Jacks vs Mechanical wedges

[MatthewJM-S]

Hi everyone,

 

Not sure if I should have posted this on a different forum somewhere, but this is actually my first post, though I've been on here for some time. 

 

I am a tree climber and a forestry cutter too and I think I need some mechanical aid when felling trees. I already have a capstan winch, so I can get them down, but I don't want to always be setting lines in trees. 

 

I'm looking at either the wedge style felling aids or a bottle jack. I'm favouring the wedge style devices because they are much lighter and have similar lifting capacity (but not as much lift height) but I've heard that they can slip out of the cut as well. 

 

Please let me know if there's somewhere else I should be asking this question. 

 

Thanks for reading,

 

Matthew

[Haironyourchest]

Traditional wedges and felling lever not doing the job then? 

 

Have you tried a long reach jack, like the Raipal?

[htb]

1 hour ago, Haironyourchest said:

Have you tried a long reach jack, like the Raipal?

Probably not shiny enough.

[Dan Maynard]

I think the wedge style ones can be used on smaller trees too so depends what you are felling.

[5thelement]

They don’t tend to slip out if you back them up with traditional wedges.

I only use jacks if felling on steep terrain where the jack can be positioned in the lower/back part of the stump to prevent losing too much quality timber.

[slack ma girdle]

Ratchet wedges are good, but you need to think about what you are doing. They will work on all but the biggest trees,  and mine still surprises me. I have been useing the Koller wedge for 4 years, and has been faultless. They are alot heavier than wedges, but require a lot less effort.

Alot of people complain that they are too slow.

 

Tree Jacks are very heavy,  but have an eye watering amount of lift. The smallest tree i have managed to use one on is 55cm diameter. Getting the cuts right takes alot of practice. 

Did I mention how heavy they are.

I did a video of the Koller wedge, which i think is in the video section.

[slack ma girdle]

Ere ya go, Koller wedge in acton

 

[josharb87]

I’ve only experienced slippage on heavily frozen pine, doubt it’s a problem you’d ever get in the uk though! 
 

(Eder titan wedge) 

[MatthewJM-S]

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'm leaning towards a ratchet style wedge, either the Eder or the Koller. They both say that they are good for about 20 tons, which is the same as the Treemans bottle jack. All similarly priced and strong. But the wedge style jacks are considerable lighter. Only thing is you don't get as much lift height with them. 

Pretty much just answering my own questions here, but I'm still on the fence and was just wondering if anyone had a clear cut opinion on which is more useful.

 

[slack ma girdle]

Unless you are doing loads of very large leaning trees, you will find the ratchet wedge much more useful.

I probably 20-30 trees with the Koller wedge,  to one with the jack.

Get proficient and confident with the ratchet wedge,  then move onto a Jack.

When things go wrong with a jack, because of the size of the tree, they go very wrong.

Always always have a Plan B.