Electric ride-on mower

[facthunter]

The only way  to get rid of weeds is to grow something else better for the conditions to out compete it.  There's always plenty of weed seed around waiting to germinate if you cultivate or use a weed killer and give them the opportunity..  Australia all over has a BIG weed problem. Nev

[red750]

[Yenn]

I haven't tried to cut down a big tree with my electric chainsaw. Just use the old one when necessary. What did intrigue me was the instructions for the electric Stihl. They say to cut the notch which controls the direction of fall, just the same as for a big saw. Then they say to cut one side of the rearward cut, then the other, but leave a bit at the very back, which prevents the tree falling. Continue through behind the front knotch until you leave only the hinge and then cut that rearward bit you left before. I have never tried it but it should work, except with some of our eucalypts, which are evenly balanced and vertical and could well drop onto the saw if the wind blows against the fall.

[Marty_d]

Saw an interesting technique on a video, they did the front notch and then a wedge at the back but vertical (ie horizontal cuts at top and bottom, then side ones angling in so a piece of tree shaped like a wedge of cake comes out).  Then they put a hydraulic jack in that cavity and one bloke keeps pumping the jack while the guy with the saw finishes the back cuts either side of the jack.   Thought that was intelligent, with the jack in there the tree can't come backwards, and the lifting force of the jack really encourages it to fall towards the front notch.

 

(Of course, you really have to trust old mate with the saw, or have a really long jack handle!)

 

Edited November 19, 2021 by Marty_d

[onetrack]

Wedges are a pretty important item to have on hand when you're falling trees that are decidedly vertical. Also, wind speed and gusts are very important factors. I'd never cut down a big tree on a gusty day.

[facthunter]

You never really know where a "balanced" tree will go. I' ve got two large trees that were beautiful a few years ago. A Black gum and a Swamp gum that I planted in the early 70's. With the rain, they are both unstable and not even safe to walk under. Years of drought and now the rain has done them in. Nev

[willedoo]

1 hour ago, onetrack said:

Wedges are a pretty important item to have on hand when you're falling trees that are decidedly vertical. Also, wind speed and gusts are very important factors. I'd never cut down a big tree on a gusty day.

I had one like that. I was doing the final back cut with no wind, then a small gust cropped up out of nowhere. It moved back and jammed the chain bar. I was walking back down the slope to get the spanner to remove the saw when I heard the tree creaking. Just in time to watch the tree drop, the saw fall on the ground, and the tree bounce and come down on top of the saw. It cost a bit of money to repair as it broke the main chassis of the saw as well as the top plastic guard over the cylinder. A good lesson to have wedges and a cutter bar spanner on hand.

[Bruce Tuncks]

Yep, nev is right again...   A neighbor with an earthmoving business died when a tree he was felling crushed him in his bobcat.

If you have not used ropes, it can be real hard to tell which way the tree will fall. Even if there is some wind.