock’s feather. If the arrow was incorrectly placed on the bow for drawing and release, the arrow would go off course because of the cock’s feather being up and therefore the arrow positioned wrongly on the bow. This was then known as a “cock up”. Best one? Naval and army, derived from flintlock firearms and gunlock cannon. Fire the gun by pulling trigger or lanyard and the lock doesn't fall and it's cocked up. Nothing apparently holding it. Will it be solid jammed? Will it go off on its own or if you just touch it? You've cocked up the shot. (C.f. 'going off half cocked' or 'hanging fire'). No, I'm not old enough to remember gunlocks...
@@davidwyby Nope. These jobbies. The included angle is greater than for plastic wedges and the wooden haft allows them to go much further into a big stem. But if you whack it with an axe poll, it'll cut up - use a small sledge.
Well damn! That bore cut has been my missing link all along! My leaners are smaller than these and so are my wedges, but often times even the back cut first won't save me as the wedges just bottom out. That bore cut ahead of time will save me some frustration and ratchet strapping for sure.
6:45 you can also stack your wedges for more lift. I also have some stubby wedges but usually forget to bring them and shove it over with the blade / bucket.
Good, Thx. Don't cut trees or even own a saw, but always glad to learn how things work. Particularly when it's done right, looks like you know what your doing.
Yeah, my guess is that the holding wood on the wedge side was left a little small to hold the tree securely. Only thing that made it turn out OK was that the tree didn't have much lean at all. Am I right Wilson?
Another option on small trees is no facecut, just use the remaining wood in the front as a hindge to steer the tree. also like the idea of boring the center to have more room to drive the wedge.
Good stuff Wilson. Never really thought about that before. But I have run into that problem, so now I've got a "go-to" approach for that. Oh, and I think you need a bigger bar on that saw pal. 🙂
thanks for that. I have such a tall slender dead tree threatening my high tensile garden fence. And it is positioned in a manner that makes getting a pull over rope on it not an option. I'll do this. You sure did not leave much hingewood
I was taught the second method, note that the final cut should be an inch or two above or below the other cut so you don't hit the wedge.....esp if you are using a metal wedge!
I actually do do it opposite 3/4 thin face cut then a short back cut. When it set fown on bar you can just hand push over. 10 inch base is a large red cedar on AVR. Actually got to cut so pine last week 40 inch stumps. That was a blast after all the little cedar.
Love your show and I will always watch. Question, I have a ton of hardwoods here in Kentucky and not any pines. Do you recommend a channel out there of someone who deals in those types of woods? Kevin's disobedience is a good one that I'm aware of. Can you recommend?
Good info but after decades of screwing around trying to wedge small trees, I just gave up and bought a maasdam. Safer than screwing with small cut up back leaners that just won’t go over, and spit out a double wedge. I’ll admit if a guy has enough experience to know for certain which trees will and won’t come over, it’s a good tool to have in the box. 👍🏼
massdam, as in a cable puller? (Not familiar with that name ... I'm guessing they're the original? I've only had cheap ones, which is probably why I find them a pain to use)
I heard that it's possible to make a directional fall where you can't get your cuts in the way you would ordinarily do so because of other trees or rocks (obstacles) are in the way, so you might cuts so that the tree would begin falling in one direction and turn it's direction while it is falling to correct the intended direction. Is that possible ???
One thing I would like to add. I look at my stumps and evaluate my cut job. If you pretend that you can not improve on your technique ... some day it will catch up to you and bad things will happen.
If you think about it, in the case where you plunge and drive the wedge clear thru, you, need a conventional face, otherwise the butt of the tree will stall on the thin end of the wedge after it starts to go - a hard way lesson.
@philipgordon4118 I would love to see a formal study on the psychology of people who post things like this. What motivates them? Are you asking because you don't know either, but you need to trick yourself into believing you're better than other people? Would you know what a tree was if one fell on you?
