Taking down trees with tractor help

[smfcpacfp]

In the past when I would cut down a tree, where I wanted to control where it fell. I would use chains, my come-along to pull it tin the right direction before i began cutting.

Now I have the Kubota B3030HSDC tractor with a FEL. I just wonder what you guys think of giving the tree a push with the bucket high to get it moving in the right direction. I mean there is still some risk.

 

[ToadHill]

I'd say there's more than some risk. It is very dangerous, thats not to say I haven't done it when I got one hung up, but I can assure you the pucker factor is huge.

 

[KennethBrown]

The bottom of the tree could come back into the tractor. Most of the time I ride the bucket (safety police don't kill me) as high as possible. I then wrap the chain and go back down. Get plenty of chain hooked up so it will clear with lots of extra room. Pull back slightly till the tension is out. As someone starts cutting use the curl function to pull on it. As the tree starts to really fall put it in reverse and go with it.

 

[Egon]

What I see fellows falling larger trees doing is starting the cuts horizontal and in the proper direction. They then use wedges to aid in getting the tree started out right.

They also take into account wind direction before starting

Sometimes the surrounding blue air seems to help the tree fall in the proper direction.

After making the initial wedge cut I have use a rope [ longer than the tree is tall] to help guide the tree to the ground.

On some smaller trees I have used my little tractor to push them over.

 

[have_blue]

In the past when I would cut down a tree, where I wanted to control where it fell. I would use chains, my come-along to pull it tin the right direction before i began cutting.

It all depends on the tree diameter, height, and limbs.

8" and smaller trees are easy to boss around, but 12" trees have a mind of their own. If no leaves, it helps with any wind. If the tree starts falling on an angle, no amount of push from a loader will make it go the way you want.

I prefer to tie a long rope high up in the tree, and pull from a safe distance. If you get the rope high enough, a lawn tractor has enough pull. If you can only get the rope 10-15' up, then it takes a lot of pull and a strong rope.

 

[HappyCPE]

I did this - once.
Not only did the tree not fall where I wanted it (a 24" invasive Norway maple flattened a perfectly good fence) but a branch broke off on the way down, first impaling the plastic hood on my 4320 and then knocking me on my thick skull.
My head healed. The damaged hood I'm keeping as a reminder.

 

[Wesdor]

Like others have said, this is a very dangerous idea.

If you aren't comfortable and experienced in taking down trees then you should get a professional. During 2006 I had the privilege of working with a real professional from Oregon. He dropped a huge fir tree into an area about 50' wide. And the tree had to fall exactly correct because there were buildings on either side.

Let a professional take the tree down and then you can use the tractor and chain saw to clean up the mess.

Put your safety at the top of the list.

 

[gboudreau]

The safety police will tell you to never do this, but like others I have done this before. Usually it works better with a bigger machine then a CUT as you can get higher up on the tree to create more leverage. I would not do this on anything that is leaning in the oposite direction you want it to fall due to leverage. A better way would be to use a high strength cable, I have used 1/2 inch cable with a heavy duty snatch block chained to another tree or other immovable object in the direction you want it to go. Cable to tree as high up as you can go running the cable down through the snatch block then to your tractor. put a strain on the cable with the tractor while having someone notch the tree in the direction you want it to go then make the back cut. The key is to keep tension on the calbe at all times once the notch is cut. If you don't you have no control.

Even this is not fool proof as we took out a couple of rafters and roof on my fathers garage taking down some 100 foot pines a couple of weeks ago. The tree base started snapping a little early as my brother had too much strain on the cable tree rotated a couple of feet in the wrong direction and struck a oak tree on the way down which pushed it towards the garage. funny this is both my brother and I suggested taking dow the oak first as it needed to come down so we would have had a more open area, but my old man being the stubborn frenchmen that he is insisted we were fine. Now he has to repair the garage roof.

 

[Highbeam]

Depends on the tree and the ground around it. If the tree is small enough to be pushed over with the stump and all attacehd then I always do it since I want the stumps out. Be careful of dead branches and of the root ball popping up under your tractor.

If you are combining cutting with the tractor then it gets harder. If it is really important that the tree fall a certain direction then chain or cable it off. If the tree just needs to fall and it doesn't matter which way it goes (my favorite) then just cut the bugger down, no need for a cable or chain.

If you are in the unfortunate position of a tree that is partially fallen or has fallen enough to trap your saw then This is when you enter the judgement area. Nothing you do is particularly safe at this point so you need to consider your options and consequences. Crushing the saw, crushing the tractor, crushing you, bending the saw bar, or a fallen tree. In my forest the big trees won't get hung up as their weight will bring them down. The smaller trees might get hung up and I will gladly utilize my tractor to push them where I want them and none of them ever do anything unexpectedly. Everything is very slow and predictable once the tree has begun to fall.

 

[RonMar]

Trees are funny that way, you never can truely be sure where they will break. Loose upper branches didn't get the name "widdow makers" without good reason... Sudden jarring movements with a loader can shake them loose.

