Safety engineering
In order for tree cutting to be safe, the following rules must be observed:
- Use shoes with thick, ribbed soles. these will provide more reliable traction on the ground and tree trunk, and will also allow you to stand confidently on stairs or any ledges.
- Use a suitable shirt or jacket with long, buttoned sleeves and not too tight-fitting pants that are tucked into boots or tied like a sleeve. Before starting work, you must fasten your clothes with all buttons and make sure that nothing dangles anywhere, otherwise it can be pulled under the chainsaw chain, which will lead to serious injuries.
- When working with a chainsaw, you must wear protective goggles or a transparent visor, thanks to which unsuccessfully flying chips or sawdust will not get into your eyes.
- On the eve and during cutting, do not take narcotic, psychotropic or alcohol-containing drugs, because they slow down the reaction and disrupt the coordination of movements. In addition, many of them reduce the adequacy, therefore, under their influence, it is difficult to correctly assess the condition of the tree and choose the right felling method.
- Do not start work if there is even a slight discomfort, because in this state, reactions slow down, and attention is scattered.
- When cutting branches, it is necessary to stand so as not to be on the cut off area. Before cutting off a branch or a piece of the trunk, it is necessary to calculate the trajectory of the segment several times, and those on the ground take a safe place in advance.
- If it is necessary to move up, then the insurance must be fastened in two places. This will allow you not to remain unprotected even when you move the attachment point of the belay to a higher section.
- Regardless of the difficulty of felling a tree, you cannot do this work alone. In the event of injury or any abnormal development of the situation, Partner will be able to provide first aid or call for help.
- If the wind speed exceeds 2 m / s, then large trees cannot be felled entirely, but if it exceeds 5 m / s, then no work related to lifting to a height can be performed. Even small trees must not be cut at a wind speed of 8 m / s or more.
- Trees must not be cut down during a change in weather or rain. In the first case, there is a high probability of a sudden appearance of gusts of wind, and in the second, the soil and surface of the tree become more slippery.
- You cannot perform any work in the dark, because it is necessary to clearly see both the overall picture and every single detail.
- Before cutting, it is necessary to notify everyone who lives in houses near the place of work so that none of them accidentally ends up in the danger zone.
- Do not use a chainsaw with a blunt chain; one-sided damage to the chain is especially dangerous. In this case, the tool will not cut straight, but deviate towards sharper teeth. with a high degree of probability, this will change the direction of falling of the branch or trunk, as well as their behavior at the time of separation.
How to properly and safely cut a tree with your own hands: methods, useful recommendations, precautions
Residents of private houses, as well as some apartments, sometimes have to cut down old, sick or emergency trees.
In the article on Industrial Sawing, we already talked about how arborists, that is, those who do it professionally, harvest trees.
However, self-removal of a tree at home has many features.
- what tools and equipment are needed for self-cutting, and is it possible to saw trees with a hacksaw for metal;
- how to properly cut down a large tree with your own hands, and what method to choose in different situations;
- what security measures need to be followed;
- how to use the prepared tools and equipment correctly;
- what not to do.
When is the best time to cut trees?
Emergency trees can be cut down at any time of the year.
If it is not emergency, then the best time of the year for its felling is determined based on the purpose of the wood.
If the wood is turned into chips and scattered around the garden, then it makes no difference when to cut it down, however, to get a commercial forest or even firewood, it is better to cut down a tree in winter.
The choice of time for sanitary felling depends on many factors, the main of which are the tree species and the type of disease. Therefore, only an experienced forester will be able to more accurately set the time of felling.
With a wedge
The wedge should only be used to remove healthy, level trees that do not tilt more than 1 degree to either side. In addition, it cannot be used to cut trees with a large crown, because it is difficult for them to calculate the difference in masses from the sides of the fall and the cut.
The exception is trees 1.5–3 m high, the thickness of the trunk of which does not exceed 20 cm. But even in this case, it is advisable to insure the saw with a rope tied to the trunk, which is pulled by an assistant.
Plastic and metal wedges without thread are used only in cases where it is necessary to cut a not too large tree alone.
DANGEROUS TREES! Severe Lean, How to fell a tree with hard lean
After creating a notch, a wedge is inserted into it and slightly hammered with an ax. Then they make a cut or notch from the side of the fall and with the help of a rope create a force sufficient to tilt the trunk at an angle leading to a fall.
How to Cut Down a Tree With a Chainsaw. The Right Way!
