How to fell a tree
I have a chainsaw and a number of small ish trees less than 12 inches in diameter. A few are bigger, but not much. They are still heavy and tall so I know they are dangerous if you aren't careful.
I do not have plastic wedges.
A point of contention between my wife who doesn't cut down trees and myself is how deep to make the first cut. My feeling is that I want to make the first cut pretty deep - over half. That way when I do the back cut it wont pinch. My thought was I am making a large teeter-totter and I need to put the fulcrum/hinge at the point that makes one side heavier. By making the first cut deeper, the tree will be heavier on the side I want the tree to fall to and it won't fall back and pinch the blade.
My wife says I was doing it wrong and only needed to cut 1/4 to 1/3. She ended up going to the Internet and feels validated because that is the consensus. However, she can't explain why this is better. My understanding is based on common sense and I know that if I only cut 1/3, the saw will get pinched when my back cut gets to the hinge because more weight is on the back of the tree.
I know that if I had plastic wedges (which she thinks is unnecessary), then I would agree on a smaller first cut and pound the wedges in as I do the back cut. However, without then I am struggling to see how a smaller first cut helps. In my mind, it will make it more likely to fall the wrong way.
Can someone explain why I should be doing this or if my common sense feeling is correct?
Thanks!