Tree crushing driveway

[Pnoone]

Hello all. I'm taking down an 80' oak, 20" dbh and have two options for where to fell it. First is into the woods behind it which would require a bit of wedging to overcome about 5' of lean and comes with a good possibility of it hanging up on the dense trees behind it.
Second option is across the driveway that is 20' from the base of the tree and onto a lawn, in the direction of the natural lean. I'm worried about crushing the asphalt driveway though. I've heard of using tires on the driveway to soften the impact. Anyone have experience with that working with a tree this size?

 

[Pelorus]

A 6" sand cushion (or sawdust, woodchips, bags of topsoil, etc.) topped with several sheets of 3/4" plywood would take more effort. But it would probably be more kind to that asphalt than just a couple of tires.

 

[Pnoone]

Great suggestion, Pelorus, thanks. Anyone else have experience dropping a decent size tree across an asphalt driveway without damaging it?

 

[Marshy]

Sounds like great advice with the soil idea. Other suggestion would probably be in the "just don't" category. Otherwise get some block as tackle and apply some mechanical advantage to get it to fall against the lean. That easier said than done depending how much lean. Definitely easier to write that without seeing a pic of it or anything. Good luck.

 

[KenJax Tree]

We've laid some logs on both sides of the driveway and fell it right onto the logs and never touched the concrete or asphalt. Just another idea, but every situation is different

 

[Pnoone]

KenJax- awesome idea and thanks for the vid. We've got another 80 footer coming down on the other side of the property and can use our Steiner with bucket to move 8-10' sections over near the driveway and drop it onto that. An elegantly simple solution. I'll let you fellas know how it goes. Really appreciate the advice! You too, Marshy- the 'just don't' voice in my head got a little quieter as I started to contemplate using logs to drop the tree on. It's a very, very similar setup to what's in the video. Thanks again.

 

[BC WetCoast]

A couple of logs on each side of the driveway and a couple of sheets of plywood on the driveway to catch any stubs.

 

[juttree]

KenJax- awesome idea and thanks for the vid. We've got another 80 footer coming down on the other side of the property and can use our Steiner with bucket to move 8-10' sections over near the driveway and drop it onto that. An elegantly simple solution. I'll let you fellas know how it goes. Really appreciate the advice! You too, Marshy- the 'just don't' voice in my head got a little quieter as I started to contemplate using logs to drop the tree on. It's a very, very similar setup to what's in the video. Thanks again.

Just don't miss the logs and make sure you don't have any limbs on the driveway side that can *** the driveway.
Good luck and remember, we like videos.

 

[ATH]

Is piecing it down out of the question?

 

[TheJollyLogger]

Another technique to use in conjunction with the runners is to use a high stump with a huge (greater than 90 degree ) open face notch with a thick hinge. Use some MA to pull the tree over so that the tree folds over without breaking the hinge and coming off the stump. Even if the hinge does break it's usually after the top has hit so the impact is lessened.

 

[TheJollyLogger]

When I say huge notch I don't mean deep, just very open. This obviously works much better with green trees over dead wood.

 

[Pnoone]

So....here's the update. The client called me 2 hours before the work was to start to tell me she'd gotten an offer on her house and wanted to 'postpone' the work. I told her the crew was already loaded up and about to head over. She said she had another couple coming to look at it and we couldn't possibly perform the work as planned. Not really happy about that. Didn't have her sign a contract when she accepted the quote because we'd done a bunch of other work for her. Wont' make that mistake again. Nonetheless- I really appreciate the helpful advice. Hopefully we'll get an in with the new homeowners, who will definitely want these trees down. I like the high stump, open notch approach and applying some MA to fold it over nice and gentle like. I'll post a vid for sure!

 

[Stayalert]

how did it go?