Fatty silver maple take down

[TreeJunkie]

Spent the day working on this beauty.
What a pain in the arse. I'm pooped.
We'll be back tommorrow to finish it up hopefully.

 

[TreeJunkie]

taking out one of the leads over the house.

 

[TreeJunkie]

Lunch time

I love it when people build decks around large trees!

 

[TreeJunkie]

ropin a little piece down over the house

 

[TreeJunkie]

Finished out this lead by the end of the day.

 

[TreeJunkie]

the scene.

 

[Florida16]

Very nice, I like how you use alot of ropes, (I'm still new remember). I usually just half hitch them down, I think it's also known as baby hitching.

 

[glens]

Building the deck around the tree sounds like a good idea at the time, but I question doing so around a silver maple...

Also, although you don't want to just wantonly tear up the deck, it's going to have to be at least partially disassembled and rebuilt anyway, so somewhat less care can be okay.

So after you get all the leads off, which way are you going to fell it?  Hahaha!

Glen

 

[treeman82]

I was thinking for doing work on decks, to possibly put a couple good sheets of plywood down over the deck boards? Like that the minor scratches and what not will not actually be seen after the work is complete. Also like that you can put down your saws and other misc equipment without having to worry.

 

[Florida16]

Originally posted by glens


So after you get all the leads off, which way are you going to fell it?  Hahaha!

Glen

True, I would like to see a picture of which way you fell it ^.^

 

[glens]

plywood

Yes, that's a very good idea.  The thicker the plywood the better.  OSB might work fairly well too, but is much easier to puncture.

I'd imagine you could get many years of use from half a dozen sheets of ¾" treated plywood.

Glen

 

[Florida16]

I've never used a crane, are they really worth the money and time? 'Round here they are $200.oo an hour

 

[Tree Machine]

Yowza!

Yea, that tree woulda been on my potential crane list.

Junkie has big balls. I believe you will get paid well for this one, or is the client your Mom's Sister, or something?

Geting that multi-ton trunk out of there is gonna be a quadruple suck. Good luck tomorrow. Got a 4' bar and chain? We'll be interested to know your approach on that lowest forking section (the single most massive part of the tree) and the trunk below it. Be safe.

This is the kind of tree where the last 10% of the tree can take 90% of the time. It would be bad enough without the deck there. We're rootin for ya!

 

[Nickrosis]

Thankfully our neighbor has a crane we can borrow from time to time. But to get big jobs, you have to be very price competitive, which usually means a slim margin.

 

[pbtree]

The carving idea sounds pretty neat...

I want to see some pictures of how the last portion of the pole is removed without a crane!

 

[Tree Machine]

Even if you crosscut a firewood length cookie, and then did a rip cut through, twice, creating 4 quarters, each if those quarters is STILL going to be hefty.

I could see mebbe a scaffold set to height, and slide the quarters off the trunk, onto the plank and off the end of the scaffold onto a waiting tire / plywood sheet in the yard just off the edge of the deck?

Gin pole setup?

Lull?

It's just going to be a son-of-a-gun.

we eagerly anticipate your success.

 

[Nathan Wreyford]

Originally posted by Nickrosis
...... you have to be very price competitive, which usually means a slim margin.

That sums up removals in a nutshell. Slim margins. Tree care is where the ca$h is.

Removals are such a commodity. Usually go to the lowest bidder or lowest bidder with insurance.

I assume Brandon is beavering away with the ms660 as I type. I can't wait to hear how it came out of there. Necessity is a mother......*&%ß....er, uh, I mean the mother of invention.

 

[Lumberjack]

Without a crane, I think I would do it with a scaffold, long bar, and cut it into pizza cutters. Then use a splitter to bust them and hand them down.

I think I would have covered the deck with at least a tarp (and the house) to make the saw dust easier to clean up.


Waitin to hear your approach!

 

[TreeJunkie]

darn rain

Well we spent 3 hrs this morning on it. Before being rained on. Have to love 45 degree rain. So we called it a day.

Took the final lead over the house out. .. Also took the remaining brush/deadwood out of the center lead. the top was really bad, dead as can be.

Only log left and the base. Oh yeah that can be fun.

This is actually not my job as i'm subbing for my brother. It was his call whether or not to get a crane. He opted to do it w/ out. For whatever reason. I tried to reason w/ him. But it's not my show. I just have the rigging gear and know how.

His plan on the trunk wook is to quarter and slice off cookies. Apparently using ladders to aid in this.

Finally after a lot of asking he began measuring off the distances and what not. Trying to see what size crane may be needed to get that bad boy out.

Need to figure an approx. weight of that trunk though first. At first measure it is 4.5 feet across at the very base and 9 feet high up to the crown. I need to whip out the chart and see what that puppie weighs... Any guesses? It could always be taken in two pieces if need be.

I think the only reason my bro has probobally shyed away from the crane is b/c of his limited usage w/ one. The only time he's rented one before was when he used a 200 tonner. At 350 an hour plus drive time he figured it might get kind of expensive. I've tried telling him that all cranes will not run you that much. I think a 60 ton should do the job. Just need to check the reach on them first.

 

[Tree Machine]

The next decision is really important

Sorta depends on just how close the crane can get in.

I have used a crane 4 times in the last 12 years, so when I use a crane, it is very, very necessary.

Junkie, your trunk is very, very VERY necessary.

Have the crane in to do the lift. You've busted your butt on this monster. Dicing that trunk into quads, or pie wedges or whatever is going to KICK ANYONE'S tush. Pay the crane for the lift and be done.

Scenario:
If you were to remove some adjacent deck boards, you could cut the stump below the level of the deck. You could do this and cut 75% of the way through the base before the crane even shows up. Get power blown and cleaned up, and when the crane shows up, make the last 25% of the cut, and YOU GUYS WIN. Crane is in and out in an hour.

This is just me talking. I had a biggie last year that required a lull. I've had a number of big trunks where I shoulda had a crane, but didn't, and I usually got pounded on an hour for hour, dollar for dollar basis. But, you have the deck there, making the call to crane it out almost a decision easily made for you.

You mention the crane at $200 an hour. What are the costs of your crew? Let's say $200 an hour for all of you, the trucks, insurances, rent a scaffold, blah blah. With the crane, in the span of two hours, (two hours for the crew, one hour with the crane) you're rollin off to the next job. Cost $600 and you have the rest of your day

If you get your a$$ whooped for six hours of cutting and moving wood, and another hour to clean up the 700 pounds of sawdust, 7 hours total, cost $1,400 and your day is eaten.

Crane make you money on this one, AND will make the finishing of this beast smooth and swift.

That is all from me.