This Tree Did NOT Go According To Plan! 

Dang dude, please don't let the filming get in the way of your safety. We don't wanna lose you brother❤

These types of videos are so important. Not every arborist would share something they are not proud of, but Jake does to help educate the viewer. Awesome job boys!

Thanks for posting this Jake. As the homeowner who has been walking around this tree for 20 years, I'm glad I hired you and its finally down safely. Now I need to figure out how to get that big ass log out of there. Thanks again.

Hey Jake- Love your videos and how open you are with both learning and sharing. As a 20 year Seattle area tree service owner this one was particularly interesting to me-Truth is we don’t usually have such understanding/flexible homeowners around here to bail us out of any miscalculations by letting us fell additional trees. Since you sent a guy up this tree already, why not have him just continue limbing it up to avoid this? You even referenced a video you made where this happened to you before and correctly said it was the lack of momentum that was the issue here. It ended without injury or property damage but it was really sketchy for you to fell those other trees holding this one up. Thats why it’s so important to plan ahead but also have a contingency plan. Once into this one, to be safe and not remove other trees here, I would have used a spider lift and pole chainsaw to trim those branches holding it up. Me and many other guys around would have helped you out with just a quick call. You got a lot of “great job” comments on here and I’m not being mean or a know it all, just straight with you. You never want to depend on luck to get home to your family in this business. You and I both know/knew guys who had their luck run out. Since you get so many views from novices maybe an edit on this video is in order to say “don’t fell trees under other partially felled trees- it’s extremely dangerous” also for the love of god- wear eye protection. Thanks for sharing. Be safe.

As a retired faller who used to jack big trees on a regular basis, I would like to offer up a Bit of advice that may save you some trouble. When you have a heavy lean in the wrong direction such as the Cedar in the video, NEVER put your undercut in before you start your back cut. You can cut most of your final cut first, cut the notch for the jack next, being carful to make the notch just big enough to slip the jack in without losing precious lifting distance of the jack. The jack needs to be placed in such a way as to not push the root and collapse and fall out, as well. Next lift the tree with the jack. Then cut your undercut, lift the tree, cut, lift, cut and lift. Go slow with the cutting, and follow with the jack and wedges. Also, don’t try to swing the tree with a dutchman or any felling trick like that. Try to go 180 degrees opposite of the lean, and NEVER trust a Cedar to keep a hinge at the stump. Your undercut should be about 6 inches below the final cut to allow the hinge to flex a bit more with all of the tension you’re putting on the hinge. Again don’t trust Cedars. Good luck, be safe!

I am always amazed just how much work the wedges actually do in felling trees. Even trees as massive as this one.

It's a small detail, but when that first axe swing went clean into the chainsaw cut I gave it a standing ovation. Mentally.

Glad you shared this one Jake. Great job as always staying calm, assessing the situation, and overcoming troubles. You always get em down in the end

You did not appear “ freaked out” very calm and deliberate looking from here. Great job Jake!

Absolutely no need to apologise for any of that! This tree was a fantastic teaching aid of what to do when things aren't going right. Even though you had to fell those extra trees, your communication was spot on, and your exit strategy put you behind solid trees within a couple of steps. Good job, Jacob! 😊👍👍👍👍👍

I hope that you said Sorry to the tree before cutting it down. I always did if i had to fell a magnificent trèe on my property. Its called RESPECT. 😊🎉🎉🎉

As a former faller don't ever go out in the line of fall and turn your back on the tree. I know of some fallers who have died doing that. Take care and be safe I care about you.

I was a bit concerned that positioning the jack under that protruding section could result in a vertical split a bit like a barber chair and make the jack useless , seeing as cedar is a fairly brittle . Glad to see that didn't happen , that first big crack! sound made me stop though , whew !

That crack is the hinge breaking, and breaking because the jack was not centered in the tree. You jacked it off the hinge sideways. The jack should’ve been placed where your wedge went. Your undercut was too shallow, and you could’ve placed the jack in the back before you made your face cut to not allow the tree to sit back. Cedar is brittle and doesn’t hold the hinge well.

Suggestion: have a secondary taller/longer piston less tonnage capable jack to insert and lift wood higher. When your jack maxed out height, it wasn’t high hydraulic pressure, so tag team it with a taller jack.

great work, it's when the unexpected hits that the experience comes in, the way you let those little trees get taken out by the weight of the larger one to give you time to extract was brilliant!

