Daniel Jones from Landrake YFC in Cornwall completed a course on ‘Felling Trees up to 380mm with a Chainsaw’ last August, thanks to a Jubilee Scholarship grant from the Worshipful Company of Farmers.
“Having recently purchased a new Stihl Chainsaw I was well equipped to do the training.
The morning of our first day was spent covering the theory behind Tree Felling. There are eight different techniques used for felling, some are suited to forward leaning trees, such as the ‘Dog Tooth cut’ and some are used for backward leaning trees, such as the ‘Split Level cut.’
Apart from the conventional cut, it is interesting to learn that the most popular cut with forestry workers is the ‘Danish Pie cut’ as it is dual purpose and gives you greater control of the tree.
In the afternoon we covered the maintenance of the chainsaw and did some cross cutting too.
On the second day, our instructor gave us several demonstrations of the different cuts and when they should be used. Once we got started we quickly learnt the importance of getting the felling ‘gob’ correct. The gob controls the angle and direction of the tree.
We were also shown a demonstration of how to deal with hung-up trees, as this is part of the test requirement. Dealing with hung-up trees is rather dangerous due to their unpredictability. The safe way to get a hung-up tree on the ground is to cut away at the hinge and then roll the tree out using a felling lever. Other techniques include ‘walking’ the tree back with a long pole.
The final day of training started with a demonstration of ‘Snedding’ which is the correct way to cut the branches of the stem from the tree when it is safely on the floor.
It is certainly a difficult technique to master, but once I got the hang of it, it made my working a lot more efficient. We then practised felling more trees to make sure we had a decent amount of preparation for our test. We went through the test schedule to make sure we were familiar with the theory, safety, felling, snedding, cross cutting and stacking of the tree.
I must thank my instructor Adam and Lynher training for putting on a thorough and well run few days of training.
I’m pleased to say I passed my assessment in August 2023 after safely demonstrating the whole tree felling process. The training covered everything that was required on the test and I received positive comments from the examiner.
I learnt a huge amount about how to safely fell trees and the legislation behind it.
My qualification will enable me to work for local woodland owners, felling Ash trees that have unfortunately died, removing them safely and efficiently.
I can grow my small business with the woodland work, alongside my agricultural work. Thank you to The Worshipful Company of Farmers for the grant.
Find out how to apply for funding for an agri related course.
