How would you guys drop this tree?

[dave1949]

It might help to clean that heavy bark off for a couple feet before starting so you have a better view of the wood, or not wood . It looks fairly loose.

 

[Deere Dude]

I felled a bunch of trees by pulling with the truck or tractor but when a tree is still to strong for that and is leaning toward something I use a different approach. I climb up maybe 15' or so and wrap a log chain around. I hook two long cables or wire ropes to this and run them out farther than the tree is high and hook to other tree bases maybe 15' apart from each otherwith heavy come-alongs. I notch somewhat, and then I crank one come-along until I can't move it any more, then go to the next. I alternate until both are as tight as I can get them. I have had a 60' 14" diameter tree leaning one way 8 feet at the top move to 6' or so the other way.

Then I go to the back of the tree and start cutting a little at a time. Cut a little and step back and listen to it, and repeat until it drops.

 

[s219]

Problem with a tree like that is that there isn't consistent enough holding wood for a predictable drop -- no way to get a reliable notch or hinge. I guess I'd spend a lot of time trying to determine if there's enough wood for a notch in a falling direction that would work, and go from there. If not, I'd probably put a rope on it as high as you can, take up the slack, and then bore it out carefully so that it goes over in the direction of the rope when tensioned. So instead of creating a notch and then back cut, you're pretty much just doing a back cut to relieve tension fibers. But this is all conjecture -- I'd really want to examine that tree on site to really recommend an approach.

Last time I did a tree that was a little worse than that, I pulled it over mainly with rope/tractor. I used very minimal sawing to nibble away at tension fibers at the back of the tree, gave a pull with tractor, then slackened the rope, nibbled a little more with the saw, then gave a pull, etc, until the tree went over. If I recall right, it took about three "iterations" of this procedure until the tractor could pull it over. I wouldn't have wanted to cut too much since it could have caused the tree to rotate or fall over in an unknown direction by itself. So I basically kept nibbling at the back fibers until just enough had been cut that the tractor could pull it over, but not so much that the tree rotated/fell by itself.

 

[amaxwell]

Could you use a pole saw to cut this tree? I have a 12 bar on mine ,and it looks like there is less to cut thru than that, at any point. That way I could be 12 to 16 feet away from the tree if it decided to do something strange.

 

[s219]

Could you use a pole saw to cut this tree? I have a 12 bar on mine ,and it looks like there is less to cut thru than that, at any point. That way I could be 12 to 16 feet away from the tree if it decided to do something strange.

Heh, 12-16 feet barely even qualifies as a head start when it comes to trees!

 

[bcp]

Cut from a safe distance and annoy the neighbors at the same time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c02WxTG9Xus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dyOEn0rOjzQ

And this will REALLY annoy them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QC8jnSaCqxY

Bruce

 

[gladehound]

If the tree is so rotted that cutting isn't safe, I suggest you put a rope high up on it (you could use a pole to get the rope up if it's unsafe to climb) and pull it with whatever you can get up there (come along, tractor etc.). I've only had two large trees that were too far gone to cut. One was a 3 foot diameter oak. I put a line up it and pulled it over with an F-250 (yes, it was that far gone). The other was a 4 foot diameter leaner. It already was leaning over about 30 degrees from vertical. Since in this latter situation, there were no branches above me and the direction of fall was certain due to the severe lean, I just cut about 2 inches into it on the back side (back cut, no front cut). And it started snapping. I just backed away and waited until it was down. That one only had 2-3 inches of wood all the way around. The entire inside was hollow. Since your tree is strait, I suggest using the pull method. One trick I've found helpful is to use a very elastic rope so that it continues to pull like a rubber band once the tree starts to go. This helps it go the direction you want. You can also put two more ropes at 90 degrees in each direction from the pull rope. These should go from high on the tree to the ground (the base of near by trees or some anchor point). The use of three ropes (pull rope and stabilizer on each side) will keep it going where you want. If you pull and it doesn't move, it is sturdy enough to make a cut. release some pressure on the pull rope and make a back cut then try pulling it over again. It will eventually go. Often with questionable trees I try to pull or push them over with the tractor and if they don't go over easily at least I have some assurance that they aren't going to buckle as soon as I touch them with the saw.

 

[tcreeley]

Just wait, it will come down on its own!

 

[Ed of all trades]

I would cut it without making a plunge cut on the back side. That way you get a larger hinge. I do like to make a plunge cut before I start the main cut but have cut many trees without it.

 

[Egon]

Okay, time for a new approach.

Make a metal charcoal holder such that the briquettes will stack on the side of the tree. Light it and let the heat flame burn out one side of the tree. Different but it should work.