# Felling a LARGE HEAVY LEANER



## david1332 (May 24, 2016)

Alright so I have a job for 5 oaks to take down, I have enough room where I can climb up, cut the limbs and drop the main trunk without damaging anything. However there is one tree that has an EXTREME lean, that is a great candidate for a barber chair. It is not rotten ( from what I can see) however 3 out of the other 5 I'm taking down all have severe termite, beetle and fungus damage causing rot. So I'm sure that this one has some hollow spot under the bark. 

I'm thinking about notching the front slightly and making a plunge cut leaving a hinge, and then cut the back to severe the hinge and drop the tree. However because of the severity of the lean I'm not 100% on this. I've barber chaired a tree ONCE and would really like not to ever do that crap again, so I want to be cautious. I will not even dare wrap a logging chain around it to prevent splitting because if it breaks there go my teeth lol. 

Any other suggestions?


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## david1332 (May 24, 2016)

You can tell there is serious stress on the base of the trunk as there are several surface cracks along the bark


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## Marshy (May 24, 2016)

Just a little lean. 
Don't mind me.


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## david1332 (May 24, 2016)

Trust me the picture doesn't do justice .


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## Pelorus (May 24, 2016)

If you are concerned with your logging chain possibly snapping, use a couple of heavy duty ratchet straps. And/or a piece of heavy rope you can timber hitch around the tree. 
On a leaner with a heavily decayed bottom trunk, I'll sometimes wrap chains both above and below my felling cut. 
The bottom chain keeps the stump intact until the tree is on the ground.


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## david1332 (May 24, 2016)

Pelorus said:


> If you are concerned with your logging chain possibly snapping, use a couple of heavy duty ratchet straps. And/or a piece of heavy rope you can timber hitch around the tree.
> On a leaner with a heavily decayed bottom trunk, I'll sometimes wrap chains both above and below my felling cut.
> The bottom chain keeps the stump intact until the tree is on the ground.


How about the cut though? Definitely plung with a hinge?


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## Trx250r180 (May 24, 2016)

Marshy said:


> Just a little lean.
> Don't mind me.


Can i have some of that ?


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## Ryan'smilling (May 24, 2016)

I've had good luck with making an open face notch and boring like you're talking about. Another thing that can help is to cut the trigger well below the felling cut. The extra length of fiber to pull will slow the fall. 

I'd agree with the recommendation for a couple of heavy duty ratchet straps. If you're worried about it, throw on 5 or 6.


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## JeffGu (May 24, 2016)

It's just practicing its gangsta' lean...

If you can climb it to limb it... then just block down the spar in firewood chunks. No need to drop any more of the spar than necessary with a felling cut, if you don't have to. The more weight, the greater the chance of it barberchairing... the less weight, the less chance there will be of you needing a shiny, new grill from the dentist.


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## david1332 (May 24, 2016)

I might just rent out a 40' spider lift and use it for all of the trees on the property. It would probobly cut my time in half and would only cost $300-$450


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## TheJollyLogger (May 24, 2016)

Agreed. Once you're up there and have it limbed out, just block it down. Shouldn't take more than 20 minutes at that point. Why risk it?


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## david1332 (May 24, 2016)

Sounds like a plan


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## Del_ (May 24, 2016)

You could also use a heavy bull rope and wrap it ten times or so.


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## Pelorus (May 25, 2016)

david1332 said:


> How about the cut though? Definitely plung with a hinge?



I don't often use a bore cut. But I'm a climber, not a logger. Photo of maple that had heavy lean. Dismantled most of canopy prior to felling stem. Buddy in photo usually wears head protection...


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## scheffa (May 25, 2016)

Big open face scarf, wing cuts and let her rip, stand to the side while back cutting and all will be well


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## Wintermute (May 26, 2016)

I'd just throw a choker on it up high, connect a 11k+ rated steel cable on the choker, run that over to a block attached to the base of a much larger tree with rated straps choked on the tree (or a massive truck if there isn't a larger tree around...military 5 ton 6x6 works great), hook the other end of the line up to a 10k winch, pre-tension the lines with the winch, make a shallow open face cut, tension more, back cut a couple inches, back cut some more, rinse repeat. Much easier with a partner operating the winch. I've taken down a few heavily leaning 200' plus hemlocks and firs that way. Works great.

