A Sportsman’s Best Friend: The Chainsaw

A Sportsman’s Best Friend: The Chainsaw

By Joe Herring

Why a chainsaw article in a hunting and fishing magazine? Arguably, aside from a tractor, there is no other piece of equipment that allows us to shape our hunting and even fishing property with the use of a chainsaw. With a good plan and a few hours of chainsaw work you can create extra cover for deer, remove unwanted trees to allow undergrowth, spruce up your farm pond or lake…etc. The key thing though is you have to know what you are doing with a chainsaw and how to fell a tree.

Unfortunately, too many guys I know spend less time learning how to use their chainsaw properly than they do practicing their golf game. That’s fine, if you want to be a good golfer…but if you want to maximize your abilities and confidence with your chainsaw, then you’ll need some training and practice. Anyone can hack away at the base of a tree and make it fall, but it takes serious skills to make it fall where you want it to, every single time. With knowledge, time, and practice anyone can become efficient in using a tree saw for property management.

The Basics
I used to scoff at the idea of safety gear; I’m guessing maybe you still do. But ask any legitimate logger who’s been in the business long enough and you’ll find out that wearing safety chaps, a helmet, and ear & eye protection are non-negotiable. The same should be true for weekend warriors:

“What we see is that most chainsaw accidents happen when a guy just hops out of the truck to cut a fallen tree across the trail, or a hanging branch,” says Jesse Randall, Extension Forestry specialist for Iowa State University. “In other words, it’s the mentality that, ‘oh, this will only take a second,’ and so they don’t bother putting on their safety gear.”

I’m guessing you already own a good pair of leather boots and gloves. You can buy a pair of chaps and a protective helmet at any farm store or online for about the same value as a single truck load of split and stacked wood. Trust me: that first time your saw accidentally brushes into those Kevlar leggings, you’ll be glad you did.

Know your Saw
Spend some time learning the safety features of your saw by reading the owner’s manual and visiting with your dealer. I’m a big believer in buying your saw from a local authorized dealer rather than a box store: they will typically be more helpful by spending time with you, answering questions, and most importantly, keeping the saw well-maintained and running smoothly. Which brand of saw you buy – Stihl, Husqvarna, Jonsared, Dolmar – does not matter compared to the quality of customer service you get.

An important part of basic chainsaw safety is knowing about “the kickback corner” of the saw. This is located out at the tip of your bar, on the top corner (Figure 1). Due to the forces of physics, any contact with a branch or log at this location can result in the saw rotating backwards towards the operator with violent force. To reduce this risk, always be aware of this spot, and keep a firm grip on your saw with your thumb wrapped completely around the top handle.

Basic Cutting
Cutting trees that are already on the ground is not complicated. You need to look out for branches or saplings that may be “loaded” with pressure, and carefully release their energy without getting hit in the face or leg. You should always work with both feet planted firmly on the ground and your weight centered – don’t walk while sawing.

There are few things more frustrating than a pinched saw, but it happens even to the best. Spend time examining the tree carefully to determine which way it will “open up” when it is cut, and then make your cuts slowly and at an angle which gives you more time and surface area to make adjustments.

Make sure you avoid running your chain into the dirt as much as possible, as it dulls the cutters quickly. You may want to invest in a log jack or cant hook if you cut a lot of firewood to get the log propped up off the ground.

Lastly, when bucking large logs, be sure to take advantage of the “dogs” on your saw, which are the sharp metal teeth fixed to the base that allow your saw to bite into the wood and provide more leverage.

Felling: Make a Plan
A logger from Wisconsin who had been in the business for over 25 years told us at a training class that I was in: “Every tree deserves a plan.” That line has stuck with me over the years, and every time I’m in the woods and about to fell a large tree, I use it.

Your felling plan should consist of the following elements: 1) Assess the tree’s natural lean, weight distribution, and wind direction; 2) Identify obstacles and clearance issues; 3) Look for hazards; 4) Plan your escape route; 5) Make a cutting plan.

Almost every tree will have a direction that it naturally wants to fall due to lean, an imbalanced crown, or the wind pushing on it. As the feller, you must judge each of these factors in combination and make an educated guess as to where the tree wants to fall on that particular day.

There is a little bit of wiggle room to work with on either side of the direction the tree wants to go – say, about 25% on each side. Outside of that threshold, you cannot make a tree go where it does not want to unless you use felling wedges or a machine to winch or push the tree over. One of the hallmarks of an intelligent tree cutter is recognizing when a tree simply cannot be dropped in its desired location due to simple physics – in such cases, you must find Plan B, whatever that may be.

Hazards include dead, broken, or hanging limbs that could fall as you cut or after the tree goes down; interlocked branches from neighboring trees that could interfere with the tree’s fall; vines that are wrapped around the tree; etc. Also look for signs of decay or rot in the trunk. These should be mitigated as best as possible.

Your escape route is the path that you’ll use to get away from the tree as it begins to fall. It should be made at a 45-degree angle away from the stump. Don’t stand near the base of a falling tree to watch as it goes down, as sometimes a tree will kick sideways or backwards off the stump. Take all the time you need to clear any obstacles that are in the path of your escape route, and try to get behind other big trees as the tree goes down.

Finally, your cutting plan is simply how you’ll make the exact cuts to fell the tree in the direction you want it to go. Or, if you are advanced enough to use wedges to fell against the tree’s natural lean, the order in which you’ll set up the cuts and insert wedges.

The Open-Face Hinge Cut
This cutting technique is not necessarily the fastest nor the easiest for beginners to use. However, it’s arguably the safest, most dependable, and scientifically-based way of directionally felling with repeatable accuracy. And once you have mastered it, consistently being able to put trees where you want to leads to more efficiency and better safety.

