This past weekend we went to our cabin to gather firewood, mostly for next year. We were considering taking small trees from a path we were widening, but we discovered two recently broken trees close to the cabin.
We first delimbed and cut in fireplace lengths the former top of the larger tree, about nine inches in diameter. After we had moved all that away, I started to cut the trunk at about two chain saw bar lengths from the ground. I cut about half-way through on the west side of the tree, the direction I wanted it to fall. Then I started cutting on the east side of the tree an inch or two above the other cut. The saw jammed!
I pushed the tree to the west and got the saw out, but the tree didn't fall. I cut a bit more and the tree started to fall, but to the south. I was not in the way or had gotten out of the way, and it crashed down.
Omigosh! My wife had been working about 30 feet away to the southwest of the tree. I looked in panic for her and didn't see her. She had gone inside for some reason. Whew!
Moral: always have lots of clear space when cutting down trees and keep others well away.
My accuracy is one reason we're asking a professional logger to fell some trees near things that could be damaged, like our cabin or the solar panel for the sauna.
