10
SAfterremoving the wood from the notch,
make the felling cut on the o pposite side
of the notch. This is done by making a
cut about two inches higher than the
center of the notch. This will leave
enough uncut woo d between the felling
cut and the notch to forma hinge.This
hinge willhelp prevent the tree from fal-
ling in the wrongdirection.
Opening
of felling
cut
Closing of
notch
Hinge holds treeon stump and
helps control fall.
NOTE: Before felling cut is comple te,
use wedges to open the cut when
necessaryto control the direction of fall.
To avoid kickback and chain damage,
use wood or plastic wedges, but never
steelor iron wedges.
SBe alertto signs that the tree is ready to
fall: cracking sounds, widening of the
felling cut, or movemen t in the upper
branches.
SAs tree starts to fall, stop saw, put it
down, and get away quickly on your
planned retreat path.
SDONOT use your saw to cut down a par-
tially fallen tree.Be extremely cautious
with partially fallen trees th at may be
poorly supported. When a tree doesn’t
fall completely,set saw aside and pull
downtree with a cable winch, block and
tackle, or tractor.
CUTTING A FALLENTREE
(BUCKING)
Buckingis the term used for cutting afall-
en tree to the desired log size .
WARNING: Do not stand on the
logbeing cut. Any portion can roll caus-
ing loss of footing and control. Do not
stand downhillof the log being cut.
IMPORTANTPOINTS
SCut only one log at a time.
SCut shattered wood very carefully;
sharpp iecesof wood couldbe flung to-
ward operator.
SUsea sawhorse to cut small logs.Never
allow another person to hold the log
while cutting and never hold th e log with
your leg or foot.
SDonot cut in an area where logs, limbs,
and roots are tangled. Draglogs into a
clear area before cutting them by pullin g
out exposed and cleared logs first.
BUCKING TECHNIQUES
WARNING : If saw becomes
pinchedor hung in a log, don’t tryto force it
out.Youcan lose control of the saw result-
ing in injury and/or damage to the saw.
Stop thesaw, drive a wedge of plastic or
wood into thecut until the saw can be re-
movedeasily.Restartthesawandcare-
fully reenter the cut. Do not use a metal
wedge.Do not attempt to restart your saw
when it is pinched or hung in a log.
Use a wedge to remove pinched saw
Turn saw OFF and use a plastic or
wooden wedge to force cut open.
Overcutting begins on the top side of the
logwith the bottom of the saw against the
log.When overcutting use light downward
pressure.
Overcutting Undercu tting
Undercuttinginvolv es cutting on the un-
derside of the log with top of saw against
the log. When undercuttinguse light up-
wardpressure. Hold saw firmly and main-
tain control. The saw will tend to push
back toward you.
WARNING : Neverturn saw upside
down to undercut. The saw cannot be
controlledin this position.
Always make your first cut onthe com-
pressions side of the log. The compres-
sion side of thelog is where the pressure
of the log’s weight is concentrated.
First cut on compression side of log
Second cut
First cut on compression side of log
Second cut
BUCKING WITHOUT A SUPPORT
SOvercut through 1/3 of the diameter of
the log.
SRoll the log over and finish with a se c-
ond overcut.