# need some advice



## remington69078 (Aug 15, 2010)

hey guys the problem I ran into today, I was felling a 2ft in diameter dead oak tree well after the wedge fell out of my open face/notch cut I had noticed that about half of the truck was rotted inside making the trunk hollow al thr way to the crown so I paniced in a way I have seen some other people try to drop a hollow try and it didn't tun out very well well any ways I started my back cut/felling cut buried my bar about 8inches and then beat in a small wedge cut some mone beat dome more it fell right were I wanted it to and had about a 2 inch piece of hinge wood left for the hinge like it soppose to I'm just wondering if there was any thing speical that I was sopposw to do because it was a hollow tree?


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## Rftreeman (Aug 16, 2010)

what you did worked didn't it, nothing special needed, you handled it well..


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## bsearcey (Aug 16, 2010)

That was one of the longest sentences I've ever tried to read.


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## remington69078 (Aug 16, 2010)

bsearcey said:


> That was one of the longest sentences I've ever tried to read.



hah sorry about the sentence I'm on a phone


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## bsearcey (Aug 16, 2010)

remington69078 said:


> hah sorry about the sentence I'm on a phone



Hopefully not drinking and driving too


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## remington69078 (Aug 16, 2010)

bsearcey said:


> Hopefully not drinking and driving too



I don't drink. I'm watching cartoons with my kid. But what would have happen if the tree trunk was all most all hollow


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## bsearcey (Aug 16, 2010)

remington69078 said:


> I don't drink. I'm watching cartoons with my kid. But what would have happen if the tree trunk was all most all hollow



Man am I missing Spongbob. Crap. I'm not a professional tree cutter, but I would imagine that with a severly rotten tree you could be up sheetz creek. No meat for a hinge and that thing could go before your ready, split bad, go any way but where you want it to, etc. As far as what to do in the future, I don't really have a clue.


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## remington69078 (Aug 16, 2010)

bsearcey said:


> Man am I missing Spongbob. Crap. I'm not a professional tree cutter, but I would imagine that with a severly rotten tree you could be up sheetz creek. No meat for a hinge and that thing could go before your ready, split bad, go any way but where you want it to, etc. As far as what to do in the future, I don't really have a clue.



next time after the notch comes out an I can see inside the trunk I might try plunge cutting it and add a few wedges to keep the back cut/felling cut opened up and keep the center of gravity over the open face? What do you think?


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## bsearcey (Aug 16, 2010)

It makes sense to me. Good luck.


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## pdqdl (Aug 17, 2010)

1. Learn to set a rope in the tree, and use it for holding/pulling the tree over.

2. When there is no hinge wood to count on, you need to rely on gravity to send the tree in the right direction, rather than your wedge. This might mean cutting some limbs off the heavy side with a pole saw, or it might be as simple as cutting a very deep face cut to move the center of gravity away from the direction you wish the tree to fall. This is a common method of felling trees used by folks that never learned how to use a wedge to send a tree over.

Obviously, both methods in #2 involve some risk, and are usually best used in conjunction with method #1.


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## treesquirrel (Aug 17, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> 1. Learn to set a rope in the tree, and use it for holding/pulling the tree over.



I absolutely agree!!!

In my book if I cannot set a rope in the upper portion of a dead tree that I am felling then the risks are too high. There have been a few exceptions on small easy drops but if there are things to avoid then stack all the odds in your favor. I will wedge, rope and sometimes even double rope dead wood to guide it down safely. Watch for weaknesses overhead also. Nothing will ruin your day more than a rotten dead branch breaking free and slamming into you. 

Dead wood is probably the most unpredictable situation you can face when felling trees. Standard hinge concepts don't work very well in dry brittle wood. Hinges depend on some elasticity in the wood to function properly.


