The Six-Step Felling Plan is a checklist you and the people who work alongside you can apply to every tree-felling operation. It’s also a training tool. Employees who have achieved basic chain-saw safer-operator skills and who are prepared to do more can follow this. It’s an assessment template your in-house trainers can use to track employee progression. It’s also a valuable everyday carry for those who have notched many, many, many removals. After all, normalization of risk is an ever-present danger for the very experienced tree worker.

Practice notches in non-critical situations. All photos courtesy of the author.

By habitually addressing each step, we eventually achieve unconscious competence – that is, we know without having to call out each step. You walk up to a tree, run through the steps in your mind, having verbalized nothing up to this point before barking out orders. “Bring the 200-foot double braid, the Treemaster three-strand, the small impact block, the Port-a-Wrap with the 5:1 setup, some wedges, an ax and the 572. And a throwline!”

However, if each step is verbalized, shared and checked off, it not only ensures a safer operation, it also teaches by modeling.

1. Overall site-risk assessment

As you’re walking up to the tree to be felled, first examine the outer perimeter. Most important, you must positively identify electrical hazards. When I say positively identify, I mean we should assume electrical hazards are present until we have positively ruled them out.

Take in the overall view. Is there pedestrian or vehicular traffic? Note any incoming severe weather indicators. Note the terrain and look at trees adjacent to the one being felled. If there are loose hanging branches, dead trees standing or partially uprooted trees nearby, that must figure into your hazard-mitigation
plan.

As you get closer, examine the inner perimeter. The focus here is the tree as a biological organism. Look for tree hazards. Start with the branch tips, looking for insect nests or larger broken limbs, then visually follow into the main stem, looking for poor structure that could fail during removal stresses.

Always walk the full 360 degrees, scanning for cavities or decay pockets from past storm damage or poor pruning cuts. If there are vines running up the stem, note that – especially if they are poison ivy!

Be prepared to change the plan if new information comes to light.

Look at the main trunk for reactionary growths, wound wood, boring insect activity, fungal fruiting bodies, lightning damage, chemical burns or cracks. Make it routine to use a sounding mallet to listen for hollows. Of particular concern are horizontal cracks, especially if they are in the lowest 6 to 8 feet from the ground, as that is where significant weight of the tree is borne.

Examine the trunk flare and associated buttress roots. Note whether the trunk stem pinches in near the ground, which could indicate an underground weak point. See if the trunk flares are damaged or buried, or whether there are fungal fruiting bodies on or near the base of the tree.

Confirm the genus and species. Certain species will be stringy, able to hang onto a small hinge. Others will be snappy and seem ready to break with the grain at the slightest push. Regionally, trees that have experienced wetter-than-normal periods may be prone to root-plate failure, or trees may be drier than normal in instances of prolonged drought.

Identify and move site objects. These are obstacles that could be damaged. If the glass-topped patio table isn’t there, you can’t hit it. In cases of obstacles you cannot move, develop a plan to work around them.

Identify and mitigate, where possible, any site hazards. These are things that could harm tree workers while performing the job. We’ve mentioned poison ivy, hangers and electrical hazards, but there also could be an old well pipe sticking out of the ground. Things that cannot be moved must be acknowledged so that risk can be addressed. All this should be written into the job-site safety analysis (JSA).

Remember to confirm which individual tree is to be felled. There should be a GPS coordinate, ribbon, nail, tape or paint mark to indicate the removal candidate.

The author on the job. Always have a hazard-mitigation plan and follow it.

2. Tree assessment

Here we turn our attention to an in-depth assessment of the tree as a wooden structure. These factors affect how we decide what equipment is needed, where the retreat route will be and what notch, back cut and controlled release we choose. Step two requires looking at tree height, lean, load and slope.

The height of the tree to be felled is important, because we need to know if it fits the drop zone! We also have to know tree height in order to define a drop zone large enough to keep crew and noncrew members far enough away. This information will be used when setting up the work zones.

