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Hand felling is the process of cutting down trees using a tool operated with the hands, such as an axe, saw or chainsaw.
Most trees that are felled by hand are done so in the same general way. Utilizing proper felling techniques is important not only for operator safety but also for forestry and logging applications related to timber value and potential timber value loss. [1] Maintaining proper posture while felling is also important, i.e., kneeling or squatting instead of stooping or bending over with straight legs. [2] [3] The use of improper felling techniques is dangerous, but may also reduce productivity and log supply, leading to increases in production costs in forestry and logging felling applications. [4]
A good rule of thumb for all felling scenarios is to make the depth of the face cut or undercut, which is your directional angles notch face the way you want the tree to fall, roughly equal to 1/3 the diameter of the tree. [5] Additionally, one should leave about 10% for your holding wood or hinge wood to direct the tree on its way to the ground. [6] The remaining part of the tree's diameter is for the back cut, which weakens the tree structurally enough for it to fall without splintering and other unwanted effects.
There are three types of directional felling notches that are most commonly used in the logging and arboriculture industries by chainsaw operators. They are the conventional, the Humbolt, and the open-face. [5] Each has different advantages and disadvantages based on the type of tree, the condition of the tree, the environment surrounding the tree, and the region in which the tree is being felled. [6]
The conventional face cut is perhaps the most commonly used and most well recognized face cut used in the world today. It has an open upwards angle of plus or minus 35 degrees, and is the easiest undercut to learn. Lining up the cuts is fairly easy and quick, and it gives the operator the most directional control of the tree as it falls since the top of the tree will always hit the ground first due to the prolonged time the tree spends on the stump. [5] Some downsides of the conventional face cut are that the two flat faces of the angle can come into contact prior to the tree actually hitting the ground, which can cause stump pull, log fiber pull, or a barber chair effect where the tree splits in half and snaps back in the direction of the operator. [5] All of the above scenarios are extremely dangerous and negatively effect the monetary value quality of the tree in a lumber production scenario.
The Humbolt face cut is a less well-known felling undercut, and is commonly used in the pacific northwest and pacific coast of Canada and Alaska. [5] A Humbolt face cut has a downward 45 degree angle, and allows the directional face cut to be made out of the stump rather than the log. Additionally, the downward open angle of the Humbolt allows the tree to jump off of the stump when it falls, making the tree always land butt first and lay out, which is not only safer for the operator but also smashes up less wood in a timber production scenario. [6] Some downsides of the Humbolt are that it takes significantly more skill to quickly and efficiently line up your cuts, and you cannot cut your stumps as low to the ground due to the downward-facing open angle. [1]
The Open-Face undercut is essentially a mixture of the conventional and the Humbolt, with a wide open angle of 70 to 90 degrees. [6] This face cut is most commonly used in extreme scenarios where the tree in question has a severe back lean. The wide open angle of the cut allows the tree time to become upright, and then close as it falls without the two flat ends of the angle prematurely closing. The open face is fairly easy to master and line up correctly. [5] A couple big disadvantages are that it takes quite a bit more time to cut compared to a conventional or Humbolt, and there is waste left on both the stump and the log due to the angle being so open. It is not a common practice in the logging community and is much more frequently used in commercial tree work.
Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes, including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing. Lumber has many uses beyond home building. Lumber is referred to as timber in the United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand, while in other parts of the world the term timber refers specifically to unprocessed wood fiber, such as cut logs or standing trees that have yet to be cut.
Logging is the process of cutting, processing, and moving trees to a location for transport. It may include skidding, on-site processing, and loading of trees or logs onto trucks or skeleton cars. In forestry, the term logging is sometimes used narrowly to describe the logistics of moving wood from the stump to somewhere outside the forest, usually a sawmill or a lumber yard. In common usage, however, the term may cover a range of forestry or silviculture activities.
Lumberjack is a mostly North American term for workers in the logging industry who perform the initial harvesting and transport of trees. The term usually refers to loggers in the era before 1945 in the United States, when trees were felled using hand tools and dragged by oxen to rivers.
