Split backcut

Sean Freeman

Here's a group of photos showing the very simple and very safe felling technique called the split backcut, or 1/4 cut.
It was taught to me and the two other guys in the firm I work for by a forestry trainer when we completed our tickets for advanced felling of dangerous trees. When I finally track down the shots from that training done in State forests I'll post them cause I think they're pretty cool.

Any way here's the steps for the split back cut: 1 assess the tree to be felled, used a palm cause that's what we did today.



2 Make the face cut as normal aimed in the direction you intend the tree to fall (since the palm is as good as vertical no adjusted gun here..see EKKA's video for that one)



3 Then make the first back cut only cutting into the tree 1/2 way across the back, effectively cutting 1/4 of the timber behind the face cut. You leave the normal 10% hinge wood (since the palm was sound with hardly any lean) you watch the bar of the saw all the time to ensure you don't cut through the hinge!!



4 A wedge is driven into the back cut hard



5 Then moving around the back of the tree begin cutting the second part of the back cut matching the first cut accurately, and cutting in to match the hinge wood across the width of the tree.





6 The tree is then sitting on the wedge (or wedges) and can be felled under perfect control by driving the wedges.



Close ups of the stump and hingewood (me thinks Tim left more wood on one side, perhaps it was leaning slightly to the left)



Oh yeah, someone has to dock the trunk and head and I'm taking photos so its not going to be me




SF

Eric Frei

Hey

That's the 1/4 cut.

I got a close up video of that, second video in the 1st post this thread ....

1/4 cut cocos drop

__________________

TreeCo

Great technique. On large trees I've done a plunge cut in the center of the back cut and inserted a wedge, and then proceded to cut one side and then the other. It gets the wedge right in the middle.

Sean Freeman

I don't mind what we call it I just want more guys to use it. The control and safety factor using this technique is extremely high. We use it on trees with a lean, trees with problem tops, trees with termite infestation really big trees, we use it all the time.

The best parts of this technique with larger trees is it makes you reassess the fell as you proceed, we all tend to fall into the trap of rushing things or working on auto pilot, both can be fatal. It gives you much more control of the timing at the end of the fell too which I really like; one more check before we drive the tree over.

I get really shocked seeing the lack of any technique in the fells some companies undertake.

SF

yooper

Back in the day, when i did alot of hard wood timber cutting, umm 9 10 years or so ago, that is the way i was always tought to fell trees ,to avoid hang ups. and proper control, i still use it today on many trees , our timber manigment did eventually force us into boar cutting all are trees to avoid splitting and fiber ripping, for the log material, i still use bore cutting today also,bye wedging on both sides, also very effective for control of the tree.

Eric Frei

Yep, got that video too! lol

http://www.treeworld.info/showthread...=1491#post1491

Haha, I'm a bloody good fella. You ought to see some of the close calculated shots I pulled off .... those clinometers are darned accurate.

Bore cut strap release ideal for forward leaners. Can get tricky if ya bars too short... that's when you have to bore both sides and you can also relieve the centre of the tree by boring in the front.

__________________

yooper

I have cut many back leaners with a very tight wedge on each side tward the back of my face notch, or side leaning with one wedge, with the bore cut tword the adj side. although i do perfer to later method, all in all a rope is always a good insurence and cheap too,

Eric Frei

Yooper, you gotta get pics when ya doing stuff like that.

Tomorrow I gotta fell this ugly fern tree, they're called a Mexican fern tree Schizolobium parahyba, the customer to keep cost down said we can drop it in her garden ... too bad for other plants. They're brittle as buggery and shatter when they hit the deck. It's got a decent leader going out over the house so we have to evac the owner in case the proverbial hits the fan.

Man I like the good jobs.

__________________

Sean Freeman

Good luck Ekka, Schizolobium parahybahorrible brittle things, TD's definately helicopter job or 100T crane

SF

yooper

Well its nuthen i would do to avoid hitting somones personal property or any thing of value but if i know if i can flop it into a gravel driveway or rather not into the woods, flop it into the yard, i guess it all depends on the situation, iv had alot of practuce using the bore cut in the logging industry...many days cuting trees all day long 30 to 40 a day dont know never counted.... all biger ones over 28 inch dbh and over(the ones the machines would not cut economacly whithout splitting the but end)
but ya somtimes it didnt work the way ya wanted it to, in the woods i would never us it on a big tree nor a small too close to a house i do like the insurence of the rope. i dont take chances when i do gat a time i will take some photos times are slow now for me beeing winter dont get to many jobs this time of year.

Sean Freeman

This wasn't a heavy leaner but too big for the bar we had back then on the 046. Tree is Nauclea orientalis Leichhardt tree, removed due to numerous large branch drops onto entrance to kindy part of State School.

Discussing the lack of length,


Plunging the face,


nice narrow slot,


cutting 1/2 the backcut,


cutting the other 1/2,


Steve hitting the wedges,


Away she goes,


Pretty good looking stump,


Not long after that job we got 090 with a really big bar, not because we wanted to destroy big trees just that the kind of problem jobs we get big saws sometimes make the job easier.

SF