Girdling is generally easier and much safer than falling trees when you are doing improvement work in your woods, and walking out at the end of the day is much easier if you don't have to maneuver over jack-strawed stems. You do have to think about the occasional hollow tree you run into. Everyone who does Timber Stand Improvement has a story about the tree that collapsed on them as they were cutting, and this stump demonstrates how easily an accident can happen. This ash stump was basically a hollow stem, and when it was girdled, there was only a micro-thin shell left holding the tree steady. I don't know if it fell while the cutter was there, or if it fell later, but keep this in mind if you are involved with tree girdling for thinning or other TSI work. If a tree like this begins to fail while you are cutting, you can probably move away safely in the proper direction, but if it stands, you may turn you back on it to work on another tree and be blind sided when it comes crashing down on you.
Evidently, when I walked up on this stump I interrupted some squirrel's meal, judging by the hickory nut meat sitting there.
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