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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">On 11/15/2019 8:07 PM, Dean Vinson
wrote:<br>
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<p class="MsoNormal">I had some free time this afternoon so I
went out to cut down another big osage orange tree, this one
out in an old pasture. Being an osage orange it had two big
trunks, each maybe 12-16 inches in diameter and both of them
leaning away from vertical, and lots of tangled branches that
sprawled out every which way. Some of those sprawling
branches had gotten to the point of encroaching on the pasture
fence, so I loaded up the wagon with the chainsaw, chainsaw
gas, bar oil, and log chain, fired up the Farmall Super M, and
headed out to work.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Took most of an hour to get the first trunk
successfully cut down and sawed up into manageable sized
pieces. Not really that big of a tree but man do those
things have a lot of sprangly little interlocking branches
that you’re constantly fighting and having to cut up into
smaller pieces just so you can move them even though they
don’t weigh very much. When I was finished with that first
trunk, I noticed the sun was close to setting and I thought “I
should call it a day and go get cleaned up right now.”<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">But heck, I’m already out there, already
all suited up in PPE, so I decided to go for the second
trunk. Notched it about waist high on the side toward which
it was leaning, cut from the other side, and it fell most of
the way over but came to rest on its branches and didn’t break
cleanly away from the stump. [Would have been smarter to
bore-cut most of it, now that I think about it.] I moved out
away from the stump and started sawing off the outer branches
where I could reach them, but the chainsaw ran out of gas.
After filling it back up I went to tighten the chain tension,
and while fooling around with that managed to burn the knuckle
of one finger on the chainsaw muffler. Might have uttered a
minor curse word.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I went back to continue working my way
around the fallen tree, cutting where I could, but there were
a lot of heavy branches out of my reach extending high up in
the air and I worried the tree would roll over toward me if I
kept cutting away what I could reach while the trunk was still
hanging precariously off the stump. So I decided to cut a
short section out of the leaned-over trunk right next to the
stump so it could fall free, and I could then work on getting
everything safely down to ground level from that end. Since
one end of the trunk was resting on the stump and the other
end was resting on its branches I figured the heavy end near
the stump would want to drop down, meaning the underside of
the tree would be in tension, so I cut a notch on the upper
side and then began sawing up from the underside. Turned out
I’d guessed wrong and the underside was in compression, and
the saw kerf closed and bound up the chainsaw bar tight as
could be. Definitely brought out some curse words.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">I separated the chainsaw from the bar
(learned that lesson once before), leaving the bar and chain
hanging there in the partially cut tree, and went to get the
Super M and the log chain. I hooked the chain to the
farthest-out end of a decent-sized branch way out far away
from the stump, intending to pull the whole thing around so
it’d drop away from the stump and release my bound-up saw bar,
but just then the Super M sputtered and died, out of gas. I
hate to overdo the curse words, but temptation was strong.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">By then it was starting to get dark and my
gas cans were a long walk away, but I had about half a gallon
of chainsaw gas left. I poured that in the tank, started the
tractor back up, and pulled the top of the tree around. Sure
enough, the trunk dropped cleanly off the stump, so I shut the
tractor off, celebrated my hard-fought victory, and went back
over to reclaim my chainsaw bar and do some final fast cutting
just to show that tree who was boss… only to find the bar
driven straight down into the ground like a tent stake under
the weight of the trunk. Guess it’s time to call it a day
and go get cleaned up.<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Dean Vinson<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Saint Paris, Ohio<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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<br>
The one thing in your post that gave me pause Dean, was that you
mentioned you notched the tree at waist height. Others with more
knowledge may offer better advice, but I do not like notching at
waist height. You are not in a strong position doing that, and any
kickback may not be able to be handled, and could bypass your PPE.
Hit the wrong spot and you could have lost enough blood not to make
it by the time someone found you. I prefer to cut lower so my PPE
chaps are in the direct route of the saw should a kick back occur,
generally on my knees. You never know what your going to find hidden
in those old farm trees. My saw once hit an old eye bolt that was
buried in a 100 year old Maple. Saw kicked like a gov't mule, but
the anti-kickback save me from any harm, chain was another matter.<br>
<br>
Take Care,<br>
Mike M<br>
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