That one was fun, but a little nervous

[Northwoods]

Went exactly where I hoped it would, and about 70-90deg off where I feared it would.  Only used 1 wedge as insurance against it coming at the house.  It was big enough that my 20" bar required cutting from both sides.  Stump measured right at 30" diameter.

Would've left it be but it had lost a big limb several years ago and was starting to rot from the break area.  As a result it was kinda ugly.  Should get a cord or maybe a little more from it.

Thinking I might cut the stump to make a chair.

[RoadKingLarry]

Always a little nerve wracking when the tree has to come down and there are fragile things around like houses and power lines in the danger zone.

I had to take down a dead white oak a month or so ago. It was less than 10' from the house. Tree measured 29" across at the cut.
I hooked my M715 on to it with chains about 20' off the ground and notched it then cut the back side. At the 1st indication that I was getting close I had the driver of the M715 just take it on down.
With that truck in low-low I'm not sure I would have needed the chainsaw.

[BobR]

How come you guys carpet your trees on that side of the state? 

bob

[Nick1911]

Impressive.  A tree that size is quite a job, especially when it needs to come down in a particular direction.

Just last week I finished removing a red-bud that had rotted out in my front yard.  I started to make an initial cut for a wedge in the direction I wanted it to fall.  When I got close to where I wanted, the whole tree decided to fall back the other direction!  Turns out it was rotted in the middle and a good bit of the far edge.  I'll admit - there was a pucker factor when that sucker started going the wrong way.  The tips of the branches missed the neighbors house by no less then five feet.   

Thought for sure I was in for an insurance claim and a lot of paperwork.

As it is, I cleaned it up with my 30+ yr old Homelite XL and burned the brush that night.  Like it never happened. 

[Boomhauer]

I never have liked felling and never will. Any one where you dont squish yourself or loved ones is good, and if you dont drop it on anything important so much the better.

[Tallpine]

Species 

Looks from here like you didn't cut the notch out as a "Vee" ?    Oh, well -  as long as you don't hit the wrong pickup 

Woods looks pretty solid.  Dead and/or rotten trees can be extremely dangerous to fall, especially in any direction but the apparent lean.

I've cut into some really nasty big sub-alpine fir.  One time logging on the ski area, there was one close to 4' diameter too close to the lift lines.  So the ski mgr sent some hippie chick up with me that day with this fancy hand cable puller (no drum - just friction drive cable through a serpentine) and maybe 150' of line. Got it all set up with me cutting and her taking up slack.  But it was rotten, snapped off and went backwards    The tree launched itself like a rocket downslope, hit the end of the line, and came to a dead stop in the air and dropped down flat.  It just barely ticked the lift line 

And no I didn't get laid .... 

[Nick1911]

Hey Tallpine

I've been thinking about replacing my ancient Homelite with a proper saw.  Something that'll last.  Now, keeping in mind that I intend to eventually heat with wood, what saws currently on the market would you recommend?  I'm not opposed to buying both a felling saw and a limbing saw, knowing that both serve their purpose.

[Northwoods]

Big Leaf Maple.  And I did cut V notch.  Just not super sharp.  SWMBO got a series of pics as it fell.  I'll post those if I think of it tomorrow.

[Northwoods]

Nick - I'd keep the Homelight for limbing.  Falling?  Anything from Stihl or Husqvarna that can handle a 20" or larger bar.  Keep in mind that as bar length goes up effective horsepower goes down.  So if the specs say 16-20" bar you'd be far better off to step up to something with power to start with.  There's enough times I've wished for more bar length that looking for a saw that can easily handle a 24-28" bar is what I'd do if I were shopping.

[French G.]

When I was a teen I'd get nervous energy and need to do something. That translated into self taught axe felling. I'm most proud of the first tree I dropped, 40' cherry and 12' from the house. Had about a 10 degree arc to land it in as to miss the tree across the yard, the clothesline it held up, and the cut little baby spruce tree. Laid it right in there. My Mom came home, a little freaked out, of course she had often said she wanted the tree gone.