--Wintermute


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## murphy4trees (May 26, 2016)

or learn the coos bay cut... the plunge will certainly work though... ropes are fine to wrap if it makes you feel better about it..


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## david1332 (May 26, 2016)

Pelorus said:


> I don't often use a bore cut. But I'm a climber, not a logger. Photo of maple that had heavy lean. Dismantled most of canopy prior to felling stem. Buddy in photo usually wears head protection...
> 
> View attachment 504881


I'm a climber too, I don't know logging stuff but I like your idea better than a plunge. This way there's less kickback danger


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## david1332 (May 26, 2016)

Pelorus said:


> I don't often use a bore cut. But I'm a climber, not a logger. Photo of maple that had heavy lean. Dismantled most of canopy prior to felling stem. Buddy in photo usually wears head protection...
> 
> View attachment 504881


I would dismantle the canopy too but there's rot at the base so it's not safe to climb with that much of a lean. There's a lot of surface cracking along the trunk


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## murphy4trees (May 26, 2016)

climber still has to use a chainsaw.. might as well learn how.... good cutting technique can save a huge amount of time and effort.. if there is room that tree could be on the ground with just 2 minutes of cutting...


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## BuckmasterStumpGrinding (Jun 8, 2016)

It looks safe to me. If you are scared you can put your climb line in the tree next to it. It would not be much of a swing if it gave way. That tree is standing after winds that applied hundreds of times your body weight to it. Or use a ratchet strap. With 4 or 5 wraps it has enough strength to hold a semi or two.


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## Lonestar37 (Jun 9, 2016)

Just climb it and top it out. Just did one for a repeat customer. Oak leaning over the drive way half up the tree it just leveled flat with the drive. 

One of the tops actually got stuck in a small pine and oak on the other side of the drive. I just got a rope on it, through a small impact block in the middle of the rope and winched it out. Minimal damage to small pine across the driveway. 

Here a pic of blocking the rest down. 


( yes I was rolling solo on a sundaywith my fiancé. So we just let the brush sit where it was till I got out of the tree to run the chipper)

And grinder the stump. Used the grinding a as mulch in the bed and looked A++


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## Mike Davis (Jun 9, 2016)

Couldn't you make a notch and finish your back cut with a power pole pruner? I don't see very many obstacles


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## david1332 (Jun 9, 2016)

THats actually an awesome idea. I have an echo pt266 so that would work


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## Lonestar37 (Jun 9, 2016)

Wake sure you check for utility's, sprinkler heads and irrigation lines before felling a tree like this. It will leave ruts in the yard and cut through just about anything up to a foot or more down. 

Using a pole saw isnt exactly the most safe and professional approach. Though get your redneck on if you desire.


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## Uzi (Jun 9, 2016)

Another vote for heavy ratchet straps over a chain. Much easier to tension and less metal flying around if things do go south. We put them on any tree we work around that has large vertical cracks were we feel there is a potential for barber chair. It's probably not always an necessary but it takes 10 mins to set them up so why risk it? We usually set them up with the ratchet mechanism to be up top during felling. I've never had one lost in a fall if so they are only $30 each not a huge loss/cost for the safety they provide.

Here's my most recent example very large crack in a very large cottonwood.


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## Mike Davis (Jun 9, 2016)

I suggested the power pole pruner only for the persons safety. If the tree did barber-chair he would be away from the drop zone. If you know how to climb then that's a different story all together.


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## david1332 (Jun 10, 2016)

I def


Mike Davis said:


> I suggested the power pole pruner only for the persons safety. If the tree did barber-chair he would be away from the drop zone. If you know how to climb then that's a different story all together.


I definitely know how to climb. I just wasn't sure if it was safe. The tree had white rot at the base as well as the surface cracking and heavy lean.


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## david1332 (Jun 10, 2016)

I'm doing the job in about a week $2500 for 5 trees. All about the same height as this, but there's room to all but one if I climb up and take down the top halves


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## TheJollyLogger (Jun 10, 2016)

http://www.arboristsite.com/community/threads/it-was-a-hell-of-a-ride.261576/


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## 056 kid (Jul 1, 2016)

Take a nice deep, long block out of it, snipe or scarf to your liking. You get enough out of the front with that block and you greatly reduce risk of barberchair. Come in from the back, no boring, it'll commit before it comes apart..

Ill add that there will be some binding while you get your face in. Thats a good thing though.


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