felling spring poles

[stevohut]

Can you guys give me some advise on how to carefully remove a spring pole tree out in the bush with other trees around or even on top of the pinned tree. These trees are mainly white poplar about 8" in diameter. The wood is for firewood so it doesn't matter if other trees are damaged in the process. I read a little about it. They talked about the apex of the spring pole what does that mean, and how do you safely take the pressure out of the tree. THNX

steve

 

[Metals406]

Can you guys give me some advise on how to carefully remove a spring pole tree out in the bush with other trees around or even on top of the pinned tree. These trees are mainly white poplar about 8" in diameter. The wood is for firewood so it doesn't matter if other trees are damaged in the process. I read a little about it. They talked about the apex of the spring pole what does that mean, and how do you safely take the pressure out of the tree. THNX

steve

Steve,

Spring poles are super dangerous. . . Proper procedure is hard to get across over the internet.

The 'apex' is essentially the center of the convex, or radius. A good majority of the pressure is held there. You have two forces at work -- compression and tension.

Many the logger and tree worker has been seriously messed up by spring poles.

What you're looking to do is relive the stress by making cuts on the convex side of the pole. . . Not deep cuts, but enough to remove stress.

You should find a logger or tree guy in your area to run you through a good procedure.

I highly recommend you feel confident before you try and tackle spring poles of significant size.

 

[tree md]

Yep, bad trees to mess with for an experienced hand, let alone someone who has never done one. If they are only 8" then you can prolly tie the butt off and pull it free with a truck or equipment. That would be the safest way.

 

[48"BAR PINCHER]

I'll stick my neck out a little here. I know alot of you PNW guys don't care for GOL stuff but here goes.... We did a lot of spring poles in classes. My suggestion is go find some saplings and practice on them first. If you get it wrong it probably will only hurt and not kill you. Put you fingertips together and make an upside down L. Site the inside of your hands so the vertical part and the horizontal part line up with the vertical part of the trunk and the bent over part. Where the apex of the trunk lines up with where your fingertips meet that is the center of your apex. Mark the spot on the tree. Fire up the saw and start shaving the underside of the apex about 2 feet on either side of your mark until the tree relaxes.
I do like the equipment option better myself if you can do it tho.