Codominants vs. roots?

[davidwyby]

I have a few red gums to drop, 50-72" DBH. Most of the bigger ones run up 6-10' and then split up. No tight shots, just pull away from road. So, make cuts closer to the ground away from the codoms? Or is goofy root grain more of an issue? The larger and more leaning codoms I am planning to remove first.

Thanks!

 

[SeanKroll]

Pics!

 

[davidwyby]

Pics!

In the official work pics thread. I'll bring some more over later.

 

[davidwyby]

Southernmost- Need to pull this one 180° = north. Root ball is the dead 6’DBH that fell in the road.



This one is 6’ DBH, need to drop RH N codom off first methinks, pull W into field away from road.

Next two same tree, dead. E codom is bigger. Was thinking hook onto the smaller W one, wrap around the back of the E one, and pull W into field.



Not felling this one but it’s a good example of the northern ones that are too hairy to see the codoms in pics well (background)

 

[davidwyby]

Truck can do 12,000lb drawbar pull.

 

[friedrich]

without experience in euc‘s, i would either climb and fall each leader seperatly or cut deep and low to avoid the unions and diagonal grain as much as possible.

 

[davidwyby]

Not to be a pest, but maybe @gf beranek , @Trains, @Bermy ? If y’all are so inclined.

 

[Bart]

Not an expert, but I wouldn't place trust in the codom trunk union. Lots of examples of unseen splits that went quite far downward seen after a tree was felled. If you gotta pull a codom, tie them together plenty and apply the pull force to both or the rear since the forward will be leaning into the fall already (assumed 90 degree direction). IMO. not an expert

 

[Bermy]

What species of gum are they? Some are prone to splitting.
I tell people I fall trees from the top down, I'd get up in them and cut out the nasty stuff then fall the stems and stumps...with a chainsaw and an excavator.
That one leaning towards the road and power lines, I sure as .... wouldn't want to be the one trying to pull it 180* while at the stump. But that's just my comfort zone looking at your picture.
I have a friend here who spent 10 years in the bush falling gums, he's my 'phone a friend' everyone needs one.

 

[davidwyby]

I think they are red river gum...but there are a lot of species of euc and I have not studied them down to the nitty gritty. I do know they are heck to split when you want them to! :-D

The leaner will likely get pieced down from a bucket...need a taller one, it's about 100'.

 

[SeanKroll]

Don't need to pull the tree as you're cutting a back leaner. Keep the felling wedges tight as you set your hinge, clear out, then apply tension. A winch has more finesse than a truck pedal.


You might investigate a contract climber. Lifts are great, and so are climbers. When you can dump big pieces because there is no lift to avoid, it's easier than piecing it smaller bits around the life- support machine.

A 75'- 100' bucket might do all you need.

60' can be limited.





There is a section in Fundamentals of General Tree Work about co- doms.

 

[Trains]

Eucs will often fail along a co dom join /area, even if they look quite good.
They are brittle, dont hinge well.

I will try and find some pics of some recent branch failures where they show the depth of poor bonding along the co dom area where they just tore out.
add to it disease and climate, and other stresses in the tree, and its a lottery.

that back leaner towards the lines and roads, start from the top and work your way down.
I would not want to try and pull it against its lean.

Again, hard to tell since im on the other side of the pond, but thats my gut reaction to those pics.

 

[SeanKroll]

Shaving off bark, and looking at the wood of the Co- dom can be informative.

 

[davidwyby]

A forum buddy who is an accomplished trouble tree handler suggested this (after dynamite). Just run with what Nature made. It would drop some codoms in the road, but I’m supposed to have a ground crew with eqpt.

They are a little high to reach from the ground but I figured maybe a platform of some sort vs. a lift so I can move around and skedaddle if need be.


Thanks for the reminder to refer to the book, Sean!

 

[SeanKroll]

That's where a springboard is handy, being 3' taller than you naturally are. Not only for using over huge drops down mountainsides OG Gerry-style.

Willie @sotc just picked up the steel toe/ shoe part of the springboard from West Coast Saws

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You can fabricate one. Mine is from a piece of pipe, maybe 4" diameter. I'll get pictures. It an arc of the pipe, maybe 1/3 of the circumference of the pipe, single-beveled, and welded to a flat mounting plate.

