Importance of having falling object protection.

[Gary Fowler]

Today I had my B26 TLB out in the woods doing some underbrush remove and pushing up the dead limbs from our last snow storm. I was under a big oak that had several dead limbs break off and I was pushing them into a big pile along with the vines and small scrub stuff growing under the tree. Suddenly a dead limb about 3" diameter by about 10 feet long broke out of the tree and hit squarely on the canopy and slide off one side. Evidently some of the vines had wrapped up that limb and were strong enough to break it off. We had previously removed any thing within 18 feet of the ground with ladder and chain. This one was higher up and too rotting to risk putting a ladder on. There are several more in that tree and a couple of very large ones hanging out over my fence that will eventually fall on the fence if we cant figure out a way to cut them off. One is about 18" in diameter at the tree trunk and way too high for me to feel comfortable working . The old tree is on its last leg that is typical of 100+ year old oaks around here. It is way too big for me to even try with my 18" chainsaw. Its close to 5 feet in diameter and dead limbs fall without warning and without severe weather involved. It is dangerous to work under these old oak trees what with all the rotting limbs coming down.
A FOPS is required equipment when working in this forest with dead pines and dead oaks everywhere.

 

[IndyIan]

Sometimes it might be best just to avoid the big widow makers... I have a few that I don't work around, one was tempting as it was a 2 or 3 cord elm but it was too far gone to risk cutting it 8 years ago. I don't know what you have on top of the B26 but it probably won't help for a 12" branch falling from way up there.
Play safe!

 

[troutsqueezer]

This is one reason why I will keep the B21 until I can no longer drive a tractor.

 

[arrow]

Today I had my B26 TLB out in the woods doing some underbrush remove and pushing up the dead limbs from our last snow storm. I was under a big oak that had several dead limbs break off and I was pushing them into a big pile along with the vines and small scrub stuff growing under the tree. Suddenly a dead limb about 3" diameter by about 10 feet long broke out of the tree and hit squarely on the canopy and slide off one side. Evidently some of the vines had wrapped up that limb and were strong enough to break it off. We had previously removed any thing within 18 feet of the ground with ladder and chain. This one was higher up and too rotting to risk putting a ladder on. There are several more in that tree and a couple of very large ones hanging out over my fence that will eventually fall on the fence if we cant figure out a way to cut them off. One is about 18" in diameter at the tree trunk and way too high for me to feel comfortable working . The old tree is on its last leg that is typical of 100+ year old oaks around here. It is way too big for me to even try with my 18" chainsaw. Its close to 5 feet in diameter and dead limbs fall without warning and without severe weather involved. It is dangerous to work under these old oak trees what with all the rotting limbs coming down.
A FOPS is required equipment when working in this forest with dead pines and dead oaks everywhere.

we'd call these "wolf trees" Too many things in a tree like this can get ya just like a pack of wolves. To me they were the most dangerous things in the forest and I hated dealing with them . Big equipment is needed for trees like this to stay safest. Most of the time we just left them if the stem (many times being 4 and 5 ft in diameter) wasn't at least 12' high. Lumber from them was iffy and there were plenty of other trees for firewood and lumber w/o going through the **** of getting a tree like this on the ground.

 

[TomSeller]

We also called them Widow makers.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Sometimes it might be best just to avoid the big widow makers... I have a few that I don't work around, one was tempting as it was a 2 or 3 cord elm but it was too far gone to risk cutting it 8 years ago. I don't know what you have on top of the B26 but it probably won't help for a 12" branch falling from way up there.
Play safe!

The B26 has a substantial FOPS system on it for operator protection. I don't know about a 12" tree but it has taken a few branches without harm. This little 26 HP at the motor TLB weighs a hefty 4001 pounds so it isn't a typical CUT of that size. Many 26 HP CUT would weigh in the neighbor hood of 1500 like the JD 1026 and others like the Kioti CK27 going a bit more than 3000. I typically stay away from dead trees with heavy limbs etc, but I had to clean up the debris under this tree. I wish I had a JLG lift with about 80 feet of boom and I could trim all the dead stuff of that tree and a couple more huge red oaks that we have. One summer day I was setting on my back porch when I heard a booming sound of something heavy hitting the ground. I got in my RTV900 and drove to the back side of my property which was about 1200 feet from my house and there was a huge limb that had broken out of this other big oak. I had to get a chainsaw to saw it up. Decided to give the wood to my neighbor who uses a wood stove to heat his work shop. There was just a light summer breeze blowing, nothing that would be strong enough to break off a limb. It would have been a tough break if one or more of the cows had been lazing under that tree.

 

[arrow]

The B26 has a substantial FOPS system on it for operator protection. I don't know about a 12" tree but it has taken a few branches without harm. This little 26 HP at the motor TLB weighs a heavy 4001 pounds so it isn't a typical CUT of that size. Many 26 HP CUT would weigh in less than 1500 and none more than 2500. I typically stay away from dead trees with heavy limbs etc, but I had to clean up the debris under this tree. I wish I had a JLG lift with about 80 feet of boom and I could trim all the dead stuff of that tree and a couple more huge red oaks that we have. One summer day I was setting on my back porch when I heard a booming sound of something heavy hitting the ground. I got in my RTV900 and drove to the back side of my property which was about 1200 feet from my house and there was a huge limb that had broken out of this other big oak. I had to get a chainsaw to saw it up. Decided to give the wood to my neighbor who uses a wood stove to heat his work shop. There was just a light summer breeze blowing, nothing that would be strong enough to break off a limb. It would have been a tough break if one or more of the cows had been lazing under that tree.

Any of us venturing into the woods to log with our compacts, put our life in our hands without some type of top protection. I am as guilty as the next guy. I am surprised tractor manufacturers do not offer this type of structure as optional. There are a ton of us using these things to gather firewood from the forest

 

[Ed of all trades]

Be careful when cutting as well. I cut a big dogwood that was in my way years ago, as the tree started to fall I heard a sound that made me think of a baseball bat hitting a watermelon. The next thing i knew I was rolling on the ground with a very sore head and lots of blood. The doc put in only two stiches but I had guessed that half my head was torn off from the blood. There was an oak limb laying in the top of the tree and I learned a hard lesson. I use a hard hat now and think it is a good idea for all.:2cents:

 

[Gary Fowler]

When clearing our fence line of all the trees leaning or with limbs that would die and fall on the fence, almost all of them would hang in other trees and require us to hook a chain to the lower trunk and drag it backward out of the tangle of limbs. I used the B26 push most of them over and uproot them, some I dug out like digging out a stump then pushed them over which worked well as long as they didn't hang up. One rather large one that I had dug all around and push over only fell to about 45 degree angle. The tap root was still in the ground about 2 feet so I couldn't drag it backwards without cutting it off. I recalled folks talking about spring back so I was especially aware of what might happen and it did. I cut about 1/3 in from the bottom and then cut it from the top and sure enough the stump sprang back upright when the cut was completed. I dragged the tree back till it came to ground then hooked on the the remaining 3 feet of stump to pull it out. We have about 1/8 mile of fence line to clear out and then have to find another project.
Man was I stiff from lack of exercise when we first started this project. Having laid up like a fat dog for the last couple months without any real exercise is not good for us old folks especially those like me with pretty bad arthritis. Constant work keeps the joints free, at least less stiff, than just moping around the house type movement. And like the cartoon said, "Pulling the handle on the recliner doesn't count as exercise"

 

[knotweed]

My brother died 2 years ago in East Texas mowing his front yard. A 3' diameter limb up about 25 feet broke off just when he was passing under riding a zero turn and it broke his neck.
Sure miss him.