It is more efficient to use a plastic / metal wedge and a felling blade together. The wedge is used as a safety element, and the blade is inserted after creating a notch from the side of the fall and using it as a lever, tilt the barrel in the desired direction.
If there is an opportunity to cut a tree in any other way, it is better to use it, because working with any type of wedges or a felling blade requires a lot of experience and compliance with many conditions.
Manual cutting methods
When cutting down trees on their own, the same methods are used that are used by arborists, that is:
- roll in the direction of inclination;
- guy-house with a guy;
- cutting in parts;
- sawing down in parts with hanging.
Therefore, we will only talk about those differences that arise when you remove trees yourself.
Hacksaw for metal
The blade of a hacksaw for metal is equipped with very fine teeth without divorce, which is well suited for cutting not too hard metals.
However, this type of blade is not suitable for wood. they will cut ten times slower than a hacksaw on wood, and due to the lack of divorce, the blade will often jam.
Even after installing a special blade for wood, this type of hacksaw is not suitable for cutting wood due to the fact that a very thick handle is located above the thin blade. Therefore, even with a blade for wood, a hacksaw can only be used for cutting branches, the thickness of which does not exceed ¾ of the distance from the blade to the handle.
angle grinder
Although the angle grinder is used for cutting planks and small pieces of wood, it should never be used for cutting trees.
When you try to cut a tree, the angle grinder will clamp almost immediately, because you will have to work in uncomfortable conditions, which can lead to a very serious injury.
Indeed, even for cutting boards or bars, this tool is securely fastened in a special clamp, thanks to which the angle grinder is always stationary, and cutting occurs due to the movement of the boards or bars.
Thin materials such as plywood, chipboard or OSB can be cut by hand with an angle grinder, but the blade is likely to jam, causing the angle grinder to rip out of hand.
What can not be sawed?
For cutting trees, you cannot use:
- angle grinder (angle grinder, angle grinder);
- hand circular saw;
- hacksaw for metal.
What, how and why
The chip guide is the hinge between the main cut and the cut. It is she who allows you to direct the tree with high accuracy in the right direction.
Remember, the chip guide is never finished to the end! Otherwise, the direction of the fall of the tree will become unpredictable. Always leave 10 to 5 cm (or about 10% of the thickness), after which the trunk is pushed in the desired direction.
If the saw bar is shorter than the trunk diameter, the felling cut can be made in several passes.
You can push and steer the trunk using a pole, a pre-installed winch or cables longer than the height of the tree. And also with the help of a special lever, wedges or even a jack.
Basic tree felling technique
The basic technique of felling trees is simple and consists in making an angular or straight cut with a depth of 1/4 or 1/5 of the trunk diameter on the side where the tree will be fell, after which the main cut is made from the opposite side.
If the tree is erect, and the thickness of the trunk at the base is no more than 15-20 cm, then there are no special wisdom here. But if the tree stands at a slight slope, or the trunk diameter exceeds 20 cm, the process must be treated as responsibly and competently as possible. Otherwise, the tree may fall in an unpredictable direction, even if the cut is made correctly.
How to cut a sloped tree
An important point! If the slope of the tree does NOT exceed 5-7 ° from the vertical, i.e., for example, the projection of the top point of a 10-meter tree is at a distance of no more than one meter from the center of the future stump, then such a tree can be conventionally considered erect. It is sawn according to the above scheme, but if the roll needs to be made in the opposite direction from the slope, two things should be taken into account:
How to Fell a Tree with a Chainsaw
- Remember that after finishing the main cut, you will definitely have to first align the tree in the desired direction, while also having to overcome the resistance of the guide chips. It is displayed, as described above, using cables and other means. Also, the guide chips can help with this, if one of its edges is made wider.
- The force on the ropes at some point may be too high, therefore it is necessary to use a chain hoist or a winch to prevent backward movement.
If the slope of the tree exceeds 5-7 °, then it is better not to try to dump it in a direction other than its slope, but to resort to other methods (sawing in parts or simply spend time clearing this direction, if possible).
Dacha.news
Usually the question is not only how to cut the tree down, but also how exactly to put it in the right direction so that it does not cause any damage when it falls. We will also tell you about in what cases it is possible to do this, and when it is worth looking for other solutions.
A few words about safety
When felling rotten or rotten trees, the chip guide should be left thicker than usual. Otherwise, it may burst at the most unexpected moment, and the tree will fall along an unpredictable trajectory.
The safe area and the retreat area for the operator are on the sides of the direction of the roll, and not in the opposite direction. In case of an error in calculating the thickness of the chips during the fall, the trunk can suddenly go back.