sycamore removals

I will be removing these 2 sycamore trees. The customer wants them out to make room for a pool this spring. The trees are healthy, about 80' tall. About 30' of space between the trees.
Anytime I work on a tree type that I've never climbed, I am extra cautious and want to know about tendencies of the wood...( does it break easy, is the wood brittle..etc)

What are some of the important things to know about sycamore ?

My game plan is simple....
1. Limb it on the way up.
2. Drop the top limbs out.
3.Work down chunks on the way back down.
4.lay down the last 30' or 40' of the trunk.

Here is a pick of the trees.

Its the 2 sycs in the middle of the pic ...not the one on the right side of the pic. There is about 30' of seperation between the two trees. On is in front of the other.

Looks like fun. 30 inches between them, not 30'.

Set your rope high. Use spikes. Use your flipline. As you stated, limb the lowest first, making sure your flipline is well above the cut you will make. Being tied in to your lifeline means you're always tied in twice, except when repositioning your flipline up over the next limb to be cut.

On the way down, move your lifeline down along with your flipline, staying tied in twice at all times.

The dropping of the pole should happen when you finally run out of gas.

I prefer at that point to have a bigger saw sent up. Forget dropping the pole, just keep knocking off firewood lengths, all the way down. This keeps the mess all in a tight zone. Use an old tire as a target for the bombing of the hunks.

Leave the stumps each level and each 30" high. This gives the excavators something to push on in removing the stumps by the roots. The owners could put a tabletop on them until then.

As far as the characteristics of the wood, nothing really out of the ordinary. Your clothes may end up looking like they're spray-painted white. Makes decent firewood, though often tough to split.

David,

it almost looks like you can fell them. if not, what about setting a pull line in the top from the ground, limbing 1/2 way, and pulling out the top?

As for tendencies, sycamores are about average. I wouldnt worry about climbing them.

The wood is heavier than expected. The green wood is extremely strong but dead limbs will snap off easily Don't even think about stepping on a dead limb. The wood is very easy to gaff, kicking out is rare. The wood cuts and hinges well. Very predictable to cut (although the weight may surprise you). Lots of people are allergic to the fuzzy seed pods and/or the dust from leaves. Removing them before they bud out will make your job much easier.

Hopefully you are climbing with a steelcore, like ok said it looks like you could just pull them over. If not run up the tallest one, limb as you go, top it, tie in, swing over to the other, top it, get a rope in it, rappel down. Running bowline the tree you came out of, undercut, backcut, end of story.

The allergy thing.... I won't do sycamores in the Summer because of that. My throat just about closes up. Some weird fuzz on the underside of the leaves. No problem in the Winter, though.

As Rocky says, sycamore is very heavy wood.

Yeah , everything mentioned above and they're slippery suckers. Don't think you'll be able to hold onto cut limbs too easily , doesn't look like you'll be limbwalking so no worries there.

clearance said:

Hopefully you are climbing with a steelcore,

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Never owned a steelcore in almost 20 years of climbing. Why do users of steelcore always say that? Absolutely nothing to do with the topic at hand. If you make a habit of hitting your lanyard with a running chainsaw then you're not going to be a very successful or healthy climber for long, regardless of the style of lanyard.

Is this a low impact removal? If so, I'd go with TM's method and keep everything in one spot and nice and clean. If you can take the tops out and drop them, go for it. Let me know if you'd like any help. I don't have much going on right now.

Those two sycamores look more like 55-60' at the most. Also I'm not seeing much to tie into, maybe one decent crotch at around 35' on the right tree. everything else looks like 4" or less diameter. Appears to be flipline and spike climbing not much to hang a rope on. Or is my sense of scale off looking at this photo?

I'll second what Skwerl said, sycamore is suprisingly dense and strong!
-moss

If you don't use a steelcore you probably don't wear a seatbelt by the same logic. It can't hurt to use one and like a seatbelt it may help you one day. If you are not using a steelcore you have to be secured with two lines in B.C.. These trees are a piece of cake, Treemachines way will work but I question his methods. I would climb with my ropes clipped to my belt, limbing on the way up, cutting above my lanyard so I don't have to throw it over any limbs. I throw my rope down when I have to, that way it can't get trapped under branches. I am just a powerline hack but after doing more removals like this than I can remember I fail to see why it has to be made complicated. Use up all the room you have, in regards to chunking it down why? Fall as big of a log as you can. Easier and safer to buck on the ground.

