These two shots are a typical example of my work. First photo is the trunk with completed notch and backcut. A proper notch should ideally be one-quarter the thickness of the tree, but can range anywhere from 1/8 to 1/3 of the trunk diameter. This one looks to be about 1/3. Backcuts should always be above the top of the notch, a minimum of 1/2" up to about 2" over the notch cut. In this case my backcut was closer to 2" over the top of the notch, perhaps even higher.
The second photo shows the tree after limbing, before bucking. I was aiming to where I was standing taking an earlier photo of the tree, which was between the little yellow flower fan and the orange husky chainsaw case. Ummm, you be the judge of my accuracy! The tree was bucked into two logs, the main trunk about 22' long and the upper about 10' long, both which will be used in my treehouse.
A count of the annual growth rings put this tree at between 57 and 61 years of age. For some reason I thought that these trees were quite a bit older, perhaps planted in the 'twenties or 'thirties, but the rings don't lie, they began growing around the very late 1940's. I am wondering if these trees started from cones that fell from existing trees that had eventually been removed, or if the property was bare of trees when they first took hold, or were planted.