Sorry, but as a professional timber faller in Oregon for over 40 years it doesn't matter about diameter for jacking or wedging. You want pressure on the tree PRIOR to putting the under (face) cut in. Otherwise you are behind from the get go. Your face isn't deep enough. Use a bigger saw with a longer bar, MUCH more accurate!!! Then you know how much holding wood you have and not double cutting. I used up to 60" bars cutting trees up to 9 foot on the stump and 270 feet tall of merch wood. Glad the owner was happy. You got lucky with your jack coming down, usually if you went over the blue line on Silveys they wouldn't and had to be rebuilt. Used up to 6 rams and two pumps on some of those big old growth.

Good work, sir. Safe ending, no property damage to structures = success!

great job taking down that cedar , that was a big tree to take down. it was scary how the little ones were holding the big cedar up. once removed the big tree fell clean stay safe, and healthy!

Limb locked trees are miserably hard to predict, a small well placed limb in the tree can be all it takes to hold it on the stump. Nice job…all went well no day is ever perfect Jake:)

I always love your videos I hope I can become a tree worker like you I have cut trees all my life with my grandfather and was interested in the Industry thanks to you as well

Great video and explanations! Was scary just watching you cut those other cedars in front of the already cut up much larger cedar. Obviously dangerous and not something you wanted to or had planned on doing. Thanks for post this!

Interesting work. I have cut a lot of trees down using very similar techniques. None quite this big, although some of the oaks were 2.5 to 3 ft in diameter. I use steel splitting wedges to fell, but you must keep the saw away from them of course. And an 8 or 10# sledge to drive them in. If the wedge is not enough, a second wedge on top the first on each side (ie 4 wedges) can be used to help push the tree over. Always show up with lots of wedges. Sometimes a wedge might pop out at you, so watch for that. Never had a failure. I also used another technique on severe leans if the tree is not too big. Go up the tree with rope, and pull up heavy log chain, 15-20 ft or whatever needed. Run chain out to the base of another tree in the direction of fell. Tighten it with come-alongs. Then connect another chain the middle perpendicular, And go to another tree in that direction. Tie the rope there (18,000 # rope, the diameter of barn rope, big) at the tree, and through a pulley connected to the first log chain, and the end back out to a tractor in that perpendicular direction and far enough out to be safe. Start the cuts and keep tension with the tractor, not much, but just enough. And as the cut proceeds, a little more tension on the tractor. Gradually, you can pull the tree in the direction of felling and at some point, it will go. Always keep enough wood in the hings that it cannot break free at the hinge. Never had a failure here, and took down several trees leaning over buildings. I could put a stake out in the direction of felling, and hit it. Proved it to a neighbor. I have one more to do for myself, and that will be my last. Getting too old for this work LOL.

I've been a pro faller 13 yrs .Jack's and caders don't mix . Cut them flares loses hold wood .. block face is good idea but open it up more o. Low side of face cut. .

Enjoy watching your videos used to helicopter log cedar blocks all around Enumclaw area on Weyerhaeuser property mostly back in the 90s beautiful country brings back a lot of memories

That was badass. Thanks for sharing these videos - I'm learning so much and they are fun to watch.

Man I just love your eye protection. Remember, "safety, always off" -Cyrus.

Very professional and brave. Takes a lot of knowledge and strength. 😊

What a beautiful tree. Please tell me you are having it milled.

Thanks for sharing your knowledge, every time a question popped into my mind you answered it within a minute!

When cutting in danger area best to have assistant with air horn to aarn if tree starting to fall. Can hear air horn over running saw and bail out in safe direction.

It's always a pleasure watching you even if things don't go as planed "exactly " it worked, no destruction and your safe, what more entertainment can a person ask for. Miss that Randy man. Lots of love. Afriend.

Good job. With a large tree like that, where you have room for wedging and the jack, as a safety measure it seems that a deeper face cut can give you more hinge wood to hold the tree to overcome the lean. A gap hinge you used has good holding wood properties though, more fiber folding before breaking.

