Axe and crosscut on a big pine

[muleman77]

This was a little project I did, up above our place. It was a pretty big Ponderosa pine, dead a few years or so.
Pretty soft on the outside, bark falling off, Heavy lean downhill, toward the road. A slight lean sidehill in the direction I want it to fall.

This Is where I want it, parallel the road, uphill of that bigger fir in the back. Thereskind of a hole in the sky there you can see. I'm falling it off its main lean by doing this,but not against it.

Simple tools. A broken Disston 2 man saw I converted to single 42", 3 lb kelly perfect axe on a 30" octagon handle, wedges, saw lube.

Chop off some bark and start sawing for theface.

This is a pretty big tree, so we do that a while, until it's about 1/3 deep.
Then it's time to chop it out.

Chopping it doesn't have to take all that long, but there's a process to follow if you want tomake it efficient.

Start with a nice little bite that'll pop loose in a swing or two and clean that up all the way across. Then take another layer. Repeat, chasing it all the way in until it's a clean face.

If you get greedy, it takes too many hits to loosen the chips. Too shallow and you're nibbling. Either way your not getting your money's worth!

Continued.....

 

[muleman77]

With as heavy a lean as this pulling it downhill, I aimed this face well uphill of my intended lay. It worked out perfectly as you'll see.

Knock some more bark off and start the backcut.

I can hear it popping a little, and its opening up early on. So that side leans working for me. The tree has a sound core, so the hingeshould hold and direct it past the weight of that downhill lean.
It's easy to overcut these with a chainsaw, compromise your hinge and lose it....but I'm not worried that will happen crosscutting!

Creak, pop, crack, BOOM!

This hinge, as thick as it is, eventually let go but it held long enough to pull that tree where I wanted it.

Here's my 42" saw, I guess this was about its max.

A few more pics, just for fun

Thanks for looking!

 

[crbnSteeladdict]

Thanks!!!
#CreakPopCrackBOOM No need to say anything else

 

[Square_peg]

Beautiful piece of work! Love the pics.

You were smart to get it while the wood was still strong. In another year or two it would have been to dangerous to fall by conventional means. A couple of those larger branches looked scary already but I'm sure you were keeping an eye on them.

 

[David Martin]

Thanks for the great pictures. I'm stoked you did it with just those tools. We used kerosene to clean the teeth. Did you want a heavier ax with a longer handle?
Even with it being pine still, a Good job. DM

 

[muleman77]

Beautiful piece of work! Love the pics.

You were smart to get it while the wood was still strong. In another year or two it would have been to dangerous to fall by conventional means. A couple of those larger branches looked scary already but I'm sure you were keeping an eye on them.

I agree...once it's dead it's dead, no point in waiting longer than you have to.

I work on a bunch of pretty nasty ones, but you've got to watch em all. Unsound, hollow, catfaced, no top, on fire, any combo of the above.....they all have their little tricks. Sometimes the trick is let nature take its course.

By being able to do this one man, t least I stayed on the uphill side all the time. With that big lean it was blue skies above, so that helped. As I'm sure you know, these pines tend to get real soft in the top 1/3 or 1/3 even when it's still very sound at the base. Cant get complacent!

 

[Methuselah]

Nice work....Thanks for taking me on the ride.....very cool...

Plans for the wood?
@ilyk

 

[Bigfattyt]

Great thread and pics. I grew up cutting big trees for firewood. My dad logged when he was young, and we heated our house in the winter a lot with firewood.

The sounds and smells of cutting down trees...the chainsaw smoke, and bar oil...
We helped one of our close family friends build a big cabin in the mountains on his property. All the wood came from his own land. Cut down, and limbed, peeled and shaped by us. Had to rent a crane to move and set the logs once we started building. Wish I had been older then (,just old enough to peel the bark, and smooth the tree with a big draw knife, not run a saw, or do any of the real work.


Great memories for sure....

