106 LOGGING 
regarding stump heights. Notches may be cut with the ax, 
but the horizontal cut usually is made with a saw and the notch 
completed with an ax. 
Hardwood timber, if improporly notched, pulls long splinters 
from the heart wood. This may be overcome by continuing the 
center of the undercut into the heart of the tree. When the tree 
is severed on the opposite side a clean break will result. 
On small- and medium-sized timber the notch can readily be 
cut by a workman standing on the ground. A form of scaffold 
must be provided for notching and felling large timber and for 
this purpose spring l)oards are used. When trees of very large 
size such as redwoods are cut the spring board may be replaced 
by a scaffold supported either on spring boards or on timbers. 
FELLING 
With the Ax. — The ax was used almost exclusively as a felling 
tool during the early period of logging in the United States and 
is still used for small trees. In felling with an ax, the operation 
begins by cutting a wedge-shaped notch opposite and slightly 
higher than the undercut. This cut is continued towards the 
center of the bole until the tree falls. Wedges cannot be used 
in felling with the ax, therefore, it is more difficult to throw a 
tree in any direction except that in which it leans. It is estima- 
ted that from 10 to 20 board feet per tree of spruce is lost when 
the ax is used exclusively for felling and log-making. 
With the Ax and Saw. — This method is now universally used 
for medium- and large-sized timber because a loss both of time 
and wood occurs in using the ax alone. The use of a cross-cut 
saw increases by about 10 per cent the number of trees a given 
saw crew can fell in a day. 
When the bark contains sand or other gritty substances it is 
customary to remove it from the base of the tree at the point 
where the saw cut is to be made. The saw cut is then started 
on a level with or slightly above, and opposite the undercut. 
When the saw has buried itself, wooden or iron wedges are driven 
in behind it to prevent binding. As sawing proceeds the wedge 
point is made to follow the back of the saw by occasional blows 
from an ax or a sledge. Sawing in a direction parallel with the 
undercut progresses until the tree begins to fall, whereupon 
one sawyer withdraws the saw and both seek a place of safety. 