Why on Earth such highly skilled, competent, and intelligent people choose to use a heavy chainsaw is beyond my comprehension. Everything done here would've been easier with a little throwaway MS170. It's not only about back pain and fatigue: it's about ease, expense, control, and agility. Not to mention that grazing even the tiniest rock with that beast would end up making it a really bad time investment. And don't say it's about the long bar, either, because he's keeping the dogs against the tree.
MS170s are awesome Ive cut alot of trees with them, but it takes a lot of extra time and that 17" bar is a pain when it comes to trunks bigger than that. Ive seen him cut a lot bigger trees where you need a bigger saw. Cutting trees down is one thing but when you have to buck trees after they are down using a more powerful saw makes it go much quicker
@@scottstewart9154 Sure, a big saw is great once you're slicing rounds from the already-down trunk. I'm talking about the loss of control one gets from felling a small tree with a heavy saw. The tree in the video was under a foot thick. The "extra time" is nothing. In fact, you save time by carrying it faster.
We'd just always used a set of tent poles to put a loop with two leads up and draw it over the way we want. Much much more reliable and higher control and works in wind too. Wedges are like prayers, when they work you think its because you did something and when they don't you just figure it was bad luck. Don't use wedges for anything more than keeping your saw from being destroyed. You can vertically slit a tree like that into a parallelogram hinge and walk it in the direction you want to use gravity to build intertia or even kick-block the trunk to apply rotation. Using wedges on a tree smaller in bole than 2.5x the wedge length is largely pointless. Sure you can make them work some of the time but even a fart has more power than wedges on a tree like that. Don't spread techniques and skills that the average viewer can't handle. Use a pole to lift a loop and snatch it down after weakening it, it takes a _monster_ of a tree to resist even a 15 foot advantage load. Just don't stand under the draw shadow.
It's really interesting how all your trees are limbed up high. That doesn't happen naturally when they are spaced as far apart as you have them. You must have done a bunch of work.
I just want you to know, you have taught me how to fell trees enough that I have dropped hundreds of trees and feel that I have done it safely and efficiently. All the guys that have seen me cut or seen the stumps want to know where I learned to humbolt cut the face. Thanks for putting out quality information with a touch of humor.
How many have you planted?
🤔Who planted the ones that he cut down?🥴
Been waiting for this information for 40 years. I've been getting out the cables and comealongs.
+1000!
You are full of good information and you have a great sense of "Ha Ha".
I use the 2nd method for the majority of trees that I cut. In the East we tend to use shorter bars (16"-18") so I often can't get all the way across the back cut anyways. Tip for extending the life of your wedges: make the other half of the back cut 1/2" higher than the first half that has the wedge in place. You'll get fewer orange shavings that way.
I really like the knowledge and humor of your content. Great job.
I apreciate your videos and the way you teach! Amazing work and knowledge. I have been felling some old dying red maple trees to make boards and you have absolutely given me a lot more confidence in the cuts I make. Much different when you are under the tree then in front of a computer.
You explain things very clearly. It makes a dangerous situation lots safer. Thank you for the video!!!
Nice technique. Good comedy. I get to laugh while I learn.
For all you do, Thank You So Much! I LOVE watching your channel and at age 69, I'm still learning a bunch. We're suppose to get rain today and tomorrow in northern Wisconsin and I'll be glad when it gets here. I have a bunch of wood waiting to burn underneath tarps right now. The sky is dark and there is a musical breeze running through the trees. As I type this, I can smell the rain coming. Uh Oh! Wind is picking up. The whole state is Yellow and Orange ( very high fire danger )! Can't wait for it to go back to green again!
