How to cut a large tree trunk?

[Buty]

I had a very large oak tree fall on my property this summer. I cleaned up most of the big limbs and brush but now I'm down to the trunk which is about 55 inches in diameter. I have only a 20 inch chainsaw and am wondering how I could go about cutting this. The whole tree is hanging about 5 feet off the ground held up by its root ball only. I just would like to lay it on the ground somehow since it is in my woods, it's not necessary to remove the whole trunk I would just like to get it on the ground to rot quicker. Any suggestions on how I could cut this without hiring someone?

 

[nikdfish]

Cut wide wedges on front and rear sides as deep as your bar permits? 12" deep on either side should let you get the power head in another 6" or so. Not a subject area expert but I've done something similar on a somewhat smaller scale. I used the tractor to crack the final bit rather than cut til it dropped (big enough to make me nervous to be too close when it broke free from the root ball).

Nick

 

[Gator6x4]

Careful that is a death trap you are working around. I presume a large portion of the tree is still attached to to uprooted stump. If you cut close to the stump it will set back into to hole.

 

[LastSTRAW]

If it is oak and you are just going to let it rot you might be able to let someone else cut it and take the wood. It might even put a few bucks in your pocket.

Good Luck

 

[Grandad4]

Careful that is a death trap you are working around. I presume a large portion of the tree is still attached to to uprooted stump. If you cut close to the stump it will set back into to hole.

Good advice! When the trunk is cut from the stump, the stump will likely fall back into its hole and the rest of the tree, now hanging 5 feet in the air may roll or shift as it drops to the ground. I don't want to be standing on the tree, on a ladder near the tree or on the ground next to it, cutting with the saw, when that lets loose. And limbing out the top of the tree first might make the stump cut somewhat safer, but each of the upper cuts could be equally dangerous. I've cut lots of trees but my instinct would be to let the pro's handle something like this.

 

[newbury]

Agree - if you don't have a plenty of experience and equipment just fence it off and let nature take it's course. Carve on it, take pictures, show it to the children.

The tree may be dead but until it's rotted down it all wants to respond to gravity in it's own way.

 

[dave1949]

Rent a large saw?

Get a ripping cut chain for your saw, cut through the end of the trunk length-ways ~20" deep. Make three or four parallel cuts across the 55" diameter. Put your regular chain on and cut across the trunk intersecting the previous parallel length-ways cuts. You should be able to cut off 16" of length with a couple inches of clearance for the side of the saw casing.

Do be careful as others said. No kids or pets around. Flopping roots have killed.

 

[Egon]

Axe would work.

 

[Jeembawb]

Come on - where's the photos? we can't be desktop arborists if we can't see what the job is

You need to be quite safely competant with a chainsaw and be able to look at the fallen (or otherwise) tree or log and have a pretty reasonable guess at the weight distribution and the direction of the forces at all the points (and be smart enough to know that with trees you may still get it wrong - so be on your toes with nothing around to hinder you jumping out of the way real quick). Even when you are good at this, stuff goes wrong (usually with dead or fallen trees, or complancey and tiredness).

Post a pic though - we can draw lines here and there - say cut here and there - but be very very carefull. You may consider chocking the log either side of the cut line (leaving plenty of room for contingencies) with logs or such with a saddle notch to stop the log rolling off and make sure you have another chainsaw handy to cut out the one that gets stuck. I always take two saws everywhere in case (but always try not to get a saw jammed cause thats a bit embarrasing) - nothing worse than a tree that is almost ready to come down and you have to go off for another saw and the tree could blow down on something / someone while you are away.

You have life insurance??

 

[Buty]

Thanks for all the great advise guys. I will post pics later this morning. Yes, it is a death trap and to boot, it is located on a slope.

 

[Buty]

Axe would work.

Yes it would.

 

[mikehaugen]

Axe would work.

...or this

 

[newbury]

And remember a tree spends most of it's life reacting to gravity and wind in an upright position. This causes stresses and twists in the wood which are not immediately released when it lays down. I've seen sections 20" in diameter open up and split themselves when cross cutting them.

 

[Gary Fowler]

There is a big oak that died from the drought that my brother in law wanted to cut. It looks to be more than 4 feet across at the bottom. After looking at it, I decided that it is best to just let it stand where it is till it falls naturally. I don't have a saw large enough to cut thru even cutting from all sides. Nature will take it down eventually. The tree you have will rot even in the air. If it isn't in the way, just leave it be. You might remove some dirt from the root ball and fill in the root ball hole a bit if you have the equipment to do that. Even de-limbing it is dangerous as it can come down on you unexpectedly. I have cut up 3 large oaks this year due to storm damage. I de-limbed the sides leaving the stuff on bottom holding up the tree, then just use my LS P7010 to pull the whole tree over so it is laying flat on the ground. Without having the large tractor, I would have just left them in the air.
Whatever you do, don't do any cutting while standing on the tree, if will eventually overcome gravity and flip back upright. If you are standing on it when this happens, most likely you will be damaged or killed. I had an uncle killed doing exactly that when the tree sprang up and tossed him off.

 

[Buty]

Thanks again for all the replies guys. I will take this very seriously if I do decide to try to cut this. Right now you guys have me leaning towards leaving it as is. If I do, since it now has lots of sunlight, there should be many weeds popping up this summer that will hide this from view. That's probably the biggest issue at this point since it's so dangerous to try to handle.

 

[oosik]

Hmmm - 55" on the butt and on a hillside/slope. Unless you are an expert lumberjack - leave it be and let nature have it. I can look out my kitchen window and see just about the same thing. A hugh pine; rotten at the base, fell in my yard and is still standing on its limbs. I know from experience the amount of tension & torque in those limbs can kill in an instant. I have the equipment to take it all the way down. Fortunately, I also have the experience to know that unless it was posing an immediate safety hazard, just let it be - nature will take care of it. I've seen how fast a large tree can spin/roll when you start cutting on it and its certainly not something anybody I know could avoid. Mellow out and learn to love it where it is right now.

If you look very carefully at my avatar you can see the upper portion of the giant pine off the left hand side of the tractor. Its lying there about 100' behind the tractor.

 

[ENC]

Another possible option if you want it out of your way is fire. Start a bonfire at one end. Invite the friends and neighbors for a weenie roast. It might burn for a few days but after a few hour it should be more than manageable with minimum oversight.

 

[bcp]

Sounds like a good project for something like this

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ydraulic-chainsaw-off-your-2.html#post3338026






http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=214889



Bruce

 

[Jeembawb]

Sounds like a good project for something like this

http://www.tractorbynet.com/forums/...ydraulic-chainsaw-off-your-2.html#post3338026

View attachment 339860





http://www.mytractorforum.com/showthread.php?t=214889

View attachment 339861

Bruce

Now I thought I was being greedy having 9 chainsaws (I sold a couple too) - but I got to get me one o them mustang saws :licking:

P.S. With the slope and all - I am leaning towards fire too - but I really couldn't say without seeing the pictures

 

[radioman]

huh. Hard to believe no one suggested cutting further up the trunk. Find that sweet spot the chainsaw can reach through on both sides and start from there. Most trees appears to be narrower going up the trunk. When you cut off what you can that will reach , then just cut the next section firewood size.whatever you cant reach can be dealt with using a wedge to split off the cut section off the tree. whats left is access for the saw. repeat further down the trunk. Hey! I didnt say it was easy . Just another option. I know some people is willing to use the saw to cut off the wood instead of using splitting wedges :ashamed: .