Felling Trees

mikeinri · Apr 17, 2020

Jere, I wasn't criticizing, just trying to learn from what I saw. I have a couple of leaners in the woods here, I've been ignoring them for a while. Nothing that big, and I wouldn't have ever predicted that.

Mike

Jere39 · Apr 17, 2020

No worries Mike, you were right, I should have stepped back farther, and it did bounce higher than I expected. And, most important, I did learn from it.

c5rulz · Apr 17, 2020

PA318Guy said:
Got a young guy around here that does odd jobs, first name is Jacobi, nice kid. He was cutting a leaner and hadn't cleared his escape path and it bounced and came down on his leg when he fell backward trying to escape and breaking it. Like most here he doesn't have medical insurance and had his dad "set" it. Walks with a limp now and won't do wood cutting anymore.

WOW ! That is really a sad story.

mikeinri · Apr 17, 2020

Well, my kids alerted me to this mess from the storm we had on Monday. Big oak lost its top.

I'd seen the smaller piece, which is safely on the ground, easily visible from the road. Other than getting it cut into firewood, not a priority.

This morning, the boys said two trees had fallen. I took another look, and saw the much bigger piece, leaning against another tree.

I told them to stay out of the woods until I can get it down. They really don't play in the woods, but do chase balls into this area.

I'll start by using a winch to pull it over, and not use the saw unless absolutely necessary.

I looked around and can only find one broken treetop, I'm hoping that the damage was limited to only the one tree. It's pretty crowded, so I need to be careful about where (and whether) to drop it.

Storm (snow, rain, wind) coming tonight through tomorrow, so this will have to wait until Sunday.

Mike

Pic 1: The broken trunk is the left half of the twin-v trunks, which extend up from behind the right side of the forsythia bush. The large piece is leaning, the base of that extends up from behind the left side of the forsythia bush.

Pic 2: The broken top is about a third of the way into the pic from the left. The piece in the foreground is the small piece, the tip of it points to the big leaning piece on the right side of the pic.

Jere39 · May 1, 2020

Had a lot of wind yesterday, blew solid for about 10 hours around here. And, of course there are tens of thousands of people without electric still today. So, I'm not complaining. But in spite of me thinking I was finished with the 2019-20 firewood season, I guess I am not:

This big oak is right beside one of my major wood piles, but, of course, that piling location is filled now:

And well protected by those evergreen briar vines.
This Cherry is just another leaner that needs to be safely brought to the ground first:

And this cherry had the center of the tree kind of demoisturized. I'm not sure it will be any good even for the smokers:

Stay healthy folks

mikeinri · May 3, 2020

Well, I got it down tonight. Not cut up yet, but safely on terra firma.

Thought about using a come-a-long winch, but cheated and used one of my Ford Explorers, in 4x4 Low. That was MUCH faster!

I was concerned about pulling the thing onto myself, because the only place to get a good hold on the trunk was about 6-7 feet off the ground. Fortunately, the part below that was really stuck in the ground, and was damaged badly enough that when I pulled, it snapped just under the towing strap and the top came straight down safely.

I had my wife watching from a safe distance, with the instructions to watch the top branches and stop me if they seemed to be pulling towards the truck at all.

The thing didn't want to budge, and the truck tires spun a few times. So, I backed down and tugged a few times, heard the trunk breaking, and slowly started pulling it down.

Unfortunately, there's a huge amount of tree left, with a very broken top. Getting that down would be easy, but as you can see in the last pic below, it's a Siamese twin, and the second trunk leans towards other large nearby oaks, and the street.

Not sure that I'll be able to drop both in the same direction (towards the left in that pic)???

Mike

Tractor-Holic · May 4, 2020

I did some tree yanking with my pickup last Thursday too--finally had enough of seeing that cherry tree dangling precariously over my quonset garage,wondering if the next time we got 60+ mph winds would be when it crashed down onto it..the tree was only supported from falling onto the garage by a thick chain I bolted across two trees on each side it it,and it had cracked when it hit the chain when the last windstorm made it pull out of the ground--all the roots rotted off the trunk..

I figured if I failed at pulling it away and it hit the garage--oh well,it was going to fall on it anyways soon,and I don't have $200 to hand to some "pro" just to drop it on the ground..and soon all the other trees that are now budding would leaf out,and block me from getting a rope on it..plus I wanted my 3/8" logging chain back,it had been up in the crotch of both trees long enough for them to start growing around it--if I didn't get it back now,I never would,unless I cut the trees down..

I used a 5/8" thick arborist rated rope to do the pulling,I scored a long length at least 75 feet long for $10 at the flea market that was lightly used...got it over the tree by tying a metal weight to it and I did not wrap it around the tree or tie any knots,instead I just ran both lengths of the rope back to my truck ,hoping it would pull itself up closer to the top of the tree as I pulled--and it did..the tree had no branches at all left,and a fork and the top end,so the rope was unlikely to just slide off it..tree was devoid of any bark and mushy on the outer layer,but still bone hard in the center..

