Dead Top

[soggyboots]

Recently, I got a job to cut down 70ft twins (Silver Maple, 24 in diameter) that had dead tops. Rented a lift, felt like I was on a toothpick though, first time up. The first tree was really dead, limbed it at 50ft no problems, drops were good but the lift did not go up any higher so I had to resort to the truck. I tied it off, hooked it to the truck and pulled half the tree down without problems as it was dead
The second tree, limbed the same way as the 1st, but notice it wasn't dead but in the very top. At 50 ft, I cut a notch and tried to give another tug with the truck but it was not coming out. Let me just say, for those spectating, 50ft on a toothpick is not the most confidence building event. After it would not pull out I cut it from the lift at about 50ft. That day I really understood about widowmakers as these are something we all have to be aware of not just in the forest. Thankfully when it started falling it did not drop anything directly on me but as it started leaning right before the hinge broke two nice limbs fell out of it. After the top was out, the trunk was no problem. Oh, obstacles included: 55ft wide yard, fence, power line, garage about 20ft from the tree, and 2 other mature trees in the felling path. My question for you guys that have experience in lifts, 1) Safety of thyself and equipment. 2) When topping a dead tree like this, and you cannot get to the top, did I make the right decision about notching and finally making a backcut like you would to fell timber? It was about a 20ft top, plenty of limbs. I'm assuming since nobody got hurt and there was no property damage everything went as planned.

 

[Mikecutstrees]

On tops with tricky drop zones you should make your notch according to how you would like the top to fall. You vary the openness of the notch depending on the height of the top, how you want it to land and other factors. Often I want the top to land flat to avoid lawn damage. A 45 Degree open face on a top 40' off the ground with no leaves might work. Its an experience thing. A normal notch and back cut is the way to go. Leave a good amount of hinge, the last thing you want is for the top to spin and fall on you. Never pull too hard either you don't want to break a dead tree. Trucks are not usually needed, at most a 3-1 mech advantage altough I have used a truck once or twice on a big backleaning top, the trick is to be real careful. good luck..... Mike

 

[pdqdl]

A lot can be done with a rope and a pole saw, even from the top of an aerial lift. You don't necessarily need to work only from the height you are at in the bucket.

Next time, try rigging a pull line higher in the tree, then passing it down to a groundman. That extra pull will allow you to put top sections where they would not otherwise go, or it might allow you to drop a top section from a somewhat handicapped (but safer) position with the bucket.

A pole pruner might allow you to take it down in smaller pieces, perhaps just removing those widow-makers before you go in to work beneath them to finish the job. In really tough spots, you can hand prune the entire top down in little pieces that just fall harmlessly through the canopy. Beware shaking a dead top so much that you shake branches down on you! You can also just prune to change the weight distribution before making the bigger cuts.

That pole pruner can advance a rope high above the bucket through a crotch to safely lower limbs that might not be controlled in another way (really good technique for keeping branches out of power lines).

Lots more can be done if you think about it and do some planning for the next one. After every tree, stop and think about what you might have done better. Then try to be prepared for that problem next time you see it.