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Showerthought: An old climber in Tulsa asked why my hinge cuts never lined up, and I still hear him 4 months later
I was dropping a big silver maple in a backyard near 21st and Harvard back in March, and this retired climber named Pete was watching from the fence, and after my third face cut he asked if I was aiming the notch or just hoping. He grabbed my saw and showed me I was starting the top cut a half inch too far back, which is why my hinges kept tearing out and the tree drifted left every time. Now I mark the hinge width with my thumb before I even pull the cord, but does anyone else have a weird habit like that they picked up from somebody just watching over their shoulder?
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wren_mitchell9h ago
Man, Pete sounds like one of those guys who just sees things the rest of us miss. So when he grabbed your saw and moved that top cut back a half inch, did he explain WHY that fixed the hinge, or did he just show you and let you figure it out? I ask because I've had old timers do both, and the ones who explain the physics of it stick with me way longer than the ones who just say "do it this way." Like was it about keeping the hinge wood fibers straight so they bend instead of snap, or was it more about the angle of your gunning cuts lining up? I'm curious if he talked about matching your corners or if he just eyeballed it. Because honestly, a half inch sounds tiny, but on a big maple that's the whole ballgame when it starts drifting.
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