There are several ways to measure tree height in the field. One is a clinometer, but the quick and handy way most tree workers do it is with the stick trick. The Pythagorean Theorem tells us that A(2) + B(2) = C(2). You’ll need a straight stick, and it does take some practice! Remember to measure from the intended height at which you plan to make your notch.

To assess lean, you must look at the tree from several directions. Lean can be forward or backward, or left or right, depending on perspective. A natural tendency is to underestimate the height of a back leaner and to overestimate the height of a forward leaner.

If at all possible, felling the tree in line with the natural direction of lean is best; however, a forward leaner is more likely to split vertically in an uncontrolled manner, known as a barber chair. To mitigate barber chair, the tree can be chained or strapped together above the intended face notch, and/or a bore cut with a trigger release can be used to first set the hinge, then release the tree.

The load of the tree refers to the collective biomass of the tree, as relates to any lean. Say you’re looking at a catalpa (Catalpa speciosa) tree that had the top blown out years prior, and the resultant growth is offset from where the central lead used to be. If we only consider the trunk when we are assessing lean, we may forget to make accommodations for the weight or load of the offset mass.

Slope measurement is important because the slope may skew your previous measurements. Determine whether there is a slope on the site. When felling downhill, if there are targets below, you must mitigate by butt-tying the trunk, adjusting your notch plan, closing the road and/or protecting the targets, depending on the situation. Where I live in Wisconsin’s Driftless Region, we frequently do tree work on a slope. It’s worth noting that slope work will induce fatigue simply by having to navigate the terrain.

Step 3 involves identifying what equipment is appropriate considering the plan.

3. Equipment

Step 3 involves identifying what equipment is appropriate considering the plan. For example, if the tree has lean perpendicular to the intended direction of falling, the crew may decide it’s OK to proceed, as long as a side guy line can be incorporated. If you then discover your next-longest line is in another truck in another location, it may be prudent to pause the removal job until all the required kit is at hand. Alternatively, another option is to think of a different way to do the takedown.

Remember, you are also a tool, and a very important one at that! Tree workers are subject to all the factors that affect human performance. This can be amplified when working on a crew of three, four or more. We love this job because each day is different, but what makes the job challenging is that each day is different. Take into account the experience level of the faller, each person on the crew and whether or not their skill sets match the tasks ahead. Step 3 is a turning point; if all the appropriate and necessary tools are not present, including human factors, it’s wise to pause and live to fight another day.

4. Retreat route

A preplanned retreat route allows the faller to efficiently retreat from the stump as the tree begins to fall. The 90-15-5 rule tells us 90% of incidents happen within 15 seconds of a tree starting to move, and in a radius of 5 feet from the trunk. Think about where this data is sourced; you owe it to yourself, your family and your co-workers to vacate the high-hazard zone!

Downed limbs, vines, small tripping-hazard stumps or yard ornaments should be moved or cut from the retreat route and cleared. If you’re planning to scramble upslope, be prepared to give yourself a little more time, and practice it to see how sure the footing may be.

The planned retreat route should be at an angle away from the intended direction of fall. One side is typically better than the other due to better footing or more space. The faller should plan to finish the release cut on the high side/good side of the tree. This good side also will be the side chosen for the planned retreat as the tree goes over. Here is another turning point; if the tree, the site, the gear or the personnel are not appropriate for the job, you can still walk away.

5. Notch plan

There are several reasons we need a directional face notch. It’s all about control. We want to give the falling tree direction and provide space for it to move in our chosen direction. The construction of the notch acts the way a hinge does on a door. When we cut out a pie-shaped piece, not only are we physically removing a part of the structural support, we also are forming the edge of a big ol’ hinge. The apex of the notch is the front of the hinge. Later, our bore cut or back cut marks the back edge of said hinge.

Generally, the depth of your notch should not go deeper than 33% of the width of the tree’s diameter. The total length of the hinge should be about 80% of the diameter. Generally, the hinge width should be 10% of the tree’s diameter, or less. The less part will depend a great deal on the steps one to three covered above, as well as the experience of the tree worker. (For an illustration showing the 1/3 depth, notch angle and hinge thickness, go to https://www.osha.gov/etools/logging/manual-operations/felling/cuts/back.)