 

[muleman77]

Thanks for the great pictures. I'm stoked you did it with just those tools. We used kerosene to clean the teeth. Did you want a heavier ax with a longer handle?
Even with it being pine still, a Good job. DM

I use diesel for lube sometimes. Works fine too, it's just messier than the spray can.

I didn't mind the handle length, but one of mine on a 36 would have let me stand back a bit further as I worked the far side.
As to weight, anywhere in the 3 to 4 lb range seems plenty for felling.

Great thread and pics. I grew up cutting big trees for firewood. My dad logged when he was young, and we heated our house in the winter a lot with firewood.

The sounds and smells of cutting down trees...the chainsaw smoke, and bar oil...
We helped one of our close family friends build a big cabin in the mountains on his property. All the wood came from his own land. Cut down, and limbed, peeled and shaped by us. Had to rent a crane to move and set the logs once we started building. Wish I had been older then (,just old enough to peel the bark, and smooth the tree with a big draw knife, not run a saw, or do any of the real work.


Great memories for sure....

Sounds like us!

Nice work....Thanks for taking me on the ride.....very cool...

Plans for the wood?
@ilyk

No, it was just a road hazard snag. Not much reason to burn pine here, with several better choices.

 

[David Martin]

Thanks. I didn't think it would be used. It had a good long life.
The road looked more left of where you dropped it. Didn't want it getting away
from you and going over there. You must get a lot of rain up there? DM

 

[David Martin]

How much work time to fell it? DM

 

[Agent_H]

With as heavy a lean as this pulling it downhill, I aimed this face well uphill of my intended lay. It worked out perfectly as you'll see.

Knock some more bark off and start the backcut.

I can hear it popping a little, and its opening up early on. So that side leans working for me. The tree has a sound core, so the hingeshould hold and direct it past the weight of that downhill lean.
It's easy to overcut these with a chainsaw, compromise your hinge and lose it....but I'm not worried that will happen crosscutting!

Creak, pop, crack, BOOM!

This hinge, as thick as it is, eventually let go but it held long enough to pull that tree where I wanted it.

Here's my 42" saw, I guess this was about its max.

A few more pics, just for fun

Thanks for looking!

That’s terrific! Thank you for the ride along felling with axe and saw.

 

[Yankee Josh]

With as heavy a lean as this pulling it downhill, I aimed this face well uphill of my intended lay. It worked out perfectly as you'll see.

Knock some more bark off and start the backcut.

I can hear it popping a little, and its opening up early on. So that side leans working for me. The tree has a sound core, so the hingeshould hold and direct it past the weight of that downhill lean.
It's easy to overcut these with a chainsaw, compromise your hinge and lose it....but I'm not worried that will happen crosscutting!

Creak, pop, crack, BOOM!

This hinge, as thick as it is, eventually let go but it held long enough to pull that tree where I wanted it.

Here's my 42" saw, I guess this was about its max.

A few more pics, just for fun

Thanks for looking!

Great work! And thank you for sharing it with us. It's a pain to stop and take pics but it's fun too. I've got a medium size(in thickness) red oak to harvest that I'll share too. It's probably a good 70'tall. It's a twin but still has a fairly large crown. I'll most likely just use an axe though. And awesome job putting it where you wanted it! That takes some skill especially with hand tools.

 

[muleman77]

Thanks. I didn't think it would be used. It had a good long life.
The road looked more left of where you dropped it. Didn't want it getting away
from you and going over there. You must get a lot of rain up there? DM

How much work time to fell it? DM

About 40 inches a year, long dry spells in summer and fall. Months long usually. High fire danger, etc.

It took me about 2 hours to do this, not really hurrying.

Great work! And thank you for sharing it with us. It's a pain to stop and take pics but it's fun too. I've got a medium size(in thickness) red oak to harvest that I'll share too. It's probably a good 70'tall. It's a twin but still has a fairly large crown. I'll most likely just use an axe though. And awesome job putting it where you wanted it! That takes some skill especially with hand tools.

