Saw too small for the job? Or is it me?

R.Boreal

You guys ever narrow your hinge by making a level cut into each (or just one) side of the two opposing cuts of your notch? I am blocking down what was a 100 ft. mossycup oak and my 23" bar cannot span the diameter. Only way I can make a safe, predictable back cut is to have a narrower center. Is this common? Is this wrong? The cuts through each side also help me to line up the bar in the right place on the back side to meet where my two 45*'s converge. (I buggered it today though! Back cut sloped down a bit. Glad I had my mini-sledge and wedge up there!!)

Sure it would be nice to have a bigger saw with a 32" or bigger bar, but frankly, up there, I don't think I can safely handle a saw that heavy up in a tree once fatigue sets in. And my Stihl MS310, what with DdRT lines, and positioning lanyard line - the small bar is actually easier to keep clear of my climbing lines. I am strong for my size, but I am only 5'7" 160 lbs. The weight of the 310, once all the necessary contortions begin while working aloft, is about as big as I can handle. I'm used to an MS200T up there. This is new territory for me.

The cut I made today (I only had a few hours to get up in there today) is shown by the line. Doesn't look like much from far away, but easily 500 lbs. Figure a 23" bar, what, 3" is lost? When I was bucking it later, the narrowest top part of that section was juuust beyond the tip of the saw. And that's a lot narrower than where it was felled.

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Eric Frei

There is other methods I suppose. Check this out. Now the reason I did not whittle away the sides of the cuban palm was .... it's the outside that is the strongest part and the middle is mush.

Cuban royal palm removal using undersized 18" bar on MS440 accurately

But as long as the centre of the tree is solid not hollow whittling away the OD a little is OK in my book, been done for years and I did it in this old video. In this one it is a washingtonia palm which is pretty much solid all the way through so whittling a little is cool.

http://www.palmtreeservices.com.au/v...lingawashy.wmv

But how much is too much to whittle away? That is a great question, would half be too much .... like get a 32" dia tree and slice of the sides at the hinge to make it 16" dia?

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R.Boreal

You guys definitely have it down. I know not of the creamy center of that first palm. Well, now I do. Yeah, so you make the boring cut, and leave the sides till the end. Your videos rock, especially that 1st one. Good lead guitar solo, that. You're funny "I was a little worried - we had a few spectators..."

Since I'm hanging off the top of the tree by a DdRT line thru a home made adjustable frict savr prusik (Not prusik, schwab really) when I'm making those notches, I'm certainly thinking about "How much is too much?' Oh hell yeah. But on this one I don't even come close. This oak, though dead, is some solid mutha. But good food for thought for the next tree that isn't so solid.

So those palms you take down - like in the old video... that one looked pretty healthy. I mean - I don't know. It was green. Why did the homeowner want that down? Do you remember? And maybe you could direct me to some threads that talk about risks associated with them, I mean differentiators, because up here in SE Pennsylvania I don't see 'em too much. (Ha!)

__________________
I'm not smug, but I do feel elevated.

Eric Frei

Those washingtonia palms suck! That's the palms that claim most tree worker deaths when cleaning them .... the skirt collapses.

The fronds do not fall off easily and you have to get them cleaned. They have berries drop everywhere, then rodents and even bats get in them.

The big cuban, well bit close to the pool and they drop a huge frond with a big green sheath, quite heavy. Then you still have fruiting and flowering near pool so dude wanted it gone.

Many people have less respect for palms than trees, me included. when they get big all you look at is a pole with shit on top! You cant do much with them, and they get bloody tall.

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