Gerry could help with tips.

If you stand near the tree, come light on the board for a fraction of a second, and toe or heel the middle area of the springboard, it will rotate forward or back, for the facecut and backcut, respectively, on some sizes of tree.

 

[Trains]

Just look at how those trees have already shed limbs, and look at those spots closely, and see that they can have a habit of dropping what looks perfectly ok limbs, sometimes on things like cars, sheds, houses, people etc.
Red gums if its the same as what we call red gums over here, drop limbs on a scary regular basis.

you wont get a second chance if it goes wrong.

Top down is the preferred option.

Hmm, cant find pictures at the moment, but one from over on AS posted a while back.

Redgum limb on car.

 

[Bermy]

Two votes for top down.

 

[SeanKroll]

Looks like working with the lean.

A small shelf/ ledge to stand on, could be built with 2-by and a scrap of plywood in a few minutes. Doesn't matter if it gets hit by the falling trunk. Build a second one in 5 minutes.


Bore through for the back of a full-gap facecut, then cut your horizontals, and snipe.

Thoroughly check for loose limbs and entanglements between the two halves.


I'm not saying it definitely is straight forward, but I don't see the complications.

Clear out a long distance from the stump when it goes.



A small pilot-kerf with a smaller saw will help a big bar get going, horizontally.

 

[davidwyby]

Supposed to have a 50’ 10k Telehandler on site. With that and a basket I should be able to find and remove most hazards as well as install winch/pull cable/rope and or create lean/limb weight in the desired direction.

Hopefully also piece down the southern leaner.

 

[SeanKroll]

Something that I don't hear about is a hold- back line, only a pull line, possibly except when folding trees.

If a person wants a leaner to stay put, they can use the reverse of a pull line.

Attach the rope to a portawrap at one end of the rope (adjust your rope attachment to the tree, possibly midline with a tension-less hitch, and your POW anchor placement, such as your truck, or which tree to use as the anchor).
Cut the tree to the correct hinge.
Sawyer exits the stump, release the rope from the POW, which will result in the rope being immediately free of the POW with a very small length of rope moving around the POW, reducing holding power very quickly as wraps disappear.

The tree will go with gravity without having moved until the sawyer is well clear of the stump.

 

[friedrich]

Something that I don't hear about is a hold- back line, only a pull line, possible except when folding trees.

If a person wants a leaner to stay put, they can use the reverse of a pull line.

Attach the rope to a portawrap at one end of the rope (adjust your rope attachment to the tree, possibly midline with a tension-less hitch, and your POW anchor placement, such as your truck, or which tree to use as the anchor).
Cut the tree to the correct hinge.
Sawyer exits the stump, release the rope from the POW, which will result in the rope being immediately free of the POW with a very small length of rope moving around the POW, reducing holding power a wraps disappear.

The tree will go with gravity without having moved until the sawyer is well clear of the stump.

interesting idea. i cant really think of a situation where i could‘nt either cut such a tree loose with either bore-cut or coos-bay.

some people (try to) lower spars to lessen the impact on the ground but that takes beefy rigging or overloading of not so beefy rigging.

 

[SeanKroll]

I maybe didn't connect the dots between David's mention of concern about overhead hazards falling, presumably when the tree starts moving, and my point.


I'm not at all talking about a lowering line, to be clear.

Just a support line for scenarios where there may be/are loose hazard overhead, keeping the tree stable and static, until the sawyer is out of the fall zone.

 

[davidwyby]

I maybe didn't connect the dots between David's mention of concern about overhead hazards falling, presumably when the tree starts moving, and my point.


I'm not at all talking about a lowering line, to be clear.

Just a support line for scenarios where there may be/are loose hazard overhead, keeping the tree stable and static, until the sawyer is out of the fall zone.

I should probably inspect these monsters with binos.

Saw some fallen and not yet fallen “sky scrapers” the other day. The ugly dead claws scraping the sky bug me…wanna cut ‘em all. Hazards for sure.


I don’t know who was smoking what. Line clearance maybe? But look at the dead monster in the back they left. And others to my back. Why not just cut the whole poor tree down? Jeez….

 

[friedrich]

mabe for habitat?

 

[SeanKroll]

Looks like a total cleat cut except for what they left.

Totally killing a tree is the worst possible thing.