Thanks. Look forward to seeing that oak.

I'm going to say, that I think you can become more precise falling doing it with a crosscut and axe. You have time to really think and watch, hear every creak, and learn what trees are doing, almost like watching an action scene in slow motion. Ive found a lot of good can come from it in training other sawyers. Even if it's just doing a few with me by hand and they're using chainsaws after that.

On the other hand, theres a lot of things I can do when falling with chainsaws that you cant pull off with hand tools. So in those cases it narrows you're options. Also this would have been a 5 or 6 minute job for me with a 660, so exposure isn't worth it depending on the tree.

Strait axe felling is the least exact, in that all you can do is go with the lean. If you're wrong, no wedges or way out.

My opinions of course

 

[David Martin]

Thank you mule. Still, great work.We get 15" of rain a year. So, 50" would put conditions better for your area. DM

 

[Miller '72]

This was a little project

Chop off some bark and start sawing for theface.

This is a pretty big tree, so we do that a while, until it's about 1/3 deep.
Then it's time to chop it out.

Chopping it doesn't have to take all that long, but there's a process to follow if you want tomake it efficient.

Start with a nice little bite that'll pop loose in a swing or two and clean that up all the way across. Then take another layer. Repeat, chasing it all the way in until it's a clean face.

If you get greedy, it takes too many hits to loosen the chips. Too shallow and you're nibbling. Either way your not getting your money's worth!

Continued.....

Knock some more bark off and start the backcut.

I can hear it popping a little, and its opening up early on. So that side leans working for me. The tree has a sound core, so the hingeshould hold and direct it past the weight of that downhill lean.
It's easy to overcut these with a chainsaw, compromise your hinge and lose it....but I'm not worried that will happen crosscutting!

Creak, pop, crack, BOOM!

This hinge, as thick as it is, eventually let go but it held long enough to pull that tree where I wanted it.

Here's my 42" saw, I guess this was about its max.

You are a master at your passion and career muleman77
Thank you for showing in such detail your felling with saw and axe.
Awesome pictures and a great read as well.

 

[Square_peg]

I'm going to say, that I think you can become more precise falling doing it with a crosscut and axe. You have time to really think and watch, hear every creak, and learn what trees are doing, almost like watching an action scene in slow motion.

I agree. Especially if comparing cutting with a long crosscut which shows the entire cut vs. a short chainsaw that can't make the back cut from only one side. That's where you can lose track of your hinge. But with a big saw (chainsaw or crosscut) and experience you can shape your hinge pretty well to pull the tree where you want it. I'm certain you have far more experience than I in those matters.

Strait axe felling is the least exact, in that all you can do is go with the lean. If you're wrong, no wedges or way out.

Or if there's no substantial lean there are 2 directions it can fall and the changing winds will choose.

 

[snapshot2017]

That was a lot of hard work for your Christmas tree. Thanks for posting the great pictures.

 

[Old Axeman]

Great post Muleman 77. All your advise is right on the money and everybody should see this post before they venture into the world of felling trees. I would add to your comment that "straight axe felling is the least exact, in that all you can do is go with the lean". As you know, in straight axe felling, while you must go with the lean and can not wedge, there is one directional felling technique you can use. While following the lean you can "pull" the direction of fall left or right off the lean. To do this you need to make the back (felling) cut with the hinge wood thicker on one side than on the other. If looking at the hinge wood from above it is sort of triangle shaped. Never cut all the way through the hinge in either corner for any reason. If you want to pull the tree to the left than the triangle hinge would have a larger part of wood left on the left. This makes the right side (small side of triangle) fall faster, thus pulling the tree, going with the lean, more to the left. Sorry, this would be better if I knew how to put a drawing on this computer. It is an old computer and maybe just needs to be sharpened, can anybody tell me where and how to hone it with a puck ?

 

[A17]

Using my incredible(ly poor) computer skills I came up with this! This is about what you wanted to show, right Old Axeman? I think the stump might be backwards, though.