You have nerves of steel. Kudos for not stopping the video. I noticed that your ever-present laughter wasn't this time. Happy for your success. Rich

Good seeing you again this year Mike!

It’s absolutely awesome how you remain focused and undeterred. Maintaining an even strain and working the process to its best outcome is really adrenaline pumping and gratifying to see a professional work out the details in your thinking, thank you.

Great job Jake! I was going to say, nothing worse then getting hung up on branches, but an unexpected hallow interior is deadly. Thanks for showing this video and educating us via the journey.

Amazing job mate! Well done!

Retired now but the thrill I used to get controlling the fall to earth between 2 structures is the only thing I miss. Keep safe.

Even so, thrilling to see them drop together!

this is why you use a bull rope instead of a jack and wedges. Just too many factors to rely on really weak wood to do the job for you. A 3/4" rope with a wyeth-scott 3 ton come along makes this job alot easier. hell a cedar can't even take the forces of hitting the ground without breaking all to pieces there's no way I would trust it beside someone's home.

Don't be sorry. You had a tricky situation, and you handled it like a true pro, and got it down safely and without undue damage! Love your videos!

Love the dude in the smiley face get up. Random stuff out of nowhere cracks me up and is always a good way to start the day. It also amazes me how that little wedge, sometimes with just little hits, can knock over or start the tree moving no matter how big it is. Good stuff. Nice piece of wood also, I can’t wait for scratch and sniff RU-vid

You have nerves of steel. Excellent workmanship!

Nicely DONE!

This was super cool to see. It felt like the tree was a puzzle! How do we get this tree down without risking the house? And you did a marvelous job of solving that question!

Wow, when trees decide not to follow the plan, it's a stark reminder of nature's unpredictability. Eager to see how this was handled! 🌳😲

Cool vid. Thanks Jake!

Good lesson for all. Thanks. Everything is a learning experience

man that's craziest feeling ever, its a rush, when everything starts taken a different turn then way you anticipated.

You kept your composure quite well great job and kudos on your will power to stay away from sugar. My wife bought a tin of Danish butter cookies home from Sam’s and man them things didn’t last a week.

I prefer to error on the side of less than 1/3 on face cuts as opposed to more than in most cases anyway. Good job being patient with this one.

Good job. You are an inspiration

Love watching a fella who knows his craft. Impressive. Cheers to ya Bruttah

Love your videos! Please don’t ever stop sharing the mistakes along with the successes! Not everyone shares the bad with the good, but it’s refreshing to see someone who does. You’re obviously really good at what you do and it helps the rest of us to see how you work through problems. Keep it up and stay safe!

I've done my fair share of power saw work over the years and still have all my skin and fingers. But that 592 with a 42 inch bar would scare the hell out of me. You have my compete respect Buddy. Stay safe.

Just sharing my experience here, I know you handled that just fine. We’ve got a 12k winch on a receiver sled. It’s a bit of a workout but we’ve packed it and a battery a couple times and strapped it to another tree to use it to pull a hung tree like that. Obviously a throw ball cannon is good to have for that trick.

Absolutely amazing job. Glorious tree. Smell that cedar. Thanks for the vid.

Jake, Assuming there are plenty of wedges in place to hold the tree, does the manufacturer offer flat metal plate shims to place under the jack after its travel is max'd out? That must have been a hard leaner!

great job Jake. great video from Kevin. not all trees behave like we want, but it did come down safely & that is the most important objective - that there are no injuries or worse

Nice work. Love that saw

Great Work Bud 👍👍One Massive Tree Well Done 👍👍

I'm amazed the tree was still standing after all the ones it was leaning on were cut. It always amazes me how much thin branches can hold. You weren't rushing and you were paying attention when it didn't go as planned. Good work Jake 👍

That was fun to watch thank for sharing

Western red cedar. A log that size would make excellent timber, planks especially for outdoor uses. Sheds, cladding, greenhouse wood and for smaller stuff beehives and shingles! Very valuable wood.

That is a lot of gorgeous guitar wood...

that was.....AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!! so well done!!!! and yeah I have fell a few :)

when things don't go according to plan that's when you learn the most, loved this video, keep at it!

I think most folks would get as much (or more) out of a job that didn't go to plan, vs one that did. I know I did! Nice job... Great video.

