A Successful Day

EngrSorenson

EngrSorenson

Noticed by Senpai
Platinum Member
Joined
Jul 3, 2019
Messages
14,779
Hey folks- long time knife guy and hatchet user. I've used axes occasionally, but early boyhood frustrations combined with lack of skill kept me from really using them very much. I've felled some small trees that needed felling, but hardly anything big enough to crush me or anything I cared about. Yesterday I cut down a tree that I consider to be my first sizable tree (~15" in diameter). It wasn't a super risky felling, but I needed to be careful where it landed, and make sure it didn't land on me, the fire pit, the garden, the rose bush or the house.
Doubly exciting was the fact that was using an axe that I rehafted and sharpened; an axe which I believe might have been originally my grandfathers Craftsman. After my father passed I bought my childhood home from Mom. My father planted the tree at some point, though he's no longer here to tell me much about it anymore. I felt like the honorable way to go is to take it down myself, and use one of his tools to do it. I just figured I'd share my success, and thank you all for the various tomes and posts I've read on the subject of safe axe usage. I'll be spending a few weekends taking my time getting it limbed and bucked, as i don't yet have the endurance for such activities. When Mom asked why I didn't just use a chainsaw, I said "because I didn't have to".
hPIJUjr.jpg

wqK9bML.jpg
 
Dusty One said:
Way to Go ! Now you get to Branch it ...Block it...and Burn it !
Nice out door fires :)
Click to expand...
Exactly! Great minds...
I've taken care of limbing one side. It gets dark so early now I can't continue until the weekend.
But yeah- that's the goal!

We celebrate the winter solstice in our house just to remember the old timers and make a bigger deal about that cool astronomical phenomena of the longest night. The original yule log was essentially a large section of a tree that would burn all night. You probably see where I'm going with this. I might hold on to that big section and next year have the biggest yule log we've ever burned.
 
what prooves us on that picture, that the head of the tree is not in the neighbour 's yard? :rolleyes: if i may? always doubt what you see on internet benjamin franklin said!
 
flexo said:
what prooves us on that picture, that the head of the tree is not in the neighbour 's yard? :rolleyes: if i may? always doubt what you see on internet benjamin franklin said!
Click to expand...

I think I'm reading this right- to answer the question, I don't have a good picture of where the top of the tree is. There's a rosebush, a 8 foot long garden, and 8 additional feet to the edge of my property, which is marked with a split rail fence.

Iphones come with a measurement tool, which can be set to measure angles. I sighted 45 degrees up to the top of the tree to estimate how far the tree would fall. I was within 5 feet of my estimate- I over estimated in the spirit of caution.

Gotta love trigonometry: 45, 45, 90 triangles dictate that the lengths of the legs must be equal. I was pretty proud of my field solution.
 
EngrSorenson said:
I think I'm reading this right- to answer the question, I don't have a good picture of where the top of the tree is. There's a rosebush, a 8 foot long garden, and 8 additional feet to the edge of my property, which is marked with a split rail fence.

Iphones come with a measurement tool, which can be set to measure angles. I sighted 45 degrees up to the top of the tree to estimate how far the tree would fall. I was within 5 feet of my estimate- I over estimated in the spirit of caution.

Gotta love trigonometry: 45, 45, 90 triangles dictate that the lengths of the legs must be equal. I was pretty proud of my field solution.
Click to expand...

that scenario sounds right out of a graduate school entrance exam!

your pictures up top bring a bit of joy to my afternoon, and I thank you
 
EngrSorenson said:
Iphones come with a measurement tool, which can be set to measure angles. I sighted 45 degrees up to the top of the tree to estimate how far the tree would fall. I was within 5 feet of my estimate- I over estimated in the spirit of caution.

Gotta love trigonometry: 45, 45, 90 triangles dictate that the lengths of the legs must be equal. I was pretty proud of my field solution.
Click to expand...

Neat work.

No need for a smartphone, only a stick.
Measure the distance between your eye and the palm of your hand.
Cut the stick to this length.
Arm outstretched, find the spot, moving forward or backward, where you aim for the head and the foot of the tree at the same time with the ends of the stick.
At this point the distance between you and the tree is equal to the height of the tree.
It is a practical application of Thales's theorem of the proportionality of triangles.
Simple, easy and precise.

cKcPeMqh.jpg


Dan.
 
dantzk8 said:
cKcPeMqh.jpg
Click to expand...

