Some of the earlier Chainsaw posts on this blog tell about setting up the hinge for dropping a tree where you want it. This tree was a large maple which had split and become a hazard to a parking area on a farm. The tree had to be felled in two separate operations because the stem had split, but first I had to take off a heavy side limb to regain some balance. In this first photo you can see the open face and the bore cut, which together establish a hinge.
Cutting through the back strap dropped the limb neatly as planned.
Here you can see the two parts of the stem which had split apart. I made open face cuts on both parts, bored the one on the right and dropped it, then did the same on the bigger portion on the left.
This is the view from another angle. The tree was still fairly solid, but rot was making headway. It is to your advantage to take down a tree before it is rotten. The operation is safer and more predictable.
You can see some fiber pull in the hinge; that's because the hinge is a bit thicker than necessary. I left it on thick side because this stem had an unbalanced crown, and a thicker hinge is less likely to fail. Fiber pull is a problem if you are cutting trees for lumber, because it ruins the lower end of the boards cut out of the butt log. Fiber pull does not matter when you are taking down hazardous trees, or firewood. This picture shows the advance of rot through the stem as a result of the fork splitting off.
Some of the earlier Chainsaw posts on this blog tell about setting up the hinge for dropping a tree where you want it. This tree was a large maple which had split and become a hazard to a parking area on a farm. The tree had to be felled in two separate operations because the stem had split, but first I had to take off a heavy side limb to regain some balance. In this first photo you can see the open face and the bore cut, which together establish a hinge.
Cutting through the back strap dropped the limb neatly as planned.
Here you can see the two parts of the stem which had split apart. I made open face cuts on both parts, bored the one on the right and dropped it, then did the same on the bigger portion on the left.
This is the view from another angle. The tree was still fairly solid, but rot was making headway. It is to your advantage to take down a tree before it is rotten. The operation is safer and more predictable.
You can see some fiber pull in the hinge; that's because the hinge is a bit thicker than necessary. I left it on thick side because this stem had an unbalanced crown, and a thicker hinge is less likely to fail. Fiber pull is a problem if you are cutting trees for lumber, because it ruins the lower end of the boards cut out of the butt log. Fiber pull does not matter when you are taking down hazardous trees, or firewood. This picture shows the advance of rot through the stem as a result of the fork splitting off. 
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