# Cottonwood Take Down



## mic687 (May 20, 2009)

My groundie and I did this 95' Cottonwood with a 35"dbh. Power lines on three sides a shed and apple tree on the fourth side. Landing zone of 20' by 
20' lowered almost all pieces with a homemade capstan strapped to the base. Saws used ms192, ms270,ms650 with a 32" bar. This was a very tough tree there was so much stuff to get snaged on or caught in. No access for a crane or bucket truck so I climbed it and it came down a piece at a time. Guy planted this tree 45 years ago and said he has regretted it for the last 25. Two other guys bid it and did not show and I think I know why.


______________________________________________
Skinny or fat short or tall sooner or later they all got to fall.


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## Tree Pig (May 20, 2009)

Nice take down, thanks for the pics. How was that bark with the spike?


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## mic687 (May 20, 2009)

Not great real thick and it tears pretty easy. You got to stick it good.


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## clearance (May 20, 2009)

Good for you, but looking at the first pic it looks like a big drop zone, you say 20' by 20', so why did you lower almost everything? Not dissin you at all, I just had to ask.


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## mic687 (May 20, 2009)

Heres a couple of more


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## clearance (May 20, 2009)

mic687 said:


> Heres a couple of more



I see, not really 20' by 20'. Good job, I have cut many of them down, heavy, very weak holding wood, old ones hard to spur, etc.:greenchainsaw:


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## mic687 (May 20, 2009)

Clearance, the yard looks bigger than it is. It was right in town there was a wood fence on that side and what you can not see is the power lines phone and cable on that side. Also the main power lines for the whole neiborhood were within 20' of the back of the tree. We looked at alot of options and there did not seem to be any good ones. So we just chuncked it.


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## MonkeyMan_812 (May 20, 2009)

I took down a big cottonwood like that earlier this year. It was a pretty fun climb. But man that saw dust stinks like deer guts or something. Peyew!!


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## mic687 (May 20, 2009)

MonkeyMan my brother calls it dog sh%& wood


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## MonkeyMan_812 (May 20, 2009)

LOL LOL LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## tree md (May 20, 2009)

Looks like a fine job. Hard to say by pics but could you not have set a lowering point in the central lead that you started off in, tip tied and lowered much bigger pieces?


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## mic687 (May 21, 2009)

Md thats what we did. We put a block in that leader but what the pictures don't show is the distance between those tips. there was so much drop in the pieces removed we had to keep them to 10' or so to keep them out of stuff. This tree had an apple,hickory,blue spruce, and maple tree growing under it.


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## Tree Pig (May 21, 2009)

Whats that ring around the base


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## Tree Pig (May 21, 2009)

TreeCo said:


> From his first post in this thread.



lol wow I guess I was paying attention... Thanks


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## mic687 (May 21, 2009)

Stihl if you look in the second set of pics real low on the tree base the owner had tried girdling the tree to kill it, that is the lower ring. Now my question is if I had not removed it before it was dead what would be his plan then? That killing it before removing I don't under stand. This guy is in his 70's and he is splitting all that wood by hand with a sledge and wedges.


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## Tree Pig (May 21, 2009)

mic687 said:


> Stihl if you look in the second set of pics real low on the tree base the owner had tried girdling the tree to kill it, that is the lower ring. Now my question is if I had not removed it before it was dead what would be his plan then? That killing it before removing I don't under stand. This guy is in his 70's and he is splitting all that wood by hand with a sledge and wedges.



That pic was the reason I was asking. It looks like the tree had been grooved by dog chain, rope, some wacky sawing idea, something had obviously cut in to the tree. It looked well deep enough to have destroyed the cambium 360° around the tree meaning it was dead it just didnt know it yet. The idea of the mounting the homemade capstan (I would like to see some pics of that ) there was a possible answer for how it happened, but thanks for the update.

A break down of that capstan would be nice. What you used, cost to build and load limits?


