Generally a tree has a definite direction it can be dropped easily.\u00a0 You can see where there is a big branch or the tree leans in a certain direction.\u00a0 After 26 years of cutting I have gotten pretty good and working with the way a tree will drop naturally I can usually drop a tree within a 160 degree range.\u00a0 This enables you to drop a tree and\u00a0avoid having it get hung up on other trees and lets you drop it where it is easiest to get to the logs.\u00a0 I have several things I do to try and be safe while dropping tree.\u00a0 After I make the initial wedge, I start the cut from the opposite side 5-6 inches above the first cut.\u00a0 This keeps the tree from kicking back across the stump if the hinge breaks as it is falling.\u00a0 I also make sure I have a clear path away from the tree so as soon as it start to drop I can get away from the area in case any branches get knocked loose up in the trees and come down.\u00a0 I pick a tree close by that I can get around so it will protect me in case the tree I am cutting does something unexpected.\u00a0 Over the years I have had trees rotate on the stump and\u00a0I have had trees that have been hit by lightening split and come apart.\u00a0 When the tree starts to drop I get out of there.\u00a0 In 26 years I have cracked ribs and green sticked a couple of bones but the only injury that got medical attention was our son had a chain saw kick back on him and he got 15 stitches.<\/p>\n
This spring\u00a0I have been cutting down Ash trees that are dead because of the emerald ash borer.\u00a0 The thing about Ash is it grows so straight and tall in the woods.\u00a0 It makes great firewood because it burns well, splits easy and is easy to cut because it grows so straight.\u00a0 It is sometimes hard to judge which way\u00a0an Ash\u00a0tree would naturally fall because it is so straight up.\u00a0 Early this spring I made my V cut and cut from the opposite side.\u00a0 The tree just stood there.\u00a0 I had a 15 inch tree that was resting on a hinge of wood about 3\/4 of an inch thick and 15 inches wide.\u00a0 I ended up taking a wedge, putting it in my second cut and hitting it I got the tree to\u00a0drop.\u00a0 A couple of loads later I was cutting a tree and a wind came through the woods.\u00a0 It was enough that it settled the tree back on my chain saw as I was making my second cut.\u00a0 My chain saw was now stuck in the tree.\u00a0 Since my second chain saw is not running I had to take a hand cross cut saw and cut through the hinge by cutting in the original V cut.\u00a0 This is dangerous because when the tree starts to go the opposite way from normal\u00a0the hinge of wood usually snaps and the truck can come off the stump in any direction.\u00a0 With the second cut being at an angle the tree will come off to one side and if\u00a0 you are there you are toast.\u00a0 The saw was stuck in the tree and\u00a0would not come loose until the tree was on the way down so standing there and pulling the saw out is not an option.\u00a0\u00a0The tree did come off to one side and came down on my chain saw.\u00a0 The parts to get it fixed only cost $15 but I lost several days of cutting.\u00a0 After this I started putting a wedge in the\u00a0second cut as soon as I could to make sure my saw did not get caught.\u00a0 Several weeks ago I had made both cuts on a tree and had been pounding the wedge in when I realized that\u00a0I had ended up making the second cut much further into the tree than normal and it had not started to fall.\u00a0 I took the chain saw out of the tree and gave the wedge another hit.\u00a0 The hinge of wood that had been formed suddenly split and the tree slipped off the stump.\u00a0 I remember saying “OH NO”.\u00a0 There I am with a 14 inch diameter tree that is 50+ feet tall standing straight up in the air a couple of feet from me and I have no idea which way it will fall.\u00a0 My reaction – I took off.\u00a0 It is amazing how fast you can move when you are scared.\u00a0 I ducked around my safety tree and was running through the woods as fast as I could go.\u00a0 When I heard the tree start to fall\u00a0I glanced back and it was falling where I had originally intended.\u00a0 I said a prayer of thanks.\u00a0\u00a0That was the first time I have\u00a0had that happen in 26 years.\u00a0 From now on I will make sure I leave an adequate hinge.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Generally a tree has a definite direction it can be dropped easily.\u00a0 You can see where there is a big branch or the tree leans in a certain direction.\u00a0 After 26 years of cutting I have gotten pretty good and working with the way a tree will drop naturally I can usually drop a tree […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"aioseo_notices":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=112"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":126,"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/112\/revisions\/126"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madeonthefarm.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}