Spring Cleaning

[jfh28]

With the snow and ice finally melted away I have been able to get into the woods to do a little spring cleaning of trees that have fallen or are about to fall. Had one that had the potential of hitting the house so I needed to deal with it before the big spring storms did it for me. I carefully looked at the canopy........studied the way it was leaning......calculated where I wanted it to fall......planned my escape path.......cut the absolute perfect notch.......and then a beautiful dead on fell cut.........and the darn thing still fell 180 degrees opposite of where I wanted it to go! Fortunately I had the PT to clean up the mess from my expertise! Jack

 

[cqaigy2]

Sound like your technique is spot on, you just have to remember which way you really want it to go.

Looks like you have your outdoor bbq fuel for the year. :thumbsup:

 

[ponytug]

Yeah, I had one of those. It gave me a renewed appreciate for "intrinsic tension" in trees.

Bottom line, it is easy to do in a forest where things only grow straight up, but out in the open...

I'm glad it didn't hit the house.

All the best,

Peter

 

[BobRip]

Yeah, I had one of those. It gave me a renewed appreciate for "intrinsic tension" in trees.

Bottom line, it is easy to do in a forest where things only grow straight up, but out in the open...

I'm glad it didn't hit the house.

All the best,

Peter

Would you explain that please, Intrinsic Tension.

 

[MossRoad]

That's the moment you make the cut, but think maybe you shouldn't have, but keep going anyway....

 

[cqaigy2]

That's the moment you make the cut, but think maybe you shouldn't have, but keep going anyway....

I feel existential angst when i'm felling a tree.

 

[ponytug]

"Intrinsic tension:" wood fiber strains distributed differentially within the trunk. Often caused by growth habits, and not necessarily related to canopy mass distribution or moments. Can cause trees to fall away from their center of mass, because the initial cuts in the trunk relieve some tension, but not others, causing contraction and relaxation of only a portion of the trunk that pulls the trunk and tree. Can also cause trunk splitting on trees being topped, and is the not infrequent cause of death off arborists.

Be safe out there.

All the best,

Peter

 

[MossRoad]

Oh. That Intrinsic Tension.... thanks.

Yes, tree felling is terribly dangerous. I've been heating our home with wood for about 5 years now. Each year I take down 50-60 telephone pole size trees, along with a lot of large storm damaged cherry trees. Each one is a bit different. None act exactly the same way. Trees on hillsides are squirrelly. The tend to grow away from the slope and then reach for the sun. Standing on a slope trying to eyeball which way a tree is going to fall when you cut its bent trunk is a lesson. The slope tends to make your judgment off a few degrees VS on flat land. And if a wind comes up, all bets are off. Felling trees in a woods VS on the edge of a clearing is the thing I dislike the most. Snags and hang ups are a major concern. Now that I have a few clearings to drop the trees into, its much safer. I could go on and on. Be very careful in the woods.

 

[J_J]

With the snow and ice finally melted away I have been able to get into the woods to do a little spring cleaning of trees that have fallen or are about to fall. Had one that had the potential of hitting the house so I needed to deal with it before the big spring storms did it for me. I carefully looked at the canopy........studied the way it was leaning......calculated where I wanted it to fall......planned my escape path.......cut the absolute perfect notch.......and then a beautiful dead on fell cut.........and the darn thing still fell 180 degrees opposite of where I wanted it to go! Fortunately I had the PT to clean up the mess from my expertise! Jack

View attachment 369157

But did it fall on the house or damage anything?


I can almost bet that you did not use a wedge. The wedge will provide a more positive control.

 

[jfh28]

actually I did use a wedge but maybe I didn't have in in far enough as it popped out when it fell.......thinking back over it the only thing I can think of that I may have been off on was I didn't create the hinge up high enough. No damage to anything......but since it fell opposite I couldn't use the pt to drag it out as planned and instead had to cut it into lengths and then hand carry them to the drive which was not fun.....kind of like rubbing salt in the wound.........Jack