We had a 30" fir right up alongside the house that had 5 tops. I had it taken out because of the obvious risks, and the fact that it had to go exactly one particular direction due to other objects around the yard. The gentelman who dropped it used a square to line up his cut on the side in the direction of fall. He then cut a rectangular notch out of the back side and used a small hydraulic bottle jack to jack the tree over. He put that tree down within a foot of where I said I wanted it... When it hit, that 5 fork top shattered into a dozzen pieces. the main trunk was rotten for about 10' down from the base of the fork. We had a real wet snow about 6 weeks later and I was really glad I had that tree out of there before that happened.

If you want to use the tractor, put a line up in the tree a little ways, and put a litle tension on the tree from a distance(outside the fall radius), then take some cuts with the saw till it starts to move, then get back on the tractor and pull it over. That way if it splits, or sheds limbs, no one or your expensive tractor is under it to catch the debris.

 

[Megado]

Welcome Friends and Family to Gene Alford's Care Page.

Current Update: Gene is currently in Neuro ICU 4th Floor Main Bed 4. His condition has improved over night.

What Happened... The Story... Sunday afternoon Gene was working on the tractor at his farm in Bellville. While attemping to push over a dead oak tree the top of the tree separated and fell on Gene. The tree fell on Gene's back fracturing T4 & T5, 4 ribs, collar bone and scapula. Scans show that the spinal cord is intact. He was able to get to his cell phone and call Mary for help. Friends from the area were contacted by Mary and came to Gene's aid with Austin County EMS. Life Flight landed at the farm and transported Gene to Memorial. Total time from initial call to Mary and landing at Memorial was 1 hour 40 minutes. Everything came together perfectly to get him to Houston ASAP.
Surgery to stablize the back took place Monday and all went well. Gene needed to be intabated in the night Monday due to respiratory issues... It's tough to breath with all those broken bones.
Genes vital signs have improved over the past few days and we look for that to continue. Today, Thursday, he was trached which should help to get him up and going more quickly.
Our family is so very thankful for all the friends and their prayers. Not being familiar with this "CarePage" I understand this can be used to post notes to Gene and his family and for us to post updates on his condition. Hopfully Gene will be using this page very soon to post updates for himself.
Thank you again for your visit to Gene's CarePage.
David Alford... "Gene's little brother"

The above "quote" was taken from the CarePages website of a physician in Houston who had an accident while using his tractor to take down a tree. As you can see...the unexpected can happen. I agree with Wesdor, if you aren't comfortable and experienced with taking down a tree then get a professional. Fortunately for Dr. Alford he survived and is recovering, but still has a lengthy battle ahead of him.

 

[TomK]

I've used my CUT to pull trees down after I de-limb them down to about 8' - 6' above the ground. I then use that trunk as a pry bar to get as much of the roots as I can. I gently push and pull with the tractor until I get things loosened up good before I give it the final pull. The picture is of a 30' Russian Olive tree I removed a couple years ago. Look at the wisdom tooth on this one!

 

[smfcpacfp]

I have taken down many trees over the years and generally it doesn't matter where it falls in my forest. Even when I have tried to direct it to fall a certain way, it sometimes didn't. I will take all of your good advice and not use the tractor as a push device.

If a tree did fall on the tractor, and I didn't get killed, I would be thinking, "why didn't I use my own good common sense and the advice of the forum members", as I am wrting the check for thousands of dollars to pay for the damage.

 

[turnkey4099]

Pushing with tractor - problem is being able to determing when to stop cutting and start pushing. If you wait for the tree to 'start to move' you are too late, the tree will likely be down before you can get back on the tractor.

Pulling with cable - remember you lose all control over the tree the second the tension comes off the cable. That happens almost instantly as the tree starts to move.
-----------------------------------------

Bad result of pushing with bucket - wish I had a picture of this. This was back in about 1977.

My brother had a fair size Black Walnut he wanted out but he wanted it cut below ground level. We topped it (back in my young/stupid days - young doesn't apply anymore) by me standing in the bucket. I then cut it almost all the way through about 4" underground. Even repeated sharping of the chain wouldn't finish the cut.

Brother gets the 8n (or 9n) with bucket and starts the stem rocking - buckets slides neatly up the stem, over it, back down the other side.

Hmm... interesting. We now have a stem coming up between the bucket and the bashed in tinwork in front of the radiator of a borrowed tractor.

Harry K

 

[Marlowe]

Tractors are great for cleaning up after a tree has been taken down, but they are pretty much useless for taking them down. Kind of like using pliers to hammer nails.

 

[RonMar]

Pulling with cable - remember you lose all control over the tree the second the tension comes off the cable. That happens almost instantly as the tree starts to move.
Harry K

large doublebraid nylon line is great for this, as you can load it up like a rubber band. It will continue to apply force to a tree in the directin of pull for quite a while(whatever distance you stretched it to) after the tree starts to move. It is best to pull it around something else such as a block anchored to another tree, as it can store a considerable ammount of energy and you never want to be directly in line with it. People who do much 4 wheeling have probably seen this used to great effect, using the energy of a moving vehicle to transfer energy in a stretched nylon tow strap to loosen another stuck vehicle. You just need to stay out of the possible line of flight if it should snap...

 

[Egon]

Tacking down trees with a tractor can be done if there is a correlation to tractor size and tree!!