Man, you Aussies just won't let it go, will ya?
Using a truck to pull a tree down
- Thread starter Marky Mark
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Man, you Aussies just won't let it go, will ya?
ropensaddle
Feel Lucky
I use 20 ton pto winch on my bucket truck all the time
and have never had anyone say it looked unprofessional
fourteen feet up and get tight most times is all that is needed!
I can up root a 20 inch oak if its not needing critical felling and
then don't have to grind stump.
and have never had anyone say it looked unprofessional
fourteen feet up and get tight most times is all that is needed!
I can up root a 20 inch oak if its not needing critical felling and
then don't have to grind stump.
Mike Barcaskey
ArboristSite Operative
gee, so if used properly its an accepted method. isn't that interesting marky?
Stihl User
ArboristSite Operative
I've done it before. Whats the difference between this & using a winch?!?!? 
I pray to god and let the devil sort the rest.Halalueya
Last time i used my pickup was last year. On a old cottonwood 15ft away and leaning towards the house. Took off as much off of the lean side as high up as i could safely go, then start hooking up the log chains about 20ft up. Used my 1/2 ton chevy pickity up with alot of wieght and hook the 100+ ft of chains to the front to have my father pull backwords. Worked perfect. I have another tree coming up here in a week for a coworker, its a leaner next to a blacktop road. Will have to do the same thing but this time will be using a 1256 IH tractor
Treeman587
ArboristSite Operative
Tree Slayer
ArboristSite Operative
ropensaddle
Feel Lucky
Yes now that I have a winch it is wonderful however a truck can work
for pull as well if get tight and bow over a little put in gear and set brake
you have steady pull. Then if the helpers pull that line with another works
just fine in most cases. You have to make sure there is enough rope to
clear truck I would say a little under equipped but not necessarily unpro-
fessional I have done it before got a winch and worked fine. I also have
used a truck and junk rope to pull brush piles out of deep draws to make
cleanup easier and help moral if you help a groundy by limiting his effort
it pays big dividends. If you have a rope with twice the breaking strength
of torque applied from vehicle and auto tranny just have man keep the rope tight as you make back cut don't spin out just keep steady pull also
works well. I would think having enough pull to get the tree over would
be the biggest concern besides rope strong enough to handle the job.
grcs is great but over priced to me and slow compared to winch or truck
I think skill is what sets professionals apart not weather he has every tool
suggested by the industry.
Marky Mark
Hell's Kitchen Trapper
Mike these guys are using heavy gear not a half ton pickup. If a tree is roped to a half ton pick up like you did and that tree pulls the other way it's a disiaster waiting to happen. There are many climbers on this site, I bet they don't pull trees down when there are houses and such involved.
Being the cheapest guy to do a job doen't mean your getting the best job with the best trained treemen. I guess that is why so many men on here are first class competing against a tree hack for a winning bid. I rememeber not to long ago you walked under a tree that was being cut resulting in an accident. But like all things in life you get what you pay for.
Now I am no climber but I can hold my own with a chainsaw in a woods enviorment. Like the tree near my house I would never attempt to drop it. But after speaking with 4 tree guys I went with the guy who had a 120 foot bucket truck. The triple crotch ash was dead. All three were willing to climb it, the last guy who was higher priced was against climbing it since the stump was growing around a large rock. He felt since part of the tree was dead and the other dying where the rock came up in the center it could snap.
tree md
Addicted to ArboristSite
You know I have been doing this work for nearly 20 years. I have worked for hacks and worked for the largest services out there. I have done everything from aerial lifts to kitty cat rescue. I have worked for myself for the past several years and done OK. I'm no certified arborist but I do consider myself to be professional and to be a pretty good tree man. From my first days of working out of a pickup to working with boom, dump and chipper every service I have worked for has used a truck to pull a tree over at one time or another. It's just common sense. Being a good tree man means finding whatever advantages you can and using whatever resources you have to gain leverage to get the job done. I have done jobs where all the homeowner wanted was for me to drop the trees and leave them for him to clean up. One in particular comes to mind where I dropped 3 pines for $600 and left them where they lay. That's how I priced it and it's what the homeowner wanted. Are you telling me it would have been more professional to spend a half day or day climbing these trees and piecing them out than tying them off to a truck and dropping them on a dime in an hours time???
Mike Barcaskey
ArboristSite Operative
mark, you didn't see the tree, you don't have any idea of the situation
ever use a wedge?
you're just blowing out your arse
ever use a wedge?
you're just blowing out your arse
Mike Barcaskey
ArboristSite Operative
tree md,
that was the situation. I could have spent 4 hours rigging it down over the shed and through the brush at the bottom.
or flop it over with a little help from the truck and some wedges in under an hour
put some tension on the tree with the truck, notch and enough back cut to set a wedge, stand the tree up with the truck and then cut and wedge it over
that was the situation. I could have spent 4 hours rigging it down over the shed and through the brush at the bottom.
or flop it over with a little help from the truck and some wedges in under an hour
put some tension on the tree with the truck, notch and enough back cut to set a wedge, stand the tree up with the truck and then cut and wedge it over
Magnum783
ArboristSite Guru
Sweet you have a 1256 IH they are quite rare not as rare as a 1456 but still rare. I am from Iowa originally. PM me I would be quite interested to know where you are from.
Jared
luvthetrobag
ArboristSite Member
Im confused. Whats the point of the wedge? Ive never used one so im curious on how they supply any more leverage than a rope. Ive dropped quite a few trees and never used a wedge just ropes. Always seemed to me that a rope beat a wedge hands down. So why use one. You said stand the tree up with a rope. Why not just pull it all the way over with one.
Marky Mark
Hell's Kitchen Trapper
ever use a wedge?
Yes and that is why Gypo calls me the Wedge HO. I feel comfortable using a wedge than a truck to take down a big tree. But hey to each his own as long as know one gets hurt.
Yes and that is why Gypo calls me the Wedge HO. I feel comfortable using a wedge than a truck to take down a big tree. But hey to each his own as long as know one gets hurt.
Frank Boyer
Addicted to ArboristSite
My loader pushes at around 12' high and my old excavator had authority pushing at 20' high. I've used both to push small trees over and to make sure larger trees went the right way when cut. They are tools and are very usefull. I don't pretend to be a tree service/aborist.
joesawer
Addicted to ArboristSite
Most safety people involved in tree trimming say to never use a truck and an arborist rope to pull over a tree. Most rope manufactures don't want a rope ever tied to a truck. (I don't want one of my ropes pulled with a truck except by myself and a very few other people.)
The reason is that they are trying to make the business idiot proof. A half ton truck can easily build enough momentum to break a 3/4" rope. Good tie off points with out sharp corners are hard to find unless you have tow hooks or something else set up for tieing a rope to.
BUT I have pulled over a lot of trees with a truck in the past and will continue to in the future.
The wedges are a good idea in case the rope breaks. They will stop the tree from rocking all the way back.
What do wedges have to do with walking under a tree while it is being cut?
The reason is that they are trying to make the business idiot proof. A half ton truck can easily build enough momentum to break a 3/4" rope. Good tie off points with out sharp corners are hard to find unless you have tow hooks or something else set up for tieing a rope to.
BUT I have pulled over a lot of trees with a truck in the past and will continue to in the future.
The wedges are a good idea in case the rope breaks. They will stop the tree from rocking all the way back.
What do wedges have to do with walking under a tree while it is being cut?