[RoadKingLarry]

Here is one I did a few years ago. That's a 20" bar on the saw.



I "cheated" though. Since it was way to close to the power lines I got my electric co-op to take it down. Fun to watch the scrawny little dude way up there in the bucket lift taking the limbs off. Then he'd run his big saw through the trunk and the guy on the ground would use the bucket to knock the big piece off till they got it below the lines, then just fell as normal what was left. I still had the pleasure of cutting it up and splitting it the old fashioned way.

[JonnyB]

Hey Tallpine

I've been thinking about replacing my ancient Homelite with a proper saw.  Something that'll last.  Now, keeping in mind that I intend to eventually heat with wood, what saws currently on the market would you recommend?  I'm not opposed to buying both a felling saw and a limbing saw, knowing that both serve their purpose.

I'm not Tallpine, but I'm nearly as old as he is...

For general purpose work, and most firewood cutting, a 50cc saw should cover it. Get a 16-18" bar & chain and you're OK. My small saw is a Jonsered 2150 with an 18" b&c. My big saw is a 75cc Husky 576XP with a 24" b&c. If I needed bigger, I'd go up to a 100cc (6 in^3) model, either Husky or Stihl.

Either of the orange saws will be good. Pick a model and go.

jb

[Boomhauer]

You do want to at least get the farm or ranch grade saw (midgrade saw) as opposed to the consumer grade. Husky/Jonesred or Stihl both work.

[AmbulanceDriver]

Hey Tallpine

I've been thinking about replacing my ancient Homelite with a proper saw.  Something that'll last.  Now, keeping in mind that I intend to eventually heat with wood, what saws currently on the market would you recommend?  I'm not opposed to buying both a felling saw and a limbing saw, knowing that both serve their purpose.

In the spirit of detcord, I present......

[Kingcreek]

Years ago I dropped a big soft maple. I had a jeep cj7 with a front mounted winch and a lot of rope to assist the direction of the fall. I chained a pulley block to another tree so I could pull it at a 90 degree angle and keep the jeep out of the fall zone. I was running the saw and my buddy was supposed to be pulling with the jeep. At the critical moment, he panicked and popped the clutch and killed the jeep motor. It wasn't heavy enough anyway.
When the crashing stopped and the dust settled, the jeep front tires were off the ground and the winch was tight to the pulley block. The tree was not where it was supposed to fall but the only damage was some some bushes.

[Tallpine]

Hey Tallpine

I've been thinking about replacing my ancient Homelite with a proper saw.  Something that'll last.  Now, keeping in mind that I intend to eventually heat with wood, what saws currently on the market would you recommend?  I'm not opposed to buying both a felling saw and a limbing saw, knowing that both serve their purpose.

Stihl or Husky are both good saws.  I like one with plenty of power, but that's a trade-off against co$t and weight.  I also like as long a bar as the saw will pull, both for falling and limbing.  A long bar allows you to stand up straighter while limbing, saving your back.  Us old-timers learned to rest/brace the powerhead against hip/thigh whenever possible while limbing to save the arms.

You're probably looking at close to $500 for a decent saw.  The old 046 that I have is about $1000 for an equivalent model today, just for the powerhead alone. 

[Kingcreek]

I've got a stihl that is 18 years old. Still runs great.

[Tallpine]

I've got a stihl that is 18 years old. Still runs great.

Yeah, I bought mine in 1997.   

Had to spend some significant money on it last summer just because it got some ethanol fuel somehow 

[Kingcreek]

Yeah, I bought mine in 1997.   

Had to spend some significant money on it last summer just because it got some ethanol fuel somehow 

Same here. Evil ethanol ate up the fuel uptake.

[Tallpine]

Same here. Evil ethanol ate up the fuel uptake.

Yeah, I went to check the filter in the gas tank, and the pickup line pulled apart 

Was a hundred and $omething to get everything fixed.