Cutting down dead trees

[Huskybill]

I have many big trees that are dying. I purchased choker 3/8” chains, 20’ &30’ 3/8” and 1/2” chains, now I’m ordering 30’ nylon straps to pull the smaller trees with. I got shorter nylon straps to wrap around tree stumps for anchors. I’m going to drop what we can handle the rest I need a climber for.
Any thoughts? I figure my Jeep tractor can do the pulling.

 

[holeycow]

Pics of the trees?

 

[Huskybill]

I have big ash trees with the green ash bore beetles. These I need a climber.

 

[northmanlogging]

Chains and fiber ropes/straps don't mix, put a shackle/clevis between them.

Get some proper bull rope, 100+ feet if 1/2 or up to 3/4(200' would be better) and a a throw ball and line, that 30' nylon strap isn't nearly long enough. Add a snatch block for a redirect back to the "jeeptor" Last thing you need is all that weight from the tree lifting the jeep off the ground and sending it at you... watch some tree fail vids you'll find several examples of this phenomenon.

As for the choker chains and 3/8's chains in general, we discussed this in a previous thread. But farmers are a stubborn lot and won't listen to experience so have fun dragging 50#s of dead weight through the pushes. Really what you needed is about 100' of 1/2 wire rope and a snatch block to go with it, all them chains are going to do is be expensive and heavy.

 

[Philbert]

Chains and fiber ropes/straps don't mix, put a shackle/clevis between them.

Can you elaborate on this?

Thanks.

Philbert

 

[Huskybill]

I have large 1” screw size shackles. To put inbetween the chains and straps. I’m a class A machine builder we rigged our parts to assemble some parts weighed 25 tons. The total machine weight was 200,000lbs.
But it’s good advice you shared just to make sure.
I wonder if I can rent a bucket truck for the smaller trees I can’t drop because of my limited space to other houses and power lines.
I’m going to order 200’ of rope next.

The ash trees are big that my 42” bar will have to cut from both side to buck it. I’d like to get some lumber from it too.

 

[uniballer]

Lumber from ash trees killed by EAB is pretty useless for building anything because it's too brittle. Plan for it all to be firewood.

 

[northmanlogging]

Can you elaborate on this?

Thanks.

Philbert

Chains will cut fiber ropes or slings, they will work in between the links then the links act like a pair of really ****** scissors, doesn't take much to cut through when ya got 10000# wiggling back and forth on it.

Or worse if what ever loop of fiber is over the chain slips along the chain at all, its pretty much a guaranteed saw.

 

[holeycow]

Cable going around a corner of steel (Like under a dozer blade) is bad news too.

 

[woodfarmer]

Lumber from ash trees killed by EAB is pretty useless for building anything because it's too brittle. Plan for it all to be firewood.

No, I have hundreds of bd feet of nice lumber and live edge.

 

[rwoods]

Can you elaborate on this?

Thanks.

Philbert

Chains will cut fiber ropes or slings, they will work in between the links then the links act like a pair of really ****** scissors, doesn't take much to cut through when ya got 10000# wiggling back and forth on it.

Or worse if what ever loop of fiber is over the chain slips along the chain at all, its pretty much a guaranteed saw.

Attaching a rope to a chain's hook is also a bad idea as the surface area of the hook is small. Personally, I think attaching an elastic rope to any small dense object should only be done with great care. A clevis propelled by the energy in a stretched rope can be deadly. Cable is a much better choice for attachment to potential metal projectiles.

Ron

 

[holeycow]

Yet cable is very elastic too, and can whiplash when it breaks. Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not. That's why my daddy said to "throw a heavy jacket over that winch line son"..

complicated stuff. I guess that's why there's professional riggers.

 

[siouxindian]

I’m going to order 200’ of rope next. get cable or wire rope. just a lot less weight and very strong.

 

[northmanlogging]

Yet cable is very elastic too, and can whiplash when it breaks. Sometimes it does, sometimes it does not. That's why my daddy said to "throw a heavy jacket over that winch line son"..

complicated stuff. I guess that's why there's professional riggers.

cable isn't as bad as folks make it out to be, Rope even the fancy new "synthetic" cable stuff has much much greater elasticity then cable. While still dangerous arguably just because the weight of cable (inertia etc) most of the "whip" from cable comes from secondary sources, i.e. rubber tires, or tensioned trees etc... there is a video of some Australian offroad dude trying to prove cable is lame (sponsored vid of course) but he ties off both ends to long nylon loops... which are nothing more then industrial rubber bands.

Still not a good idear to be in the way of one when it breaks though.

For instance, from memory, most cable has a nominal stretch factor of like 0.7% while even the synthetic winch lines are a full 3% or better, most in the 7.-10.% range some as high as 25% stretch, notice also the working load limits of cable are much higher then synthetics, which do have a higher breaking strength, but a considerably lower working load limit.

 

[Trdoldtreecutter]

I will sometimes do a vertical bore in where I’m planning on some holding wood to see if there’s anything there. I might also make some vertical slots where the holding wood is maybe slightly down into the stump area on hardwoods if I’m trying for a slight swing. Something to play with if your cutting lots of them down. If they lean hard, not a bad idea to tickle the undercut out with the tip of the bar in case it decides to fall before you expect it. If they’re extremely rotten, watch they don’t buckle on the way down and the top can come back towards you.

 

[northmanlogging]

Attaching a rope to a chain's hook is also a bad idea as the surface area of the hook is small. Personally, I think attaching an elastic rope to any small dense object should only be done with great care. A clevis propelled by the energy in a stretched rope can be deadly. Cable is a much better choice for attachment to potential metal projectiles.

Ron

Depending on the hook, nothing but another chunk of chain should be attached to a standard chain hook, or at most some chunky piece of steel designed to be grabbed by said hook.

Though there are large mouth hooks that its sometimes ok to tie directly too.. but they have to have nice smooth and round surfaces.

 

[Huskybill]

I made 12” long chain shortener in 1/2” & 3/8” also. On the chain rings I put an extra hook with a hammer loc to attach the extra chain to shorten it also. Lol

https://www.yellowlifting.com/grade...g-chain-tow-truck-rollback-wrecker-p-604.html
I call the old Willy’s “UNCHAINED” now.

 

[SamT1]

I have a 1” cable we used to use for stubborn trees. You could pull on it with a John Deere 4960 until the tires spun and it wouldn’t stretch any. 200’ long so we’d pull the slack out of it And go cut the tree and leave a big hinge, get in the tractor and just take off. Usually the weight of the cable sent the tree where you wanted. But what a PITA. That cable had to ride on its own trailer because it coiled into a 8’ loop.