I meant “riders.” Thanks for catching that typo. So, yes I meant “rakers” Riders=rakers and they are often ignores in the sharpening process by new operators.Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn
http://www.madsens1.com/bnc_depth_gauge.htm
Printable View
I meant “riders.” Thanks for catching that typo. So, yes I meant “rakers” Riders=rakers and they are often ignores in the sharpening process by new operators.Quote:
Originally Posted by MagnificentUnicorn
http://www.madsens1.com/bnc_depth_gauge.htm
Newbish question in regards to a wedge cut to control where a large leaning branch falls:
Attachment 402256
Wow my crappy pic might actually be oriented correctly!!
So I've got a large willow tree that I've been slowly taking down this winter, most cuts are pretty easy but there's one very large heavy branch that leans directly towards the house. The amazingly artistic illustration sort of shows what I'm talking about.
I have a basic understanding of making a wedge cut and felling limbs in a chosen direction. This limb however has me a bit worried.
If I want it to fall roughly along path A, would I need to put a bias on the wedge pointing more towards the fence? (I'd rather fix a fence than siding and windows lol)
and/or - instead of making the wedge cuts and felling cuts on a horizontal plane, can I angle these cuts a little so the hinge isn't perfectly horizontal, but rather the lower part of the hinge facing more towards the fence? (hope that makes sense)
A pic from the ground would help more then a top down sketch....Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
Show the lean
You mean that illustration doesn't suffice lol? K hold on, pics in coming..
I mean I'll be honest, never wedge cut a limb to control direction.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
How big is the limb? Is it more vertical ( what I've always called a leader) or is it straight out?
Hope this helps. The branch in question is in a bundle of smaller stuff that shouldn't be a problem to remove before proceeding.
Attachment 402263
Attachment 402264
Attachment 402266
Another perspective
Attachment 402267
Hand for scale on the branch in question.
Attachment 402265
I'd call that a leader....
Put a LEVEL notch in direction "A", maybe a little more toward the fence. Put a rope on it as high as you can go above the cut and add some tension in that direction, as it does look tight in there and insurance can't hurt.
Too bad it's not larger, you could easily wedge it in the right direction.
Disclaimer: not my fault if you crush the fence, your wife's arbor or the neighbors toy poodle.
Sorry I am so confused by this line. Is this example not wedging it?Quote:
Originally Posted by krp8128
Felling wedges.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
You do your notch cut, start the felling cut, pound a wedge in and continue to cut. Give the wedge a couple whacks as you go and it lifts the tree to overcome lean.
Only works if there is enought tree for the notch, hing, bar and felling wedge. Your tree looks too small.
1st image I stole from the Google:
Attachment 402277
Sometimes I bore cut, pound the wedges in and then cut the trigger. IMHO things more of an advanced method.
I'm a hack, but have been burning firewood my whole life and have made some errors in felling that thankfully I was able to learn from. The sketchy ones work out, as I'm hyper attentive.
This is the image I've been basing everything I've said so far on. But you're saying don't do that because it's too narrow.
Sorry to get so circular - how does the Level notch you recommend differ from the posted illustration?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
It doesn't. If you are facing the notch it should be level left to right. Otherwise you can put twist into it, which in your case could be bad (from what I see).
EDIT: another stolen pic:
Attachment 402285
Not the notch is level
I don't think that tree is big enough to face cut, back cut, wedge and fell. But I'm not in front of it. The rope acts the same as the felling wedges, it just serves to pull things the right direction.
For frame of reference, last winter I took down a birch and hickory that were twisted up along my power line. Too small for the wedges, but some tension with the rope as I cut (tension, cut, repeat) pulled a heavy leaner away from catastrophe.
Tomorrow when it is light out I'll try for a pic of a 12"+ oak leader I need to drop this winter. The natural fall puts it close to a propane tank, so I will add a wedge to nudge it in the safe direction.
Understood, thank you very much for taking the time to explain this to me. tension, cut, repeat..
Tension, cut, repeat, etc.: make sure it’s not going to land on you when tensioning it or if you need to give the rope a final tug to pull the leader down. Also, don’t bounce the rope, better to give it a steady tug.
Attachment 402288
Attachment 402289
I couldn’t just drop this leader with a notch/hinge because it would have landed on my deck and roof. I rigged a cord into a notch, then through another notch on another leader, and a bunch of wraps around that pine. I did a “salami” style cut with a bore cut leaving strap holding wood on top and bottom. It all got a bit complicated when my chain got pinched in the bore cut and I had to use my bigger saw (that needs a carb adjustment) to finish the job. The rigging worked great!
Well great thanks guys, practice round went perfect! On to the big guy..
Attachment 402484
Attachment 402485
Kind of an incredible feeling - slowly getting the wedge cut as perfect as you can, then inching in with the felling cut, tension, pull slowly.. boom! Controlled chaos.
Big ones down! This is kinda fun. Thanks again for the pointers. Fence and windows are still intact. Raspberries, along the back fence - well they good a mid winter prune.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
Well done! This is coming from a guy who has worked aloft for almost 50 years.