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## treemandan (May 21, 2009)

mic687 said:


> Stihl if you look in the second set of pics real low on the tree base the owner had tried girdling the tree to kill it, that is the lower ring. Now my question is if I had not removed it before it was dead what would be his plan then? That killing it before removing I don't under stand. This guy is in his 70's and he is splitting all that wood by hand with a sledge and wedges.



I get it. I am banging one hand on the desk and tears are coming out , I get it. Great plan.

man feels more like a man when he has something on his mind to KILL. He shore does.:greenchainsaw:


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## mic687 (May 21, 2009)

Yeah I never did get a good reason out of him for why he tried girdling the tree instead of just removing it. He is a retired engineer so I am sure it some how made sence to him. I will post some pics and a material breakdown of the capstan in the next day or so.


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## tree MDS (May 21, 2009)

Very nice looking takedown mic.

I call those stanking trees "A$$wood". lol


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## Texas Traveler (May 21, 2009)

mic687 said:


> Yeah I never did get a good reason out of him for why he tried girdling the tree instead of just removing it. He is a retired engineer so I am sure it some how made sence to him. I will post some pics and a material breakdown of the capstan in the next day or so.


 I had 7 big cottonwoods near my old house about 75 to 80 ft.
i decided to drop 5, to cut down on the cotton fuzz plugging up ours & the neighbors airconditioners.

I dropped 3 using a new 046 that had good clearance to fall without any trouble.
It was a ground shaking event on all three.

But one that was growing close to the house was too much for me at my age, even at 70 I should have known better.
It was about 20 feet below the driveway growing up over the 2 story house at the kitchen about 20 feet.
So dumb me took my heavy 1/2 ton chevy tied a 3/4 rope to the trailer hitch & went sailing off the hill.
It was not a brick wall at the end but like a coil spring that brought the truck back to where I had started.
Within a month I swear that tree started growing at the house a foot a day.
I gave up & hired a friend that had good climbers.

When it was all over with on 2 trees I swear I thought he going to rape me on the bill.:greenchainsaw:


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## Nailsbeats (May 21, 2009)

Looks like a good clean takedown. Nice work man.


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## Tree Pig (May 21, 2009)

So Mic how about a little history on yourself. It looks like you had a relatively new wespur spike climbing kit on, plus the goodies you added to it. Decent set up. Just curious, are you new to climbing on your own. No reason for asking everything looked great just a hunch that you just went out on your own?


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## mic687 (May 21, 2009)

Stihl, I got started like alot of us, cutting with my dad. I spent some time in California and when I was out there the lady I was renting a house from wanted a Avacado tree down and asked if I could do it. All I had was a pruning hand saw. I told her I could get it down to the main trunk and I did. So started my climbing work. Over the years I worked for freinds and family and on my own stuff but never full time. Two years ago my dad had a 70' red oak next to his house and garage my buddy and I said we would remove it for him. So with a rented lift some rope and a old harness we took it down. I had so much fun I decided I wanted to do more. We have 38 Acres of hard wood that belongs to my dad behind my house that has afforded me the opportunity to build skills slow and steady and not reck anything or kill myself. This last October I was gettuing laid off for a month so I went out bought all new gear got insurance and went door knocking and passing out business cards. Building my biz slowly and have been picking up alot work as of late. Back to work full time building and developing robotic systems and cut week nights and weekends.

Mickey 


____________________________________________________________


Confidence is the feeling you have before you fully understanding the situation


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## Tree Pig (May 21, 2009)

mic687 said:


> Stihl, I got started like alot of us, cutting with my dad. I spent some time in California and when I was out there the lady I was renting a house from wanted a Avacado tree down and asked if I could do it. All I had was a pruning hand saw. I told her I could get it down to the main trunk and I did. So started my climbing work. Over the years I worked for freinds and family and on my own stuff but never full time. Two years ago my dad had a 70' red oak next to his house and garage my buddy and I said we would remove it for him. So with a rented lift some rope and a old harness we took it down. I had so much fun I decided I wanted to do more. We have 38 Acres of hard wood that belongs to my dad behind my house that has afforded me the opportunity to build skills slow and steady and not reck anything or kill myself. This last October I was gettuing laid off for a month so I went out bought all new gear got insurance and went door knocking and passing out business cards. Building my biz slowly and have been picking up alot work as of late. Back to work full time building and developing robotic systems and cut week nights and weekends.
> 
> Mickey
> 
> ...




