Felling a tree?

DeadFall27

DeadFall27

Joined
May 18, 2011
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1,476
I have always had a facination with axes and axe work since I was a child, and I still love to use my axes today. Lately, I have had a ton of time to use them on my grandparent's property since they have been cutting a dozen or so trees down (I have been splitting tons of wood for them and collecting the fatwood for soap and the stove). I have never cut down a tree before, and my grandfather has cut down ~4 trees already. Unfortunately for my grandfather, the chainsaw is giving him trouble, so he said that I can finish the job with my axes.

The problem is, I do not know how to properly and safely fell a tree. Unlike my grandpa, I don't like to try my hand at things like this without some background knowledge and a basic understanding of concept at hand; he can be reckless at times, and I do not even know if he knows how to safely fell trees...I worry sometimes about that old man, hehe.

Anyway, the only reason I want to ask here is because every place I look online, there is either a lack of photos to help me see what they are doing, or there is a mob of people calling the poster an idiot because he did it all wrong.

Would you boys mind helping out a a young novice out?


****To keep you guys interested, here are some pics. I will likely be using the rafting axe in the first pic (horrible grain, I know! :o). If I can find myself a good enough 36" straight handle and haft it in time, I really want to use the other Plumb, it has my Grandfather's initials on it (on my Dad's side).

Axepics015.jpg


Axepics001.jpg



Take care all, thank you for lookin'.

-Deadfall
 
You're smart to ask before you just go out and hurt someone or someone's property. I'm not an expert but I have some experience and I've had some training. I think the most important thing to remember is leaving a sufficient hinge in the center of the tree to guide it in the direction you want it to fall. A proper hinge should be at least 1/10th of the diameter of the tree.

Felling with an axe is trickier than felling with a saw. With a saw cut you can wedge the back of the tree to nudge it over. Not so with an axe as you're making open mouth cuts on both sides of the tree. You're best off by not trying to fell the tree away from its natural lean. If the natural lean is in an inconvenient direction then you're better off using a chainsaw or calling in an expert.

I generally make my first cut or front cut to about 1/2 the diameter of the tree, maybe a little more. The back cut is made about 2" to 3" above the front cut. The back cut should never overlap the front cut. If it does then you've cut through the hinge and the tree may fall where ever it wishes. When the tree starts to go you need to get away, back from the direction of fall at a 45° angle. Don't run straight back. A tree can kick straight back and take you out.

Trees that are leaning severely already have a lot of tension built up in them and can be very dangerous. Leave them alone unless you've been trained how to deal with them. I can't stress this enough. Most accidents happen when falling leaners. They like to split suddenly and slap you in the head with half of the trunk. Don't be a statistic.

There are several good videos about tree felling on youtube but they're all chainsaw oriented. Watch them anyway. It's a good place to start.
 
What kind of trees are we talking about? Lodgepole? (I see you're in CO). Or some kind of hardwood? You'll have an easier time with lodgepole, hardwoods can be a bitch to find the lean on. Pegs brings up many good points. Beware of heavy leaners. Some lean is helpful but too much, deadly. I've not done much falling with an axe but I've done a lot with a chainsaw, so I have a decent idea of what you'll be losing out on by using an axe.
So... some tips. Any tree can hurt you, even that 4" one. Be careful not to get complacent or cocky. You should make what is called your face cut on the side the tree wants to fall toward. If you make that cut about 70 degrees or wider of a notch the tree will have a much better chance of staying attached to the stump as it falls, which means more control and assurance that it will go about where you aimed it. If the trees are dead you lose some of that benefit since the wood will be more brittle. If you do that wide facecut you can put your second cut about level to the first without compromising any safety. Before you cut you can use an axe to check the lean of the tree. Hold the handle at the butt and let the weight of the head hang down. This gives you a vertical line to compare the tree against. Do this from two points, one about 90 degree from the other, and you'll get a feel for where the weight of the tree is. Wind may also play into it. You'll also want to make sure you have at least one goood, clear path to walk or run down to get away from the stump as the tree falls. This escape route should be at a 45 degree angle from the expected direction of fall. Be aware of what you're dropping your tree into; is it going to hit another dead tree and break off pieces that could come back at you? You also need to gauge the wood and make sure the tree is solid. If not you may not have that hinge and therefore have no control on where it goes. You can do this by sounding the tree, whacking it with the poll of the axe, on the front, rear, and both sides where the hinge will be.
This is just a start. There's a forest service chainsaw training that you can find a pdf of on the web. Just google that. It has, in addition to all the chainsaw specific stuff, some good safety tips and techniques. Good luck, and be careful.
 
If you are felling with an axe alone, you might want to rethink using a 5 pound axe for that. You have to cut the bottom and the top of the notch, and controlling a 5 pound axe for that is not going to be easy. I would use a 3 pounder if one was available.

Good luck, I will leave the tree felling literature to others. I have cut a few by hand and I dont want to push my luck by advising others. Just be careful.
 
All good advice so far. The only thing I'll add is this: is it possible to get the chainsaw tuned up, sharpened, and have a neighbor, relative, family friend, etc that is more experienced actually fell the trees? They're a lot safer once they're on the ground. :) (not safe, just safer). It wouldn't take someone that knew what they were doing very long to put, say 2 of them, on the ground. Then you could take your time limbing, bucking, splitting, hauling brush, etc with the axes.

Note: do not have somebody cut all 12 trees down at the same time if they are in close proximity to each other. You'll end up with a dangerous situation with limbs under pressure and such of the trees fall criss-crossing each other.

randy
 
Thank you all for your responses guys! You have no idea how much this means to me.

-We don't have any lodgepoles here on the property (to my knowledge)
-I am looking for neighbors that have working chainsaws at the moment
-Nobody else knows how to fell trees unfortunately, so I have to step up to get the job done
-I am really comfortable with the 5 pounder, but I will haft the 3 pounder to be safe

So, I will start watching videos before I start in the next day or so just to be safe and do my best to get the chainsaw running; I'd rather use one anyway. We only have a few more to take down, and they are not very large, so I feel a little more comfortable about felling my first tree. They are not close to each other, but I will still take your advice and fell them one at a time for safety.

Just to run this through...The face cut is cut in the direction that I want it to go, cut halfway through he tree to make a hinge, 70 degree angle. The back cut is a few inches above the face cut on the opposite side, should not go past the halfway point and should leave at least a hinge that is 1/10 the diameter of the tree. Before cutting, look at the natural lean of the tree and try to make it fall in that direction unless unsafe (where I should hire an expert), and check the tree to see if it is solid. I should never stand behind the tree as it can seriously hurt myself or any one in the vicinity and I must pick a route in a 45 degree angle away from the direction of the tree's trajectory. Never cut down multiple trees at once or in a relatively quick succession as they can pile up

You guys are the best, thank you so much for all of your help!
 
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