# Felling a large ironbark pulling with 4WD



## Ekka (Dec 12, 2007)

I've had this video for a while and after reading through this thread Using a truck to pull a tree down I realised it wasn't posted here.

Int hat thread there's all sort of "opinion" about it. I can tell you I've pulled over hundreds. Just yesterday I had an ironbark backleaning with 15mph head wind, bad combination I know and solo pulled it over similar to the one on this video.

Anyway, check this out, it's a decent sized tree and I certainly wouldn't climb it due to defects and rot. 

Took near an hour to set the pull rope.

Shot the branch with big shot 18oz bag, wouldn't come down. Now luckily after many shots it didn't get stuck and came down. I gave the big shot heaps too, near pulled it to the ground so I could get a lot of line up and over the branch I shot. (might need new rubber now)

To isolate branch in the end I had 4 bags on the line so it would run. I had ...

1x 20oz bag
1x 18oz bag
2x 16oz bags

Then I pulled up a light 12mm rope which is 50m long, and it just got it done. Then with that rope pulled up the 22mm double braid rope ... yada yada yada set the rope with shackle so no rope on rope friction, set the redirect pulley for the ute etc etc. Now almost 2 hours gone setting up.

Was 2 cameras on the job, mine and the customer.

Around 6min and 28mb WMV

http://www.palmtreeservices.com.au/video/ironbarkfelling.wmv


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## lxt (Dec 12, 2007)

I have done many like this however there is always a man in the truck!! 1 on the saw & 1 watching out for the ever so curious person(s) wanting to come over. Nice Job!!

Be Safe!!

LXT.............


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## Dadatwins (Dec 12, 2007)

Have done similiar also, but always with someone in the truck keeping constant tension. That rocking had me scared. I sure hope Santa sends you some plastic wedges for christmas Ekka, those metal ones drive me nuts every time I see them in a tree, thanks for the video.


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## Ekka (Dec 12, 2007)

LOL

They're aluminium wedges, I love them.


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## Ekka (Dec 13, 2007)

You like that drawing dont you. LOL 

And there's always room for just another block in the tool kit ... it's fun getting all that rigging out.


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## Ekka (Dec 13, 2007)

One guy once said ... "hey Eric, why do you get all that gear out and line it all up like that?" To which I replied, "coz it looks good." :hmm3grin2orange:


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## RogueArbor (Dec 15, 2007)

Nice vid! 
One man shows are scary... The company i work for has a hazard tree removal contract with the county roads. This makes for LOTS of trees that require pulling with a truck. We recently had about a 180-200 foot ponderosa pine (in the upper THREE hundreds for age!!). It was about fifty feet off the road and about 70 feet from some powerlines running perpendicular to the road. 
Hung a line as high as our climber would make it... around 100+ft (he'd have gone higher but the poor bugger pushed a small dead limb to break it on his accent, it shot some little something back, and busted his tooth!! (we all tell him he should replace it with gold or platnum....) 
the rope ran to a tree some three hundred feet away and in line with our intended lie, through a block (redirect) and out to another redirect attached to a tree next to the road (about 300 feet from the first) then out to a pull truck in four wheel.
That was some RIGGING! took a while. (did i mention the tree had lean toward the power?) In all, when it came time to cut, we had two flaggers (out of sight of each other, given the corners in the road), one driver, a guy on the road between the two flaggers who could see them both, see the tree and it's lean change, and signal the driver, then we had a guy cutting with a 60" bar and a guy with him to drive wedges. 
All went perfectly! one of those that get your heart really beating, ya know?
Pulling with trick is lovely! but there is always a fearful little voice inside me that's affraid of snapping ropes and the like.

Thank for the vid ekka! keep 'em coming!! I LOVE educational vids... tips and tricks, you know? you're the man!


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## Ekka (Dec 15, 2007)

Crikey mate, you didn't video that job! Would have been a corker.


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## Canyonbc (Dec 18, 2007)

Awesome video, as always. 

One man show even more impressive...you are one heck of a faller. 

What was the DBH on that tree?

Canyon


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## Ekka (Dec 18, 2007)

DBH ... dont really know, was awkward with bits sticking out, maybe only 34" in your scale after removing some of the junk and bark. Mugga ironbarks can be mean old customers.


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## Canyonbc (Dec 18, 2007)

Ekka said:


> DBH ... dont really know, was awkward with bits sticking out, maybe only 34" in your scale after removing some of the junk and bark. Mugga ironbarks can be mean old customers.



Ya...was really oddly shaped and hollowed out there at the bottom...

Great one man fall.


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