Best Wishes and Take Care,
Tom
Greetings from Dorset. Confident felling, accurate felling cuts with a sharp saw. Nice. The 'backwards' technique is simpler to explain but harder to do if your felling isn't confident and your cuts accurate. Or the saw is a bit blunt or cutting a bit of a curve or you're new to felling or perm any of them. Put another way it's easy to cock it up. So over here we use (are taught) the Danish pie cut or cushion cut. Which is kind of like your second technique but with conventional birds mouth (or gob, what you call face cut) which is put in first, about 1/3 of the way through the stem. Then you cut a 'quarter' out of the back (half the felling cut) and insert the wedge and tonk it with the sledge to set it. Leave a good parallel hinge. The tree won't fall because of the wedge being there. Then your felling cut, which is just over 1/4 of the stem and usually just higher or lower than the first felling cut - the two cuts just overlap. Stop at the hinge. Wedge it over.
I tend to use hi-lift wedges not those shattery plastic things. Less likely to run into the back of the felling cut if you've not got everything totally bob on. So I'll use a holding wedge (pocket sized plastic thingy) in the first part of the felling cut. And I'll use a small saw with a short bar and semi-chisel chain 'cos I'm old, grumpy and have had carpal tunnel syndrome and it resolved without the damn operation (lucky) and I really don't want it again.
cock up
informal•British: ruin something as a result of incompetence or inefficiency. "David Cameron cocked up the Brexit elections 'cos he never believed anyone would vote for Brexit and was too lazy and out-of-touch to bother telling people what the down-sides of Brexit would be". A polite person would never call David Cameron (or Boris Johnson or Keir Starmer) a cock 'cos that is something completely different.
Etymology
The first citation in the Oxford English Dictionary is from a 1948 Dictionary of Forces’ Slang. The OED suggests that it derives ultimately from the noun cock, but gives no further detail.[1] The nature of the earliest citation suggests that this expression entered the wider language from military slang, making etymologies from typesetting or archery (see below) seem unlikely.
The term is sometimes attributed to the days of manual typesetting, when a letter that had become wedged slightly higher than the other letters on the line was said to be “cocked up”.
Another claim relates to medieval archery. One of the three feathers on an arrow is a cock’s feather. If the arrow was incorrectly placed on the bow for drawing and release, the arrow would go off course because of the cock’s feather being up and therefore the arrow positioned wrongly on the bow. This was then known as a “cock up”.
Best one? Naval and army, derived from flintlock firearms and gunlock cannon. Fire the gun by pulling trigger or lanyard and the lock doesn't fall and it's cocked up. Nothing apparently holding it. Will it be solid jammed? Will it go off on its own or if you just touch it? You've cocked up the shot. (C.f. 'going off half cocked' or 'hanging fire'). No, I'm not old enough to remember gunlocks...
Hi-lift is those mechanical screw wedges? Was thinking those would be good for small trees.
@@davidwyby Nope. These jobbies. The included angle is greater than for plastic wedges and the wooden haft allows them to go much further into a big stem. But if you whack it with an axe poll, it'll cut up - use a small sledge.
Well damn! That bore cut has been my missing link all along! My leaners are smaller than these and so are my wedges, but often times even the back cut first won't save me as the wedges just bottom out. That bore cut ahead of time will save me some frustration and ratchet strapping for sure.
Wow! Many thanks and thanks for the humor as a value add!😂
That’s great tree felling technique.
That's why you're the man! Thanks for the awesome instruction! Greetings from Michigan.
6:45 you can also stack your wedges for more lift. I also have some stubby wedges but usually forget to bring them and shove it over with the blade / bucket.
Good, Thx. Don't cut trees or even own a saw, but always glad to learn how things work. Particularly when it's done right, looks like you know what your doing.
Thanks for this. I ran into this very problem recently. However, I wanted to also remark that standing dead trees are very valuable to wildlife.
Thanks for the Video. Always enjoy you going into detail about Face Cuts ,and Back Cuts.
The bore cut thru the hinge is a killer tip for a bottomed out wedge. I’ll have to try that out.
Wow, trees are TALL!
Yeah, ...they go all the way to the top!
I thought I was the only one who said..... Don't look at that stump! Lol.
Yeah, my guess is that the holding wood on the wedge side was left a little small to hold the tree securely. Only thing that made it turn out OK was that the tree didn't have much lean at all. Am I right Wilson?