The open-face hinge cut consists of three parts: 1) the open-face notch; 2) the hinge; and 3) the holding wood. NOTE: This technique is not to be confused with “hinge-cutting” or “hinging” trees for deer habitat improvement, in which small trees are partially cut through and left semi-attached. Such a technique should never be used for large trees, as it can result in very dangerous “barber-chair” situations and offers the operator little control.

The first cut, the open-face notch, is a large triangular-shaped chunk of wood removed from the front of the tree in the direction that the tree is to be felled. Think of it like Pac-Man’s mouth. By getting this wood out of the way, the tree will be able to fall cleanly to the ground without obstruction.

To create the notch, make the first cut from the top at a downward angle of about 60 degrees. Cut approximately 1/3 of the way into the tree. Then, make the matching cut from the bottom-up so that it meets perfectly with the top cut. There should be no overlap between the adjoining cuts. The angle of the wedge should be 60-90 degrees.

The second part, the “hinge”, is a narrow strip of wood about an inch wide that runs across the stump, perpendicular to the direction of fall. If the open-face notch is like Pac-Man’s mouth, then the hinge is like the joint that allows it to open and close. It controls the direction that the tree will fall when nothing else is left holding it up, just like a hinge that swings a door closed.
The hinge is established by bore cutting in from the side of the tree and essentially hollowing out the interior. This technique is difficult to learn and somewhat dangerous at first, but with the right technique and some practice, becomes second nature and very fast & easy to do.

To make the bore cut, you must use the bottom half of the outer tip of your bar, being careful to avoid the “kickback corner”. Begin at the point that is level with the notch cut, about 1-2” back – it’s very important to not cut through what is to become your strip of hinge wood.

Once the tip of the bar is completely inside the tree, rotate the saw so that you can plunge straight in, keeping level with the open-face notch, but angling slightly away so that you don’t accidentally cut through the hinge wood. Run the saw at full RPMs and push the bar completely through the tree.

Check the other side of the tree to see where your bar poked out. If you did things correctly and angled away from your notch, it should be about 2-3” away on that side of the tree. Now you need to clean up the cut so that the hinge is of uniform width across the stump. You want the hinge to be approximately 10% of the tree’s diameter at breast height, or 1-2” for most trees that we’re cutting. This is probably the most important part of directional tree felling: establishing a proper-sized, uniform hinge.

Then, you can put the saw back inside the bore cut and run it towards the back of the tree to hollow out all of the interior wood except for the final four inches or so.

This final four inches is the “holding wood”, which simply helps stabilize the tree (along with the hinge wood) until you are ready for the tree to go down. Finish the cut by simply cutting through the remaining holding wood either from the inside of your bore cut outward, or by making a level backcut from the back of the tree in.

With the holding wood gone, the only thing left holding the tree will be the 1-2” wide strip of hinge wood. The tree has no choice but to “fold” as the hinge closes and controls the exact direction of fall. When you sense the tree start to give way, retreat quickly at a 45-degree angle in your chosen escape route.

Putting it all Together
Sound complicated? It is, at first. But if you can commit to learning the technique either through self-teaching or by attending a workshop, you will be glad you did. Like anything, it takes a lot of repetitions, practice, and mistakes to become proficient. Once you do, you’ll enjoy the feeling of knowing that you can drop almost any tree cleanly, safely, and predictably every single time.

Why not just cut a notch and then make a backcut? For smaller trees, or where directional accuracy is not so important, this is probably fine. But the problem is that the tree starts falling before all of the wood has been cut, which can cause the tree to twist or split as it goes down. This is not only dangerous but often results in hung trees. By establishing the hinge first, you have total control. Plus, it gives you more time to retreat to a safe distance.

Keep in mind that the instructions provided here are only the tip of the iceberg. To learn more about this technique or to participate in formal training, Google the Forest Industry Safety Training Alliance (FISTA) or The Game of Logging, or check out www.forestapps.com, a good website with tips and articles.

Maintaining your Saw
Knowing how to use your saw is good, but knowing how to take care of your saw is even better. The fun of cutting wood lasts only as long as your chain is sharp and your saw is running well. Let your saw do the work by following the tips below.

Buy yourself an inexpensive filing kit with the appropriate file guide and learn how to sharpen your own chain, by hand. This not only saves you money, it allows you to sharpen the cutters often, only filing a small amount of metal each time. Ideally, you should be touching up the cutters after every other fuel tank. When your saw is cutting well, you’ll see nice thick, wide strips of woodchips piling up at your feet; when it’s dull, it’s more like fine sawdust.

Machine sharpening is fast and convenient, but can often result in the chain being overheated. This causes it to lose its temper which significantly weakens its strength and durability. Plus, you can’t freshen up the cutters often enough when you need to, out in the woods.

Finally, and these things are important: clean your air filter often – after every other day of use or so. You can use an old toothbrush, an air compressor, or whatever; just keep it clean. Don’t let old gas sit in the machine for too long, keep the bar and clutch clean, and always check to make sure the bar & chain are getting oiled. These small preventative measures will go a long way in making sure your saw runs well when you need it to.

Be Safe out There
Whether you are just cutting up trees across the path, doing your own timber stand improvement work, or harvesting logs for your fireplace or sawmill, knowing how to use a chainsaw safely and confidently is important for any landowner. Use the information from this article as a starting point to build and refine your skills. In doing so, hopefully the only thing that you accidentally “slice” from now on will be your golf drive on the 18th hole.