Looks like a good spot to tie in, no big deal really.

I do use steel core I picked up from okie. I love it.
The job is not low impact so I will be bombing away. I'll limb it and top it with my echoe then bomb chunks with the 346xp.
There may be enough room to drop the whole trees down but there would be much less room for error.
At this point the home owner just wants the trees on the ground so he can clean up the wood. I think he will change his mind when he see's how big the mess is.
Thanks for the offer Redbull...I'll keep you in mind.

I'll post pics from high above!!!

Go with the low impact plan, chunking it down as you go.

As to the fuzz, I call them sick some mores for that reason - I will pretty much refuse to work with them unless the leaves are off in the fall\winter...

Have fun and post some pics of the job!

NIce straight logs. Is the woo duseful for something? If so you may be able to get free hauling.

clearance said:

Treemachines way will work but I question his methods. I would climb with my ropes clipped to my belt, limbing on the way up, cutting above my lanyard so I don't have to throw it over any limbs. I throw my rope down when I have to, that way it can't get trapped under branches.

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There's usually always a faster way. My suggestions were for a couple reasons. First, I made an assumption that David did not have a steelcore. I'm very glad he does as I'm a big fan of the steelcore lines (even though I'm not using one currently ). Secondly, I really try to encourage our industry standard of being tied in twice, stupid (not callin ya stupid, Clearance, I just like the tits acronym, and non-acronymical tits for that matter). Third, when to make a cut above your flipline, there's chance that a peel can suck your midsection into the tree. With a wirecore, there's no cutting of that lanyard to free yourself. Without a steelcore, and having your lifeline hanging on your saddle, a peel could, in theory, lead to a fall. With the flipline above the limb to be cut, a peel is just that, and that alone. Clearly, in a peel situation you'd try to cut the limb first, and the flipline as a last resort. Fourthly, when your flipline is below the limb you are to cut, gravity, misjudgement, etc., can bring a spinning chain into the flipline itself. Doubtful it would cut through, but it's a quick way to screw up a perfectly good flipline. I have two of these in the last decade as testimonial, both on limbing pines on the way up.

I appreciate your questioning my methods, Clearance. It's good to get the reasonongs out on the table for everyone.

clearance said:

In regards to chunking it down why? Fall as big of a log as you can. Easier and safer to buck on the ground.

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If the tree were bigger, I might agree, but aerial bucking can prove swifter, prevent a long, concave trench, avoid sawdust way outside of the mess zone and avoid running your chain into the dirt. If your saw is powerful and your chain is sharp (the 346 being an excellent candidate for this), just sizzle through, push em off, move down a step or two, repeat.

Personally, I would skip the mini saw altogether and do the whole crowning out and upper bucking with the 346. These are big, lopping cuts, not pruning cuts. All those cuts (both trees) can probably be managed swiftly, and on a single tank of gas, not so with the smaller saw; slower cutting and 1-2 refuleings). For the remaining posts, the bigger wood, I'd prefer a bigger saw, but the 346 will do those trees top-to-bottom and like it.

The steel core flip lines have the steel to make them easier to flip, not for chainsaw cut protection. A chainsaw will easily cut a steel core flip line.

Maas said:

The steel core flip lines have the steel to make them easier to flip, not for chainsaw cut protection. A chainsaw will easily cut a steel core flip line.

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Mike, you funny, and fulla crap the way that statement is worded. Yes, steelcores DO flip easier, but to cut through one would almost have to be a deliberate, intentful attempt to do so.

'Easily cut' is an exaggeration at best, a false statement at worst if you mean it the way it appears. Maybe you mean easily cut as in 'easily nicked and damaged', or do you really mean 'cut fully through'? Anyway, steelcores are not the topic of this thread.

On this point you are wrong TM. It is a fact that a chainsaw will easily cut through a steelcore flipline.
I will not be discouraged from pointing out an issue of safety because you deem it to be "off topic".