Thats awesome man, sometimes doing the work you love is more rewarding then doing the work that pays the best. I myself also do this on the side from my job that pays the bills. I work nights so it gives me the days free to do this stuff. I make a very good living at what I do and don't need the money I get from trees but I just love doing tree work. My wife gets a little ticked about the tree work ("its so dangerous"). My main job is just as dangerous so with this going too she worries twice as much, but I am addicted and not ready to stop doing it. YET...

Keep up the good work.


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## conlan (Jun 2, 2009)

*How much did you charge?*

Just curious what you charged to remove the tree. Did your price include removal of all the wood and if not, how much extra would you have charged him to remove all the wood?


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## mic687 (Jun 2, 2009)

Left all the wood and brush on site for the home owner. I would not touch that tree for under 2300.00 again. If they don't want to pay that price I don't want the job and 2300.00 may even be a little low. That tree with all the crap around it was a pia. My theory is if the job is going to be very hard make it worth doing. I know two other guys bid the job one at 1200.00 and one at 1600.00 and neither guy showed up to do the job.


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## extremewoodwork (Jun 2, 2009)

*zipline*

Trees like this I get permission from neighbors to set the recieving end of a zipline. Blocking the wood still sucks but the brush comes down faster. It is also safer than risking a hit to an energized powerline. Wood does conduct electricity.


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## ropensaddle (Jun 2, 2009)

mic687 said:


> My groundie and I did this 95' Cottonwood with a 35"dbh. Power lines on three sides a shed and apple tree on the fourth side. Landing zone of 20' by
> 20' lowered almost all pieces with a homemade capstan strapped to the base. Saws used ms192, ms270,ms650 with a 32" bar. This was a very tough tree there was so much stuff to get snaged on or caught in. No access for a crane or bucket truck so I climbed it and it came down a piece at a time. Guy planted this tree 45 years ago and said he has regretted it for the last 25. Two other guys bid it and did not show and I think I know why.
> 
> 
> ...



Good work ppe nice I hate cottonwood can smell that suka from here lol. I think I would have had the take down the service and dropped that bugger!


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## treemandan (Jun 2, 2009)

extremewoodwork said:


> Trees like this I get permission from neighbors to set the recieving end of a zipline. Blocking the wood still sucks but the brush comes down faster. It is also safer than risking a hit to an energized powerline. Wood does conduct electricity.



That's cute, " permission". They are lucky the dog didn't get drugged.


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## treemandan (Jun 2, 2009)

mic687 said:


> Left all the wood and brush on site for the home owner. I would not touch that tree for under 2300.00 again. If they don't want to pay that price I don't want the job and 2300.00 may even be a little low. That tree with all the crap around it was a pia. My theory is if the job is going to be very hard make it worth doing. I know two other guys bid the job one at 1200.00 and one at 1600.00 and neither guy showed up to do the job.



DITTOMOFO


I might have missed it in the post and its hard to tell but what was the exact proximity to the wires?


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## mic687 (Jun 3, 2009)

Dan I can post a pic later but there were wires on 3 sides. North side service drop touching the main trunk, south side 15' to 20' from main trunk, and west side 20' from main trunk and those were the main feeders for the whole neighborhood. The tree actualy hung over all 3 sets of lines. We were able to speed line some but were limited due to a Hickory tree blocking our path. The neighbor lady let us lower what we could in to her yard.


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## mic687 (Jun 3, 2009)

treemandan said:


> DITTOMOFO
> 
> 
> I might have missed it in the post and its hard to tell but what was the exact proximity to the wires?



Pretty close


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## Rickytree (Jun 3, 2009)

I call the stink "Poplar Piss", It always reminds me a girl I use to know!!


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