Another great video, now I have to try this on some small diameter trees.
Another option on small trees is no facecut, just use the remaining wood in the front as a hindge to steer the tree. also like the idea of boring the center to have more room to drive the wedge.
Thats daring a barber chair to enter into your experience
Yay, I do love me some slash burning videos.
Thank you, I use both these, often.
Why do you make such confounding problems ease... makes me feel silly sometimes. Thanks for your work.
Excellent advice. I have done that exact thing myself. But without the interesting dialog.
Rarely been so charmed by a fella. Hope you’re doing good, fella.
Thank you for the tips and the entertaining humor🤓
well done. True pro demonstration!! This helps out awesome
I’ve learned a lot from your videos. Much appreciate your channel.
Good stuff Wilson. Never really thought about that before. But I have run into that problem, so now I've got a "go-to" approach for that.
Oh, and I think you need a bigger bar on that saw pal. 🙂
Great lesson. Thanks!
I love your videos always informative but humorous makes me laugh thank you sir I'll drink this here beer for you
thanks for that. I have such a tall slender dead tree threatening my high tensile garden fence. And it is positioned in a manner that makes getting a pull over rope on it not an option. I'll do this.
You sure did not leave much hingewood
You and Buckin Billy the small wood wedge men , who always get them where they want them 😁
I usually plunge cut for the wedge. (Sometimes before the front cut) But this was interesting.
Tree cutting bloke or blokette….
Glad I’m just here for the comedy!
I thought 'bloke' was just a British term.
Wilson is the best
So glad I found this channel. Awesome info and a fun time. Thanks!
Two booms. Excellent 👍
I was taught the second method, note that the final cut should be an inch or two above or below the other cut so you don't hit the wedge.....esp if you are using a metal wedge!
That is a thing of beauty! Thanks
I actually do do it opposite 3/4 thin face cut then a short back cut. When it set fown on bar you can just hand push over. 10 inch base is a large red cedar on AVR. Actually got to cut so pine last week 40 inch stumps. That was a blast after all the little cedar.
You make that look so easy.
Thank you very much, appreciate it.
Can you make that large tree falling multiple times the into. Ive forgotten what it looks like.
So glad I'm subscribed to your channel, brother.
How does this guy not have over 100K Subs at least lol. New sub gained 👍
Thanks for the great tip.
Thanks for sharing. Stay safe, and God bless
The best thing about one man videos is that every guy develops such awful humor when they're alone. 😂👌
You keep a sharp chain.
Love your show and I will always watch. Question, I have a ton of hardwoods here in Kentucky and not any pines. Do you recommend a channel out there of someone who deals in those types of woods? Kevin's disobedience is a good one that I'm aware of. Can you recommend?
Well that’s useful. Thanks
Great info! Thx-
Another great video thanks
Thank you.
Where do you buy the wedges? Are they metal or wooden?
Good job.
Good info but after decades of screwing around trying to wedge small trees, I just gave up and bought a maasdam. Safer than screwing with small cut up back leaners that just won’t go over, and spit out a double wedge. I’ll admit if a guy has enough experience to know for certain which trees will and won’t come over, it’s a good tool to have in the box. 👍🏼
massdam, as in a cable puller? (Not familiar with that name ... I'm guessing they're the original? I've only had cheap ones, which is probably why I find them a pain to use)
It pulls 3 strand rope. But basically the same thing. Only way to fall small back leaners in my opinion. 👍🏼
Nicely done.
Thank you. I really learned something !!! Usefull !!
Great! BYW, are you the guy from “The Ballad of Buster Scruggs”? You look and sound like him. Great voice!
Great information!
Thanks, fella.
Great advice!!! Thx.
If only you had a bigger chainsaw.... 😂
😂
You crack me up!
I heard that it's possible to make a directional fall where you can't get your cuts in the way you would ordinarily do so because of other trees or rocks (obstacles) are in the way, so you might cuts so that the tree would begin falling in one direction and turn it's direction while it is falling to correct the intended direction. Is that possible ???
