Here's one I watched my dear old Dad do. My Dad used to have a '95 400 (2 stroke). We have some wooded property that we hunt and my Dad was making trails back in the woods to access the entire wooded area on quads. I was following on my 500 and he came across a small tree that had fallen across the cleared path. It wasn't a large tree, but he went right up to it and stopped (first mistake). He proceeded to give the quad more and more throttle.

My Dad is very hard of hearing. He couldn't hear my advice of not doing that. Well he finally hit that sweet spot in the rpm range and that 400 launched straight up into the air. The only thing that kept the machine from coming back on him was the fact the rear wheels now contacted the tree. Well that started the downward spiral and slammed the front end to the ground. It launched his chain saw a good 15' in front of the quad. Luckily he didn't smash his head into the handlebar on the landing.

If you intend to traverse an obstacle, you want to hit it with a little force behind you, a running start so to speak. You may not want to hit it dead on either, but at an angle. Of course, it never hurts to go around an obstacle, although that's not always possible.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Cajun,

and if there's a tree in the trail, and ya got a chainsaw...might as well stop and cut it up and out of the way

You can't get them all in one day. This is private property and trees go down fairly often in the swamp. This was not a big tree and and not that difficult to go over..... if you do it right.

The safety tips I have read say to hit the fallen tree head on not at an angle.

I can't speak for the safety aspect, but it's a lot easier to get one tire started up on the ascent than both. I'm talking maybe a 15-20% angle. That's just my experience. Do these safety tips explain why it's less dangerous head on?

For me size of the tree dictates alot of how I do. Small I will hit at an angle some times, BIG I will hit straight on.

quote:

Originally posted by Cajun:
I can't speak for the safety aspect, but it's a lot easier to get one tire started up on the ascent than both. I'm talking maybe a 15-20% angle. That's just my experience. Do these safety tips explain why it's less dangerous head on?

I agree with that...hit the object with a moving forward motion and let the suspension do it's job...

this is a good discusion, how you aproache a deadfall, or even a fresh fall. i perfer the straight on aproach, but this depends on a number of vairables. riding style, riding ability, tires, clutch setup, size of tree, clearence, amount of ground moisture, ect. i don't think that one answer fits all.......stroker

I can tell you the reason why they tell you to hit it straight on. If you hit the obstical at an angle you can have the bars ripped out of your hands when the tire starts over or doesnt as the case maybe so hitting it straight on is usualy the best bet but not always you have to always becarefull when going over an obstical be it tree or rock or what ever, take a good long look and then take your best shot at it.

General rule is straight on for anything higher than your front axle! Go for it!

Glad Pops wasn't hurt, and everything ended up good, but have to think that would of been a hoot of a movie. Idle up to the tree, watch the machine struggle, then the rest, with the saw going skyward.

Might of won the big $'ss!!

I don't have to carry a saw, and have learned from experience to be very leary of following someone with one and ending up in some gawd awful places!!

quote:

Originally posted by Warith:
If you hit the obstical at an angle you can have the bars ripped out of your hands when the tire starts over or doesnt as the case maybe so hitting it straight on is usualy the best bet...

That makes sense, as well as Jeff's advice. I think I once straddled a big tree between front tires and played hell getting it off. The tree in question was probably might have been at hub height.

My take would be that the reason the old fellow got in trouble isn't that he didn't take a good run at the tree, it's because he gradually kept adding throttle until everything happened all at once, and he wasn't ready for it.

If what you are crossing is big enough to call a 'log' then you want to stop with the front tires touching it, stand up, give the throttle a good short 'bump' and off again to get the front end up there, in 4wd if you have it. Then over and down, with control.
If you are crossing a log higher than the diameter of the front tire then you can't take a run at it unless you are ready to play superman over the handlebars up up and away.
You nose up to it in 4wd low, bump the throttle until the front tires are on top but the skidplate hasn't touched yet, then stop, lean back, lunge forward as you gas it, and teeter over so that the front wheels touch the ground on the far side. Then if you are doing it right, they will grab enough to claw you ahead so that the back tires can grab the log and you can finish going over.

Smaller logs, just aim for it square on and go over with good throttle control.
It sounds like dad just nosed up to the log and sat there with the front tires loaded up against it, gradually adding throttle until all hell broke loose!
Like say, it's the gradual loading up on the throttle that caused dad to demonstrate the explosive and exciting wheelstand.
That's one way to unload a chainsaw though!

quote:

Originally posted by Glenlivet:
My take would be that the reason the old fellow got in trouble isn't that he didn't take a good run at the tree, it's because he gradually kept adding throttle until everything happened all at once, and he wasn't ready for it.

Stand up, give the throttle a good short 'bump' and off again, to get the front end up there, in 4wd if you have it. Then over and down, with control.
If you are crossing a log higher than the diameter of the front tire then you can't take a run at it unless you are ready to play superman over the handlebars up up and away.
You nose up to it in 4wd low, bump the throttle until the front tires are on top but the skidplate hasn't touched yet, then stop, lean back, lunge forward as you gas it, and teeter over so that the front wheels touch the ground on the far side. Then if you are doing it right, they will grab enough to claw you ahead so that the back tires can grab the log and you can finish going over.

Smaller logs, just aim for it square on and go over with good throttle control.
It sounds like dad just nosed up to the log and sat there with the front tires loaded up against it, gradually adding throttle until all hell broke loose!
Like say, it's the gradual loading up on the throttle that caused dad to demonstrate the explosive and exciting wheelstand.
That's one way to unload a chainsaw though!

Yep thats the way to do it.

My very first tree crossing I did the same thing. the tree was 18-20" in diameter. My old Magnum liked to get stuck in low so I left it in High, added throttle until it finally took off thru me off the back and sat there rear tires against the tree rear rack on the ground. I pushed it forward and finished riding it across. Now its low range blip the fronts up on the tree then lean back and then forward as the machine crosses the tree.

quote:

Originally posted by Glenlivet:
My take would be that the reason the old fellow got in trouble isn't that he didn't take a good run at the tree, it's because he gradually kept adding throttle until everything happened all at once, and he wasn't ready for it.

I think that's what I said, or at least implied.

Running start was a bad choice of words. I meant hit it with some momentum, albeit slow. It's what I did and went over the same tree without incident.

Sorry, I wasn't implying that you didn't understand or didn't say what went wrong Cajun, after all you saw it!
His technique was way off, is all. He's probably run all sorts of stuff in his day, tractors and whatnot, and he probably just did what he knew.
Depending on the size of it he'd probably have bumped his way over it if he'd been rolling along. I got hung up on thinking about big logs. At least he's OK.

Actually when I was yelling at him to stop, I was more concerned with smoking the belt. Instead I witnessed the most spectacular wheelie any 70 year old will ever make.

That two cycle expired about 4 years ago. He has a 500 four stroke that is much better suited to his riding style. Those two cycles aren't made to put around and idle for extended periods and that's what he did with it most of the time. He went through some plugs.

quote:

You nose up to it in 4wd low, bump the throttle until the front tires are on top but the skidplate hasn't touched yet, then stop, lean back, lunge forward as you gas it, and teeter over so that the front wheels touch the ground on the far side.

Nice tip. Thanks for the thread guys, I think I just learned something.