Ooops!

[treediver]

So I had my first proper cock-up today! I hesitate to write it here but it may just help someone else.

 

We were felling dead/dying horse chestnuts in a field next to a road. We couldn't fell them straight in to the field (at 90 deg to the wall) as there was some fencing within the field to avoid so we decided to fell them diagonally, ie at 45 degrees to the wall.

 

We put a line in the tree attached to a Land Rover as the tree was very slightly back weighted towards the road.

 

Unfortunately the hinge was inadequate due to my poor cutting. I had done my cuts, walked away from the tree and signalled for the Landy to pull away - then watched with horror as the tree started to go and then span around on it's hinge and toppled towards the road:scared:. I am pleased to say we had closed the road as a precaution anyway so no passing traffic was involved.

 

I was so gutted and rather sheepish for the rest for the afternoon.

 

Looking at the stump I could see my mistake clearly - I had left a minute hinge on the field side and a thicker hinge on the road side. That's right everybody: exactly the wrong way round! I also totally over-estimated the hinge strength in dead timber.

 

Did another tree almost identical later this afternoon and that one went sweet, big sigh!

 

If your felling and boring out through the back after setting your hinge its an 'all or nothing cut' and doesnt give you much (if any) warning if everythings about to go totally pear shaped. Stick to your conventional back cuts if your pulling trees over, especially dead wood or if theres a slight lean you want to control.

[MattyF]

Dead uns, when they are cold you have little or no chance of steering them as the hinges snap off rather than bend over. Glad it was a minor booboo that didn't escalate to a serious one.

totally agree!

[Paul Barton]

If your felling and boring out through the back after setting your hinge its an 'all or nothing cut' and doesnt give you much (if any) warning if everythings about to go totally pear shaped. Stick to your conventional back cuts if your pulling trees over, especially dead wood or if theres a slight lean you want to control.

 

I did use a conventional felling cut. I just did it craply (if that's a word?)!

[treediver]

We all screw things up occasionally its just trying to do it when no ones watching.

[Dean Lofthouse]

If your felling and boring out through the back after setting your hinge its an 'all or nothing cut' and doesnt give you much (if any) warning if everythings about to go totally pear shaped. Stick to your conventional back cuts if your pulling trees over, especially dead wood or if theres a slight lean you want to control.

 

I wouldn't describe it as all or nothing. Pre setting your hinge on live wood shouldn't present any unexpected problems, unless the tree leans heavily whichever way, but then that would be an "expected" problem which you should have anticipated and made provisions for.

 

Deadwood, always expected the unexpected, even a conventional felling cut can go instantly paer shaped with out warning.

 

Presetting your hinge is a valuable tool and shouldn't be dismissed.

 

I felled a live willow last week, in an open field, which was heavily weighted to one side and used a conventional hinge. I wanted to see if the hinge would hold. It didn't, it went over about 20 degrees and then went sideways. A valuable lesson learnt, good to experiment when you can.

 

If I were felling a dead tree with a side lean, I would have put a winch in from the crown down to the floor at nintey degrees to the hinge and preloaded it, it then hinges down keeping the pressure on as the tree falls.

 

I wouldn't use a conventional hinge with a dead leaning tree anyway, I would use what I call a socket hinge in conjunction with the winch

[treediver]

I wouldn't describe it as all or nothing. Pre setting your hinge on live wood shouldn't present any unexpected problems, unless the tree leans heavily whichever way, but then that would be an "expected" problem which you should have anticipated and made provisions for.

 

Deadwood, always expected the unexpected, even a conventional felling cut can go instantly paer shaped with out warning.

 

Presetting your hinge is a valuable tool and shouldn't be dismissed.

 

I felled a live willow last week, in an open field, which was heavily weighted to one side and used a conventional hinge. I wanted to see if the hinge would hold. It didn't, it went over about 20 degrees and then went sideways. A valuable lesson learnt, good to experiment when you can.

 

If I were felling a dead tree with a side lean, I would have put a winch in from the crown down to the floor at nintey degrees to the hinge and preloaded it, it then hinges down keeping the pressure on as the tree falls.

 

I wouldn't use a conventional hinge with a dead leaning tree anyway, I would use what I call a socket hinge in conjunction with the winch

 

I agree pretty much with what your sayin. If your confident you know what the trees gonna do and cutting through the back is the best option then go for it. I said its all or nothing cause once your saws out your options are limited, and as the trees mistertee were felling were back weighted and dead and he was winching / pulling them over ,then on the face of it i would have said cut from the back.

But I wasnt there and I cant weigh a job up without looking at it first so I could be wrong.

[Dean Lofthouse]

But I wasnt there and I cant weigh a job up without looking at it first so I could be wrong.

 

Your right, coming through from the back gives you some idea (when the saw starts pinching) of whether or not you have enough pressure on the winch, but as you say, I wasn't there either to weigh it up so we can only make suggestions, each job has it's own challenges

[Marc]

I find with dead leaning trees, you can only pretty much fell with the lean, or against it with a winch or other. Any other direction and the hinge is likly to fail and not go the way you want it.

Even some living trees like sycamore at certain times of the year will not hold the hinge very well if your trying to steer it away from a lean.

[Paul Smith]

 

I wouldn't use a conventional hinge with a dead leaning tree anyway, I would use what I call a socket hinge in conjunction with the winch

 

 

Dean could you please explain the "socket hinge" I have not heard of it or may know it as something else?

[Dean Lofthouse]

Dean could you please explain the "socket hinge" I have not heard of it or may know it as something else?

 

Socket hinge is not in the manual, it's something I made up and use to fell small to med dead trees, all it does is prevent it from twisting in the first part of the fell, which should be enough to send it the way intended.

If the tree is leaning to the side a winch must be used into the crown and anchored at 90 degrees to the hinge and level with the hinge, so that as the tree falls the winch wire doesn't slacken or tighten, it hinges down with the tree.

 

Heres a paint diagram of the cut. The gob cut is obviously done first and the topcut is over cut, then when you bring in the backcut the grain will shear down trapping the saw and the point of the hinge will sit into the socket created stopping any twisting action for the first crucial part of the fell.