Dave1960_Gorge
ArboristSite Operative
I'm with Montana. Arborists that have been around awhile usually have all kinds of rigging gear which can be used to deal with most situations. Problem here is first of all, don't hit the cabin (or crush yourself); second, try to minimize work.
I would set up a heavy block (pulley) on a stout tree trunk up hill and to the side of the windfall, run a heavy rope though it, and attach the rope to a heavy winch on my truck down the hill. Then cut 4 - 8 ft. pieces and drag up and to the side; secure with some chunks, untie, and repeat. Now you have a wood pile you can cut up and let the rounds roll down the hill, or you can winch down the bigger pieces. Notice that you are never cutting something not tied to a rope; however, you can still have it roll on you, so you need to read each piece.
Alternatively, secure the logs at the stump and cut them off one at a time and just leave them there; if pointed downhill, the logs aren't going anywhere. Snake and frog habitat.
Or even simpler: lay some old plywood against the back of the cabin and cut firewood and let it roll down. You can also stack some branches in front of the plywood to absorb more shock.
Anytime you are using a winch, you create a dangerous situation: the rope (or wire rope) could break, the rigging could come loose, or you can over-tension the system and break the rope or even uproot your anchor. Did you block the tires on your truck?
Arborist haul rope (not something you buy off a spool at the hardware store!) will stretch when a log digs in the dirt and then it can jerk free suddenly (or the rope could break, especially if it is over a sharp edge of rock or metal -- did you check the site for old trash?); wire rope is more likely to break your rigging or anchor point if overloaded because there is no stretch (but you can break it too). To be safe, your rope should be twice the working load of the rating of the winch. Know where to stand (not in the 'triangle of death") so that if something goes haywire, you won't get crushed or wacked with a rope or rigging.
Even pros screw up: I was hauling small trees up a cliff once with a block on a big oak limb; a tree got lodged, and my employee bogged down the winch -- a 16.5 k winch with 5/8 wire rope. Tore the 16 in. limb right off the tree, narrowly missing the guy at the top of the cliff signaling the cutter down the cliff. Whoopsie. I should have been on the winch in that situation because my employee was a newbie on it. And the guy signaling should have been more off to the side. Didn't think I was gonna break the limb. Things can go wrong very fast -- when I heard the winch straining, I took two steps towards the guy and the limb broke. Didn't help that the chipper was running and he couldn't here me.
Another time, my climber had a favorite scrap of rope for attaching a pulley in a tree; he was dumping a dead pine top and the haul rope managed to loop behind the pulley, and when it came taught, the scrap snapped and the top took out a wooden fence. I then bought an assortment of woven double eyed straps designed for heavy duty chain hoists or cranes!
OT