Thanks Dan! Mathematics, particularly Trigonometry, is something I really enjoy. If you can believe it, I've never seen this before, but I see how that would work. I'll try that out on the next tree I fell.

thebrain said:
Cool story, thanks for sharing!
Click to expand...

Thanks for reading :). It's a two way street. Writing something no one reads isn't very enjoyable.

M B said:
that scenario sounds right out of a graduate school entrance exam!

your pictures up top bring a bit of joy to my afternoon, and I thank you
Click to expand...

Sometimes those math word problems are more applicable to real life than we think! It's not always "John leaves Chicago on a train, traveling at 90 MPH..." :D.

I've got some progress pictures I'll see if I can get some up today. We don't have enough property for me to keep indefinitely felling trees, so I'm going to enjoy this while I can.

Benton629 said:
Great story. Thanks for sharing it with us.
I like your response “ because I don’t have to”
Click to expand...

Thanks for reading :). That's what I love about doing things "the old fashioned way". People are always astounded to find out how much can be done with relatively few tools, some knowledge, and a little moxie.

The old timers could do incredible things with way less technology. Maybe I don't always reach for an axe for all my felling needs; pressed for time or in an emergency a chainsaw has obvious benefits, but I fully intend to become proficient with an axe. It's enjoyable, and the technology will last longer than electricity, gasoline or even governments.
 
Here's a progress shot from this morning. I've had about 30 minutes every day after work to make some progress with the remaining sun light. We're almost at the pure bucking phase. I've made some cuts already just in the interest of safety; the whole trunk was being supported by the branches it was laying on. I didn't want to find myself trapped under a log I couldn't move. Also, the limbing of the tree was difficult due to the density of the branches and the almost horizontal direction they grew from the tree. I ended up resorting to my hatchet, because I had better control over it, and even then there's a few branch "spikes" sticking up where I had to make less than ideal cuts.

I'm definitely no pro, but I'm going slow and trying to work safe.

EhKhxDC.jpg


I've learned a lot already, notably:
  • extra handle material near the head was getting scraped up on stuff it was hitting, so last night I shaved that down so at least it was thinner than the head profile. (I'm going to go back and see if I can credit the person who first mentioned that to me, it was a great suggestion).
  • I found the knob to be tiresome in my grip, so I took S Square_peg 's suggestion and put a little "hook" shape in the front of the knob for my pinky to ride in more comfortably.
  • 3 1/2 pound axes can limb trees, but they get a little unwieldy. I suppose this is obvious, but it's harder to control a strike that clears the branch and prevent subsequent banging of the axe haft into branches. It's evident to me why people gravitate towards boy's axes.
  • trimming branches close to the trunk prevents you from accidently striking one with your beautiful axe haft when you're chopping near by.
 
EngrSorenson said:
trimming branches close to the trunk prevents you from accidently striking one with your beautiful axe haft when you're chopping near by.
Click to expand...

You're doing a good job of it.
And what's even more important you're thinking critically and modifying/improving your technique accordingly.
Good for you,enjoy and complete this project to your utmost satisfaction!

It's embarrassing to admit to this but i've learned to "properly"(?) limb only within the last 10 years(after a lifetime of ignorance).
I was logging with a friend on a project where everything had to be limbed Very close(level with the wood,vs the bark);yet not gouging into the log either(house logs).
So after seeing me struggle randomly my friend explained it to me in this manner:It takes 3 strikes to trim a (decent size,above what you just swipe off casually) limb.Two strikes to form a V,just as in felling,and the third to cleanly sever the limb from opposite side.

Maybe it'll contribute to your store of knowledge...In any case,you're doing just fine!:)
 
jake pogg said:
It takes 3 strikes to trim a (decent size, above what you just swipe off casually) limb. Two strikes to form a V, just as in felling, and the third to cleanly sever the limb from opposite side.

Maybe it'll contribute to your store of knowledge...In any case, you're doing just fine!:)
Click to expand...

Thanks for the pro tip Jake! Always welcome. I've also read where folks say to only go in the direction of the growth of the tree when limbing, to prevent ripping or shredding the log wood... Of course I found myself limbing just about any way I could swing my axe safely for both myself and my axe haft.
 
Hey folks, it's been a while, but about two weeks ago I wrapped this up as far as I was going to, so I figured I'd show some pictures!
I was throwing some pretty good sized chips there. The number of knots in the trunk really made for some slow going at times, but I'm pretty satisfied with how everything turned out.
I still have 12 or so branches to hack up, but I'm calling this good for now :). Thanks for the support everyone.
OkZVcud.jpg

1m9SF8q.jpg

24Lf3px.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top