Bore cutting (also known as plunge cutting) is one of the best and safest practices in tree felling, and it is the method that we here at the Timberland Investor promote as being the best for back cuts. That said, bore cutting often gets a bad rap (from the misinformed) because it requires using the…
If you are preparing for a timber sale or harvest, marking timber can be one of the most important steps of the process. It is marking timber that determines what is cut and what is retained. It is the determinant of the silviculture of the harvest and thus the determinant of the financial return of…
If you are considering conducting your own timber harvest or perhaps assessing the feasibility of becoming energy independent and producing your own firewood, productivity is a key factor to consider. How many cords of wood can a single man fell in a day with a chainsaw? The question can vary considerably based on the conditions…
Hung up trees: They are undoubtedly the most frustrating part of tree felling. Nothing can put more of a damper on your time in the woods than having to push, yank and tug on a half-fallen tree stubbornly wedged in the limbs of another. But don’t get too bent out of shape. There are several…
Tree felling is extremely dangerous work that can easily turn deadly with even small errors. Within the dangerous art of tree felling, there is one task with a danger that shines above the rest: felling a dead or rotten tree. Trees are non-uniform, and their behavior when falling can be unpredictable. It is the task…
Eastern Cottonwood, Populus deltoides, is an iconic tree throughout much of the central United States. It is both one of the largest of the eastern hardwoods and also the fastest growing commercial species in North America. Typically, those are both incredibly desirable traits of a species from a timber investment perspective, but is it a…
Chainsaw chaps? Check. Chainsaw boots? Check. Chainsaw… gloves? Yes, chainsaw gloves. Perhaps the newest addition to the chainsaw protective ensemble, chainsaw gloves purport to offer a protection to your hands as you cut with your saw, and some claim they are just as important for your OSHA-Inspired wardrobe than any other piece of safety gear….
It happened to you, huh? At first, it felt like your clutch cover was stuck, so you pried and pulled. And then… *SNAP.* By the time you realized what had happened, it was too late. You took your chainsaw clutch cover off with the chain brake engaged, and now you can’t get it back on….
Keeping the chainsaw cutting depth consistent is an essential, but often-overlooked aspect of chainsaw maintenance. If you don’t file down the rakers on your chainsaw occasionally, the cutting depth of the teeth will diminish overtime and severely hamper your saws ability to cut. In fact, it may inhibit its ability entirely. When you go to…
As a chainsaw cuts, it releases an incredibly high amount of energy, and a large amount of that energy is converted into heat. To help alleviate some of that heat build-up, chainsaws have built-in systems to dispense oil to the bar and chain while it cuts, greatly reducing friction and thus the conversion of energy…