Trees provide fantastic support for themselves,
superior to any other life in Nature. That is why they are
the tallest. The amount of leveraged forces are immense.
Compounding/multiplying the fantastic height of the tree X it's
fantastic weight; giving the potential leverage. The angle of
the lean, giving the amount of that potential leverage achieved.
It is easier for you to hold 30# straight up, or even tilted a bit,
than it is to hold the same weight out horizontally from yourself.
This user operated calculator, gives the leverage at any given angle
(angles are actually alterable too). A hinge will be have a
maximum strength approximately matching the calculated leverage on
the angle it first flexes forward. In felling especially, that
leveraged load increases as the tree tilts forward; as the
calculator shows. So in shallower leans it is more important
to force a stronger hinge with line pull or wedge push, for the
increased loading is more intense + farther to be traveled on the
hinge. So, the extra force (rope and wedge) would prepare a
hinge better for such work, by forcing the hinge stronger, for the
more intense loading and longer travel/speed build up forces.
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