One thing I would like to add. I look at my stumps and evaluate my cut job. If you pretend that you can not improve on your technique ... some day it will catch up to you and bad things will happen.
simple, light and effective….winchstrap
You can drive a Wedge in sideways as well
thank you
Great video Michael, what model is that stihl
Good
My wife watched this video. She says Wilson and I share DNA. 😂
So at 2:25 did it fall forward or backwards.
Hmm, did you just hint that we're gonna see a tree-cutting blokette on the channel soon?
4:00 "I am sure it is leaning that way, I am just pretending that I am not sure for the video"
Mint flavors saw dust
You could have also made a plunge cut and put your wedge in that, but to each their own.
so what is stressing your firs, is it bugs or fungus?
If you think about it, in the case where you plunge and drive the wedge clear thru, you, need a conventional face, otherwise the butt of the tree will stall on the thin end of the wedge after it starts to go - a hard way lesson.
Could I get some advice for how to do this with an ax? Don't have a chainsaw.
Are you asking because nothing came up when you searched 'ax' on the interweb?
@philipgordon4118 I would love to see a formal study on the psychology of people who post things like this. What motivates them?
Are you asking because you don't know either, but you need to trick yourself into believing you're better than other people?
Would you know what a tree was if one fell on you?
great vid, but why such a ridiculous long bar ?
Why on Earth such highly skilled, competent, and intelligent people choose to use a heavy chainsaw is beyond my comprehension. Everything done here would've been easier with a little throwaway MS170. It's not only about back pain and fatigue: it's about ease, expense, control, and agility. Not to mention that grazing even the tiniest rock with that beast would end up making it a really bad time investment.
And don't say it's about the long bar, either, because he's keeping the dogs against the tree.
MS170s are awesome Ive cut alot of trees with them, but it takes a lot of extra time and that 17" bar is a pain when it comes to trunks bigger than that. Ive seen him cut a lot bigger trees where you need a bigger saw. Cutting trees down is one thing but when you have to buck trees after they are down using a more powerful saw makes it go much quicker
@@scottstewart9154 Sure, a big saw is great once you're slicing rounds from the already-down trunk. I'm talking about the loss of control one gets from felling a small tree with a heavy saw. The tree in the video was under a foot thick. The "extra time" is nothing. In fact, you save time by carrying it faster.
We'd just always used a set of tent poles to put a loop with two leads up and draw it over the way we want. Much much more reliable and higher control and works in wind too. Wedges are like prayers, when they work you think its because you did something and when they don't you just figure it was bad luck. Don't use wedges for anything more than keeping your saw from being destroyed. You can vertically slit a tree like that into a parallelogram hinge and walk it in the direction you want to use gravity to build intertia or even kick-block the trunk to apply rotation. Using wedges on a tree smaller in bole than 2.5x the wedge length is largely pointless. Sure you can make them work some of the time but even a fart has more power than wedges on a tree like that. Don't spread techniques and skills that the average viewer can't handle.
Use a pole to lift a loop and snatch it down after weakening it, it takes a _monster_ of a tree to resist even a 15 foot advantage load. Just don't stand under the draw shadow.
you could get a really long 4 x 4 out of that
I’m still wondering what Humboldt Cut would be ? If you could just send a Face Pic Or just a Hindrance of the Same Thing with the Facebook? 👍😂👌🤙.
Lol! Called preloading!
Make normal face cut . Bore thru the cut in the center out the back . Insert wedge in back. Cut each back cut side to the hinge. Please comment
5:23 surgical precision
Not a fan of using that chain break?
Rain?
That tree looked pretty green to me.. but maybe I missed something
Did that tree flip you off?
That's a REALLY big saw....
It's really interesting how all your trees are limbed up high. That doesn't happen naturally when they are spaced as far apart as you have them. You must have done a bunch of work.
It's called thinning
Different