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## remington69078 (Aug 19, 2010)

treesquirrel said:


> I absolutely agree!!!
> 
> In my book if I cannot set a rope in the upper portion of a dead tree that I am felling then the risks are too high. There have been a few exceptions on small easy drops but if there are things to avoid then stack all the odds in your favor. I will wedge, rope and sometimes even double rope dead wood to guide it down safely. Watch for weaknesses overhead also. Nothing will ruin your day more than a rotten dead branch breaking free and slamming into you.
> 
> Dead wood is probably the most unpredictable situation you can face when felling trees. Standard hinge concepts don't work very well in dry brittle wood. Hinges depend on some elasticity in the wood to function properly.



thanks guys for the info I do lnow how to set a rope I have buckingham climbing gear that I use to prunw small limbs or to set a rope


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## pdqdl (Aug 19, 2010)

We are talking about a dead, dangerous tree that was already partly cut down, right? Don't be a dead or dangerous tree climber! Learn how to get the line in the tree without going up there yourself.

1. Get the right equipment to throw a line into the tree. This would include several throw balls and a high quality throw line. Don't try some cheap stuff like contractors string line from Home Depot. It probably won't turn out the way you want it to. 
2. I strongly recommend getting a folding cube to store the line. This little tool converts the job of throwing a line into a tree from "Gee, I hate doing this" into "Isn't this a cool way to get into a tree?"

Sherrill has a bunch of kits for this activity: http://www.sherrilltree.com/Professional-Gear/Lines-and-Weight-Combos

3. Learn the knots and techniques for pulling a rope, including setting a running bowline with a long enough tail to allow you to pull the knot back out if you need to recover the line. Going over a branch and tying to the trunk is a good alternate sometimes.
4. Practice throwing the weight and isolating branches before you embarrass yourself in front of a customer.
5. AFTER you have learned to throw the weight, consider some of the slingshot options to improve your accuracy and height.


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## jefflovstrom (Aug 19, 2010)

pdqdl said:


> We are talking about a dead, dangerous tree that was already partly cut down, right? Don't be a dead or dangerous tree climber! Learn how to get the line in the tree without going up there yourself.
> 
> 1. Get the right equipment to throw a line into the tree. This would include several throw balls and a high quality throw line. Don't try some cheap stuff like contractors string line from Home Depot. It probably won't turn out the way you want it to.
> 2. I strongly recommend getting a folding cube to store the line. This little tool converts the job of throwing a line into a tree from "Gee, I hate doing this" into "Isn't this a cool way to get into a tree?"
> ...



Or get a Big Shot.
Jeff


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## remington69078 (Sep 3, 2010)

jefflovstrom said:


> Or get a Big Shot.
> Jeff



well last week I made my own throw bag to practice with in the back yar while I was waiting for my order to come in the mail because Iwould get the package in the mail and I'd have to use it the next day so I have gotten alot of practice in before the real one came in and it helped out alot


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## tree md (Sep 3, 2010)

That's the reason I get a line in practically everything I drop. Only time I will not set a line is if I am dropping one way out in the woods or well away from any structures and when it's leaning so obviously to the targeted drop zone it is a slam dunk. Otherwise, I put a line in everything I drop.

Even then it is no guarantee that you are going to be able to pull a hollow tree over that is twisting on a hollow trunk. I've seen it happen. You will be in a much better position to attempt to control the situation though.


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## oscar4883 (Sep 3, 2010)

I'm with the others on setting a rope in anything that is being dropped around obstacles. Don't want to be the schmuck with the drop that went screwy because I was to lazy to get a rope from the truck. Also, be careful wedging dead trees as the pounding can break things out and send them down.


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## remington69078 (Sep 3, 2010)

oscar4883 said:


> I'm with the others on setting a rope in anything that is being dropped around obstacles. Don't want to be the schmuck with the drop that went screwy because I was to lazy to get a rope from the truck. Also, be careful wedging dead trees as the pounding can break things out and send them down.



thank you,is there a different method to putting a wedge into a dead tree or should I just stick with the rope method


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