Best Way To Remove This Tree

[wushaw]

Eddie, I know of one kind of dead rotten tree that is safe enough to use a chainsaw on...Osage orange/Bodark...I cut one down several years ago, it didn't have any branches on it to speak of...only difference between it and a live one was the lack of sap getting all over the saw.

 

[Obed]

I have gotten lots of great suggestions from the helpful people here. I'm planning on using the backhoe method that EddieWalker suggested to remove the tree. Here's a picture of the tree (from Eddie's "Creating an Entrance" thread) that Eddie knocked over with his backhoe. Eddie's tree. If Eddie's backhoe can knock this thing over, then my backhoe should be able to knock over the tree in my road.

While several people suggested the chainsaw route, I really want to play with my backhoe and see what it will do.
Obed

 

[Obed]

For some practice on taking down a tree, I chose small tree on the side of my road that is preventing me from creating a proper ditch. This tree was about 30 feet high but not very big around. It has a double trunk. I placed a glove in front of the tree for a perspective on size. If you look down the road in the background on the right side you can see the bigger tree that is the main subject of this post.

 

[Obed]

Here are some pictures of digging the trench on the side of the tree to which the tree will fall.

 

[Obed]

Here's the first trench completed. I dug as close to the root ball as I could. The roots on this little tree weren't too big so I was able to dig very close to the trunk.

 

[Obed]

I repositioned the backhoe to dig the trench on the other side of the tree. Although this tree is small, the roots were still tough enough that I had to be careful or I would drag my tractor toward the tree by taking too agressive of bites.

 

[Obed]

Here are pictures of the two completed trenches. It is important to note that I dig not dig entirely around the tree. Using Eddie's method as I understand it leaves roots in the ground on either side of the tree. These roots act as hinges when you push the tree over. I was amazed at the control with which the tree fell using the remaining roots acting as guides.

 

[Obed]

Here is the tractor positioned before pushing the tree over with the backhoe.

 

[Obed]

Here's the backhoe pushing on the tree. It takes a little experimenting to find the sweet spot that is just the right place to push.

 

[Obed]

Once I had started pushing on the tree I realized that I was pushing it parallel to the road. I wanted the tree to fall in the road, not beside it. Thus I decided to stop pushing and reposition the tractor a little to get a slightly different angle. However, as soon as I removed the force of the bucket on the tree, the tree fell right over beside the road instead of into the road.