operation
nOn large diameter trees, stop the back cut before it is deep enough for the tree to either fall or settle back on the stump. Then insert soft wooden or plastic wedges into the cut so they do not touch the chain. Drive wedges in, little by little, to help jack the tree over.
nWhen bucking or felling with a wedge, it may be necessary to remove the
nAs tree starts to fall, stop the chain saw and put it down immediately. Retreat along the cleared path, but watch the action in case something falls your way.
WARNING:
Never cut through to the notch when making a back cut. The hinge controls the fall of the tree, this is the section of wood between the notch and backcut.
REMOVING BUTTRESS ROOTS
See Figure 26.
A buttress root is a large root extending from the trunk of the tree above the ground. Remove large buttress roots prior to felling. Make the horizontal cut into the buttress first, followed by the vertical cut. Remove the resulting loose section from the work area. Follow the correct tree felling procedure as stated in Proper Procedure For Tree Felling after you have removed the large buttress roots.
BUCKING
See Figure 27.
Bucking is the term used for cutting a fallen tree to the desired log length.
nCut only one log at a time.
nSupport small logs on a saw horse or another log while bucking.
nKeep a clear cutting area. Make sure that no objects can contact the guide bar nose and chain during cutting, this can cause kickback. To avoid the danger, keep the
■nDuring bucking operations, stand on the uphill side so that the
■nSometimes it is impossible to avoid pinching (with just standard cutting techniques) or difficult to predict which way a log will settle when cut.
HINGE
BACK CUT
Fig. 24
WEDGE | Fig. 25 |
vertical
cut
loose
sectioN
horizontal |
cut |
Fig. 26
kickback
Fig. 27
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