Knocking over skinny pines -- methods?

[k0ua]

I'm guessing that what really happens is a garage slab bridges the voids of soft material, not good, but something a reinforced light duty slab can get away with--within limits. To be done correctly, the organic layer of soil should be removed everywhere under the slab and replaced with compacted material like sand.

James, good idea on the rain, for two trees he could use the hose to saturate the soil around the tree.

Yes it is amazing how much weaker they become after a soaking. A tree you no way you could push or pull over with a good size tractor could be pulled over with a BX under the right conditions. That is why sometimes after a good soaking rain and you get some wind, large trees can be uprooted from wind pressure alone.

 

[s219]

Thanks for all the suggestions and comments. I have been reluctant to push on pines with the FEL since the taproot has a lot of resistance and it's either immovable or causes the tree to snap (based on past experience). Then there's some risk to the equipment and operator. But those were all larger pines.

Today I dug around the two skinny trees, used an axe to bust all the roots I could see (most were 1-2" diameter), and then gave a push with the FEL up high using only hydraulics. The trees went over pretty easily. In one case, the taproot broke off about 8" below the soil line. In the other, nearly the whole thing popped out.



I wanted to get these two trees out of the ground since they were within 12" of where a pole needs to be dug. Two other 10" pines were in the middle of the floor area, and I felled them and flush cut the stumps (will later be under about 12" of compacted fill). Finally, I have two more pines, a 6" and 12" that are about 2 feet outside one wall, and will fell and flush cut those next weekend.

 

[newbury]

Get your rigging equipment fastened on as high up as possible and try and pull them over after a heavy rain or something else that saturates the soil.

The reason I suggested pulling them over versus pushing them over is because several posters here over the years have complained about ending "hung up" on the root ball, sometimes with a bit of undercarrriage damage. I can ALWAYS measure how tall the tree is and calculate how far the top will fall, but I can't measure what is underground and where it will pop up.

Glad pushing them over worked out.

 

[s219]

The reason I suggested pulling them over versus pushing them over is because several posters here over the years have complained about ending "hung up" on the root ball, sometimes with a bit of undercarrriage damage. I can ALWAYS measure how tall the tree is and calculate how far the top will fall, but I can't measure what is underground and where it will pop up.

Glad pushing them over worked out.

Very good advice for trees with a big/wide rootball -- I agree completely.

 

[newbury]

And from elsewhere on TBN today:

Not much damage, fortunately. I was pushing some tree stumps and brush with my L5030 and a limb popped up and took out the lower cover in front of the battery compartment under the headlight strip. The metal section of grillwork that is retained with bent over tabs was damaged beyond repair <snip>.

Pulling might have avoided that.