I had to move my van first,which has sat in front of the garage a long time,and my only "spare" battery wouldn't crank it over--so I used my SS-12 to push it up the driveway,in first gear low range--was surprised how easy it did it too--so was my bug eyed neighbor who was watching!..

Then I tied the rope to the trailer hitch on my truck and took up the slack,backed up a few feet,and got a running start..couldn't really watch behind me,as I had obstacles to avoid hitting (the van & a fence),I heard a loud "WHACK" and I gave it some more throttle,hoping that would pull the tree away enough not to hit or glance off the garage,and it did!--landed perfectly right where I hoped it would,it had broke off at the chain and was still "hinged",but a few more tugs yanked it free..

I had to cut it up in two pieces to move it--the tree was about 10" diameter and very heavy..used my tractor to drag the two lengths out in the back yard,and left the rest of it leaning against the chain,I was too sore I beat to finish the job all in one shot..

When I put my tractor back in the garage,I went to use a long bar under it to scoot it sideways so it wasn't blocking the walk in door..and the tractor slid over a foot nicely..however,the right rear wheel stayed right where it was,and the tractor crashed to the floor!..the tire had chains,and is filled with ballast,and has a wheel weight on it,probably weighs well over 100 lbs..

I spent the next hour fighting to get the rear hub aligned with the axle shaft and key way ,in hopes it would slide back on again..someone greased the snot out of the axle and rear hub bore,and the set screw bolts holding the hub on to the axle shaft had loosened up..I had quite a battle trying to get it back on,but finally succeeded..didn't need that ordeal,on top of all the other bull work I'd done that day..

Yesterday it was 70+ degrees and nice out,so I went about getting the bottom half of the tree down,I used a block & tackle with my tractor pulling on it to lift it off the chain..then I had to climb a ladder and unbolt the chain,and I'm not very good at heights or using ladders,I had to keep taking breaks--finally got the bolts off and the chain passed thru the crotch in the trees using a metal bar (with NO hands near the very top of the ladder!)..and then hooked another long chain to that chain and yanked on it with my tractor,and luckily the chain pulled free--I was afraid I'd end up having to use my truck,and possibly end up harming or pulling those "good" trees down in the process ,I was very pleased it came free and now I have my good chain back!..

I had to cut the remains of the tree in half before my tractor could pull it and manuver it out of where it was--the trunk pulled right out of the ground too,which was a plus..

I'm still sore as ever this morning,had my heart pounding like a pile driver half the night,but I'm glad that is over with and I managed not to get injured or destroy anything in the process..

Don't have a good picture,but this is the tree before I did any removal..
Second photo you can see the chain that "caught" it..

Jere39 · May 7, 2020

Woke up this morning to temps in the 30's, and wanted to get this green Wild Cherry tree on the ground:

I presumed the first cut would open upward, so I notched it on the top and started cutting from the underside. It quickly started pinching, so I pulled out and cut down from the top. The stump/root ball had more influence on the way it went than the angle of the trunk.
(1 minute)

After the first cut, and the obvious non-fall of the rest of the tree, I started walking up the trunk 3x18" chunks at a time.
(about 45 seconds speeded up)

I don't typically have a use for Cherry, especially green wood. I will check about locally for any smokers, or firepit folks who might want some.

Otherwise, I split it let it season, and stack it alongside my birch, which I also have very little use/demand for.

Jere39 · May 8, 2020

After the morning of cutting, I took a lunch, then brought out the line trimmer for the first time this year. Started easily, warmed up nice, and allowed me to trim along my driveway to the farthest point to demonstrate my string was exhausted. So, unintended maintenance task: wind another 32' of line on the spool. Finished up trimming, and set about getting a line up in that Cherry tree to try to pull it down. Made a pretty nice throw on third try and hit the notch I was aiming for. Pulled my static line up to the notch, and for the life of me, I couldn't pull it through. And, for the first time in my life, neither could I pull it back through from the rope side. Something in the crotch had snagged the carabiner I use to clip the static line to the throw bag hoop. It was pinched, and I couldn't flip, pull, curse, or otherwise budge it in either direction. So, I decided I could be as stubborn as any old Cherry tree, and hitched the static line to my x728 and pulled it all down with my only connection being the pinched carabiner/knot up high. My ace videographer got good video of Scout sniffing some bug or something in the lawn. Sorry. But a few after-action shots:

Tree down, all safe:

Once on the ground, I discovered my only casualty: the throw bag ruptured in my attempts to dislodge it, and spilled the led shot:

No worries, I had a standby and spent a little time in the sun room, after the sun had gone down to clear my knots, re-pack my throw line, and tie a new bag on my line, now approximately 6" shorter.

Still good up to a 74'9" high target and back down.

Jere39 · May 9, 2020

Cleaned up the limbing of that Cherry, and finished bucking it. Did not swing an ax:

Anyone interested in some green Cherry wood?

cjet69 · May 16, 2020

Just heard a big crack out in the woods and found a tree that I was going to cut down started the process on its own. Of coarse it had to hang up on a small cedar tree. I started cutting the main stump away for access to the edge that is still holding it. Thats when I noticed some Bees coming out of the rotted out knot hole. If you look close at the 3rd and 4th pic you can see a couple bees. Luckily they are small bumble bees and not aggressive. I think I will wait until tomorrow to see if they move on now that their home is destroyed.

mikeinri · May 16, 2020

That looks dangerous, even without the bees.

