Right There

Mike said he wanted the tree to fall right there and pointed into the forest.

He said right there in that opening.

I did not see an opening, I saw baby trees to the left, a fairly tall tree to the right, a much larger tree further down and to the left, but no opening. But Mike saw it.

The tree on the right side edge of the picture is what needed to be harvested, it is a white fir but goes by many names grand/silver/piss to name a few. But this tree is in the way of the smaller trees that need space to grow so needs to be felled.

The tree is big enough on the butt to need the big falling saw to cut from both sides just to make the face cut (the wedge piece that is removed for the tree to fall in the correct direction).

Once the wedge is cut out and removed, the sawyer (Mike) will cut from both sides of this back side of the tree to urge the tree to fall in the designated direction. Adjustments are made to the wedge as the cut is being made, and Mike looks up to see that the angle aligns with the direction he wants the tree to fall.

Wedges will be tapped in as the cuts from this side are made, on this tree I get to be the tapper.

The beginning cuts are a fairly slow process while conditions like wind and loose limbs that could fall, are monitored. Once Mike starts onto the backside of the tree I will be busy with the wedges until the tree begins to lift and tip.

Before the dust settled, I snapped the picture of the perfect landing. Missing the nicely growing fir on the right side of the small opening, well to the right of the larger tree further into the forest on the left and not smashing a single small tree that was growing near the base of this tree.