Dropped a big oak - pics and video.

[unclemoustache]

Fairly easy drop into the woods. Had a slight backlean to it. I had a bull rope over a high branch and a comealong and block-and-tackle. My son was handling the ropes in the line of fire, but from a safe distance. Everything came down beautifully, BUT I had a hell of a time getting the rope set - it caught in another tree, and I had to climb up and cut stuff to get it right. Then the tree dropped on my rope as usual, but it took a good 90 minutes to get it out. the 5th pic shows all that I had to cut to get to my rope, not to mention grounding my saw pretty good a few times. Darn it all.
This quick 1-hour drop lasted 5-hours with all the difficulty we had, but it's down and we're happy.

No, I didn't get the wood. I'd love to, but it's a drainage spot between two yards, and I'd have to rut the lawns very badly to get to it. Hate to leave it, though. Maybe late summer?

 

[bitzer]

Not too bad a stump. You back up with wedges? And you really do have a killer stache!

 

[unclemoustache]

Yes, I had wedges, but they really weren't needed.

And actually the stump is bad - I didn't get too close with the camera, for I knew some of you all would rag me about it. The notch wasn't the prettiest, but the hinge was beautiful, and that's the more important part.

And while I'm at it, I'll say, Sheesh! A video and 7 pics, and all I get are two 'likes' and one comment. I thought y'all liked the pics and vids around here! Or maybe I needed more pics of my moustache.

 

[bitzer]

Well the notch is just as important as the hinge if not more and always wedge first or at least back up with wedges. What if the rope broke? If your notch(face) is too narrow or you leave an unintentional dutchman the tree could barber chair. Also if its really ugly it will effect the direction of the fall. Not trying to preach to you here just giving you notes. The stump looks nearly flat and you have a fairly straight hinge across it. It doesn't look bad. Maybe try to wedge next time and just have rope for security?

 

[VA 372xp]

Great job safely putting one down

 

[Jere39]

Looking good to me. I've had ropes that have taken me a week to retrieve based on bad weather, and how deeply buried they are.



My buddy/observer on the left is standing just above where my static line wrapped around the trunk, unfortunately, another 20' of trunk is laying on it before it emerges and runs off to my come-along. Day after this, it snowed about 30" and I didn't cut again for almost a week.

 

[unclemoustache]

Well the notch is just as important as the hinge if not more and always wedge first or at least back up with wedges. What if the rope broke? If your notch(face) is too narrow or you leave an unintentional dutchman the tree could barber chair. Also if its really ugly it will effect the direction of the fall. Not trying to preach to you here just giving you notes. The stump looks nearly flat and you have a fairly straight hinge across it. It doesn't look bad. Maybe try to wedge next time and just have rope for security?

Thanks for the tips.

My notch was good, just a little crooked on the bottom cut. Not nicely level as it should be, but the upper cut of the notch was fine, and it was open enough. I wasn't worried about the direction of the fall, for that was all proper, and the back cut sloped in a bit.

I was going with rope pull for primary, and wedges as a backup. I was worried about the rope at all - it's a 3/4" bull rope with a 10-ton breaking strength. I had it looped directly from the tree top to the base of another tree. A lineman's loop fastened the comealong and block-and-tackle which I used together to pull the tree over, but not until the backcut was nearly done, so I wasn't at all worried about barber chair.


My question for you: should I reverse my priority? Should I try and wedge primarily with rope backup, or is it OK to rope primarily with wedge backup?

 

[zogger]

Thanks for the tips.

My notch was good, just a little crooked on the bottom cut. Not nicely level as it should be, but the upper cut of the notch was fine, and it was open enough. I wasn't worried about the direction of the fall, for that was all proper, and the back cut sloped in a bit.

I was going with rope pull for primary, and wedges as a backup. I was worried about the rope at all - it's a 3/4" bull rope with a 10-ton breaking strength. I had it looped directly from the tree top to the base of another tree. A lineman's loop fastened the comealong and block-and-tackle which I used together to pull the tree over, but not until the backcut was nearly done, so I wasn't at all worried about barber chair.


