Man killed while felling trees

Libertine · Oct 12, 2004

Varmintmist (& GaryM):

Plastic felling wedges are available at pretty much any saw shop 

Ah, plastic. Sounds good to me. Gonna go get some.

Putting pressure on the tree with a come-a-long or tractor is good 

Actually, the way I've been doing it is to put tension on the tree with the tractor. Then make two cuts, maybe 30%-35% of total diameter (felling cut mostly & some back cut). Then try to pull it over. If it doesn't go, cut just a bit more & try again. That way I don't "accidently" cause a fall which pulls the tractor & the thing goes over the wrong way. I always use rope/chain as long as the tree is high, then add another 20' chain for good measure. Since attachment of rope is always 20'-25' up, the actual distance from the base of the tree to the tractor is plenty long (unless the tree "bounces" a bunch in my direction-hardly likely). Got the tree down by the power lines Sunday. Whew. That really made me nervous. Am digging out the stump now with the BH.

(Every hollow is special so you figure out how to cut your own.) 

Your comments made me re-looki at it. Actually measuring the height it's actually taller than I though. But there's only a few limbs, two of which are low enough to take down first which should make the only the main trunk and one higher limb. I'm going to be studying on that (especially after your comments on hollow trees) for awhile before I tackle that one. Don't want to end up like the beaver in the post above!!!!!

Anyway, thanks for your helpful suggestions.

JEH

Varmintmist · Oct 12, 2004

Just a thought but trying to drag the tree over might not be a great idea. When you pressure it and let off the tree rocks back. If it keeps moving then you are in for a tractor ride if its big enough. OR you might drop it into the power. make your notch, take up tension on the tree with the tractor so that the tree wants to go in the general direction of the tractor and notch. Then do your felling cut.

Bouncing the tree, not a real good plan. IMHO

slowzuki · Oct 13, 2004

Careful using a tractor, it doesn't take much tree to outweigh a tractor.

TBAR · Oct 13, 2004

After spending years with my dad cutting firewood I now hate doing it. I only cut trees when absolutely necessary and not for firewood.

Why you ask.........I saw my dad almost get killed/maimed twice when we were cutting.

First time I witnessed the chain saw kick back on him and he stopped it just one inch from his face. No kick back safetys back then.

The second time he was not so lucky. He had cut a big tree that as it fell hung a branch in another tree. That 10" branch was 15' long and 30 feet up when it snapped and dropped on my dad. Part of the limb hit him in the head and shoulder.

He had complications for YEARS afterward and finally came down with Lou Garrets Disease as a result of the tramma. That disease eventually took his life.

TBAR

TBAR · Oct 13, 2004

Wedges don't always work.

TBAR

slowzuki · Oct 14, 2004

You are correct, wedges can only do so much and the worse shape the tree is in the more dangerous it is to force a tree where it doesn't want to go. The more wedges the more stress on the hinge. If your hinge is weak for any reason it will pop and you've got an unpredictable situation.

Ken

Libertine · Oct 14, 2004

Varmintmist:

When you pressure it and let off the tree rocks back. If it keeps moving then you are in for a tractor ride if its big enough. 

Yeah, I've thought about that. As Slowzuki posts it doesn't take much of a tree to out weigh a tractor. I've taken down a couple the way I described above. I don't want to cause the fall with the felling cut - only with the pressure from the tractor pulling on it. That's why I'm careful to enlarge the wedge cuts in small increments (so the pivot - uncut portion of the tree - is always just large enough to hold it and I have a chance to to crack it with the tractor force in the direction of fall wanted). But you're right, if I make the cuts too big so the thing falls on its own from the cut, rather than from the force of the tractor pulling it, I'm in deep doodoo. When I enlarge the cuts on the tree, I always keep tension on the tree from the line from the tractor in case I screw it up and cut too much. But I'm not really counting on the tractor to hold it. I'm counting on my ability to guage the cuts I am making on the tree so that it's just small enough that the tree remains standing, and, just large enough so the tree is weak enough for the tractor to pull it over. And that may very well be my mistake, although it has worked ok so far. Ummm. Also, as you have pointed out regarding hollow trees, this approach may be too risky for that. Of course, I wouldn't attempt this on a windy day.

JEH

PS The way I use to decide if this system will work on a particular tree is to attach my line/chain before any cuts and apply pressure. If I can move the tree at all (I have someone look at the tree from a perpendicular plane to direction of force from the tractor to check for movement). If the tree moves even a bit, without any cutting on the tree, then I figure the foot/pounds of force that can be applied by the tractor will suffice to pull it over in the correct direction IF (big if the more I think about it) I can cut the tree just right.

rockinmywaypa · Oct 14, 2004

Tbar It looks to me that you have two small opposing notches on each side of the tree with a large flat spot in the centre.If this is correct then it's little wonder you had to push it over, One notch that goes past centre sets up the tree's own weight toward the fall not balanced in the middle, then as Slowzuki has mentioned about hinges, you cut into the back side up to your strip that is going to hinge the tree into the location you want it to go. Of course this only applies if there is more of the tree's weight leaning toward the desired direction to begin with.

TBAR · Oct 14, 2004

( Tbar It looks to me that you have two small opposing notches on each side of the tree with a large flat spot in the centre. )

???.............None of the cuts are visable in the picture. The other two pics in that album are from the upper portion of the tree. I had one heck of a wedge cut out of the tree, three wedges in place and a cable pulling in the direction that I wanted it to fall.

TBAR

TBAR · Oct 14, 2004

( PS The way I use to decide if this system will work on a particular tree is to attach my line/chain before any cuts and apply pressure. If I can move the tree at all (I have someone look at the tree from a perpendicular plane to direction of force from the tractor to check for movement). If the tree moves even a bit, without any cutting on the tree, then I figure the foot/pounds of force that can be applied by the tractor will suffice to pull it over in the correct direction IF (big if the more I think about it) I can cut the tree just right. )

My son and I did this once with another large tree. It was leaning toward one of my sheds and I wanted it to fall in the opposite direction. My son climbed the tree and tied a 200' cable about 2/3 of the way up. We then attached the other end to the tractor and put tension on it. As I made my last cut the tree pinched the saw so I yelled at my son to apply more tension. When he released the brake he wasn't fast enough on the clutch and the tree started pulling him backwards. I bailed out from under the tree and watched him get dragged about four feet before he dumped the clutch and revved to full throttle. With the engine screaming and dirt flying from the back wheels he regained control and got the tree to fall in the correct direction.

I hate cutting trees............... /forums/images/graemlins/crazy.gif

TBAR