how do you fell a tree

[Allyn T]

What Eric said.... but no one else is talking about chaps and a helmet... if your wear these you’d be much safer.... and with the two story’s of pat and Eric cutting themselves... they most likely wouldn’t have gotten to flesh if they had had chaps on.

Chainsaw chaps are the best, the stop the blade before it gets to your leg. Also they are great for walking through brambles : )

[bassman]

Proceed with extreme caution. Their is a reason they are called widow makers.

[Jim Davis]

Lots of good advice above.

I would add that you should never have any part of your carcass in line with a kickback. Don't cut with the blade centered in front of you--have it off to the right if you are right handed. (Try not to be left-handed lol.)

You need to read every cut before you start it. Cuts when the tree is on the ground are just as likely to bind the saw as standing trees.

Make your escape route at 90 degrees to the line of fall!

[scp]

We need to note that the originating poster is a 16 year old boy. Stick to a handsaw, please.

[stuckinthemud]

Top marks for thinking big! My boy is 20 and only now am I starting to train him on safe chainsaw use with a small saw and 14inch bar (which I keep very sharp) and only with him working under close supervision. 

[Deerhunter21]

ok guys! thanks! lots to think about and dont worry, my plan wasn't to start with the chainsaw, i just wanted to get some basic information about felling trees. I know how dangerous chainsaws can be. yesterday i went to home depot and picked up an axe, a big hacksaw, and a sharpening stone for the axe. its gonna be a while before i trust myself to handle a chainsaw regularly. maybe a couple years. but i know one time chopping wood with a saw isn't enough experience to cut a tree down.

definitely still want to learn how to use one, but ill see if anyone i know regularly uses a chainsaw and ill see if they'll teach me more about it and how to use it. until then, ill be using my axe and hacksaw.

[bjrogg]

Not trying to scare you Russell. Just wanting you to be careful with your saw and axe.

Just because you use hand tools doesn’t make it trouble free. Even beavers get into trouble.lol

Bjrogg

[Deerhunter21]

We need to note that the originating poster is a 16 year old boy. Stick to a handsaw, please.

yes, im 16, but i think a couple of you are thinking im asking only about a chainsaw. I want to know how to be safe when felling a tree, whether with a chainsaw, hacksaw, axe, whatever... and how to do it proficiently without damaging the wood and getting the best stave out of the wood. I get chainsaws are dangerous, I really do, but there are a bunch of other dangers feel i should know about and that i know want to avoid. A chainsaw is dangerous, and i can choose to not use it, but falling trees can be just as dangerous. so before we talk about the tools, can we talk a bit more about the general process?   

[Deerhunter21]

Not trying to scare you Russell. Just wanting you to be careful with your saw and axe.

Just because you use hand tools doesn’t make it trouble free. Even beavers get into trouble.lol

Bjrogg

dont worry, im not scared. tools are dangerous when you dont know how to use them, so i just gotta learn how to use them, and how to be careful with them.

so what im getting for the general stuff is to look at where the tree, where its leaning, what might be caught up in it, and to watch the wind. right? then I cut a chunk out on the side i think its gonna fall to help it fall that way (with my axe or cut the wedge out with my hacksaw), then on the other side, cut straight across into the triangle i just cut out, get a wedge into the horizontal line, and hammer it in until it falls, and then once it does, run the heck out of there  right?

i gotta read back and look at everything said again lol

[scp]

Start with saplings. Even just 6 inch diameter tree can hurt you. To learn how to fell a tree safely, you need to learn to read trees, winds, and surroundings. A crosscut saw is the best tool to get.

For any tree bigger than that, I almost always use a come-along winch to pull its top to the direction I want and use a reciprocating saw. If you get a widow-maker, use the come-along to pull the bottom to bring it down safely.

[Deerhunter21]

Whoo! just re read everything and im not even going to try and respond to everything but thankyou guys! this is really good information!

Hawkdancer, Ill definitely save a couple staves for you!!! but with mailing some billets might work better...

thank you Eric! thats actually really good information you shared!

Same with you BJ! now i got my pre chop checklist! 

Im gonna print and write down all of this stuff and add it to the binder i got from Pat! better yet ill start another one!!!

[stuckinthemud]

Cut the birdsmouth to near the centre then cut from the back toward the centre. The cuts must NOT meet,  there is a section uncut called the hinge. Take  a big fat wedge and sledge hammer, hammer the wedge into the back cut and this tips the tree into the birdsmouth, once the tree starts to pivot into the fall step back a  few paces and be ready to run if you need to. Its much safer to jump holding a hammer than a running chainsaw.

[Allyn T]

We need to note that the originating poster is a 16 year old boy. Stick to a handsaw, please.

He is old enough to drive a car which is a lot more dangerous than a chainsaw

[Fox]

Russell, we are the same age and I have been taught to fell trees with a chainsaw, and you  certainly  could learn from someone.... just wear chaps and a helmet so the kickback won't cut your head in half if you make a mistake .  but when I'm cutting staves I like using a crosscut saw and axe anyway, its much more fun, I feel like an old classic logger or something, or someone long ago building a log cabin  .

but anyway here is the traditional way to fell a tree with a axe and saw or a chainsaw...
Untitled by Livvydog, on Flickr\
 the hinge helps guide the tree down, and you cut the big wedge out on the side the tree is leaning normally, it will fall in the direction you cut the large wedge out of. The hinge is the piece of wood that you don't cut in between the wedge and the back cut that you make with a saw..

[Pat B]

The notch faces the direction you want the tree to fall. First stand back so you can see the whole tree and where the center of gravity is to see which it favors to fall.