Felling a LARGE HEAVY LEANER

[david1332]

Alright so I have a job for 5 oaks to take down, I have enough room where I can climb up, cut the limbs and drop the main trunk without damaging anything. However there is one tree that has an EXTREME lean, that is a great candidate for a barber chair. It is not rotten ( from what I can see) however 3 out of the other 5 I'm taking down all have severe termite, beetle and fungus damage causing rot. So I'm sure that this one has some hollow spot under the bark.

I'm thinking about notching the front slightly and making a plunge cut leaving a hinge, and then cut the back to severe the hinge and drop the tree. However because of the severity of the lean I'm not 100% on this. I've barber chaired a tree ONCE and would really like not to ever do that crap again, so I want to be cautious. I will not even dare wrap a logging chain around it to prevent splitting because if it breaks there go my teeth lol.

Any other suggestions?

 

[david1332]

You can tell there is serious stress on the base of the trunk as there are several surface cracks along the bark

 

[Marshy]

Just a little lean.
Don't mind me.

 

[david1332]

Trust me the picture doesn't do justice .

 

[Pelorus]

If you are concerned with your logging chain possibly snapping, use a couple of heavy duty ratchet straps. And/or a piece of heavy rope you can timber hitch around the tree.
On a leaner with a heavily decayed bottom trunk, I'll sometimes wrap chains both above and below my felling cut.
The bottom chain keeps the stump intact until the tree is on the ground.

 

[david1332]

If you are concerned with your logging chain possibly snapping, use a couple of heavy duty ratchet straps. And/or a piece of heavy rope you can timber hitch around the tree.
On a leaner with a heavily decayed bottom trunk, I'll sometimes wrap chains both above and below my felling cut.
The bottom chain keeps the stump intact until the tree is on the ground.

How about the cut though? Definitely plung with a hinge?

 

[Trx250r180]

Just a little lean.
Don't mind me.

Can i have some of that ?

 

[Ryan'smilling]

I've had good luck with making an open face notch and boring like you're talking about. Another thing that can help is to cut the trigger well below the felling cut. The extra length of fiber to pull will slow the fall.

I'd agree with the recommendation for a couple of heavy duty ratchet straps. If you're worried about it, throw on 5 or 6.

 

[JeffGu]

It's just practicing its gangsta' lean...

If you can climb it to limb it... then just block down the spar in firewood chunks. No need to drop any more of the spar than necessary with a felling cut, if you don't have to. The more weight, the greater the chance of it barberchairing... the less weight, the less chance there will be of you needing a shiny, new grill from the dentist.

 

[david1332]

I might just rent out a 40' spider lift and use it for all of the trees on the property. It would probobly cut my time in half and would only cost $300-$450

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Agreed. Once you're up there and have it limbed out, just block it down. Shouldn't take more than 20 minutes at that point. Why risk it?

 

[david1332]

Sounds like a plan

 

[Del_]

You could also use a heavy bull rope and wrap it ten times or so.

 

[Pelorus]

How about the cut though? Definitely plung with a hinge?

I don't often use a bore cut. But I'm a climber, not a logger. Photo of maple that had heavy lean. Dismantled most of canopy prior to felling stem. Buddy in photo usually wears head protection...

 

[scheffa]

Big open face scarf, wing cuts and let her rip, stand to the side while back cutting and all will be well

 

[Wintermute]

I'd just throw a choker on it up high, connect a 11k+ rated steel cable on the choker, run that over to a block attached to the base of a much larger tree with rated straps choked on the tree (or a massive truck if there isn't a larger tree around...military 5 ton 6x6 works great), hook the other end of the line up to a 10k winch, pre-tension the lines with the winch, make a shallow open face cut, tension more, back cut a couple inches, back cut some more, rinse repeat. Much easier with a partner operating the winch. I've taken down a few heavily leaning 200' plus hemlocks and firs that way. Works great.

--Wintermute

 

[murphy4trees]

or learn the coos bay cut... the plunge will certainly work though... ropes are fine to wrap if it makes you feel better about it..

 

[david1332]

I don't often use a bore cut. But I'm a climber, not a logger. Photo of maple that had heavy lean. Dismantled most of canopy prior to felling stem. Buddy in photo usually wears head protection...

View attachment 504881

I'm a climber too, I don't know logging stuff but I like your idea better than a plunge. This way there's less kickback danger

 

[david1332]

I don't often use a bore cut. But I'm a climber, not a logger. Photo of maple that had heavy lean. Dismantled most of canopy prior to felling stem. Buddy in photo usually wears head protection...

View attachment 504881

I would dismantle the canopy too but there's rot at the base so it's not safe to climb with that much of a lean. There's a lot of surface cracking along the trunk

 

[murphy4trees]

climber still has to use a chainsaw.. might as well learn how.... good cutting technique can save a huge amount of time and effort.. if there is room that tree could be on the ground with just 2 minutes of cutting...