FARM JACK FOR TREE PUSHER

[Treemonkey1000]

keeptryn pictures would be cool. Just one word of caution when you are pushing them over watch your hinge cut. If you are pushing and your hinge is weaker on one side the tree will rotate possibly if you aren't pushing dead center of mass. The weight of branches will affect your center of mass (gravity) Yes always be aware of widow maker branches and dead tops. You will be quicker pushing them over versus setting a rope or cable to pull them. Keep a few wedges near by or in the back cut just in case...

 

[jimmyj]

I dunno - I'm sticking with cables and a snatch block.

 

[jd2305cd]

Rope or Jack both work great..

All the jack is doing is acting as a wedge to guide it in the right direction.. Both are safe if done properly..

 

[Reg]

The design mentioned by the OP is a dead trap.

the jack will only put tension as long as the tree is standing. If the tree moves half an inch the tension is off and the tree is free.
Opposite to pulling over a tree where you keep the tension for a much longer time and angle. So less chance of the three to come back.

With the OP design a breeze can break the grab of the jack on the tree or ground with all possible results as trees coming over backwards.


A tree jack as the Silveys are completely something different. If you lift inside the tree the 1 inch movement of the jack makes a hughe sweep at the top of the tree giving enough overweight to top it over. (the pumps in the jacks are really low volume so you lift only a fraction of an inch with every pump and so giving you a more steady controlled push on the tree)



edit:

my 2cents: buy 3 wedges and wedge them over. if you go steady you'll find you can direct the tree by playing with the 2 outer wedges.

Honnestly: If you are in the size of wood where the jacks come in handy you would not post here but have the skills and training to wedge or jack trees that big. The jacks had succes in replacing labour (not having to pound on a dozen of wedges for 1 hour, 5 times per day)

If you have kids, buy a rope 4 times the length of your highest tree and have them pull over the tree. That way you always know where they are while you are cutting AND know for sure they are out of the danger zone. Make them feel involved and important and tell them the truth when they are 20, it will make for a big laugh. (thats what my father did).

Agree with the thought about not needing to ask here if you are working with that size timber.
If you are a casual tree cutter just don't mess with BIG trees.
Yes, a puff can relax a tension/compression and some devices will then drop out of tension/compression, when the puff drops the tree goes backwards.

That said, Bailey's used to carry the Silvey jacks, maybe still does.
For smaller scale stuff and occasional use a toe jack can work for moderately large trees.
If you don't mind lugging the weight of a steel jack around you can get almost Silvey performance for a lot less ca$h and they don't need such a large jack cavity.

Yes, wedging with several wedges allows the same sort of directional adjustment as felling with an axe.
You don't just hack out chips, it is a very controlled cutting of the RIGHT fibers that are in tension that determines which way the tree goes.
Albeit at the cost of some physical effort (-:

 

[bassgrinder]

I am with tat on this. I have felled enough trees during my time as a logger to have won a bet that I could finish driving a stake in the ground, placed a distance equal to half the height of a tree in any direction the other guy chose, with the All I needed was my 670 Super with its 24 bar, a couple of wedges, and my axe. All anyone else needs to add is a good workable understanding of basic felling principles and of how the hinge works to control the tree. I sure most could do this since where I grew up guys that dropped from HS in 9th grade have become masters in just days. Of course a good set of cast iron cajones is also very helpful.
W

 

[smiley]

I am not a logger and dont live in an area of to much big timber but i have had to clean up after a few storms including a few ice storms. One thing I think people do not realize is the amount of weight your are dealing with when cutting trees.

A few years ago we had a bad windstorm that uprooted and flattened a number of 50-60 ft poplars behind my house. We decided to cut them into saw logs and firewood the tops. I cut a few off 2-3 ft above the base limbed and skidded them out. I never gave it a thought but when I cut the next one off, the root ball slammed back into it's hole with a groundshaking thud. No damage done but about a week later, someone not too far from me did the same thing but tragically one of his children was playing in the hole. So remember in tree cutting or cleanup work, keep everybody clear of everything. I loved logging, but it was the most dangerous thing I ever did because of the uncontrollable factors. Like they told me, you rarely meet a logger without scars or a limp.
Smiley

 

[MESSMAKER]

It is a little off topic but is still on of the coolest things I have seen. I was on a trip to my friends cabin in a pretty remote spot. He got his truck stuck and we were by ourselves. He said " No problem, I got this". He pulls out a big rope and a chain. He put the chain around a large tree behind the truck. He then picked a medium sized tree that was on the edge of a bank and tied off the rope as high as he could get. He threaded the rope back to the truck, leaving a little slack. He cut the tree and it jerked the truck free like it was nothing.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

It is a little off topic but is still on of the coolest things I have seen. I was on a trip to my friends cabin in a pretty remote spot. He got his truck stuck and we were by ourselves. He said " No problem, I got this". He pulls out a big rope and a chain. He put the chain around a large tree behind the truck. He then picked a medium sized tree that was on the edge of a bank and tied off the rope as high as he could get. He threaded the rope back to the truck, leaving a little slack. He cut the tree and it jerked the truck free like it was nothing.

Wouldn't take long to clear out a stand of tree's if people kept getting stuck out in the hills using that method. Not to mention the chance of the rope snapping and hurting someone or the tree being spun around and hitting someone or something...