Mike

Flaken · May 16, 2020

Had a nice little wind last month. Walked the yard the day after cleaning up the fallen branches and thought that nothing major had happened. Then I happened to look down the creek and saw a large water oak had fallen across the creek. Only minor problem was it is located in the last area to clear and was quite difficult to even get near walking to it. Spent the last month clearing out that last section as I could. When the water oak fell, it bent over a camphor tree of about 7 inches and a mimosa tree of about 14 inches.
Don't have a chainsaw, so I have been using a sawzall with a 12 inch brush blade to cut all the small saplings and trees at or just below ground level as I've done with most of the rest of the property that had been allowed to grow wild over 12 years before I bought it. Cutting those bent over trees was fun with that sawzall. Cut about two inches then wait for the trunk to break, cut a little more and wait. Got some really great loud cracks as I slowly got it cut through.
The first pic is taken from the neighbor's yard showing the area to clear with the water oak in the middle.
Second pic is the water oak across the creek.
Third pic is the base of the water oak with the bent camphor tree. Camphor trees smell like Vick's 44 whether or not you are cutting them. Invasive species here in Florida,

cjet69 · May 16, 2020

cjet69 said:
Just heard a big crack out in the woods and found a tree that I was going to cut down started the process on its own. Of coarse it had to hang up on a small cedar tree. I started cutting the main stump away for access to the edge that is still holding it. Thats when I noticed some Bees coming out of the rotted out knot hole. If you look close at the 3rd and 4th pic you can see a couple bees. Luckily they are small bumble bees and not aggressive. I think I will wait until tomorrow to see if they move on now that their home is destroyed.

View attachment 2457448 View attachment 2457449 View attachment 2457450 View attachment 2457451 View attachment 2457452 View attachment 2457453

Decided to use the Farmall M to pull the Birch tree down. I looked it over and the tree had a dead top that was likely to snap off so I hooked up 30+ feet of chain and a strap and easily snapped the remaining trunk off. You can see the top spear into the ground on the right side of the video.

Jere39 · May 16, 2020

Found another leaner from a recent windy day. This one is well hung, and likely going to stay there for a couple years:

Kind of greening up around here now.

turboaudi80 · Jul 2, 2020

Visiting some friends on the Cape for the 4th. I dropped a couple dead pines and cut them up for camp fire wood.

MS 260 runs through that pine like buddah .

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

c5rulz · Jul 3, 2020

Normally don't cut in the Summer but a golfing buddies son just bought some wooded land for recreation and wanted 8 red pines cut to park a camper in. Can't say 95 degrees is the best working weather. Got the job done and had an entire change of clothing for when finished. The 346XP my favorite go to saw vapor locked once after being set down. Saw was running poorly due to it being so pig rich but I wasn't going to change the Winter tune for this. Checked with a tach and it was running 11,200 RPM vs the normal very conservative tune of 13,500 as this is a ported saw.

PA318Guy · Jul 3, 2020

c5rulz said:
Normally don't cut in the Summer but a golfing buddies son just bought some wooded land for recreation and wanted 8 red pines cut to park a camper in. Can't say 95 degrees is the best working weather. Got the job done and had an entire change of clothing for when finished. The 346XP my favorite go to saw vapor locked once after being set down. Saw was running poorly due to it being so pig rich but I wasn't going to change the Winter tune for this. Checked with a tach and it was running 11,200 RPM vs the normal very conservative tune of 13,500 as this is a ported saw.

Yep very hot out to work in right now! Hopefully you can do something with the red pine!

c5rulz · Jul 7, 2020

PA318Guy said:
Yep very hot out to work in right now! Hopefully you can do something with the red pine!

They were going to take the pine for campfires, I blocked it up into 18" blocks.

I processed about a half cord of red pine from my neighbors trees. In two months it felt like balsa wood. Solid it last week real cheap but it processed real fast with the 4 way wedge. Most went on the burn pile here and is now gone. Pics from a few weeks back. We had two piles the size of 2 car garages.

Jere39 · Jul 15, 2020

A local friend's widow had asked me to cut down some dead trees around her property a couple years ago. I did cut about 6-8 and bucked them. But two trees she wanted down I wouldn't tackle. She finally found pros at the right price to take these two down, and invited me back to watch (and perhaps learn). Here is a triple trunk behind her house, the trunks are aimed 1 at neighbors house, 1 at her pool area, and one most likely could be dropped safely.

The pros intended to climb it and bring it down piece-meal. He got this high and declared the tree unfit for climbing:

Second one was out front, and nestled into the corner of a utility junction with lines along the street, and lines across the street, and even the service line back to her house. Here they could easily get the bucket truck:

I'll load progress reports later today, or this evening. The estimate was for work finished by noon. Good thing the experienced crew on site brought their lunch.

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