A CAUTION! Pull testing trees.AssofUnme!

RopeArmour

TreeHouser
Joined
Dec 15, 2010
Messages
1,119
Location
Cambridge, Ontario Canada
Location is large open space on the flats of the grand river.
1st we had to clean up many large Man maples some hung up, few on the ground and others near horizontal with roots up, root flares plunged into the ground and others failing completey or partially fractured and a mess of fractured and severed limbs up high.
We picked away at the trees finally leaving the largest and what seemed to be the most secure and closest to safe. We gently pulled/testing the tree and observed zero movement.
We turned are back to it and went to work on other trees that had failed about an hour or so later the tree fell fairly slowly with a few audible groans/cracking.
Points is the centre of mass and the fulcrum point/s did not allow for true reading of tree stability. In retrospect the tree should have been pull tested in more than one direction, propped or dropped.
Island job on Georgian bay basically Canadian shield.
I had to remove two dead Red Oaks interconnected with a live Oak.
Test pulled the live Red oak as this is the tree I wanted as my safety tie. With said tree I observed a miniscule amount of movement and decided it was a go for climbing.
I started climbing and noticed the live Red oak was sitting on the dead oaks and started to clear limbs for better observations. It looked like the dead guys where supporting the live tree so I throw a line into a neighbouring white Pine and abandoned the tip in the Red oak for a tip in the Pine. Had to take the weight off the Red at the top and sides and then beyond the pressure points where the live red was sitting on the dead reds.
I had to make two thrilling cuts, the pops and releases of dead and live wood was as close to brown trouser as one can get.
All ended well but reading a tree soley based on pull tests in one plane is foolish.
Pulling against or opposite the centre of mass or lay is well advised.:thumbup:
A dead or alive tree with zero movement as observed with pull tests, may be at or near complete failure!
 
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Good memories, Thomas!
I love treework on Georgian Bay.
Got to enjoy an awesome pickerel lunch at Henry's on Frying Pan Island in July. http://www.henrysfishrestaurant.com
We were working on an island nearby, and bribed the boat operator to take us there.
 
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Beautiful islands to explore with an abundance of life. Blue tailed skinks, huge caterpillars, turtle's, snakes. Really quite amazing.
Rare plants like Dutchman britches, Indian pipe.
Best part I would say is waking up to screch scratch of a big brown bat and to
 
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Back to assume.
Funny how hazard trees keep poppin up, or more appropriately proppin up
 

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I would be interested in a tree propping thread. Sometimes, props seem like the way to go, but don't come up in discussion much. Also, creative shielding for understory plants.

I was looking at a removal of a conifer over 8' mature rhododendrons. I thought three 2x6x12s, two sheets of plywood, and two dozen screws and I could drop cut all the branches on that side rather than cut and chuck or roping anything. No need for a groundie with homeowner clean up.
 
I took one of those adjustable basement posts and welded a hydraulic jack to the top, I used it for lifting saggy floor and roof joists, it has a lot of adjustment, it has a 6 inch or so travel, but a long stroke jack is easy to add.

IMG2791.jpg
 
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I took one of those adjustable basement posts and welded a hydraulic jack to the top, I used it for lifting saggy floor and roof joists, it has a lot of adjustment, it has a 6 inch or so travel, but a long stroke jack is easy to add.

View attachment 57611

Good thinking. With a good length of pipe you could jack up a log safely from a distance.
61 smackers for a 8footer screw jack x 2 is paid for the 1st time you need it.
It is tough stressful work pounding plancks, logs and beams but it possible to wedge a huge load up and over.
Next call I get of this nature, 1st stop is hardware/builder supply. Its a regular item and always in stock.

@butch in your thread my biggest blunder i managed to stretch one badly plus sever primaries and snap two large hydor poles. If it can't be broken, let me have at it,
 
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delicate bucking to see them off such props safely.

Yessiree!
risky cuts especially nosing the bar in near the lines.
the final shave was a prayer hoping it wouldn't snap from the pressure of
the lines pulling up and the wt of the log pushing down.
I managed to set the saw down and release it finally with
the pry bar.
The pressure treated post snapped with the cookie landing on it and all the other props
inspired.
If you can go to your view at the top of the page and hit 400x to see the saw cuts.
Many steps to get to final release including coaxing the cable closer to the cut end with the pry bar.
HOs waited three weeks for this work, we were called in when the Insurer got involved.
Came to do it the next day, not knowing what to expect.
A tree co knocked down and cleaned up the remaining stems a week or so before we got there, taking away the
only rigging point? and leaving us with the shite.
It was only my niece and I to do this pig. She is very calm and observant women and helped to keep things cool, calm and work flowing smoothly.
She gave it try for the summer but is finding its not for her. Which is really to bad cause she rigs really well.
Thanks Theresa
Behind every goood man is better woman and I ahve been blessed this year to have two, My wife and niece.
 
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She was our flower girl.
Another man quit the same week and Theresa
boyfriend went back to college.
Its been a tough and challenging yr.
But thats every yr for us tree people.
Love it just the same.
 
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  • #15
Back to the jack.
I have a 36'' hilift jack and am thinking I can sleeve
a tube of steel over the beam and use that to lift/brace a tree and
maybe even jack over/fell a tree.
How is that?
Anyone know what wall thickness at minimum would be good?
 
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I had the rope pullr to pull it away from the home and a few support poles and a chopper incase the remaining support roots failed. I could have set up a bunch of blocks and cradle rigged it but this was so much easier. What would be even better is a 6'jack with bit shorter pipe. Two working in unison wood be awesome.
 
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  • #24
Haha, have another.
Ice chopper. by the way is perfect to condense that pile or bucket of debris that you do not want to go through the chipper
 
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