Do you leave that cut tree standing?

[Tree Sling'r]

Yup. A lot of the fallers out here don't cut in high winds. They know better. They know better because they're professionals and they know better because they use the common sense God gave 'em. Intentionally waiting for the windiest days to fall timber just doesn't make a lot of sense. It doesn't make any sense,really. If you need a major force of wind to make the trees fall where you want them you must be cutting on some real steep ground or have really bad trees.
That being said... No, I don't leave hang-ups. I'll dominoe it or drag it down with a skidder or a cat.

I love the windy day excuse. Sometimes even when it is not too windy it is. Sometimes I just wanna go home.
But, more times than not I use the wind as an asset. Just watch for whats hanging above you.
As far as hang ups a bologne slice works well. Meaning I saw about 3/4 of the way through the hung up tree about waist high. Then when the cut begins to bite I pull out and under-buck the same cut. Many times it will slide off the butt and the jarring will knock the tree loose.
I don't think it will work quite as well on hard woods that have many tops ans limbs, more less for conifers with one top.
It is dangerous anyway.

 

[Jaxx]

Yup, avoid cutting trees on windy days. They do rebound, bind your blade, etc.
Also old hung up branches tend to fall. During windy season I cut them down early before the winds pick up. Then there is fire danger sometimes.

 

[fishhuntcutwood]

I've cut in the wind, and admit to using it to my advantage waiting for a gust to cut up to the holding wood, and put the tree over, but I've never depended on the wind or cut intentionally because of it.

The saw won't hurt you unless you let it. It's the tree that'll kill you, and wind puts the odds in the tree's favor.

 

[windthrown]

No wind cutting

Around here wind gusts are very unpredictable and they can come from several directions. Very steep mountains here. Also wind will do weird things to trees... spin them, flip them back over the back cut, and very easilly take the line away from you that you chose to drop the tree onto. Like 45 degress either way. I do not cut on windy or even breezy days. Light or no wind only.
:deadhorse:

 

[GASoline71]

I try to avoid cuttin' in the wind at all costs. Also... if you "hang" a tree, you are obligated to make sure it comes down safely.

Gary

 

[John Ellison]

:biggrinbounce2: Some guys wont cut at all if there is not at least a little wind. Cause then there is no excuse for all the screw ups. It was going right where I wanted it to and then that big gust came out of nowhere.

 

[1953greg]

However, it was nature, and not me that hung it.

I am trying to figure how to get it down, (with no way to pull) and not kill myself.

This would be a good time for an expert to chime in and teach us how to get them on the ground.

If no one tells me how, I'm gonna undercut and topcut chunks off of the bottom until it falls or stands straight up.

since pulling is not an option the next best choice is
1. felling another tree on the leaner
2. cut the leaner from the bottom up. the shorter the lengths the greater the safety margin

 

[SteveH]

My policy is to not leave a tree hung up or leaning against another, etc. I live in an area where it is very uncommon to have anyone walking about in the woods, but it could happen and we do get hunters. I think of the thing coming down on some unsuspecting guy...actually, I don't really want it coming down on some animal walking beside it. So far, in 30 yr., I have managed to get them all down even on the times I didn't think I could [out on an extremely steep hillside where the tractor or truck would never go].

The only time I walked away from a still-standing tree was a few months back when I was taking down a big, beetle-killed blue spruce for an elderly neighbor, had it about halfway cut through [35" diameter] and the winds went from about calm to about 60 mph [verified later by a report from NWS]. That tree rocked back and forth heavily and I had to get my **s away, again on a very steep hill. It could not possibly hit the house [far enough away] and I figured that wind would finish it off, hopefully, and the homeowners were away for a week. Next morning, I went up there and it was down.

High winds are no time to be fooling with a big tree. Well, it's no time for me to.

 

[Gologit]

:biggrinbounce2: Some guys wont cut at all if there is not at least a little wind. Cause then there is no excuse for all the screw ups. It was going right where I wanted it to and then that big gust came out of nowhere.

Yup...it always good to have all your excuses lined up. Maybe we could start an "excuses" thread...might learn some handy new ones.

