A forester in Oregon told me to leave a bigger stump on a pine removal

He said to cut it about three feet high instead of flush to the ground, arguing it protects the saw from dirt and gives better leverage for the grinder later. I always made low cuts, so I thought he was wrong, but I tried it on a big Ponderosa job last fall. The grinder operator thanked me because the higher stump stopped rocks from being thrown and made his work faster. Now I do it on every removal where grinding is next. What's one piece of field advice you got that seemed odd but actually worked?

2 comments

2 Comments

paigesullivan1d ago

That stump trick makes total sense for the grinder guy. My weird tip is about marking trees. Got told to use blue flagging for "leave" trees and pink for "cut" on a confusing plot. Sounded backwards from what I knew. Tried it and the crew stopped asking questions every five minutes. The colors just clicked for some reason. Saved a ton of time fixing mix ups.

taylor_hayes251d ago

My buddy Jake was clearing a lot in Idaho and an old timer told him to soak his chainsaw bar in used motor oil overnight before a big job. Sounded like a messy waste of time. He did it anyway and that saw ran cooler and smoother for two full days of cutting through dry fir. He swears by it now.