jacking a tree

[joesawer]

They are scary to me. Hey Joesawer, I was in Crestline and Arrowhead during the Phillips and Jordan Edison Bark Beetle Removals in 2003. There were some tricky trees there!
Jeff

I came to the area in Feb 2004. I worked on P&J contract for a while. I wound up closing out a lot of grids that had been cherry picked of every thing but the worst high hazard trees.
Then I got into the NRCS and Forest Service and County contracts. I worked around Julian for about a year.
Now I am in Alabama, I just have not up graded my profile.

 

[jefflovstrom]

Julian was a bad job! Too much fire damage and trees and roads were tough!Stuck minis and dirty saws - sucked!
Jeff

 

[joesawer]

Julian was a bad job! Too much fire damage and trees and roads were tough!Stuck minis and dirty saws - sucked!
Jeff

Lol and I thought Julian was an easy place to work. Flat (almost) ground, and not a lot of tight work. It seemed like a lot more room and smaller average trees. But a lot of oaks with big crowns. My understanding is that P&J had knocked the bottom out of the price by the time they got there and was starving their contractors. I subbed to them some but then went on to NRCS jobs.
The Santa Ysabelle Reservation job on Mt Vulcan just north of Julian was fun. It was steep brushy and isolated.
The Boy Scout Camp near Santa Ysabelle was a cake walk for me, flat ground and I wound up climbing falling and skidding on that job. But it was hot! I was ready to get back into the mountains that summer. I made the San Diego news while there.
The worst job I have ever worked any where was On a Reservation on Mt Palomar. Hot, meat bees every where, rattle snakes every where, And brush so thick that I had to cut a trail to almost every tree. Oh and the tribal cutters had cherry picked every thing after I had agreed on a per tree price.
We never finished that job. High PAL levels ran us out and then it burned. I think that was late summer 07.

 

[Panama]

Tarzanstree's tree jacks are the real deal. If you are only going to use a jack, I agree 100% with using the correct jack for the job. I would like to clarify, I use a jack in an urban setting only as added "insurance" to ensure the tree goes the direction I want it to. It is backed up with wedges, and a pull rope if at all possible.
Once you have had a tree sit back and spit the wedges out, you learn the importance of a pull line being installed before you cut.

 

[B-Edwards]

I used a bottle jack on a very large Ashe leaning on a very steep grade over New River. We were cutting views for a beautiful development. If the tree fell in the river we had to get it out. There was no way of getting a skidder or any equipment close. I had a rope come-along so we had plenty of pulling power but this was a very very large tree with a bad lean. At the time I had a foot that was irritated to the point that I could hardly walk so I let my expert who (in his own words ) was dammed good with a saw cut the tree. We used an 066 with a three foot bar. I could see his notch from where I stood but I couldn't't go down to where he was, his notch was as I would have done. We put pressure on it and he started the back cut. I didn't' want the tree to fall while he was down there as there was no place for him to go and I was afraid he might be crushed so I ask are you sure you have it cut enough so we can pull it over, YES was his answer. He came up and him and the other expert who helped me at time hurriedly ruined the handle on the come-along. So we were stuck. I borrowed one from the power company and the strap broke on it (it was frayed when we got it). I went back and borrowed another and this time borrowed a 30 ton bottle jack also. Let me state that I took a chance using this jack and I would not recommend anyone use it , we were in a place that where if it failed the fellow using the jack (ME) was the only on who could get hurt. But here is how I did it. I had to wait a couple of days so I could walk ok. We had the original come along still in the tree. We added the other and I cut in the back of the tree at an angle on top and bottom so the jack wouldn't kick out. I placed a flat piece of thick steal on top so the jack stem wouldn't sink in the tree. We finally got it over and as I suspected my expert left most of the meat uncut in his back cut. I couldn't tell until it finally started to move. I had to run under a rock over hang but luckily the tree didn't slide. All we needed were red noses and big shoes but we got it done. The jack worked great but be careful if you try it. I would go with the Silvey jacks if I could rent or buy them cheap enough.

 

[TimberMcPherson]

I have used jacks, but after my first attempt I learned quick not to use just one (normal jacks with trees have high failure rates) and to always have wedges around as back up. Steel wedges with a bit of metalwork cut out of them make good pads.

Having tree jacks would be ideal, but if your guessing with automotive jacks you MUST have back ups.