Felling for Firewood

[CampHamp]

I like the topic. Good posts, too!

I live in the middle of a forrest as well and harvest lots of dead/dying trees. I heat with hardwood and boil sap with soft wood.

The ash borer beetle is killing all the ash and the beech are also being hit hard by a non-native insect here in NH. Sucks. I didn’t know the oaks were under attack is some U.S. states until reading this thread. Perhaps it takes a million years for nature to develop a tree species, so we’re witnessing quite a rapid loss.

So, ash and beech are my heating wood and may not even be around for the next generation. I prefer to take them down sick rather than dead, just because it is safer.

With the dead ones, I look up while cutting for fear that just the vibration of the saw will drop a branch. I’ve had whole tops break backwards from dead ones with just the slightest touch of a neighbor when they topple. I‘ve taken to pulling down trees with a rope come-along unless there are no adjacent trees.

I had a friend die a few years ago who was knowledgeable and safe - he was a pro logger and went to logging classes with his boys. Paperbark birch - they get weak as soon as they die and even a lone, dead branch is a hidden danger in those trees.

Sorry for the “Debbie Downer” post!

 

[Jere39]

I know what you mean. A crew taking down dead Ash in a local park told me they are bringing excavators in to push the Ash trees over because sometimes just the vibration of the saw starts a disintegration of the structure of the tree and it collapses like the Twin Towers.

Here is an Oak I took down that was growing less than 3' from our cabin in the mountains. While the tree was sound, and I was pretty confident in my ability to aim it, I lined it anyway and with a snatch block and a pick-up truck ensured it would not fall on our cabin:

(40 seconds of Drone video)



And, as wood is our heat source for this cabin, I cut it up and some of the other guys split and stacked it for a future year.

 

[rwoods]

I like the topic. Good posts, too!

...

With the dead ones, I look up while cutting for fear that just the vibration of the saw will drop a branch. I’ve had whole tops break backwards from dead ones with just the slightest touch of a neighbor when they topple. I‘ve taken to pulling down trees with a rope come-along unless there are no adjacent trees.

I had a friend die a few years ago who was knowledgeable and safe - he was a pro logger and went to logging classes with his boys. Paperbark birch - they get weak as soon as they die and even a lone, dead branch is a hidden danger in those trees.

Sorry for the “Debbie Downer” post!

Just posted this in another thread:
No stock answer to your question beyond every tree may kill you, especially dead ash. My dead ash tactics are to make sure you have a clear overhead where you stand, the clearest falling direction as possible, cut them quick, and run - don't look back - keep putting as much distance as you can from the stump - it is amazing how far stuff will travel through the air. If you can leave the crusty ones to nature, then leave them.

I recently cut this one with the lean. First movement and the top (in the foreground) broke off about 15' up; it landed just feet from the stump leaving a stem that I had to wedge over.


Even that perfect straight live tree that you can "easily" fall in any direction will team up with nature, complacency and mistakes to try to kill you. The red oak on the right with the saw leaning against it is a perfect example. Faller's choice of direction to fall on a windless day in November 2021.


BUT an overly aggressive face cut, hesitation on placing a wedge and a sudden puff of wind pinched my saw in the back cut. Too tight to start a wedge and a 20 minute walk to my back up saw. The tree wasn't going to wait. Within minutes, a few more puffs of wind and a small chair started. Within 15 minutes it chaired completely with the stem fell sideways taking my saw for a ride.


I watched the chairing from what I thought was a safe distance 45 degrees from the face cut (out of frame but to the bottom left of the picture). Through no wisdom or forethought of my own I was in the best spot. I could just have easily been 45 degrees from the face but to the bottom right. In the end, I wouldn't have gotten hurt there but the scare from being that close to the action might have shortened my life a bit. My saw survived with a foot or so of pinched rails.

Ron

 

[3000 FPS]

We have several acres of woods that are so thick with oak and hickory trees, saplings, and yaupon that the closet I could get a tractor is the perimeter easement. I never cut a healthy tree but dead, lightning struck, and wind fall are fair game and the proceeds feed our Vigilant II stove to keep the house warm in the winter.
But, man! I’m getting too old to haul bucks out from the middle of the woods to the outer trail! I just cut about 1000 feet of new trails that meander through the woods. I might be able to haul my splitter back there with a garden tractor, split the wood on the spot, then bring the splits back to the stacks by dragging a small trailer. Sure is a lot of extra steps!
It’s much easier when I can get close with my old Ford tractor. View attachment 955070View attachment 955070View attachment 955071

8N?

 

[Jere39]

@rwoods Thanks for sharing those pictures. That is a great picture of what can happen, and a great experience to sit by a warm fire and contemplate what happened and how to avoid another similar fall. Glad you were safely able to take the pictures to share.

 

[Jere39]

This is a 2 minute video of another of the "goldilocks" (Not too big - not too small) standing dead Red Oaks. Just takes a little patience as the wedge takes effect:



And here is my award winning camera "man".

