When A Tree Falls In The Forest

Not every tree falls exactly as planned.

Although great care is taken in getting the direction correct many factors can cause issues. Slope, trees that have bends, curves or one side with many more limbs than others, wind direction, all need to be taken into account before a large tree is cut.

Even when the face cut (the wedge that is taken out of the side that the tree is supposed to lean toward before falling) is made, the chips thrown out as the chainsaw is cutting are watched to adjust for possible root rot issues. If the wood chips turn a dirty color rather than the stark white of grand/silver fir or the bright orange hued of the Douglas fir, rot has weakened the core of the tree.

Trees that have disease are far more dangerous to fall and are more erratic in behavior than a tree that is healthy and growing consistently every year.

This is a good example of what could happen when dealing with the variables. The tall tree that was up the hill fell as it was being cut and rolled toward a tree that was to remain growing and broke him off about ten feet in the air while splintering the butt to the ground and the next thirty feet of valuable timber.

The mess that one tree made changed what the plan was for not only one day but for the whole next day to clean up what resulted.

My firewood reclamation project gained about two cord of bulk wood with this one mishap and this area that had been planned for a couple of trees planted for a future stand, but that is what we will work on when we get our seedlings in January or February.