Best Way To Remove This Tree

[JasonL]

I agree completely with Eddie on this one. I have taken down larger trees than that with my smaller tractor and BH. Since stump removal is required in this instance why waste the leverage the tree gives in helping to remove it? Also, I think you have more control over the tree at ALL times using his method. There is nothing worse than having a tree cut off at the bottom, but standing nearly vertical stuck in nearby trees. As with any job, think twice before acting and be safe! Jason

 

[kmdigital]

Do like Eddie says. You might have to cut the tree up some once it's on the ground to be able to move it with the tractor, especially if the root ball is pretty big. But that's the easy part.

I dug out a black walnut that was about twice that big, and it took a lot of digging, I couldn't push it over until I had a big trench about 3' deep all the way around it, and it still went hard. Then I couldn't even budge the dumb thing with my Kubota L4150 until I cut off the stump with about 4' of trunk on it, and then I had to roll the root ball out of the hole with the chain before I could drag it away. Trees are a lot like those anti-tip kids drinking cups that are weighted on the bottom.

 

[tractorlogger]

Get someone who knows how to fell a tree to cut it down for you...

Dont go around a tree pushing with a tractor and FEL etc. I know one fellow who tried that and the tree came down and pinned him on the machine....

He doesnt do that anymore due to 6 feet of ground on top of him...

You have no where to go when you are sitting on a machine and things start to fall from above....

If he cuts it and it hangs up, just pull it down the rest of the way with a long
chain..

We work in the woods everyday and never do what a lot of people are telling you to do here...

Tear the stump and roots out after the tree is felled...

 

[Deerlope]

Look at the tree down the road on the right side. It must go! The stump must also be removed so I can straighten out the road.

The trouble is, I don't know how to remove it. What's the best way to remove it?

Please don't tell me to climb up this tree and cut the trunk down piece by piece using a chainsaw! I'm too much of a chicken to do such a thing. In fact, I'm too chicken to cut down a tree this size while standing on the ground.

TBNers, I need your help.

Obed

If I could get rid of that little tree I would get rid of all my toys and stay in the house with the women. Notch the tree the way that it is leaning and cut. Drag is away with the JD.

 

[EddieWalker]

There seems to be two camps here. Those who like chainsaws and those who like backhoes. I've done both and the chainsaw way scares me.

I've heard all sorts of stories of injury or damage from a tree that's cut down with a chainsaw. The best and most experienced people with a chainsaw will all have stories of close calls, injuries or of those who died from cutting down a tree this way.

I'm sure there are the same stories of those who take out a tree with a backhoe, but as of yet, I haven't heard a single one. It would take dozens and dozens of stories to just equal all the ones I've heard about cutting down trees with a chainsaw.

I would ask those who recomend using the chainsaw to take down the tree as the better way, Have you ever taken out a tree with a backhoe, or seen it done?

I wouldn't do it myself and would never recomend it if I thought it wasn't safe. You have more control of the tree with the hoe stick than you do with a cable tied to a truck or tractor. I can put a tree down exactly where i want it. I can steer it on it's way down and have even changed directions of trees to get the lined up easier to cut up and burn.

If he dug a ten foot pit all the way around the tree, it won't fall over. He will have to use the power of his hydraulics on his backhoe to push it over. Nobody should try to push a tree over by driving up to it and pushing with the power of the tractors tires. This would never work. But with the hoestick, it's a very simple thing to accomplish.

As for cutting down the tree with a chainsaw, then digging out the stump with the backhoe. My question is why? This makes no sense to me at all. Take it all out at once in a very little time and be done with it. A stup that is still part of the tree comes out real easy because the weight and leverage of the tree does most of the work. Leave that stump in the ground, and you will have a big job gettng it out, after you've alread had a big job cutting down the tree. Don't turn one simple job into a dangerous job cuttin git down with the chainsaw, and then a dificult one digging out the stump.

Good luck,
Eddie

 

[SPYDERLK]

Eddie, I agree about the danger of felling a tree with a chainsaw - especially in the woods. I am curious tho, why you say pushing with the tires would never work, whereas with the hydraulics would. It seems I can push much harder with my traction than I can with my hydraulics. For a sound tree that size I would probably just drive up and push it down with the loader on the Mahindra - then lift on the stump for extra traction and push it free. I dont think any digging would be neccessary. Were the tree much larger tho, I would probably have to weaken its grip with the BH. Im just undecided whether it would be better to then push it down with the FEL or the BH. Is the issue more control and reach, thereby safety?
Larry

 

[JHTFarmer]

Why fell that tree? That windy road has some character.
Why not use the BB to move the road slightly away from the tree and widen the curve down below?

 

[Renze]

I dont have a backhoe, nor stump grinder.

2 years ago i cleared a couple of oaks that had their roots sticking out of the ground, they dulled my mower blades and broke tines on the rake so at least the roots had to go.

I chopped off two 5" roots with an axe, then hooked the chain on them and pulled them out very easy, over a length of about 3 yards before they got so thin that the ends snapped.

Because i removed 2 fairly big roots i was afraid that someday it might fall on my new fence along the wood during a storm. To test the tree, I backed the tractor up into the fencerow and hit it slowly with the grill guard. it started waving its crown way more than i expected, so i decided that the whole tree had to go.
I intermittently pushed to get the tree to wave stronger, and then pushed on from the dead point of the wave onwards, and pushed the tree over while most of the roots broke during the fall.
Then we chopped the trunk about 4 meter above the root ball, dragged the crown away to a spot where my neighbor sawed it to pieces, while i kept working on the root ball.

That was a 15" oak, and it was turned into firewood, gone with roots and all within 3 hours.

If you chop off the roots and pull them out one by one, you will have the least work with it afterwards, backfilling the spot when the roots decompose.

 

[Renze]

Oh, and about climbing into the tree with a chain saw: I dont think you're too much of a chicken to do that, i'd sa it is the most stupid thing to do: You are too responsible for your own life and health to do such thing

I've heard of a guy climbing up into a tree to chop some of the lower branches, while his wife walked under the tree to take care of the limbs. The guy fell and killed his wife with the chain saw when he fell on top of her.

If you do need to go up into the tree to take it down, tie yourself up to the tree with a rope under your arms so you can hang in there keeping both your hands free: one to hold the (hand) saw, the other to defend yourself from the limbs that might come your way.

Some people think they'll drop the saw when they need both hands to defend against a limb turning away towards them during the fall, but they WONT !!

In an emergency situation you simply dont drop something that's in your hands but hold it, it's a natural reflex and before your brain overruled that reflex you're already on the ground with broken bones.

 

[Egon]

The size of the equipment used must be factored in. There can be cases of the tail wagging the dog with ease. Also there are times when shaking a tree may result in a dead limb shower.

There could be more than two ways to approach this problem!

Me, I've no backhoe, a very small tractor and a nice chainsaw. I'd go with the saw.

If you do need to go up into the tree to take it down, tie yourself up to the tree with a rope under your arms so you can hang in there

Yeah !!!