 

[JRM]

I helped a friend cut down a 34" pin oak with a dangerous lean over his garage. He hired a tree climber to sling a heavy rope up in the tree and take down 2 limbs that would have likely damaged the corner of the garage. I generally do not get involved in jobs like this - my view is leave it to the professionals with insurance! But he was dealing with some serious life events and was stretched thin, and the tree could not wait any longer.



Short video, turn it up loud enough you can hear an amped up gleeful shout when it didn't come back over on the garage.

Woo hoo!!

https://photos.app.goo.gl/MiJ2RV3eYh1UwKtc9

 

[farmer steve]

Good thread Jere and the rest of you guys too. Cutting a good amount ot dead ash here and like @rwoods said 'cut and run".

 

[Jere39]

I helped a friend cut down a 34" pin oak with a dangerous lean over his garage. He hired a tree climber to sling a heavy rope up in the tree and take down 2 limbs that would have likely damaged the corner of the garage. I generally do not get involved in jobs like this - my view is leave it to the professionals with insurance! But he was dealing with some serious life events and was stretched thin, and the tree could not wait any longer.

View attachment 955391
https://photos.app.goo.gl/FNmU4LxqZ6PZMqRr6

I never climbed well or confidently, and I now don't even do it on a dare. I agree with your procedure 100% (for what little my agreement means). I am mostly cutting in the woods, and don't need to avoid structures or utilities - just other living trees. But I have 1500' of driveway thru the woods and when I have a sketchy take down there, I call on a pro, who now also rarely climbs, but rather brings in a bucket truck.

I don't want to risk my rank amateur status.

Thanks for sharing your pictures.

 

[JRM]

Does the video link in my post above work for you guys? When I click on it it looks as though I am still signed into my personal account, not sure if that means it is private or not.

 

[CJ1]

No more climbing for me OR bucket truck. If it has to come down from the top, the homeowner can call a tree service. I have loaders and bull ropes with throw lines, if I cant get it with that I leave it be!

 

[Jere39]

Does the video link in my post above work for you guys? When I click on it it looks as though I am still signed into my personal account, not sure if that means it is private or not.

It works for me.

And, I wonder if you've been in the woods behind my house in the last 30 years???

 

[JRM]

If you were on the other end of the state it would be a possibility! I am right on the state line.

 

[Jere39]

If you were on the other end of the state it would be a possibility! I am right on the state line.

I actually know who did this quick carving - my Dad who was also a JRM, and liked to mark his (including my) territory where ever he ventured into the woods.

 

[Cricket]

I like the topic. Good posts, too!

I live in the middle of a forrest as well and harvest lots of dead/dying trees. I heat with hardwood and boil sap with soft wood.

The ash borer beetle is killing all the ash and the beech are also being hit hard by a non-native insect here in NH. Sucks. I didn’t know the oaks were under attack is some U.S. states until reading this thread. Perhaps it takes a million years for nature to develop a tree species, so we’re witnessing quite a rapid loss.

So, ash and beech are my heating wood and may not even be around for the next generation. I prefer to take them down sick rather than dead, just because it is safer.

With the dead ones, I look up while cutting for fear that just the vibration of the saw will drop a branch. I’ve had whole tops break backwards from dead ones with just the slightest touch of a neighbor when they topple. I‘ve taken to pulling down trees with a rope come-along unless there are no adjacent trees.

I had a friend die a few years ago who was knowledgeable and safe - he was a pro logger and went to logging classes with his boys. Paperbark birch - they get weak as soon as they die and even a lone, dead branch is a hidden danger in those trees.

Sorry for the “Debbie Downer” post!

"I’ve had whole tops break backwards from dead ones with just the slightest touch of a neighbor when they topple."

You are wise - that's what killed my husband. He'd been trimming utility right-of-ways and cutting for the city, for thirty years.

 

[Kensterfly]

Yes sir. 1952 8N

 

[djg james]

Yes sir. 1952 8N

I've got one of those, but i have to get it running first.

 

[Kensterfly]

Mine always ran great. I had it for 14 years but moved up to an 841 recently.

 

[cantoo]

I wasn't the first guy to cut this tree but I was the one who got it the rest of the way down. The last picture is a 25" or so Poplar that will be an interesting take down some day. It was topped at about 30' about 20 years ago, has a bad branch break about 15' up and a couple of years ago was hit by lightening. I was going to cut it down but I decided to let it try to heal itself a bit first. The bark has grown around the wound and it seems pretty solid now so I think this summer it will come to the ground. There is a same size tree about 10' from it which also makes it fun. It will hit my house if it goes the wrong way.

 

[rwoods]

cantoo, looks like an unintended Dutchman caused the fall to stall though I wouldn't put anything past an ash.

Here's my 6' barber chair from yesterday's cutting where one side of a 24" ash let go prematurely. I couldn't tell it from the outside, but the wood on the left had lost its fibrous structure.




Ron