19 – English
OPERATION
Periodicallyglanceatthetopofthetreeduring
thebackcuttoassurethetreeisgoingtofallin
thedesireddirection.
Ifthetreestartstofallinthewrongdirection,
orifthesawgetscaughtorhungupduringthe
fall,leavethesawandsaveyourself!
Felling atree - When bucking andfelling op-
erations arebeing performed by two or more
persons,atthesametime,thefellingoperation
shouldbeseparatedfromthebuckingoperation
byadistanceofatleasttwicetheheightofthe
treebeingfelled.Treesshouldnotbefelledina
mannerthatwouldendangeranyperson,strike
anyutilitylineorcauseanypropertydamage.If
thetreedoesmakecontactwithanyutilityline,the
utilitycompanyshouldbenotifiedimmediately.
Beforeanycutsarestarted,pickyourescape
route(orroutesincasetheintendedrouteis
blocked);cleartheimmediateareaaroundthe
treeandmakesuretherearenoobstructionsin
yourplannedpathofretreat.Clearpathsofsafe
retreatshouldextendbackanddiagonally(45°)
totherearoftheplannedlineoffall.Whenthe
treebeginstofall,youshouldretreatawayfrom
thedirectionoffallalongaretreatpathandat
least20feetawayfromthetrunkincaseitkicks
backoverthestump.See Figure 12.
Beforefellingisstarted,considertheforceand
directionofthewind,theleanandbalanceof
thetree,andthelocationoflargelimbs.These
thingsinfluencethedirectioninwhichthetree
willfall.Donottrytofellatreealongalinedif-
ferent from its natural line of fall.
The chainsaw operator should keep on the
uphillsideoftheterrainasthetreeislikelyto
rollorslidedownhillafteritisfelled.
Removedirt,stones,loosebark,nails,staples,
andwirefromthetreewherefellingcutsareto
bemade.
Notched Undercut.Cutanotchabout1/3the
diameterofthetree,perpendiculartothedirec-
tionoffall.Makethecutsofthenotchsothey
intersectatarightangletothelineoffall.This
notchshouldbecleanedouttoleaveastraight
line.Tokeeptheweightofthewoodoffthesaw,
HINGE
2 in. OR 1/10 DIA
NOTCH -
APPROX. 1/3
DIAMETER OF
TRUNK
BACK CUT
2 in.
NOTCH
BACK CUT
HINGE
WEDGE
alwaysmakethelowercutofthenotchbefore
theuppercut.See Figure 13.
Felling Backcut.Thebackcutisalwaysmade
levelandhorizontal,andataminimumof2in.
abovethehorizontalcutofthenotch.See Fig-
ures 13 - 14.
Nevercutthroughtothenotch.Alwaysleavea
bandofwoodbetweenthenotchandbackcut
(approximately2in.or1/10thediameterofthe
tree).Thisiscalled“hinge”or“hingewood.”It
controlsthefallofthetreeandpreventsslip-
FIG. 13
FIG. 14
FIG. 15