My question for you: should I reverse my priority? Should I try and wedge primarily with rope backup, or is it OK to rope primarily with wedge backup?

Both is nice, but I get the buckwheats if I don't stick a wedge in any big tree, no matter what. Learned my lesson.. Like..ever been felling on a calm day then all of a sudden at murphy time in your back cut a big wind shows up?

 

[Hinerman]

No, I didn't get the wood. I'd love to, but it's a drainage spot between two yards, and I'd have to rut the lawns very badly to get to it. Hate to leave it, though. Maybe late summer?

http://log-mule.com/

This is what I use to move big rounds.

 

[Zale]

Nice job but would please put a Hard hat on? How many kids you got?

 

[Oldman47]

http://log-mule.com/

This is what I use to move big rounds.

Interesting product. All it needs is a storage mode where the bottom shelf comes off with a simple pin attachment and the side braces are easy slip on attachments. Think of a round hole keyhole slot type hole so that the side braces slide over a pin and settle into a slot to hold it securely. The bottom shelf attachment could be as easy as a bent piece of metal that fits down into a slot of the back frame with a pin or two to hold it engaged. To store just slip the side brackets off, pull a couple of pins and remove that bottom shelf. If you want to get fancy, have holes in the back frame and bottom shelf where you could use the pins to hold the bottom shelf against the back frame.

 

[bitzer]

Thanks for the tips.

My notch was good, just a little crooked on the bottom cut. Not nicely level as it should be, but the upper cut of the notch was fine, and it was open enough. I wasn't worried about the direction of the fall, for that was all proper, and the back cut sloped in a bit.

I was going with rope pull for primary, and wedges as a backup. I was worried about the rope at all - it's a 3/4" bull rope with a 10-ton breaking strength. I had it looped directly from the tree top to the base of another tree. A lineman's loop fastened the comealong and block-and-tackle which I used together to pull the tree over, but not until the backcut was nearly done, so I wasn't at all worried about barber chair.


My question for you: should I reverse my priority? Should I try and wedge primarily with rope backup, or is it OK to rope primarily with wedge backup?

Any time i use something to pull or jack a tree i keep the wedges snug. The mechanical advantage of the rope is an amazing thing until it fails. Or the come a long could fail. wedges don't really fail. I mean yeah you can break em if you hit them wrong, but they break inside the tree. The tree stays put, then just slip another one in. I would use the rope as an aid to wedging.

 

[unclemoustache]

Nice job but would please put a Hard hat on? How many kids you got?

Oh good heavens! I can't believe I forgot the hardhat!! I brought three for that job just in case my son didn't like one of them, and here I go and cut without it and never even noticed until I saw your comment! I even warned him about why to wear a helmet when cutting. That was so stupid it was almost funny, especially considering how dead the canopy was.

 

[olyman]

Oh good heavens! I can't believe I forgot the hardhat!! I brought three for that job just in case my son didn't like one of them, and here I go and cut without it and never even noticed until I saw your comment! I even warned him about why to wear a helmet when cutting. That was so stupid it was almost funny, especially considering how dead the canopy was.

stupid?? no.. in the heat of the takedown,, and all you were thinking of,, you just forgot...happens,,just so no disasterous results...and also proves,,no one is perfect........

 

[svk]

Split it up on the spot and bucket brigade the splits out of there with your army of young ones! You just can't leave oak to rot!!

 

[unclemoustache]

Split it up on the spot and bucket brigade the splits out of there with your army of young ones! You just can't leave oak to rot!!

Yeah I know, but I have no room right now. I'll have another tree to take down in that area later - maybe I can do that after things dry out and wheel some of that out of there. It sure is painful to think of that there.

 

[Full Chisel]

If you can't haul it out right now, I would use some branches on the ground as a rack of sorts and stack rounds so they don't rot and can season until you get them out.

Nice job getting that on the ground.

 

[Rockjock]

Sir all I can say is that is one fine stash!!

 

[grizz55chev]

Was it standing dead? Can't tell.

 

[unclemoustache]

Not completely dead, but it was getting there. Top was mostly dead.