Here is a big sweetgum tree at the Carmi Rifle Club that went toes up on us last year, and we have been waiting for grass cutting to be over and done with before we cut it. Trees have to be cleaned up immediately if grass needs to be cut, so we let it stand through Summer.
Mike Rowe Photo
Mowing is all over with for the year now, and the weather has been perfect for working outdoors, plus one of the club members volunteered a tractor to push wood around. This weekend was the Free Range Days that the Carmi Rifle Club does every Fall, so we had an audience, too! Free Range Days gives hunters a great opportunity to use the range for sighting their firearms, and it introduces people to the range, which is a great place to shoot with a bunch of good people.
Mike Rowe Photo
This tree had a significant branch making back weight, so it was not without risk, given the shelter that resides between the cargo containers. We cut a plug out of the trunk of the tree to verify that the wood was solid and strong before we started in earnest.
There was not enough room on the west side of the tree to bore cut with the saws, and the tree was a bit too wide at the stump for the 28 inch bar on 572 XP. I made diameter reduction cuts on the west and east sides so I could reach through, and I still had enough length on the open face for a proper hinge, which needed to be 20 inches long or a bit more. It came out at 21. The tree diameter at breast height was 24 inches, so a hinge thickness of 2 inches or slightly more was needed.
DMW Video
How far back was this tree balanced? We had 30 inches behind the hinge to the back of the stump, so the tree segment size is 30 inches. The tree stood a bit over 70 feet tall, but those upper branches were dead dry, so I rounded down to an even 70 feet. There are 840 inches in 70 feet, divided by 30 equals 28 segments. That means for every inch you raise the bottom segment, the top of the tree moves 28 inches. We started out with several single wedges, then double wedges, and the final wedging as we approached the balance point was two 1 1/2" wedges, plus a third wedge of 1 1/4" inch, minus the 3/8" saw kerf, or almost 4 inches total. That is 112 inches give or take, or 9 feet that we moved the top of the tree before it went over. The absolute limit for a 50 segment tree with good wood is around 10 feet of back lean, and a 30 segment tree is more than that, around 12 to 14 feet if you have enough wedges and endurance to swing a maul. Nine feet was enough for me. Store these lessons in wedging away for future use. Always measure and run your numbers for back leaners before you start cutting.
Grade your stumps and be critical. The hinge thickness was 2 1/4", so we had plenty of strength for wedging over. The cuts from opposite sides did not quite meet, but bypassed so the tree went over OK. Susan did not shoot video, but kept watch to be sure all the spectators stayed out of the danger zone. Many thanks to Dawn and Mike for the photos and video. More chainsaw is planned for Monday, so, Back To The Old Grind!
PS: The dry top wood went into the annual bonfire and wienie roast Saturday evening.
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