Excellent. I've hung many a storm leaner, and angle/salami cut the base.... some as large as 100' plus. I then repeat the process, cutting sections off the butt, until the top can be laid out. Often, the process takes hours, at least two groundies running the lines. A $2800 lowering device, maybe another bollard device for friction, and as many as three ropes, and 1-2 rigging blocks....no trunk wraps, of course. My main line (250' -- cost over $900--yikes!) for tip tying big stuff is rated at 31000 lb tensile at 9/16th... it has a HMWPE spectra (plasma, by PS Ropes) core..zero stretch so not to be shock loaded. Any dynamic loads, we then use lines up to 3/4" rated at ~22k lb.Quote:
Originally Posted by bodywhomper
The cord that you previously recommended worked great. i also bought a weight and throwline, which has gotten a bunch of use.Quote:
Originally Posted by rbtree
trunk wrap.... i wasn't aware that was passe. it worked well for me and it's what i learned to do. i have seen friction devices used but have no experience.
i rigged the tiptie in the notch on the leader in the autumn and let the kids use it as a swing for a week or three. i finished the rigging before winter weather arrived in case the leader failed. That could have been a good decision as my area (Sierra foothills) had some severe tree failures in the big winter storm on Dec 26 (it's still a mess out there).
Have a laugh on me, folks.
Been slowly hacking away at that willow and needed a new chain. 50 CAD for the recommended model. Installed today. 3 inches into it's first cut and I find there's rebar or something metal imbedded in the stump. The first few inches were glorious - new chain feel I guess. Seconds later, it's crap.
Guess I'll learn how to use the files. Seems so tedious but it sucks buying (and instantly destroying) 50 dollar chains.
If I have a chain that's seriously fuckered (which I'm guessing yours is), I just take it to the saw shop. They'll sharpen it on their little grinder contraption for $7, and it's almost as good as new. It takes a lot more material off than hand filing, so I only do it if the chain really needs it.Quote:
Originally Posted by Thaleia
Yes, this ^^^Quote:
Originally Posted by toast2266
There are a lot of other teeth on that chain, I would just sharpen them as normal and see how that goes, i have a pretty good sharpening jig so i do the chains at home and swap them instead of kneeling in the snow,
sharp chain makes a big difference
Thanks all. If I can find someone local to do it for ~ $10 I'll go that route, otherwise filing it is.
Learned something new to me the other day. After cutting a lot of soft wood, cut on some hardwood (especially oak or alder) before grinding a chain. Cutting on hard wood helps clean out the pitch and sap that overheat the chain and messes with the grinding stone. At least that’s what my old man tells me when I give him chains to grind.
RE the chain(s). So my saw is electric and has a self sharpener on it, therefore can't be hand filed. (at least that's what they guy said at the shop). Working my way though this willow tree I have gone through four chains, and now need another one.
Stupid question of the day - can I buy a different brand 18" non self-sharpening chain? They're half the price.
I wouldn't be suprised if you need a different bar to run a conventional chain on but the guy in the shop should be able to tell you
I had the same thought. Change bar and chain. With advice from a smart shop.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
Self sharpening only grinds the top.
It’s a gimmick.
Better to have two or three normal chains and if you won’t sharpen then drop off and pickup from a saw shop or hardware store
But why can’t a self sharpening chain be filed like a regular chain?
Ended up getting a new chain and bar combo. Thanks for the suggestion.
Night and day difference. Old bar looked pretty straight but wth do I know. Just had a nice four hour session with it and it's running like new.
I'll close the loop on my question from January.
Dropped a few trees late winter with the ms251 and struggled. Pulled it out last night to clean up a few stumps and the tensioner is fubar (again), clutch appears cooked and it ran like shit.
Did some shopping this afternoon and a new ms362 followed me home.
Woot!!!
the 251 is a saw for dentists that 362 is a real sawQuote:
Originally Posted by krp8128
It did the job. Had just closed on a house, started a renovation and moved in. The morning I was going to get my refrigerator a tree fell across my driveway. Funds and time were tight and it's what I grabbed. 6 years (5 burning wood) and I should have upgraded already.Quote:
Originally Posted by XXX-er
Dropped, limbed and bucked 2 trees and flushcut 3 stumps and the last couple hours. Except for the chips you'd never know I was there.
Effortless
Maybe someone else knows how but I can't tell the application from the model numbers, gotta look up the site to tell the industrial saw from the home owner saw
I don't know dick about chainsaws but I bought a 362 for a coworker using my work CC. By the time I made it out of the saw shop the guy working there must have commented 7 times about how good of a saw that is.Quote:
Originally Posted by krp8128
Did you get the C-M/M-Tronic option? I’m curious about that feature.Quote:
Originally Posted by krp8128
I have m-tronic on my ms241. It is really nifty. I can hear/feel it constantly fine tuning. I’ve run it a lot, all times of year and weather, but only at my elevation, with what feel like constant and consistent power output. I’ve never had a carb issue with that saw. It sips fuel.
One cool thing about the ms361 m-tronic is that it’s apparently easy to mod the muffler (including with a spark arrestor) and the m-tronic will tune the carb afterward.
I’ve bought a handful of the 362’s with m-tronic for the brush trucks here. They get used pretty hard and put away wet and seem to be holding up well.Quote:
Originally Posted by Meadow Skipper
My personal saw is a 261 with m-tronic and I’ve used it from 4000-10000 feet with no adjustments and it runs great. Meanwhile I can tell a difference in how my leaf blower runs with 2000 feet of elevation change.
I don't think we see many m-tronic models on the east coast, maybe it's the lack of altitude.
Mine has carb screws, so I am assuming it is not m-tronic. I think I got lucky finding this on the shelf, pickings have been slim when I've stopped into the dealers over the past year.
Sounds legit. Thx.
Seems likely, very likely.Quote:
Originally Posted by krp8128