Planning the work

General information

• Felling and clearance work is dangerous. Follow the safety procedures here.
• Felling is only part of the work. Preliminary clearance prior to felling, removal of cut material and stump removal, if necessary, must also be considered.
• Felling and clearing should be done in late autumn and winter, from October to March. At this time the trees are less sappy and are easier to cut and handle than in spring or summer. Herbaceous growth has died back, and disturbance to wildlife is minimised.
• Sort and stack material as you go. Material for green woodworking (Chapter 10 – Green woodworking) needs to be used as soon as possible after cutting, and is not stored. Other material can be stacked in the wood and removed at a later date. Take advantage of any dry or frosty weather to remove material from the wood, to ease the work and minimise damage to the ground. Avoid extraction when the ground is waterlogged.
• Where felling may be impeded by the growth of brambles and other woody weeds, cut these out from around the base of trees and along routes used for access and dragging. Pile them up into windrows where they can be collected for burning if necessary.

Thinning

Before starting work, the trees must be assessed and marked for thinning. Either the trees to be retained, or the trees to be thinned can be marked, depending on the relative proportion of each, but ensure that the system is understood! Trees to be retained are generally marked with a blob of tree marking aerosol paint (available from forestry equipment suppliers). Trees to be cut are generally marked by cutting two blazes, on opposite sides of the stem, using a billhook or slasher. Alternatively, use a band of plumber’s tape or similar tied around the trees to be felled.

Where particular species, or all trees below a certain stem diameter are being thinned, workers can proceed without individual trees being marked first. If there are no obvious boundaries to the area to be thinned, use tape, stakes or some other markers to avoid work straying outside the boundary.

Clearance

See the general information on glades (Chapter 12 – Woodland habitats) and access (Chapter 13 – Access and recreation). Care must be taken that clearance does not create instability in surrounding trees, which will be opened up to the wind. Mark the areas to be cleared with tape or stakes as necessary.

Procedure

Most felling or clearance tasks consist of the following:

1. Felling
2. Snedding
3. Cross-cutting to manageable lengths for dragging or carrying.
4. Cutting to length according to use.
5. Stacking or burning.
6. Stump removal or treatment may also be necessary for clearance work.

• A typical division of labour is to have three-person teams for the main felling work: for example one person with a saw, one with a billhook and one dragging. In addition one or two people will need to stack or burn. For clearance work, one or two people will be needed to remove or treat stumps. Allow people to change tasks, within their capabilities and training, so that they do a variety of work.
• Where material to be felled is of a wide range of sizes, it is best to fell and remove the lighter growth first, before returning to fell larger material.

Safety precautions

• Choose the right tool for the job, depending on the size, form and position of the tree to be felled.
• Chainsaw use is not described in this book, as a training course is essential for learning the safe use of power chainsaws. Use of chainsaws on projects covered by The Conservation Volunteers insurance requires operators to have a Chainsaw Card and to comply with the The Conservation Volunteers’ Code of Practice on the use of the chainsaw. Other organisations and employers will have similar training requirements. Private individuals planning to use a chainsaw on their own property are strongly advised to obtain proper training.
• Wear a helmet when felling all but the smallest trees. Don’t wear gloves when using edged tools, but have a pair available for handling thorny shrubs and heavy timber after felling.
• Before felling, plan your escape route, which must be free of obstacles. Despite care, the tree may fall the wrong way. If this happens, get clear, but never turn your back and run.
  
• Clear the danger zone of volunteers, other than your assistant if you are working as a two-person team. The danger zone is a minimum of two tree lengths in any direction. Make sure there are no hung-up trees within one tree length. Extra care must be taken on sites with public access, or any site where members of the public may unofficially gain access. Station people as necessary to prevent anyone entering the danger zone.
• Never approach a feller once he or she has commenced cutting.
• Take great care with hung-up trees, as they are unsafe until fully felled.
• Inspect the tree for any deadwood in the canopy which may become dislodged during felling. If deadwood is assessed as a hazard, don’t fell the tree.
• Try to choose a felling direction that lets the tree fall freely without getting hung up in the branches of neighbouring trees. Never fell a tree over an adjacent stump, boulder or another felled tree, as the tree can kick back dangerously and the stem may break.
  
• Take great care when felling in the vicinity of power cables, buildings or other obstacles. Don’t fell within 15m (50’) of power cables.
• Prepare the cutting area. Remove debris, brambles and branches which might snag a saw or deflect an axe or billhook. Check the trees around you as well as the one you are working on. Clear dead wood to ensure a sound footing. Inspect the stem for embedded wires, especially if the tree is anywhere near an old fence line or boundary. Check out multiple or hollow boles for bottles, tins, stones and so on. If touched while cutting, these may damage the saw and cause injury.
• Take a firm stance before starting to cut. Be especially wary on slopes.
• Wind directions can affect felling safety. Assess the wind direction and force, and estimate how much it may deflect the tree as it falls. You can counteract this, if necessary, by cutting an uneven hinge. Never fell in a strong wind, as you cannot predict the effects of sudden gusts.
• Unless otherwise directed, cut as low to the ground as possible, consistent with safety and efficiency. Sometimes it may be quickest and safest to cut high first and then trim the stump as required. You should do this before moving on to another tree. High cutting is necessary to give adequate leverage if you plan to winch out stumps.
• Beware of dead wood, both in the tree being felled and in nearby trees.

Throughout the felling procedures described below, the ‘front’ of the tree refers to the side on which it is to fall. ‘Front’, ‘back’, ‘left side’ and ‘right side’ remain the same no matter which way the feller approaches the tree for a particular procedure.

The information on the next page deals with straightforward situations. Conifers tend to be easier to fell than broadleaves, as they have a single straight trunk and a relatively small crown. Special considerations for felling broadleaves are given here.