 

[Adkpk]

Whilst we are talking about leaners here's some pics of one. This is the one I spoke of earlier in the thread. I have cut it down. Notched it and back cut it then pulled it down from a distance with a come-along. Then I cut it again three quarters through at 8' up, not my smartest move in the woods but it worked. I was standing on the first log to be able to reach 8' (btw I was trying to keep the 8' lenghts for slabbing).
Pulled that down with a come-alone. But then it got hung in an even bigger tree
and as you can see I am in some heavy branches. I don't have a pic of where it is now but I am into some heavy branches. I need a bow and arrow to send a line up through all of those branches way up top to be able to pull it over. What do you all think?

 

[1953greg]

i think if i were going to cut that widow maker down i would have a rope tied to me w/ 2 nfl linebackers on the other end watching and w/ the slightest twitch from the tree they would pull the hello on the rope.

jokes aside, throw a cable over/around the top bout a foot above the break and pull the cable w/ something. truck, tractor, comealong, people, ect.
then cut the snag

 

[Adkpk]

i think if i were going to cut that widow maker down i would have a rope tied to me w/ 2 nfl linebackers on the other end watching and w/ the slightest twitch from the tree they would pull the hello on the rope.

jokes aside, throw a cable over/around the top bout a foot above the break and pull the cable w/ something. truck, tractor, comealong, people, ect.
then cut the snag

Assuming, greg, you are talking about my post, the hard part is done. I don't have pics of the tree as it sits, but after you take 16 or 20' off the base that is what is left.
I can pull it over but don't know how to get the line in the tree. Albeit three hundred tries.

 

[John Ellison]

Would it work to do it the same way you did the first part of it? Big open face notch/ backcut and then pull on it with the comealong. Your line would choke it just above the notch. Its what I do if it is jammed in the ground too much.

 

[tawilson]

Assuming, greg, you are talking about my post, the hard part is done. I don't have pics of the tree as it sits, but after you take 16 or 20' off the base that is what is left.
I can pull it over but don't know how to get the line in the tree. Albeit three hundred tries.

Fishing pole with a heavy nut, then a string, then a closeline, then a rope. That's how I did it, or something like that. I'm sure the arborists will have a more professional suggestion, or at least put my suggestion in professional terms.

 

[Adkpk]

Would it work to do it the same way you did the first part of it? Big open face notch/ backcut and then pull on it with the comealong. Your line would choke it just above the notch. Its what I do if it is jammed in the ground too much.

I want 8' sections and I can't reach up 8' without chancing the tree going over with me in it. I got away with it when I had the log to stand on but I won't try that again.
If I just had to get it down no problem. I would just cut 4' sections until it fell.

 

[Adkpk]

Fishing pole with a heavy nut, then a string, then a closeline, then a rope. That's how I did it, or something like that. I'm sure the arborists will have a more professional suggestion, or at least put my suggestion in professional terms.

Problem with that is after 900 tries and years off my life with frustration I will need to get the rope aroung the front of tree with all those branches to get in my way to be able to pull it over without going around the tree it is leaning on. Maybe I should throw a steak up there and wait for a big black bear to come and....

 

[1953greg]

Assuming, greg, you are talking about my post, the hard part is done. I don't have pics of the tree as it sits, but after you take 16 or 20' off the base that is what is left.
I can pull it over but don't know how to get the line in the tree. Albeit three hundred tries.

yep, thats the one adrpk

looks like the break is 10-12' up. surely u can get something around it just above the break. start w/ something of small diameter then attach something larger to the line til u get a cable or chain around it. maybe a
small cable can be thrown that hi.

i wouldnt be caught w/ a saw at the base
but u might if u try it!!!!!!

 

[Husky137]

Sometimes you have to put down the retard sandwiches and be happy with removing the hazard as opposed to salvaging some 2 x's in exchange for risking life and limb.

Always remove the hazards you create. If you don't know how to do it safely, maybe you shouldn't be creating them in the first place.

 

[Justsaws]

Sometimes you have to put down the retard sandwiches and be happy with removing the hazard as opposed to salvaging some 2 x's in exchange for risking life and limb.

Always remove the hazards you create. If you don't know how to do it safely, maybe you shouldn't be creating them in the first place.

This statement should apply to most things. Car repair, saw repair, home remodeling,fishing, raising childern and anything else a person does.

 

[Husky137]

And maybe even internet posting.:hmm3grin2orange: