wildwilly411
ArboristSite Member
rope it, pulley it to pine tree, pull with mini exc, notch and fall
Tricky Job, Need advice from the pros
- Thread starter chad556
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zogger
Tree Freak
Big vines
OK, disclaimer, I am not an arborist used to taking down a tree in chunks. I just cut some wood. We get big vines here sometimes that make felling and cleanup hard, so a lot of times if it looks to be causing a problem in the drop I chain up those things and yank them out with my tractor, just to get them out of the way. I'll cut the vine up a few feet, then make two yanks, one from the tree to start with, then later on when all is said and done, try to yank out the root. They yank right out for me with a 60 horse tractor and good chains, even stuff wrist thick.
Man, I had one real nice beech half a dang tree hanging in mid air held up between a combo of poison ivy and wild grape vines before. Got a lot of wood out of that mess eventually. Took several yanks, eventually it came down in a pile of vines and assorted other branches. It was so tangled I just chained up wads of vine, backed off and pulled slow. Keep getting huge messes of vines. Eventually it got pretty clean and the log fell down.
Added bonus yanking out the vines first is it drops a ton of dead branches right away with the vines, meaning you don't have to worry about them coming off later on when you get to the tree. And then all your cuts on the wood you aren't constantly getting poison ivy vine chips all over you. I mean, why would anyone want every single cut working all day long to be infested with poison ivy? Not this boy..no thanks. I don't have poison ivy "macho", I can get it, so I minimize contact with it when I have to deal with it. Extra gloves and shirts mostly, just get the vines out of the way, then change gloves and shirt, the stuff that is now covered with juicy poison ivy stuff, then get back to working.
Just FWIW. I can't see real clear in the pics but maybe if they gave you permission to drop a few of those smaller trees towards the natural lean, to get them out of the way, then you could just drop it and cut it on the ground.
If all this is irrelevant to arborist work, my apologies, I only work around where it doesn't matter where stuff falls usually. If it looks easier to drop across a fenceline (I always go for easiest and safest), dang, I am the "fence guy" here, so I just cut fence out of the way and roll it back someplace, and pull out a post or three. If it has to fall across a dirt road I just do it and cut it up and get the big chunks out of the way of the once in awhile traffic real fast like fast, heh.
Now I have passed on some drops where it went across a fenceline, because it was an area that had the fence posts in rockhard built up raised roadbed, etc, and I DO NOT LIKE trying to pound fence posts back in to near solid chert and whatever other rocks were used that was packed down by heavy equipment like a long time to build a road. I did a post on that here where that is the theoretical case.
I just have a biodrive fence T post pounder so that's that.
I have no idea what human/moose hybrid put those sorts of posts in before, my guess is they are extinct now... I like my wrists and elbows too much to deal with that.
OK, disclaimer, I am not an arborist used to taking down a tree in chunks. I just cut some wood. We get big vines here sometimes that make felling and cleanup hard, so a lot of times if it looks to be causing a problem in the drop I chain up those things and yank them out with my tractor, just to get them out of the way. I'll cut the vine up a few feet, then make two yanks, one from the tree to start with, then later on when all is said and done, try to yank out the root. They yank right out for me with a 60 horse tractor and good chains, even stuff wrist thick.
Man, I had one real nice beech half a dang tree hanging in mid air held up between a combo of poison ivy and wild grape vines before. Got a lot of wood out of that mess eventually. Took several yanks, eventually it came down in a pile of vines and assorted other branches. It was so tangled I just chained up wads of vine, backed off and pulled slow. Keep getting huge messes of vines. Eventually it got pretty clean and the log fell down.
Added bonus yanking out the vines first is it drops a ton of dead branches right away with the vines, meaning you don't have to worry about them coming off later on when you get to the tree. And then all your cuts on the wood you aren't constantly getting poison ivy vine chips all over you. I mean, why would anyone want every single cut working all day long to be infested with poison ivy? Not this boy..no thanks. I don't have poison ivy "macho", I can get it, so I minimize contact with it when I have to deal with it. Extra gloves and shirts mostly, just get the vines out of the way, then change gloves and shirt, the stuff that is now covered with juicy poison ivy stuff, then get back to working.
Just FWIW. I can't see real clear in the pics but maybe if they gave you permission to drop a few of those smaller trees towards the natural lean, to get them out of the way, then you could just drop it and cut it on the ground.
If all this is irrelevant to arborist work, my apologies, I only work around where it doesn't matter where stuff falls usually. If it looks easier to drop across a fenceline (I always go for easiest and safest), dang, I am the "fence guy" here, so I just cut fence out of the way and roll it back someplace, and pull out a post or three. If it has to fall across a dirt road I just do it and cut it up and get the big chunks out of the way of the once in awhile traffic real fast like fast, heh.
