I used a 3:1 ratio on a big maple removal and the hinge snapped early

The tree kicked back hard and nearly hit my ground guy, so now I'm rethinking my hinge geometry on leaners. What's your go-to ratio for a heavy side lean?

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3 Comments

ivan5396mo ago

Thicker hinge, less lean.

4

alice_foster6mo ago

Yeah, that "feel it out" part is key. The book doesn't know your specific tree.

3

holly_green826mo ago

Man, that's scary stuff. It reminds me of this gnarly pine I had to drop last fall that was leaning way over a shed. I got so focused on the back lean I totally messed up my face cut, ended up with basically no hinge at all. The thing just sat down on my bar like a ton of bricks. Ever since then I've been paranoid about taking way more wood out of the hinge than the book says, especially on those heavy leaners. Sometimes you just gotta feel it out and go thicker than feels right.

1