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11
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Begin cutting with the saw frame
against the log.
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Keep the engine at full speed t he entire
time you are cutting.
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Allow thechain tocutforyou. Exertonly
light downward pressure. If you force
the cut, damage to the bar,chain, oren-
gine can r esult.
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Release the throttle trigger as soon as
the cut is completed, allowing the en-
gine to idle. If you run the saw at full
throttle without acutting load, unneces-
sary wear can occur to the chain, bar,
and engine.
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Toavoid losing control whencut iscom-
plete, donot putpressure onsawatend
of cut.
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Stop the engine before setting the saw
down after cutting.
TREE FELLING TECHNIQUES
WARNING:
Check for broken or
dead branches which can fall while cutting
causing serious injury. D onot cut nearbuild-
ings or electrical wires ifyou donot know the
direction of tree fall, norcut atnight since you
will not be ale to see well, nor during bad
weather suchas rain, snow ,or strong winds,
etc.
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Carefully planyoursawing operation inad-
vance.
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Cleartheworkarea. You needacleararea
all around the tree soyou can havesecure
footing.
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Study the nat ur al condi tions t hat can cause
the tr ee t o fall in a particular direction.
Natural conditions that can cause a tree to
fall in a particular direction include:
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The wind direction and speed.
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The lean of the tree. The lean of a tree
might not be apparent due to uneven or
sloping terrain. Usea plumb orlevel tode-
termine the direction of tree lean.
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Weight and branches on one side.
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Surrounding trees and obstacles.
Look f or decay and rot. If the t r unkis rotted, it
can s nap and fall tow ard the operator. Check
for broken or dead branches which can fall on
you while cutting.
Make sure ther e is enoughroom for the treeto
fall. Maintain a d is ta nc e of
2-1/2
tree lengths
from t he nearest person or o ther objects. En-
gine noise can drow n out a warning call.
Removedirt, stones, loose bar k, nails, s taples,
and w ire from the tree w her e c uts ar e to be
made.
Plan a clear retreat path to the rear anddiag-
onal to the line of fall.
Direction of Fall
45
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Plan a clear retreat path
FELLING LARGE TREES
(6 inches in diameter or larger)
The notch method is used to fell large trees.
Anotch is cuton the sideof thetreein thede-
sired direction of fall. After a felling cut is
made on the opposite side o f tree, the tree
will tend to fall into the notch.
NOTE:
If the tree has large buttress roots,
remove them before making the notch. If u s-
ing saw to remove buttress roots, keep saw
chain from contacting ground toprevent dull-
ing of the chain.
NOTCH CUT AND FELLING THE
TREE
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Make notch cut by cutting the top of the
notch first. Cut through
1/3
of the diameter
ofthe tree. Nextcomplete thenotch bycut-
ting the bottom of the notch. See illustra-
tion. Once the notch is cut remove the
notch of wood f rom the tree.
Notch
First cut
Second cut
Final (felling) cut here. 2 inches
above center of notch.
Hinge
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After removing the cutout of wood, make
the felling cut on the opposite side of the
notch. This is done by making a cut about
two inches higher than the center of the
notch. This will leave enough unc ut wood
between the felling cut and the notch to
form a hinge. This hinge will help prevent
the tree from falling in the wrong direction.
Opening
of felling
cut
Closing of
notch
Hinge holds tree on stump and helps
control fall
NOTE:
Before felling cut is complete, use
wedges to open the cut when necessary to
control the di rection offall. To avoidkickback
and chain damage, use wood or plastic
wedges, but never steel or iron wedges.
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Be alert to signs that the tree is ready to fall:
crack ing sounds, widening of the felling cut,
or movement i n the upper branches.
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As tree starts to fall, stop saw,put it down,
and get away quickly on your planned re-
treat path.