chicot60
09-05-2012, 07:40 PM
http://i.imgur.com/T2gM7.jpg
To further educate, that's called a Conventional cut. The other two styles are the Humboldt Cut and the Open Face Cut. The three of them look like this.
http://www.coloradofirecamp.com/s-212-chainsaws/images/undercuts.jpg
The history of the Conventional and Humboldt Cuts has to do with using saws and axes.
The Conventional Cut came from using axes, because it's really hard to swing UP into a cut.
While big two-man felling saws (like shown in the OP's picture) could do it, the lumberjacks of the day were so used to doing one cut, they just stuck with it.
It wasn't until the advent of the powersaw that the Humboldt Cut (named after Humboldt County in California, home of a LOT of logging) came into being.
Because the notch came out of the stump and not the log, it saved useable wood.
Also, the tree would now lean better against the stump as it fell, causing fewer "kickouts," which is where the tree slides off the stump as it falls, and shoots backwards (very very dangerous if you're standing back there).
Open Face Cuts are the best and worst of both cuts. Because there is material removed from the stump, the possibility of kickout is reduced. But material is also removed from the log, so it's wasteful.
It really depends on who you talk to as to what method is the "best," and old-school loggers will happily argue for hours on which cut is the best. I go with what I was taught by my feller instructor, that a Humboldt Cut is good for larger trees, and an Open Face Cut is good for smaller trees.
To further educate, that's called a Conventional cut. The other two styles are the Humboldt Cut and the Open Face Cut. The three of them look like this.
http://www.coloradofirecamp.com/s-212-chainsaws/images/undercuts.jpg
The history of the Conventional and Humboldt Cuts has to do with using saws and axes.
The Conventional Cut came from using axes, because it's really hard to swing UP into a cut.
While big two-man felling saws (like shown in the OP's picture) could do it, the lumberjacks of the day were so used to doing one cut, they just stuck with it.
It wasn't until the advent of the powersaw that the Humboldt Cut (named after Humboldt County in California, home of a LOT of logging) came into being.
Because the notch came out of the stump and not the log, it saved useable wood.
Also, the tree would now lean better against the stump as it fell, causing fewer "kickouts," which is where the tree slides off the stump as it falls, and shoots backwards (very very dangerous if you're standing back there).
Open Face Cuts are the best and worst of both cuts. Because there is material removed from the stump, the possibility of kickout is reduced. But material is also removed from the log, so it's wasteful.
It really depends on who you talk to as to what method is the "best," and old-school loggers will happily argue for hours on which cut is the best. I go with what I was taught by my feller instructor, that a Humboldt Cut is good for larger trees, and an Open Face Cut is good for smaller trees.