Cutting Down a Forked Tree

[JD5210]

I have a maple tree that is forked and needs to be cut down. My plan is to put the hinge on the left piece (see picture), make a plunge cut 1.5 inches behind the hinge and work towards the right, leaving myself a back strap. Then put wedges on both sides, then cut the back strap. My concern is as the tree begins to fall the left piece separates from the right. Leaving the right piece to go somewhere.

Do you think they will come apart? Would it help insure this does not happen if I use a repealing rope and wrap the two forks together just above where they fork apart? I could also use a logging chain to wrap them together?

I have successfully cut a lot of trees over the years, but never a forked tree.

Thanks in advance for any help on this.

 

[Industrial Toys]

I think I would cut them seperately. But I can't judge the height, I would have to work at from the picture. I like to have a firm footing when cutting.

 

[Sawyer Rob]

Not long ago we took one down that had THREE tree's coming out of a large trunk. We notched them one at a time and took them out separately.

From your pict. I don't see where anything spl. has to happen, notch the one on the left, and cut it out as you would a single tree.

SR

 

[TractorGuy]

If you can notch and fall the leaning side in a clearing you should be able to direct the straight half better. That would be my approach.

 

[sandman2234]

I agree, from the picture, cutting the left side and dropping it, cleaning up the mess and then drop either the last part, or split that one also. What we can't see may be the issue? While tying the two tree's together might work, I would not suggest it because you will have a variable that you can't control with the loose tree hanging onto one you still have to cut. It might be ok to cut the whole tree at once, also.
David from jax

 

[radios1]

I'd cut it as one tree, so the branch on the left don't hit your fence.. a tree will always fall on it's leaning, or heaviest side, you'd have to pull it down with a rope and truck/tractor to make it fall any other way..

 

[Diggin It]

I see a wee hunk of barbed wire fence. I'd snip that open, hack the left side off, fix the fence and leave the right side standing.

 

[radios1]

I see a wee hunk of barbed wire fence. I'd snip that open, hack the left side off, fix the fence and leave the right side standing.

how could you get a saw between the two halves?. because that half will fall in the direction it is leaning, which means you can make the notch on the side it's leaning to, but cannot cut on the other side because the other half of the tree is in the way!.. if you try to cut through on the leaning side, the saw will bind!.. of course, if he has a boom lift, he can cut from the top down in small sections..

 

[Captain Dirty]

I have a maple tree that is forked and needs to be cut down. My concern is as the tree begins to fall the left piece separates from the right. Leaving the right piece to go somewhere. Do you think they will come apart?

Yes.

From what I see in the picture I think you have two trees. I would guess that many years ago 2 sprouts emerged from a cut stump and over the years grew against one another; the "joining" between the two parts from the fork to the ground is not to be trusted. I would notch the left limb above the fork making a wide (>60ｰ) notch so the hinge will control the fall almost to the ground. So much of the limb's weight is to the left that wedges ought not to be necessary. If making the back cut above the fork is working above chest height I would make a platform of pallets with a plywood deck, and if the platform were so high I wouldn't want to step to the ground, I would make an additional, lower platform in the direction of my escape route.

After the leaning limb is taken care of I would fell the straighter tree to the right.

 

[Jstpssng]

You generally can get a tree to fall up to 90 degrees from the lean, through proper notching and felling. With the trees pictured above unless there's something which the left hand tree will hit he could even notch high and fell it, then deal with the other tree afterwards.