We’ll look at three types of face notches here. Each functions in essentially the same manner, but with some different advantages or disadvantages.

The traditional notch, or 45-degree opening, is a commonly used notch that will get the job done, but it has a drawback. When the face notch has closed completely, the hinge is designed to break, but the tree is only about halfway to the ground. Therefore, you don’t have 100% control of the tree. If the hinge is too wide, it’s possible to close the notch and not have the hinge break.

The open-face notch is defined as an opening greater than 45 degrees, usually about 70 to 90 degrees. The wider opening ensures that the hinge will function all the way until the tree hits the ground. Using an open-face notch in combination with a bore cut, to set your hinge width, and a trigger release will provide more predictability than the traditional-notch method.

A Humboldt notch is an upside-down traditional notch, where the flat or in-cut is on top and the sloped face is on the ground side. Humboldt notches allow the pie to slide out of the cut, which is nice on bigger trees. It also allows the trunk to slide off as the notch closes. This results in the stem coming to rest closer to the trunk. This may be more desirable than having the trunk “jump” a little when the hinge breaks on a traditional notch.

No matter which notch type you decide to use, be particular about doing it well. Precise use of the chain saw can be achieved by anyone, but anyone who wants to be precise must practice. A sloppy notch may lead to unintended consequences.

Stump evaluation. If the tree has a slight forward lean, or if you just need more time to scramble up or away on the chosen retreat path, a bore cut with a trigger release will provide it.

6. Back cut/bore cut and release plan

Here all the thoughtful planning and careful cutting work comes to fruition.

If the tree and situation dictate that a straight back cut is sufficient, call it out, get your response and begin cutting. If there is a line in the tree for persuading it, communicate with your ground team about how much or little tension is needed. Remember, all we need here is to get the critical mass just over the center tipping point. Gravity will take it from there!

If the tree has a slight forward lean, or if you just need more time to scramble up or away on the chosen retreat path, a bore cut with a trigger release will provide it.

If you are using a push pole or machinery to aid in getting the tree over, the controlled release plan of bore and trigger will allow the faller time to walk away.

The same goes for pulling the tree over using ropes; a bore-and-trigger-release setup allows the faller time to retreat. When ready, the ground team can pull in order to snap or release the tree. Again, once the tree is over center, gravity rules!
Conclusion
You can see that the Six-Step Felling Plan is a formalized version of how competent tree fallers unconsciously work each tree. Being able to verbalize and organize before cutting starts offers a set of standard operating procedures so both experienced and green tree workers alike have a point of reference. Anyone on the crew can question why or bring up a risk factor no one else noticed.

When the felling operation is discussed, everyone involved takes on some of the responsibility. Just like our job-site safety analysis, the whole crew signs off on the plan. Not only does this create a sense of shared responsibility, it creates a sense of shared empowerment.

As a tribe uses cultural dialects, so we tree people use common procedures and communications. The Six-Step Felling Plan is simply that: a plan where we speak and understand all the tasks involved, get it done as safely as possible and finish with a feeling of confidence, so we can get up and do it again.

Rebecca Seibel, Board Certified Master Arborist (BCMA), Certified Treecare Safety Professional (CTSP), is owner and operator of TreeSpirit Consulting, a contract-climbing, in-person and online safety-training business based in Holmen, Wisconsin. She has been a consulting and production climbing arborist for more than 25 years. She also is a lead instructor for the Women’s Tree Climbing Workshop, and is proud to be part of the Precision Training and Education Group, a tree worker and utility worker training company. Additional qualifications include: OSHA Authorized Outreach Trainer, American Red Cross First Aid/CPR/AED Instructor, NOLS Wilderness First Aid Responder, TRAQ holder, Consulting Utility Forester Professional Qualified, past Minnesota Tree Climbing Champion and past ITCC Competitor. She splices her own climbing rope and rope tools and considers herself a knot geek. She brings a practical approach to teaching and leadership, delivered with a clear, compassionate message. More about her and her work can be found at www.treespiritconsulting.com.

This article is a based on her TCI EXPO ’22 presentation on the same topic. Click Here.