Now I have passed on some drops where it went across a fenceline, because it was an area that had the fence posts in rockhard built up raised roadbed, etc, and I DO NOT LIKE trying to pound fence posts back in to near solid chert and whatever other rocks were used that was packed down by heavy equipment like a long time to build a road. I did a post on that here where that is the theoretical case.
I just have a biodrive fence T post pounder so that's that.
I have no idea what human/moose hybrid put those sorts of posts in before, my guess is they are extinct now... I like my wrists and elbows too much to deal with that.
chad556
ArboristSite Operative
Mission Complete
Well today I got up there and finished the job. It was cold and windy this morning but everything else went pretty well. I will let my pics tell the story.
I Tied in as high as I felt comfortable with(highlighted my rope so you could see it), I have a 150' length of blaze rope and i pulled up all but 15' of it. Easily the highest I have ever been.
Footlocked up, pulled up my saw and spurs and got to work, started out dropping that skinny branch all the way on the right.
Removed branches on the second big branch and then blocked it down in big pieces all landing harmlessly in the woods, no damage to the asphalt.
Worked my way up to the top and took the whole thing in one shot. That baby shook quite a bit after it detached.
Well today I got up there and finished the job. It was cold and windy this morning but everything else went pretty well. I will let my pics tell the story.
I Tied in as high as I felt comfortable with(highlighted my rope so you could see it), I have a 150' length of blaze rope and i pulled up all but 15' of it. Easily the highest I have ever been.
Footlocked up, pulled up my saw and spurs and got to work, started out dropping that skinny branch all the way on the right.
Removed branches on the second big branch and then blocked it down in big pieces all landing harmlessly in the woods, no damage to the asphalt.
Worked my way up to the top and took the whole thing in one shot. That baby shook quite a bit after it detached.
chad556
ArboristSite Operative
Finally, dropped the spar into the woods. I was trying to drop it 90 degrees to that direction along the road into the snowbank for easy clean up but it fell with the lean. I'm not afraid to post my mistakes especially if we all can maybe learn something from it(myself especially). Since the wood was rotten i tried an open face with a plunge cut and had our dump truck driver hold tension on my rigging rope and start pulling right when I cut the last piece that was holding the tree up (the skidsteer was used as an anchor for my pulley). It started to go as planned but before it fell more than 10 degrees the whole hinge popped out of the stump and the tree went with its lean right into the woods. It wasnt a big deal. Nothing important was damaged just a couple maple saplings and devils walking stick. Maybe I should have also installed a guyline,? I knew these trees were brittle but i thought a hinge that big (3"-4")would hold. I guess if it was really that important the answer would be to pull my ms441 up there and block it down.
Here is what the base looked like when i flush cut it. Kind of scary thats all that was holding the tree up. But still I got it out and cleaned up. Only took 4 hours or so. I want the thank you guys again for all the advice and encouragement. This is the first tree I have done that really has made me nervous and taking it on made me feel like I have passed a threshold in my tree cutting career. Thanks!
zogger
Tree Freak
Looks cool!
I'll wait for the pro's to chime in with technical critique, but from my non pro perspective, cool beans, man! Got it down slick! And you didn't mention getting poison ivy so good there as well. How did you feel up high and working? Most of the high work I have done is on steel, and after awhile it just doesn't matter, it's not a whole lot different from working on the ground or near the ground..just you ain't.
I'll wait for the pro's to chime in with technical critique, but from my non pro perspective, cool beans, man! Got it down slick! And you didn't mention getting poison ivy so good there as well. How did you feel up high and working? Most of the high work I have done is on steel, and after awhile it just doesn't matter, it's not a whole lot different from working on the ground or near the ground..just you ain't.
TreeAce
Addicted to ArboristSite
nice job 
......and nice photos! I will take more pictures with less words anyday!
......and nice photos! I will take more pictures with less words anyday!
TreeAce
Addicted to ArboristSite
][/HTML]Most of the high work I have done is on steel[HTML
Most of the high work I have done was in my early 20s....LMAO:hmm3grin2orange:
Sorry..I couldnt resist.
