Felling Trees

Axe vs. Chainsaw

Recently some of our oak trees on the property have been impacted by oak wilt.  As a result it has left us with some standing firewood that needed to be brought down.  Today we are going to test our abilities at swinging an axe versus the more modern method of a chainsaw to fell two dead white oaks that are fairly close together.

We started our notch cut by using a couple of different style axes (double bit, boys, carpenters, hatchet) and take turns swinging and chopping.  As we make make some progress, we then start the back cut with a carpenter's hand saw (not traditional or typical as the teeth are designed for a smooth clean cut but it is what we had available).  The first (smaller) of the two trees eventually comes crashing to the ground after initially getting hung up in a small hickory tree.  

It is now time to tackle the second (larger) tree with the more modern technique of using a chainsaw (Stihl MS 250c).  We girdle the tree (although not necessary but it reduces wear on the chain by not having to cut through the bark) for the notch cut and the final felling cut.

Take a look at some video footage we shot to see how it turned out and whether or not we were successful: