Bore Cutting the Hinge

[nz paul]

Thats pretty much the box cut,been around for a long time,all the guys i work with do it,can't say ive ever needed to but can see it's usefulness!

[Spruce Pirate]

It's a standard cut for trees over bar and a half length, hinge should be left thicker than normal either side to compensate for lack of holding wood. I can see it could be handy on high value timber if you don't want the centre to pull. If your bar is big enough to get through in one cut, or bore from one side there seems little point in taking the heart out though.

[Stephen Blair]

I had to do it for my felling ticket a few moons ago!

[treeman]

I had to do it for my felling ticket a few moons ago!

 

same as

 

CS 33 it was, once

[Albedo]

I threw this one in to see if there are any do's and don'ts or whatever that I don't know about.

 

Interesting on the milling front as I didn't know that. Also on bar length as that's not the reason I use it, but would clearly be useful as I am a man of few saws.

 

I do find that a conny trunk that has been stripped, so no weight in top, will go over easier with a bore cut.

 

Those who have done the CS unit that included it.... I would be interested to know what the reason they give for utilising it is.

 

The question about % of hinge that is cut ... I don't really know, but on medium conies it's just a bar width.

[Spruce Pirate]

The only reason for using it is for cutting a tree of over 2 bar length, ie, when, if you bore in from one side and swing the saw right around the back of the tree there will still be a part of the tree at the back of the hinge which has not been cut and will prevent the tree from going over. I've seen this happen on oaks and even a loader struggling to push the tree over, with only about 4" unsevered in the centre behind the hinge. The hinge should be sllightly thicker each side in order to compensate for the lack of holding wood in the center. There are all sorts of diagrams available in the books which show what I mean. Any benefits for milling are a bonus, not the reason for doing the cut.

[jojam]

I had to demonstrate it on my cs33 long long ago just for the simple reason of not enough bar length when coming round the back with felling cut.I use it on large spruce often as i dont like to take buttress of before felling so often struggle for reach in middle with 20'' bar,i prefer taking buttress off when tree is on the ground,much easier.Will give it a go on smaller splitty trees(ash,syc,maple)tho as said previously as i don't normally.

[L W Woodlands]

Ah not had to do it in a while but have used it a lot felling big h/woods and on larger conifer with small saw. learnt to do it to compensate for short bars but as said above does have other benefits, stopping ripping etc.

If you are short on bar I agree its amazing how a tiny strip left in the centre of the tree will hold it up and have you sweating over your felling lever or beating wedges in!

 

I know of someone who bored the hinge on a massive beech, put in the felling cut and wedges, tree wouldn't move, so they stuck the saw back into the bore cut to make sure... tree moved 1/4 of an inch and saw was stuck, the tree then ever so slowly continued its fall! apparently the big old stihl kept ticking over until the very end, but resembled a crushed tin can when they extracted it from the under the butt!

[silky fox]

interesting post Woodlands...at college we learnt to bore in on Big Hardwoods etc...in the event of short bar compared to butt size...can work very,as well as go Pear shaped as you have outlined...Poor Saw:sad:

[L W Woodlands]

Indeed, I only wish I'd been there to witness it! It was before i started working with this team, my mate who witnessed it said it was all he could do to stifle his laughter (it was the boss who did it) amidst the torrent of swearing and cursing as the saw met its demise!