Pine trees died

[Deere Dude]

I have a Pine tree about 40 feet from my house (in the woods next to my house) that has died. The tree is probably over a hunderd feet tall and comes out of the ground as a single tree but then forks in to two trees about 10 feet above the ground with each tree being probably 16 to 18 inches in diameter. One of the trees is leaning a little bit toward my house and I need to cut it down. My problem is climbing the tree to tie a rope or cable around it high enough to get a good pull on it to pull it away from my house while cutting it down. Another problem is what to pull it with. I've got a Ford 2000 tractor but I'm not sure it's heavy enough to pull it as much as I'd like. The only other thing I have is a cheap pair of come-a-longs (cable type). I can probably round up enough chain or cable or something to use to pull it but any suggestions on the two problems I mentioned?

If you have two come-a-longs it will be a piece of cake. But you need two cables as long as the tree is tall at least. Hook two cables a high in the tree as you can get comfortably with an extension ladder and run them out in a direction away from the house towards something you can anchor your come-a-longs to, something that won't move, and preferably about 15 feet apart from each other at the anchor point.

Then crank one come-a-long pretty tight. Then go to the other one and crank as tight as you can get it and the first one should loosen up by doing this. Go back to the first one and re-tighten. Just go back and forth tightening and readjusting until both are really tight.

Then get someone with a chainsaw and slowly work on the back of the tree while someone continues to tighten the cables. If you are by yourself, just cut a little bit and then walk way around and re-tighten never walking anyplace that the tree could fall. When you start hearing the tree creak, take the saw out and step back and look at it for a bit. If the cables become slack and the tree is leaning to where you feel comfortable cutting through, go at it and cut it. If the cables are slack and the tree is still leaning a bit toward your house, just readjust them one at a time. Just keep on tightening and cutting.

The cables will keep the tree going in that direction as long as you keep tension on it.

I must have dropped 100 trees doing it this way and most of them were about 75' tall and about 12-18" in diameter. I have pulled a couple trees that were drastically leaning toward the house and about 15' away form the house backwards to where they were leaning away from the house. But that really puts some pressure on it. I wouldn't use a tractor because no sooner than you have to pull hard, you will kill the motor and then things may go south on you.
I used either 5/16" or 3/8" wire cables and with 3 clamps on each end. You don't want to have to repair cables once they are hooked up.

You will have the cables to use on a later project and they probably will cost $100 or so. :thumbsup:

If you could get someone else to drop it for you for $100 - 200 then you wouldn't have to buy cables.

 

[BeezFun]

How long do I have before it would be too dangerous to climb it to tie the rope off, before it gets too rotten?

14 days, 7 hours, 22 minutes

Before I would climb a tree that high I'd look into buying a used harpoon on ebay and shooting the rope into the tree. Pick up a good used do-it-yourself brain surgery kit while you're shopping, you'll probably need it before this is over.

 

[gullyf]

To directly answer your question, the easiest way to get up a tree that is going to be felled is with a pair of climbing spurs. A ladder might be sufficient if it gets you to the first branches, but either way you'll want to use the rope to get down. You'll want at least the 3/4" rope mentioned by an earlier poster, and a come-along (edit: fasten come-along to a stout tree, not a vehicle!). The 3/4" rope would be better than cable, as it acts like a huge rubber band and keeps tension much longer as the tree is coming over than cable would. It should be at least half way up for best leverage. I usually would try to get it a bit higher, depending on the situation.

But I must concur with some of the previous posters: if you don't know what you are doing, do yourself a favor and hire a reputable company to do it for you. I've spent my share of time doing takedowns (albeit in another life , the picture is probably 25 years old), and rescued more than one homeowner.

If there is room for an easy drop in one direction, you'll probably spend nearly as much on a 3/4" rope as a company will charge to do it, and then still be taking all the risk yourself. There are myriad ways for things to go wrong, everything from too much lean to wind to not getting the rope high enough. Things can go south in a hurry, and you don't want to go there.

Regards

Gully

 

[LBrown59]

Is this all you can offer? Twice none the less. I understand houses dont choose trees people do.

Where is the other post?

 

[Carl_NH]

LE Brown,

I saw two - but then I looked again and saw one - must have been an illusion - my apologies.

 

[smstonypoint]

LE Brown,

I saw two - but then I looked again and saw one - must have been an illusion - my apologies.

Carl,

I also saw a duplicate of the referenced post.

Steve

 

[BeezFun]

There were two identical posts, one is quoted at 6:01pm on Sunday by weesa20, so it was posted before that time. The second was posted at 8:25pm on Sunday. I'm guessing there's a program that goes through and looks for duplicate posts and deletes the earlier ones. Makes sense when someone accidentally posts things a few seconds apart. But it's confusing when things like this happen.

 

[teg]

Unless you have several trees or really like doing this for fun, the cost of the equipment you need will be more than paying someone to do one it.

I will not give information out how to drop your tree because everyone is different and has to be dealt with on a one by one basis... also don't want to encourage you beyond your skills.

 

[tgunr]

We lose trees every year to the Ponderosa Pine Beetle, usually I try to get them down within a year or two after the tree is completely dead. Lost 6 of ours which were over 130 feet tall and if within range of the power lines I give the PG&E company a call and let the pros do it.

Just not worth the risk if you don't have the equipment and experience.

 

[Bobby R]

I believe I said in my very first post that the trees ARE in the woods. The woods happen to be within a few feet of my house.