Need Help with taking tree from yard, ideas. ASAP!

[AndyMA]

Yeah, she fell right where I wanted I am too much of a miser to pay someone for something I can do, and I like the challenge. Now that the fun is over, somebody's gotta cut 'er up..

I haven't measured, but it may be more than 36"s. Now I have one less tree to mow around!!

You were very lucky. Any one of those upper dry branches could have come loose, pivited back toward you and killed you. Just because you got away with it this time doesn't mean you'll survive a second one. I would have knocked it over with my 44,000# excavator with 27 foot reach, but not with my TN75 with an 11 foot hoe. What would (could) you have done if it came at you???

Andy

 

[jimainiac]

Congratulations! Did you measure the length? I would have loved to watch that operation. How did you go about bringing it down roots and all? Have you decided what to do with the wood?

 

[rutwad]

Congratulations! Did you measure the length? I would have loved to watch that operation. How did you go about bringing it down roots and all? Have you decided what to do with the wood?

I took a little more precaution than shown in the pics. My first order of business was "fishing". I took my fishing pole and a heavy lead weight and tried casting through the tree where I thought would be best to tie to. Well, after leaving the first two weights in the tree, I only had one left. So I cast it through the largest opening that would still provide a good tie point. It worked, the weight returned right back to the ground without getting hung up.
I tied a string to the fishing line and reeled her in. Then I tied a rope to the string and pulled it through. Next came the cable. Once I had this, I used a trencher (4' depth I believe) to dig close to the tree on the SW side, then perpindicular to that on the SE and NW sides. The cable was on the NE side.
I gathered chains and connected the trencher to the cable through the tree and tightened up the slack. Then I used our backhoe to finish ripping roots and dirt. With a little more digging, I pulled with the trencher and pushed with the hoe till she fell.

Could it have come back, yes. But the roots on the NE side had not been cut which would have made it difficult to fall back, plus I kept the cable/chains tight while I dug with the 'hoe. With the roots holding, trencher pulling, and hoe puching, I did not think I had much risk of it coming back, but anything can happen.

I have a big "can do" attitude and like doing difficult projects. On the other hand, I have seen an owner/operator with a JD 120c complain about taking down smaller trees.

 

[rutwad]

You were very lucky. Any one of those upper dry branches could have come loose, pivited back toward you and killed you. Just because you got away with it this time doesn't mean you'll survive a second one. I would have knocked it over with my 44,000# excavator with 27 foot reach, but not with my TN75 with an 11 foot hoe. What would (could) you have done if it came at you???

That is a huge concern with dead trees, but I have never had a large limb come back from a live tree. Pushing it slowly over helped to eliminate "whipping" that could have made it lose a large limb.


I have hear of something called a power saw. Is anybody familiar with such?
Have you ever operated one? Wanna come demonstrate it? I'd love to watch it work!!

 

[tlbuser]

Nice job! That's a decent sized tree you get to saw up. What's the market like in your area for having it milled? Would be worth a little checking before you turn it into firewood.

 

[wedge40]

I've never seen pecan lumber, but it would be shame to use it for firewood. I'd shop around and find someone with a portable lumber mill to come out. Once milled if you dont want the lumber post and ad and sell it. I'm guessing you would make money even after paying the person who come out to mill it for you.

Wedge

 

[Champy]

Wow! I hope you were wearing gloves....just to be safe you know...

 

[Treemonkey1000]

I'm glad that things worked out ok. Good job. You saved some bucks that's true. It sounds like you thought it out enough. And it's even better we aren't reading about you in the Safety Forum.

 

[tallyho8]

I was in this same situation a couple of years ago. Nobody wanted small amounts of pecan wood for anything other than firewood. I was able to cut up the tree with a 24" chain saw even though it wouldn't reach completely through the 5' trunk and then push the trunk with my tractor till it broke.

 

[LBrown59]

Pros aren't always pros. They have to start somewhere. .

But at least they would be taking the risk and responsibility not you and you wouldn't be the one getting clobbered if something goes wrong.
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