Wow. Scary. Glad everything came out okay. I was genuinely nervous watching this one! We had a place in Skamania County that had two big stumps from logging in the '30s. One was 4 1/2ft diameter, the other was 5 1/2 ft., one in the front yard and the other in the back. It must have been a sight when those two came down.

Its nice to see instructional vids like this.. I would of got my jack postioned first . Then face cut. Back cut. Jack. Bang the wedges. Trim a little more of the holding wood. Jack. Bang wedges. But it was fell on a good spot. No damage.. job well done. Enjoying the content as well😊

Dude is the master of mic dropping his saws, haha Just tosses em.

thanks for honesty

We all care about you be careful and love the job done there. God bless.

I know hes a good buddy of yours but man. I was just thinking the other day. I miss watching Jed like new videos. If he was just so peaceful to watch amazing man, I never met him. I would have loved to but. Yeah I was just thinking about that the other day god bless jake

I haven't cut down a lot of trees so I'm not an expert, but when your jack maxed out I was thinking you could have cut a second jack slot and placed a second jack. If you only have one jack you could also wedge the gap and move the jack to the new slot. Might not be enough to get it past those cedars, but I think it could have been worth a try.

Man that cut must smell amazing. Nothing like the smell of fresh cut cedar. Stay safe! Cheers.

Hi jake, i was wondering why you didnt temporarely remove the jack so the tree would sit on the wedges, and then add a piece of wood under the jack so you could keep on jacking the tree over? Is this because you didnt fully trust the wedges and the tree would go the other direction again? Anyway, epic video, stay safe!

one thing keep area CLEAR don't leave tools where you can trip over them if you got to move FAST, cleared many large trees.

That shot of them felling together was just 👌🏻

Gotta say, cutting those cedars sure looked like a lot of pucker factor. Sheesh. Great job!

Been there you think it should go and you don't want to compromise your hinge. Good job!

I enjoyed this video! Just wondering if you could have wedged up to maintain the existing gap, then lower the jack and insert something between the jack and the tree and then try jacking again.

Pucker Factor went up on that one and I have been cutting trees for 40 year. The closest I ever came to a house was a kick back on a rotten core that missed the house on laydown by about 5 inch down the whole side ! I was cutting trees about 8 to 10 year at that point and didn't see the warning signs that the tree had no inner support until it was to late on the back cut ! The tree just collapsed on itself and the saw and came back at me. It was all I could do to get out of the way !

Well done... Well handled. That went 5 to 11 really fast.

Noob here, studying and learning from experienced fellers before i cut. I'm going after Eastern redcedars soon and wondering if theres specific things i need to do, look out for w cedar. All advice greatly appreciated!

Outstanding!

so Wise , Thank You

That was brave I loved your technique on the second cut how and when you left as you cut it

Been working with certified arborists for 27 years. There’s a lot of ways to fall a tree. I build golf courses and we remove thousands of trees a month. We use jacks etc

I don't think he has a clue.

It's crazy to think that tree could've stood there for 300, 400 years if it got lucky. I have trees in my yard that I'll literally mourn when they die, I love them and so did my family before me

Great video. Have you considered adding a time lapse camera to your setup for big jobs like this? It would have been cool to see that slowing moving from a distance.

A suggestion for premarking your cut line: wrap a rope around the tree, tighten, spray paint over the rope, then remove the rope. This will leave a nice line where the rope was.

Danger, Will Robinson. Despite the fell not going completely according to plan, a lot of things went right. Clearly you know what you're doing.

Man Sally’s customer service is above and beyond! I called to ask a question and didn’t leave a message and Lucas called me back. Ordered my son a full kit on the spot and won’t go anywhere else

Crazy idea BUT when you maxed out couldn't you have wedged it, lowered the jack about 5/8", and thrown in a plate of steel 1/2" thick x 4" x 4" above the jack plate ? That would give you an additional 1/2". I haven't had the chance to do that yet BUT I do have a plate handy for when the time comes.

With hind-site, would you have considered trimming some of the top branches that would be likely to hang up in the other trees. I see that back weight branches have been trimmed.

That's what you get when Randy isn't around. Lol

I don't know what camera you use or how you Stop it down/up but you get amazing depth of field and parallax that is very different from most content producers. Really nice filming. Thanks and regards from Scotland.