Tree Felling - Dec 1

Tree felling requires assessing the tree's lean, surrounding hazards such as homes, & using proper cutting techniques to ensure controlled felling. We create a notch, a back cut, & use wedges to guide the tree's fall.

First we plan & prepare. We do this initially during our walk through with you & this helps us decide what's needed on the job to ensure a safe fell. Some of the things we look for are assessing if there's room to fell the whole tree without it hitting a structure or power lines, or if we need to cut tops off of it in a climb first if there's less room for a fell. We also see if there's room for us to get a vehicle close by to help pull the rope in the fell, & if we can get a lift in. We also note the trees height & lean.

Once we get there on the first day of the job, we clear the area & remove any obstacles or debris. We then choose the appropriate equipment such as which kind of chainsaw to use.

The next step is making the notch on the side of the tree where we want it to fall, typically 70 degrees or more. The depth of the notch should be about one-third to one-quarter of the tree's diameter. 

The next step is making the back cut, which is made on the opposite side of the tree from the notch, approximately 2in above the horizontal face cut. In some situations we'll use felling wedges. Which are inserted into the back cut to help direct the tree's fall. 

The next step is the tree fall & retreat. We'll make the felling cut while carefully monitoring the tree's movement. Once the tree starts to fall, we move away from the area where the tree will fall & use rope tied from the tree to a structure lined up in the fall area to guide it.

The last step in a tree fell is limbing & bucking. In this, we remove the branches from the fallen tree, starting from the base & working upwards. We then cut the trunk into manageable sections, which is called bucking.