Fell Trees Manually – (Intermediate)

This unit of competency describes the skills and knowledge required to assess, plan and safely carry out manual felling of intermediate trees using a chainsaw. This unit covers the felling procedures for trees with a level of complexity that requires significant tree assessment and practical felling skills.

The unit applies to individuals who possess existing proficiency in operating a chainsaw and are required to fell intermediate trees as part of their job role. With the exception of minor forest produce, this unit does not apply to commercial harvesting operations.

Individuals competent in this unit should be able to effectively fell most trees, except advanced trees and/or those with significant defects and/or characteristics that cause excessive complexity.

Trees typical to the scope of this unit may have some of the following characteristics:

• lean and where weight distribution can be assessed and readily adapted to falling direction with the use of wedges and/or controlled with hinge wood of a larger size than typical for the local environment
• limited visible damage or defect
• multi-stems
• forward lean, backward lean or side lean
• small or medium-sized diameter trees that can be safely felled with intermediate felling techniques
• dead trees with minimal visible damage or defects that do not add significant complexity to the cutting technique
• various dimensions relative to other trees when working in a forest environment
• in local site conditions that add additional complexity to the felling operation, including site conditions that impact the working position of the operator or the natural direction of fall of the tree.