In woodworking, hewing is the process of converting a log from its rounded natural form into lumber (timber) with more or less flat surfaces using primarily an axe. It is an ancient method, and before the advent the sawmills, it was a standard way of squaring up wooden beams for timber framing. Today it is still used occasionally for that purpose by anyone who has logs, needs beams, and cannot or would prefer not to pay for finished lumber. Thus, homesteaders on frugal budgets, for example, may hew their own lumber rather than buy it.
A chainsaw is a portable handheld power saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar.
Woodsman refers to the title of competitors participating in competitive timber sports. Woodsmen participate in various events that replicate real skills used by lumberjacks while cutting down trees and preparing the wood. Woodsman Competitions are a competitive, co-ed intercollegiate sport in the United States, Canada and elsewhere based on various skills traditionally part of forestry educational and technical training programs. In these competitions participants use various tools, such as racing axes, throwing axes, cross-cut saws, and chainsaws. In North America, the sport currently is organized in five regional divisions: northeastern, mid-Atlantic, southern, midwestern, and western.
A skidder is any type of heavy vehicle used in a logging operation for pulling cut trees out of a forest in a process called "skidding", in which the logs are transported from the cutting site to a landing. There they are loaded onto trucks, and sent to the mill. One exception is that in the early days of logging, when distances from the timberline to the mill were shorter, the landing stage was omitted altogether, and the "skidder" would have been used as the main road vehicle, in place of the trucks, railroad, or flume. Modern forms of skidders can pull trees with a cable and winch, just like the old steam donkeys, or with a hydraulic grapple either on boom or on the back of the frame (clambunk skidder).
Cut-to-length logging (CTL) is a mechanized harvesting system in which trees are delimbed and cut to length directly at the stump. CTL is typically a two-man, two-machine operation with a harvester felling, delimbing, and bucking trees and a forwarder transporting the logs from the felling to a landing area close to a road accessible by trucks.
A feller buncher is a type of harvester used in logging. It is a motorized vehicle with an attachment that can rapidly gather and cut a tree before felling it.
A harvester is a type of heavy forestry vehicle employed in cut-to-length logging operations for felling, delimbing and bucking trees. A forest harvester is typically employed together with a forwarder that hauls the logs to a roadside landing.
A log house, or log building, is a structure built with horizontal logs interlocked at the corners by notching. Logs may be round, squared or hewn to other shapes, either handcrafted or milled. The term "log cabin" generally refers to a smaller, more rustic log house, such as a hunting cabin in the woods, that may or may not have electricity or plumbing.
A crosscut saw is any saw designed for cutting wood perpendicular to (across) the wood grain. Crosscut saws may be small or large, with small teeth close together for fine work like woodworking or large for coarse work like log bucking, and can be a hand tool or power tool.
Articles on forestry topics include:.
Chainsaws and chainsaw operations have specific risk control methods.
Safety practices generally recommend that chainsaw users wear protective clothing, also known as personal protective equipment or PPE, while operating chainsaws. There is general agreement worldwide on what clothing is suitable, but local jurisdictions have specific rules and recommendations.
This glossary of woodworking lists a number of specialized terms and concepts used in woodworking, carpentry, and related disciplines.
The following outline is provided as an overview of and guide to forestry:
Felling is the process of cutting down trees, an element of the task of logging. The person cutting the trees is a lumberjack. A feller buncher is a machine capable of felling a single large tree or grouping and felling several small ones simultaneously.
The saw chain, or cutting chain, is a key component of a chainsaw. It consists of steel links held together by rivets, and superficially resembles the bicycle-style roller chain, although it is closer in design to a leaf chain. Its key differences are sharp cutting teeth on the outside of the chain loop, and flat drive links on the inside, to retain the chain on the saw's bar and allow propulsion by the engine or motor.
A chainsaw mill or PortaMill or Logosol sawmill is a type of sawmill incorporating a chainsaw, that is used by one or two operators to mill logs into lumber for use in furniture, construction and other uses. Although often used as a generic term, Alaskan Mill is a registered trademark of Granberg International.
