# Tree felling with hydraulic jacks



## NCTREE (Oct 15, 2009)

Has anyone ever felled a tree with a hydraulic jack? I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.


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## treeslayer (Oct 15, 2009)

I cut a big "notch" out of a 6' field oak (white oak 50' tall, 100' wide) once and inserted a bottle jack, with a couple of steel plates, to apply pressure.
WOW. 
worked perfect. of course it took awhile to get the tree flat on its back, after it fell halfway over. (branches) 

Silvey makes em, where I got the idea.
http://www.madsens1.com/sil jacks.htm


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## NCTREE (Oct 15, 2009)

Doesn't it though. here a pic a HO took of a tree I felled for him. Sorry I didn't't get more of the scene. I can explain it a little to give an idea. 

The tree was just shy of 3' in diameter. It had a side lean towards the side with the wedges of about 7 degrees and a back lean of about 10 degrees. The house was directly to the side of the tree with the side lean at about 25' away with secondary lines directly behind the tree with the back lean. I had a rope in the top to a five-to-one pulley system.

The pulley system wasn't't enough to get the tree over center so I had to come up with another way. The jack was an 8 ton jack. It work great! Btw the tree was a pin oak.


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## epicklein22 (Oct 15, 2009)

Ya, I have heard of using a bottle jack before too. Those special ones designed for PNW falling are expensive. No reason to put that kind of money down for the little amounts of time it could be used.


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## SINGLE-JACK (Oct 15, 2009)

treeslayer said:


> I cut a big "notch" out of a 6' field oak (white oak 50' tall, 100' wide) once and inserted a bottle jack, with a couple of steel plates, to apply pressure.
> WOW.
> worked perfect. of course it took awhile to get the tree flat on its back, after it fell halfway over. (branches)
> 
> ...



Good info! Are the rest of the felling cuts done as you normally would for the situation? Do you make the "big notch" first?


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## treeslayer (Oct 16, 2009)

SINGLE-JACK said:


> Good info! Are the rest of the felling cuts done as you normally would for the situation? Do you make the "big notch" first?



I prefer making a smaller wedge, and use more hinge wood, when a lot of pull is needed.
On really big trees, I've sometimes used bore cuts with a smaller saw on the back cut, 
(coming in from both sides), leaving a "holding strap", which I cut last to release the fall.


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## NCTREE (Oct 16, 2009)

treeslayer said:


> I prefer making a smaller wedge, and use more hinge wood, when a lot of pull is needed.
> On really big trees, I've sometimes used bore cuts with a smaller saw on the back cut,
> (coming in from both sides), leaving a "holding strap", which I cut last to release the fall.



The bore cut method is great on large trees, I use it most of the time on larger trees. I try to make my notch no more than a third of the diameter of the tree. 

In this case the bore cut method leaving a back strap was no good. The tree had to much back lean, I used a traditional back cut coming in slowly on my hinge leaving it thick until I get the tree up and center. It still wasn't enough with a five-to-one to get the tree over center. Wedges were getting pinched too. The jack was the only thing I could think of, don't own a come-along, and their was no way to pull it over with the truck.

I think I should definately get a larger jack though, and 8 ton jack is not strong enough.


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