Need advice on hollow Black Walnut

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Good luck, and be safe!

 

[Huskyvarnya Saws]

Managed to get it on the ground today fellas. Things went pretty smoothly, but i I didn't have as much good wood on one side as I had originally thought. So I wasn't able to set the hinge how I wanted to before it started to give way. The tandem of cables and wedges worked out really well! The ratchet straps seemed to help keep the trunk together as well. Overall i'm pretty happy with how things went. Thanks again everyone for all of the tips! Made a world of difference.





I ended up with 4 wedges supporting it, but I wasn't able to get a pic of that setup due to the tree letting go before the hinge was fully set.






24" Bar btw for scale








Looks like the rather straps help reduce the splitting up the trunk. I peeled the bark back to see how far the crack went.

 

[Huskyvarnya Saws]

It was still hollow after the first V in the tree. I was really surprised at just how bad it was. I guess looks can be deceiving.

 

[Huskyvarnya Saws]

If anyone sees anything I could have done differently, I am open to suggestions. I know my face cut wasn't perfectly level (still getting the feel for this saw) so my notch wasn't as nice as it could have been.

 

[Tigwelder83]

If anyone sees anything I could have done differently, I am open to suggestions. I know my face cut wasn't perfectly level (still getting the feel for this saw) so my notch wasn't as nice as it could have been.

You did alright pilgrim.

 

[avason]

I’ve been watching this thread since day one. Really thought out and well planned. Great work! Just a question, could you have not used the snatch block and just used that one tree that you tied off to with. Come along? Just wondering. Was that for more leverage? Again, great work!!

 

[billyboy]

Job well done. Great suggestions. I read the post late. I would have suggested a tractor on the cable. My come along is only good for 2000 lbs and it is slow when you need to go for it which can mean the difference between it landing closer to where you want it and not where you want it. Just my two cents.

 

[EchoRomeoCharlie]

Job well done. Great suggestions. I read the post late. I would have suggested a tractor on the cable. My come along is only good for 2000 lbs and it is slow when you need to go for it which can mean the difference between it landing closer to where you want it and not where you want it. Just my two cents.

Tractors are great on solid trees to make things go faster than a come-along. Compromised trees, not great. It's very difficult to put a specific amount of stress on a tree. A tree this compromised, pulled too hard, will just bust up and go wherever it wants.

The tractor should never be the difference between the tree going where you want it and not. If the tractor has to pull the tree into the lean, something very bad happened. The felling cuts setting up the hinge is what guides the tree into the lay, the tractor is only there to get the tree moving if it has back lean. Basically the big powerful version of a wedge in the back cut with the ability to have leverage up the tree.

 

[unclemoustache]

Great job. Everything was done well. Very glad you got the advice from so many. That was a dangerous tree, and the straps and tag line really reduced the danger.

way to go!

 

[Den]

Thank Johnnyblade for the strap idea... I cannot take credit for it !!!
Nice job Huskyvarnyasaws.

That tree reminds me of the tree's we are cutting at my Pastor's place. Every one of them is Oak...hollow... broke completely off about 35 feet up from a storm... slabbed all the way to the stump... and dead for about 12 years or more. Bark peeling off, rotted, some full of eye bolts, nails, and electric fence insulator's. With thick electric fence wire under the leave's running everyplace.

I told my Pastor: "we are not cutting firewood... we are performing demolition". I've never cut such nasty and dangerous wood in my life.

Especially dislike cutting underneath long-dead water logged limbs, bobbing up and down over my head while I'm felling. My friend has a plastic/titanium ankle because of this very scenario.


.

 

[Hickahollar]

Managed to get it on the ground today fellas. Things went pretty smoothly, but i I didn't have as much good wood on one side as I had originally thought. So I wasn't able to set the hinge how I wanted to before it started to give way. The tandem of cables and wedges worked out really well! The ratchet straps seemed to help keep the trunk together as well. Overall i'm pretty happy with how things went. Thanks again everyone for all of the tips! Made a world of difference.

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I ended up with 4 wedges supporting it, but I wasn't able to get a pic of that setup due to the tree letting go before the hinge was fully set.
View attachment 908169

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View attachment 908173


24" Bar btw for scale
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Looks like the rather straps help reduce the splitting up the trunk. I peeled the bark back to see how far the crack went.
View attachment 908188

Man you did a good job getting it on the ground and looks like everything and everyone was safe. I'll have to remember that tie strap to hold the tree together. That's an excellent idea.

 

[Huskyvarnya Saws]

I’ve been watching this thread since day one. Really thought out and well planned. Great work! Just a question, could you have not used the snatch block and just used that one tree that you tied off to with. Come along? Just wondering. Was that for more leverage? Again, great work!!

Thanks man, I appreciate the kind words. I was a bit nervous about this one, so I wanted to get all of the advice that I could from more experienced people, and come up with a solid plan of action instead of just winging it. I decided to rig it that way for a couple of reasons. The first one being, I wanted to ensure that my helper who was on come along duty was out of fall range of the tree. My tree felling experience is limited so i'm not the best at judging tree height, so I was just playing it extra safe. The other reason being that I have a cheap chinese come along which was the weak link in my setup, so I figured the snatch block wouldn't hurt. To answer your question, it would have probably worked out the same if I did it the way you mentioned. I was just trying to give myself every advantage that I could, and peace of mind regarding my helper being out of range if things went badly. Thanks again!

 

[Huskyvarnya Saws]

You did alright pilgrim.

Great job. Everything was done well. Very glad you got the advice from so many. That was a dangerous tree, and the straps and tag line really reduced the danger.

way to go!

Job well done. Great suggestions. I read the post late. I would have suggested a tractor on the cable. My come along is only good for 2000 lbs and it is slow when you need to go for it which can mean the difference between it landing closer to where you want it and not where you want it. Just my two cents.

Man you did a good job getting it on the ground and looks like everything and everyone was safe. I'll have to remember that tie strap to hold the tree together. That's an excellent idea.

I appreciate it fellas. I agree, the straps were and excellent idea. I'm glad that @Den passed that tip on. If I had it to do all over again I would probably move the first one down the trunk a little bit closer to the cut. I believe they probably played a role in preventing the trunk from splitting even more. Hopefully this thread helps some people in the future who find themselves in a similar situation.

 

[Huskyvarnya Saws]

Thank Johnnyblade for the strap idea... I cannot take credit for it !!!
Nice job Huskyvarnyasaws.

That tree reminds me of the tree's we are cutting at my Pastor's place. Every one of them is Oak...hollow... broke completely off about 35 feet up from a storm... slabbed all the way to the stump... and dead for about 12 years or more. Bark peeling off, rotted, some full of eye bolts, nails, and electric fence insulator's. With thick electric fence wire under the leave's running everyplace.

I told my Pastor: "we are not cutting firewood... we are performing demolition". I've never cut such nasty and dangerous wood in my life.

Especially dislike cutting underneath long-dead water logged limbs, bobbing up and down over my head while I'm felling. My friend has a plastic/titanium ankle because of this very scenario.


.

Thanks! @JohnnyBlade

Thanks man! I don't envy your position. That sounds like a dangerous job. I have a decent sized Oak on the property that I suspect is hollow as well. When I get around to dealing with it at least now i'll have a good idea of what needs to be done. Funny you mention eye bolts and nails. To make matters worse with this one, I hit a metal spike of some sort when I was making the undercut for my notch on this tree. It dinged up a freshly sharpened chain pretty good. It's going to take some TLC to get that one back right.

Good luck, and stay safe out there!