Rope suggestions and help

[newbury]

This is probably the strangest question ever posted on there, but here goes. I need a rope. One that I can tie up on a tree before I cut it to help pull it in the direction I want it to go. By fastening it to the draw bar and putting some tension on it. So what kind of material should the rope be made of, nylon, polypropelene, etc, etc. And another thing, what size diameter should it be for this application? 1/2" or 5/8" or 3/4" ??? I'm thinking about 150' should do it. Any suggestions. RRM

Like others wrote - How big is the tree?
Writing

I'm thinking about 150' should do it.

makes me think the tree is BIG and TALL.
If you can climb and chainsaw safely I'd strongly advise pruning heavily, even if it has a clear fall area all around. Prune only on the side opposite the preferred fall direction, so it "wants to" fall on the heavy side.
Give us a picture of the tree and we will give more advice, but if you need 150' of rope we are just guessing how much you are trying to pull. Also how much pulling force can you put on it? Can you use a little more rope and fasten a pulley so you are well out of the direction of fall?

 

[CobyRupert]

...and keep in mind that the elasticity of cable or rope when it snaps. It can come back at you and take your head off. That's why pulling with a snatch block has advantages (so does using a skidding winch with a protective cage).

 

[bcp]

I like stretchy rope to encourage a tree, but usually use a hand winch, not a vehicle, to apply tension. A no-stretch steel cable quits pulling as soon as the tree moves. A stretchy rope continues pulling for a few feet.

Bruce

 

[tcreeley]

I pulled on a birch that was leaning over the house by the electric line. I went part way through, then pulled it to get the lean correct- then cut through. At one point my front end on the tractor started to leave the ground. I was in 4 wheel drive. I backed off. I didn't want to check if the rops was solid!
Good luck. I had a 100 ft of 3/4 nylon that I was using.

 

[MossRoad]

About 20 years ago my in-laws were trying to direct a tree with a rope tied high in the tree and to the back of their pickup truck. As the tree started to fall, it pulled the rope so tight it snapped and flew back into my mother-in-law's leg. She dropped like a sack of wet cement and stayed down for several days with deep bruising in her leg. Lucky it didn't hit higher up on her body. So, lessons to consider. Think it out before doing it.

 

[dmccarty]

By design, some rope stretches and some does not. I won't use rope to pull down anything. I use either chains and/or wire cable attached to a come along. The come along is nice and slow so I can see how things are going AND I can feel what is happening. I tried to help a neighbor pull out a log with my tractor using climbing rope. I told him that rope was designed to stretch if the climber fell and it was not likely to work but I would go get some chains. He insisted on using the rope which did not work.

I might be paranoid but when I was a kid, I saw two guys cut down huge pine tree in a pine stand next to a trailer. They hooked up a cheap rope to the back of a truck, cut the tree a bit and started driving the truck. I told my dad this was not a good idea since if the rope was not long enough someone was going to die. One of the stupidest things I have seen and I have some seen some really dumb a...ssed stunts. Luckily the rope was long enough but just barely so. These guys might have inspired Dumb and Dumber.

Later,
Dan

 

[Rat Rod Mac]

This is not a one tree deal. The Emerald Ash Borer is coming through and I have a lot of ash that is going to die and I want to keep ahead of it for firewood. The trees are not that big maybe the largest is a foot in diameter, but sometimes they are leaning the wrong way and you want to redirect them a tad. The snatch block sounds good and the guy with the idea of the rope stretching a bit to stay tight as the tree starts to fall sounds like a good idea. Not trying to set the world on fire or take any chances, but sometimes you need to put a little tension on the tree. RRM

 

[Xfaxman]

I don't use a rope or a chainsaw, just push them over with the V417 :thumbsup:.

This is a dead oak that was 40' tall, 17.5' diameter, 3' from the ground. Put the stump bucket on the trunk about ten feet up and slowly extended the boom. the roots broke on the west side.


Extended the boom all the way, while curling the stump bucket down.
The top of the tree was on the ground, the rest of the roots did not break.


Went to the south side, lifted pulling some roots loose.


Went to the north side, pulled it up.


Picked it up later with the grapple and put it on a brush pile north of the fence.

 

[MossRoad]

That was one rotten stump waiting to kill someone. That's the funny thing about big oaks... you never know if they're solid or rotten. Anytime I see that hollow fairy hole at the bottom there's a pretty good chance the thing is hollow and full of carpenter ants several feet up. When I was a kid, we lived on a little over an acre with close to 60 large oaks. Every year it seemed one or two would come crashing down in a thunderstorm. Used to scare the bajeebers out of me!!! :shocked: I vowed that when I was old enough to own my own home I'd never have a tree large enough to crush my house anywhere near it. In my current woods, there are several dozen large cherries that are also widow makers. I stay away from them and am happy anytime a storm takes one down.

 

[Xfaxman]

That was one rotten stump waiting to kill someone. That's the funny thing about big oaks... you never know if they're solid or rotten. Anytime I see that hollow fairy hole at the bottom there's a pretty good chance the thing is hollow and full of carpenter ants several feet up. ---------------

This one hadn't been dead very long. Had the fairy hole, but wasn't rotten or hollow yet.


There is one across the driveway that is hollow. all the big limbs have fallen off. But honey bees are using it, so I will let nature take care of it.