Tractor assisted tree felling.

   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #21  
Do you have any other tasks you could use a backhoe or bulldozer for?

My wife's cousing next door had a tree that was fine....but within range of his house so he wanted it down AND the roots out.

I dug on three sides letting the 4th side act as a bit of a hinge to hold the tree from falling towards the house... then pushed...

Tree came down, roots came up and he & his hired working cleaned it up.
 

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   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #22  
Timing the pull with the cut almost never works.
Don’t cut the tree through, keep the hinge wood intact and pull it over.
But know that some tree’s fibers are brittle and the hinge will snap before you want it to. Without the hinge wood, you lose control and gravity takes over, unless you get lucky and can pull fast.
The initial wedge on the side of the fall direction should be tall/wide because the hinge will also snap once the wedge closes when the tree falls.
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #23  
I've also heard of wrapping a chain above the cut so that a barbershop effect won't happen.
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #24  
This posts reminds me of the time my dad decided to cut a huge cherry tree hanging over our garage. He hooked up our jeep to a long rope well down and in the direction he wanted to pull the tree. My brother was about 17, so my dad had him operate the jeep while he cut the tree notch. I should mention there was about 6 inches of now on the ground. As dad cut, he yelled to my brother to back up. The jeep didn't move. My dad was screaming back up. back up. The engine was revving but the rear tires were just spinning. Evidently, my dad had neglected to put the Jeep in 4 wheel drive. Almost in slow motion that huge cherry tree started to fall...... landing, squarely, right in the middle of the garage. The garage was totally destroyed along with a canoe, our bicycles and other various and sundry pieces of equipment. I guess the moral of this story is...... If your gonna try this. Make sure you have a tremendous amount of tension pulling that tree in the "correct" direction first. With enough tie offs to prevent it from falling onto your shed. Thanks
I had a 12" diameter 60' tree about 10 feet from the eve end of my new pole shed I wanted moved. I had 75' of steel cable hooked about 15-20' up the tree and the other end to my new dually 4x4. It was in 4x4 mode, my wife was driving and all she had to do was step on the gas and keep tension on the line as nI was cutting. It would lay it along the side of the pole shed.

I began cutting gingerly and when the tree started to lean the correct way I waved my arms to get the truck moving backwards.

actually it was a good plan except my wife got confused with my arm waving and just stopped. The tree fell about 3' from the edge of the shed. Worked out, but training was improved after that.
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #25  
There are cuts that you can do that minimize the chances of a barberchair.

This is a great video explaining what happens and how to avoid it:
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #26  
There was a video I saw in the last month...they used a small bottle jack rather than wedges.

Tree had the normal hinge cut on the front. On the backside, it had a key cut in it that fit a bottle jack.

4 cuts...bottom, both sides and top angled in so the bottle jack would slide in, sitting in the normal vertical position...once inserted in the opening, slight jack pressure applied.

Then the normal cut was done up to the hinge point starting with a plunge cut from the bottle jack towards the hinge.

Then they jacked up the bottle hack and leveraged the tree over based on the hinge cut.

Pretty ingenious for larger 2 and 3 foot diameter trees.
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #27  
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #28  
Hydraulic jacks are kind of neat, by why go to the bother?
Wedges and a sledge take even less cutting and easier to carry around.
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling.
  • Thread Starter
#29  
Somehow the words of Tom Lehrer come to mind here: "To think of all the marvelous ways they're using plastics nowadays".
 
   / Tractor assisted tree felling. #30  
Using a jack just seems like child's play according to some posts. Jacking timber has a learning curve. Ingredients include not undersizing your jack. Placing the jack where it NEEDS to be placed, not where it is convenient. Always use a jack plate, ie a plate ontop of the ram face. Best to have a plate with a fitting to meld with the ram top to accomodate angle present as lifting takes place. ALWAYS use wedges to keep up with the jacking. Jacks can and will fail when you think you're superman. Never be married to the jack. Be prepared to abandon your tools if you gotta move quickly. DON'T stand there admiring your work as it goes over. Have your escape route planned and tried out before going ahead on it. Exit at an angle from the stump, not just right behind it.

Google "tree Jacks" Silvey tree Jack, Jacking timber.
 
 
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