How to remove dead tree?

[smfcpacfp]

I was removing trees this week.

Personally, I wouldn't bother to remove the stump unless you have a specific reason for doing so (like tilling the land). I cut the trees to the ground level and then had the stumps ground down a foot or so. It took about an hour and a half to grind 15 stumps. I shudder to think of how long it would have taken to remove them with my 30 HP tractor.

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I have to agree with the other post about not being a great idea to slam or push the tree's if they are dead. I just had a friend of mine from my High School days killed a couple of weeks ago. He was cutting a dead tree and the top snapped off and killed him. The same can happen with your tractor. Widow maker branches and tops are hard to predict and sitting on the tractor you can't get out of the way fast enough.. if you want to use your tractor then maybe put a cable or very strong rope as high up as you can. Take the rope out to the direction you want to drop it. Go through a pulley and then off 90 degrees or so to pull from. Put a small face cut into the falling direction with a chainsaw. Then a back cut on the tree part of the way through. Get away from the tree and give it a pull with the tractor to see if it comes over. Don't stand near the tree as it can barber chair and kill or maim you just as much as widow makers.

 

[TheGoose]

There was a surgeon here in Texas who tried to knock down a tree on his tractor. Long story short, the tree fell on him, pinned him down and crushed his spine. Now he's paralyzed from the waist down and is limited in what surgery he can perform. Before the incident, he was a world class heart surgeon in the Texas Medical Center.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I would be really cautious with a dead tree pushing on it even gently if it was long time dead. I would just saw it down within an inch of the ground and put some stump rot on it and let it rot out. Live trees can get you also. A few weeks ago, I was pushing over some 4-6" pines that were too close together for proper growth and sweet gum saplings by raising my FEL up high and pushing them over. The ground was pretty wet so the were coming out by the root pretty well. Well one of the pines snapped about 30 inchs above ground level and left a tall snag. A few minutes later after clearing away some other trees, I decided to thin out another one by letting my tractor and bucket ride it over. It was coming out by the root just as I wanted it to but when it finally broke over and my front end came back to the ground (it was only about a foot off the ground so I wasnt any danger of tipping over for all you safety patrol guys) the tires started to spin so I shifted into reverse and same thing. I couldnt figure out what was happening so finally I got off the tractor and took a close look. The other tree stump that had snapped off earlierwas wedged in between the front axle and the front end weight bracket. I was impaled on the stump. Luckily no damage, but I had to walk about a quarter mile to my barn to get my chainsaw and cut all the trees loose from the tractor before I could move. Luckily not damage to the tractor. Lesson learned- dont leave a stump standing when clearing timber with the FEL and make sure there are not impalement stakes around if you get the front end off the ground.

 

[ragkar]

There are several approaches to unwanted dead trees.
You can cut it down to ground level and then use a stump grinder. Or you can drill large deep holes in the stump and put stump rot or sour milk in them if you are patient.
The commercial tree removers usually cut the tree leaving a stump about belly high. This lets them use a tractor with grapple or a chain to grab hold of the stump. If you use a chain, make sure that it's not too long in case it snaps and whips about. Also attach the chain very low onto your tractor drawbar.
I dig a trench around the stump with a bh and then pull and push on the stump to break the roots one at a time.

 

[jimmyj]

I'm with treemonkey one hundred percent. Dead trees are plain dangerous. I'll push over tiny little ones but it is very surprising how much even a modest sized branch can weigh and if it drops 20 feet before hitting......

Be safe.

 

[ctgoldwing]

There was a surgeon here in Texas who tried to knock down a tree on his tractor. Long story short, the tree fell on him, pinned him down and crushed his spine. Now he's paralyzed from the waist down and is limited in what surgery he can perform. Before the incident, he was a world class heart surgeon in the Texas Medical Center.

I agree with other posters on this - pushing over a dead tree is very dangerous. An old family friend has been in a wheel chair for decades because he tried this with his tractor and a large branch broke off & hit him.

 

[6thgpSF]

ragkar, so does the sourmilk break down the wood or what? how long does it take to work? russ

 

[ragkar]

I don't have experience with stump-rot or sour milk. But a little lady at work who had a years old problem with stumps was very enthusiastic about the sour milk about six months after I suggested it to her.

 

[sellercreek]

I would never ram any tree, dead or alive, at 4 to 5 mph. You not only risk doing damage to your loader and/or tractor if you hit something solid, but also stand a good chance for personal injury. Dead trees are standing death traps. Be very, very careful with them.

I went to pick up my tractor from a machine shop a few years ago. I had broken several parts of my loader. The machinist, who is a good friend of mine, asked if I had the owner's manual for the tractor. I replied that i did and he told me to get it out and read it from cover to cover and see if the word "bulldozer" was in there anywhere. There are different machines for different jobs.

It seems to be fairly common that the first tractor a person buys is a learning tool and many of them are somewhat abused. The second tractor is the one they take care of and operate properly.

Just my 2 cents..........