# close call



## chainsawworld (Jan 20, 2003)

this one could have been a mess.
we were driving down the road one day and came upon this.
a fellow with a chainsaw had a ladder inside the leaders of this oak. he was cutting pieces off in hopes of the tree coming to the ground. he was getting ready to cut the leaders when we got there. "should miss the ladder". when i remembered i had the camera i already talked him down. his next plan was to cut the little trees holding this mess up. i talked him out of that too. marty


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jan 21, 2003)

Should miss- that falls under the "cut and pray" philosophy


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## treeclimber165 (Jan 21, 2003)

I've seen and spoken to many people who think along the lines of "It should fall here and miss me" instead of "Where CAN it fall, and will I still be safe if it messes up?". It is amazing that many homeowner types never stop to consider what that log will do to their bodies when they cut it wrong.


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jan 21, 2003)

It's not just homeowners. I'm suprised by the number of treeworkers out there who are not connected to their own mortality.

I always come back to the landscaper in owr area, this was 2-3 years ago, who was removing a heavy limb from a tree near a house; on a ladder w/o any tie-ins, salami cut of big, long wood, pull rope the only control. It peeled out to swing and knock the ladder from under him.

He died impailed on a fence pipe.

The guy had been working like this for some 15-20 years.


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## murphy4trees (Jan 22, 2003)

OK this is a good question...
How would YOU get this tree down...
Nice pic, though it would be helpful to see what is on the ground under it. So assume there is just a buch of thick undergrowth down there. Also figure you're only concern is getting it on the ground... no need to worry about bucking it for firewood.
God Bless All,
Daniel


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## John Paul Sanborn (Jan 22, 2003)

The picture is a littlle small, can't see the whole story, buy it looks like I may be able to tie into one of the smaller trees. Maybe with and AFC wrapped around the stem. maybe tie into 2 trees this way.


Might be able to do some hinge cuts or box cuts to chunk it back. I't all guess work since I cannot see the entire tree. I might have wanted to leave brush on ends so that I was not left with just bigwood jammed up in there. You can use the leveraged weight of the brushy ends so that the hanger will hinge down in some cases.

This is where a whole bag of tricks gets used if you cannot get a crane on it, or use a winch to support it while chunking off firewood.


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## timberwolf (Jan 22, 2003)

Yes it is amazing what some cosider to be safe practice.

I came across 2 young lads working for a landscaping company, which had taken on a large government contract including some pruning of overgrown willows and pines. The guy using a good sized saw, not a pruning saw was wearing nothing but sandles and gym shorts, standing on the top platform of an eight foot step lader, with his buddy standing directly below to steady the ladder.

Before the end of the day they were shut down and sent packing, at least no one was hurt.

Timberwolf


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## ORclimber (Jan 22, 2003)

From what the picture shows I'd finish that tree with my feet on the ground. I'd set a lowering line in each of those two trunks using my long lineman or throwball. I'd probably set up my hobbs to lower 1 and take wraps on the other. Then I'd start cutting weight off the butt ends until they came unstuck and could be lowered.


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## rbtree (Jan 22, 2003)

That tree appears to be in a forest setting. So, while Orclimber's method would be the safest, I'd just do this: Start cutting it from the base, it looks like it would come free after 10-15 feet were cut off the base. Careful choice of cuts and perhaps wedge use re needed, as considerable stress is on the trunk.

I've gotten plenty hung up over the years, and worked on lots of similar storm lodged trees.

Here's a pic of us taking a maple off a house. No crane access, and poor rigging points in surrounding trees. It was a small tree, but took 1.5 days, we got $3400!! It was tricky to do it without adding damage to the house. We used four other trees for rigging (and close to 10 lines, a bunch of blocks, Hobbs L.D. and truck pulls) plus my lifeline was in the cherry trunk just behind me. had that small tree not been there, the job would have been really tough.


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## murphy4trees (Jan 24, 2003)

I'd start chunking it off at the base, 1 lead at a time using the "verticle snap cut", which is a cut which starts on top of the wood going straight down, which is perpendicular to the ground. Then pull out just as the cut begins to close and finish with a perpendicular cut going straight up, but move the cut and inch or two down the trunk. As the pieces get shorter, the hung tree gets straighter and from the look of the hang ups, they would probably drop prety quick, as RB suggests.
I've used this method to remove plenty (50+) of storm damaged trees from houses. Works great if done properly.... a search for "Davis slide" in the commercial tree care forum will give more detais.
God Bless All,
Daniel


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## budroe69moni (Jan 24, 2003)

rb,
love looking at your pics that you post!!!
a true lesson in rigging!!! it's like i'm reverse
engineering the picture to see how and where
you would start to rig trees like this. more 
pics!!!!!
take it easy,
budroe


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## treemd (Feb 8, 2003)

A trick I have used a few times in the bush clearing blowdowns (and mess-ups) on walk-in low impact sites . Tie a rope in the tree as far along from the ground as you can so that you can still cut above it. Notch the bottom of the wood with a nice open face. Cut in from above (bore cut, wedges, watch for binding!). Pull on the rope, and the tree rises up and cantilevers over on the "knee" you just made (cannot really see base of tree or determine scale from the photo- may need a winch or a couple of burly young lads to get this one). CAUTIONS - the tree will travel at least twice the distance of the knee you make, plus inertia. Use a long rope. A good hinge is critical. For trees with an angle closer to the horizontal this method can give a limited return for the work you have to put in, but if you can get the hinge to fold, it works well.


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## chainsawworld (Feb 8, 2003)

the tree is sitting on top of the stump at about 5 foot in the air also. marty


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