Choosing a saw...

[john87]

31 minutes ago, Haironyourchest said:

But a bar a tad longer than the diameter of the tree is by far the most forgiving.

It definitely would be for me...

 

john..

[Muddy42]

6 hours ago, spuddog0507 said:

Fell up to 1.5x bar length ? was this a misprint ? as you should be able to fell a tree 2 and a half times the bar size, i,e saw with 20" bar you should be able to drop a 50" tree,,,,

No, I did mean to say fell a tree with a diameter of max 1.5x the bar. I hope I am describing it correctly. That is what I was taught 20 odd years ago in college.
 

Assuming the tree is a perfect cylinder, mathematically it would be possible to cut max 2x, i.e saw buried fully from both sides of the hinge.

 

But I dont’t like this. The cut needs to be perfectly aligned, you’ll be very close to the tree when it falls, saw buried fully, maybe away from your preferred escape route etc.

 

To go bigger than 2x, you’d be relying on the heartwood splitting on its own right?
 

Cheers.

Edited April 23, 2022 by Muddy42

[Mick Dempsey]

37 minutes ago, Muddy42 said:

No I meant to say fell a tree with a diameter of max 1.5x the bar. I hope I am describing it correctly. That is what I was taught 20 odd years ago in college.
 

Assuming the tree is a perfect cylinder, mathematically it would be possible to cut max 2x, i.e saw buried fully from both sides of the hinge.

 

But I dont’t like this. The cut needs to be perfectly aligned, you’ll be very close to the tree when it falls, saw buried fully, maybe away from you’re preferred escape route etc.

 

To go bigger than 2x, you’d be relying on the heartwood splitting on its own right?
 

Cheers.

No, you bore the hinge out, common practice.

[Dan Maynard]

8 hours ago, john87 said:

That is the thing.. Hard to know what to do for the best.. The saw i have now is only a 14" one. It has been and still is, brilliant. Problem i have, is, i do not want to spend a lot of money to get a saw that only gives me another 4 or 6 inches of bar. It would be a very expensive 4 inches!!

I would focus less on bar length and more on real world cutting performance. Husqvarna 562 is a massive step up from that little Echo, because it's a pro saw and then because it's 60cc it will cut 2 or 3 times as fast. Put an 18" bar on for everyday use, buy a 24 for occasional cuts where it's handy. You'll thank me every time you sharpen.

[doobin]

4 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

No, you bore the hinge out, common practice.

I remember felling a large ish oak with a 16” on an old 036. My first letterbox cut, went well 💪🏻

biggest I’ve done so far was where I needed to bore the hinge using a 28” bar, but that was with some wide buttress even after pencilling down.  
 

Personally if I have to ring up after, I’d much rather switch to a larger for for felling and ringing, but the letterbox cut is a good skill to have. 

 

[spuddog0507]

6 hours ago, Muddy42 said:

To go bigger than 2x, you’d be relying on the heartwood splitting on its own right?

Wrong, its as Mick has said above, you just simply bore in from the front where you have taken the gob cut out and take the heart of the tree out, hence the name heart cut, the cuts dont have to line up at all but better if they do or as near as possible, 

[spuddog0507]

5 hours ago, Mick Dempsey said:

No, you bore the hinge out, common practice.

Good job one or two of us know what we are doing Mick 😂

[gdh]

If could have only two saws I would have a husqvarna 550 with a 15inch bar and a 572 with a 24inch.

 

I use both regularly and the 550 is a great little saw for daily use and the 572 is good for felling and stumping oversized stuff with the advantage that it's still fast revving and light enough to use on smaller stuff. I think a 24inch bar is the best length for it.

[Mick Dempsey]

21 minutes ago, spuddog0507 said:

Good job one or two of us know what we are doing Mick 😂

Well I wouldn’t go that far!

I’m no forestry faller, so I’d hesitate to use it without mechanical assistance or an obvious lean if there were high value targets in range. 

[AHPP]

What are your current saws, John?