On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 16:02:22 -0500, "George" george@least wrote:

The heartwood of even an otherwise sound tree is sometimes weak. The feller
will plunge the saw into the center of the tree, sweeping the nose left and
right so that the stress of falling won't leave a couple feet of fractured
heartwood standing proud of the rest of the cut.

These folks call it stump pull.
http://web.cocc.edu/logging/szlinks/stump_pull.htm

Thank you, sir. A cogent, easily understood explanation. Aware of the
phenomenon, but not familiar with the term.

Tom Veatch
Wichita, KS USA