Most of the high work I have done was in my early 20s....LMAO:hmm3grin2orange:
Sorry..I couldnt resist.
zogger
Tree Freak
Finally, dropped the spar into the woods. I was trying to drop it 90 degrees to that direction along the road into the snowbank for easy clean up but it fell with the lean. I'm not afraid to post my mistakes especially if we all can maybe learn something from it(myself especially). Since the wood was rotten i tried an open face with a plunge cut and had our dump truck driver hold tension on my rigging rope and start pulling right when I cut the last piece that was holding the tree up (the skidsteer was used as an anchor for my pulley). It started to go as planned but before it fell more than 10 degrees the whole hinge popped out of the stump and the tree went with its lean right into the woods. It wasnt a big deal. Nothing important was damaged just a couple maple saplings and devils walking stick. Maybe I should have also installed a guyline,? I knew these trees were brittle but i thought a hinge that big (3"-4")would hold. I guess if it was really that important the answer would be to pull my ms441 up there and block it down.
Here is what the base looked like when i flush cut it. Kind of scary thats all that was holding the tree up. But still I got it out and cleaned up. Only took 4 hours or so. I want the thank you guys again for all the advice and encouragement. This is the first tree I have done that really has made me nervous and taking it on made me feel like I have passed a threshold in my tree cutting career. Thanks!
It's hard to tell from the pics but it looks like you cut your notch in the bad rotten part of the tree. If you would have made your notch lower on the stump and a little deeper you would have had more holding wood on your hinge. Remember length of hinge relative to the diameter of the tree is more important than thickness. The length of the hinge should be at least 80% of the diameter. You also have to compensate for the side lean which from the pics looks like you didn't This can be accomplished by setting an imaginery plum bob line from the center of the canopy to the ground. The distance from the trunk is your lean...if your plum bob is 10ft away from the trunk then your notch should be offset opposite from the lean about 3.5" I believe ratio is for every 3' of lean the notch should be offset by 1", although as you get more comfortable with drops you should be able to just eye it up with the saw. Remember those lines on the saw are their for a reason and are very accurate if you know how to use them. Another thing is when you need control longer on your drop then make your notch open face about 80 degrees or wider, it gives you more control. Good job over all, keep it up you'll get there
Highclimber OR
ArboristSite Operative
Nice confidence builder and good job. Makes me think of all the ridiculous trees I have done and say "What was I thinking?". I then remember that someone has to get these done and that I am one of those "crazy" *******s, then I feel a sense of foolish pride for my risky actions and have another drink (never at or before work of course). Welcome to the club Sir, and a very nice job and pics.
chad556
ArboristSite Operative
Hey guys thanks for the feedback. Good advice on dropping leaners, I have heard a variation of that rule but that one makes more sense. I will definitely try it next time im in this situation. I did kind of just eyeball it, i took a picture of my bore cut (the one with the truck in it) and If you look close it shows the felling guide line pointing at the dump truck. I guessed that if i aimed it about 10 or so feet from the curb of the road it would compensate for the lean. So much for that though, That hinge literally shattered like glass though as soon as the thing started moving. I would attribute that mainly to the rotted wood though, Once it hit the ground it split into 3 loosely connected pieces of trunk, that thing was a nightmare to buck up, dulled 2 chains and pinched my bar a couple times too.
As for the poison ivy, i came prepared. Before i went out i tried an old trick a tree trimmer who came to our house when i was a kid showed me: I covered my arms and face with vegetable oil. Now if this is a confirmed old wives tale im going to feel pretty foolish but the theory of this i understand is to clog up your skin and pores with the vegetable oil which will make the poison ivy oil less likely to find its way under your skin until you wash both oils off when you shower. Right when i got out of the tree I went and took a shower with fels naptha soap. So far its been two days and no new poison ivy breakouts so I think at least part of what I did was successful. I did use a handsaw to cut 99% of the poison ivy in my way but there were a couple vines i sliced through and some chips got in my sleeves and on my face I'm sure. Nasty stuff and it just gets worse and worse every time i get it so I am glad i avoided it at least this time. I also have a tube of zanfel, it works ok but it seems like I have to use it 3-5 times to really get the breakouts under control.
As for the poison ivy, i came prepared. Before i went out i tried an old trick a tree trimmer who came to our house when i was a kid showed me: I covered my arms and face with vegetable oil. Now if this is a confirmed old wives tale im going to feel pretty foolish but the theory of this i understand is to clog up your skin and pores with the vegetable oil which will make the poison ivy oil less likely to find its way under your skin until you wash both oils off when you shower. Right when i got out of the tree I went and took a shower with fels naptha soap. So far its been two days and no new poison ivy breakouts so I think at least part of what I did was successful. I did use a handsaw to cut 99% of the poison ivy in my way but there were a couple vines i sliced through and some chips got in my sleeves and on my face I'm sure. Nasty stuff and it just gets worse and worse every time i get it so I am glad i avoided it at least this time. I also have a tube of zanfel, it works ok but it seems like I have to use it 3-5 times to really get the breakouts under control.
lego1970
ArboristSite Guru
Nice work.
