NEVER Do This When Cutting Down A Tree!!

My neighbor used a much better method. He used his shed, which he built last year, to keep the tree he was cutting down from smashing on the ground. It worked great.

Stump shot (back cut being higher than the face cut) is critically important to keep the butt of the log from kicking back over the stump if the tree hits something during the fall. Secondly, it allows the wood fibers in the hinge to more freely flex, guiding the tree farther through its fall as the tree goes over instead of being broken sooner. Then again, I'm just a guy who certifies the highest level of fallers for the largest land management agency (based on number of employees) in the United States, so I probably don't know what I'm talking about. I agree that cutting off the holding wood is the biggest mistake that most people make in falling fails. Stump shot is not a mistake. Heck, OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) actually requires it in their rule book.

I work as a utility arborist. The reason for a 1 inch step up on the back cut is to prevent the stem from pushing off the stump the opposite direction. Also, you should always have at least 1/3rd of the diameter of the tree as holding wood. This is why we have ropes, wedges, and turfers. When there are powerlines, you don't get to just simply go with a lean. I kind of wonder if your brother has ever needed to fast cut a top, to have it fall straight down without tipping.

A lesson I learned the hard way this week is that even if you cut your wedge properly, you still need to take into account other trees and sometimes the branches can make things... problematic...

Buckin billy just spit his morning coffee out watching this

good to see that tip again. My dad showed and told me 60 years ago that was not a good way to cut down trees. But many people think I do not know what I am talking about when I say it. Glad you did a video on it.

I am just amazed on how well you’re folks from Sweden speak perfect English

You can do the second cut higher but not that high. Generally you want to do it a little higher so it doesn’t kick back when it falls. The danger is when you cut too deep and you don’t have a lot holding the tree from rotating or falling in another direction.

I didn't look this up. I would have never thought to look this up, yet here I am.

The hinge wood was a little thin and the back cut was a little high. When falling trees that is among other trees you want about a couple of inches so that when the tree starts falling and falls into other trees the tree has something to push against to prevent the butt of the tree from shooting backwards. This helps to keep things a little safer.

It is very necessary to make your back cut at least 2" above your notch cut, I cut timber professionally for 3 years and later taught timber felling classes for another 3 years, the reason for making the back cut higher than the face cut is to keep the tree from skidding backwards off the stump as it falls, I had an uncle that made the mistake of cutting his back cut at the same level as the face notch cut and the tree slid off the stump catching him in the crotch and using the stump as a fulcrum it threw him 60' through the air where he landed in a pile of basalt boulders, it caved the side of his head in and by only a miracle, he lived through it, do not teach people to make there back cut the same level as there face cut, that is what is very dangerous! When you cut a tree down be sure to leave about 1/10th the diameter of the trunk for holding wood and if the tree won't go over, use a wedge to help it but don't cut your holding wood all off ever, that also is very dangerous.

I learned much by watching "idiots with chainsaws" on YouTube.

Tree felling vids are the best! I'm an amateur, that drops trees at my own place. I never had any training or anything, just YouTube for all my knowledge. I've probably watched 200 hours of arborist vids, dropped 50-100 trees and every tree still gets my blood pumping. I watch all your vids. You put out great stuff, thank you for sharing.

I'd love to say this was someone else, but I gotta own this. Years back I was heading a team tasked with recovering a plane fuselage from a mountainside. To get the chopper line in we needed to fell half a dozen trees. Our pro took them out but we lost light so we came back the next day - minus the pro. When an additional tree (225' x 36" dia) needed to come down I figured I could handle it (after all I watched him do 6 the day before!) 2 cuts... one low and one on the opposite side 6" above it. Stopped to refuel chainsaw and BANG... this three to five ton behemoth snapped and the base shot past the point where I was standing 30 seconds earlier. It continued 15-20 feet where it impacted a 10" dia tree and UPROOTED IT. I learned later this was called a 'barber chair' cut and every bit as dangerous as you describe. Fortunately, God loves animals and idiots.

When felling I use the correct notch for the type of wood the tree is. Here in the NE U.S. some hardwoods are straight grain and can split the tree where others are more of fiber grain and hold together like some Elm trees.

I'm a saw instructor for the US Forest Service, and I wholeheartedly agree with your main point, which is the need for CONTROL of a falling tree, and that proper cutting technique is the way that you accomplish that. This was a very nice demonstration of how to do it wrong. If this were a full sized tree, I'd be terrified to tap that wedge--no way of knowing where the bottom of that tree is going to go!

I was wondering what ever happened to bam margera

man it is so satisfying to see someone who cuts their trees low, drives me nuts when people cut shit at waist height

That way prevents kick backs it works well for me

This is the only tree cutting video tutorial that I have ever watched, and I watch many, that teaches to not make your back cut at least 2” above your under cut. This doesn’t make sense. What they should have focused on is, don’t cut too far. Leave a sufficient hinge. I have been cutting 80’-100’ pines and with a tree that tall, a 2” hinge will allow the tree to fall in the direction of the notch.