Removal advice

Treeaddict

Treehouser
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Harford county MD
Got a pretty intense head leaner to take down -prunus serotina. There’s a great probability of a drain field where she’s going to fall. I figure take some of the limbs off as to not poke the ground, set 6x6 Timbers under the intended lay (wide path), coos bay the thing. It should be a soft landing because it’s already halfway to the ground and the species is some strong stuff that’ll wanna hang on. The Timbers are just extra care, little piece of mind for me and a show for the homeowner that we’re cautious of the drain field.

Alternatively, I could negative rig the thing out in 3’ chunks.

I feel 95% confident in the felling plan but if it’s rigged I can be 100% warm and fuzzy. I know how hard it can be to speak to something like this with just a picture
 

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  • #4
It’s gettin dumped! Like the brush crash pad. I have to climb on the job anyway to trim the trees directly behind it and the tree needs brushed out regardless. Might as well set one line to do it all
 
Just back cut it and let it splinter and barber chair to its hearts content it’ll go down slow
 
Might be interesting to mill if you keep the stem together. Use the natural curve for something.
 
As long as it lands relatively flat and doesn't spear into the earth then you can't hurt the drainfield. Remember they use 10K lb skid steers to bury the drainfield. Dump it and go.
 
I'll second or third just torching it off. All the limbs look small enough that they'll just break and not spear in. Drain fields are supposed to be pretty deep. It's your job/ insurance though.
 
Wellll...you could wrap a stout line 180 degrees around the trunk with the knot snugged down on the lean side. Anchor that line tight to something stout on the opposite side of the lean. Then fell the tree and sever the hinge completely as it commits.

In a perfect world, the tree would spin 180 degrees and gently rock across the drain field :).

;)
 
Edit:

I will be the guy who recommends you go seek professional training.
 
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Fell as a heavy <60° side lean to a flatter side w/Tapered Hinge?
Perhaps center punch to re-apportion those holding fibers to fat side of taper against side lean.
'cross member' and padding to buffer stump end hit, head end already soft.
But partially dependant on if stump play area is oblong to the lean to give stronger side control as a side lean fall vs. equilateral round w/o such playable advantage.
.
Not steering into harshest pull of gravity angle as a side lean fall/perspective.
Less likely spring action from unique shape.
Perhaps some step in face on heavy side, and hit it confident-ally hard.
This is one I'd consider some cross/lateral pull in rope, not just forward.
 
Dump it slowly with a thick hinge and ultra wide face , the top and limbs will touch ground before it breaks. Gives you the option of cutting everything you can reach then go back and thin the hinge , repeat ... or use the limbs as is to spread out the weight and then the hinge thin
 
I have a buddy that designs, installs and repairs septic systems... he is adamant about how fragile these systems are... SO I don't take chances though I'm just going by what he says.... so I would not drop that tree.

Though the tree is leaning to such a degree that it won't pick up quite as much speed during the fall, I wouldn't count on that effect to preserve the septic system. Its plenty big and there is going to be plenty of mass and momentum to do some damage if it hits wrong.. Observing how trees go through rooves and land on lawns is helpful. Depending on the shape and branching structure a large limb can break and the stub can pierce the ground, so part of the equation is simpl getting lucky or not with where those broken stubs hit. IME they have a tendency to find the irrigation system.

So I would disagree with the suggestion that a wide face and thick hinge will significantly lessen the impact. If you were trying to do that, a block face would be best, but it's still unreliable.

Believe it or not this could be the perfect situation to use an intentional barber chair... It would be safe because it's expected and you have plenty of room for a clear escape path. You could use a back release for the barber chair to make it that much safer. And I GUARENTEE that the top is going to have a softer landing with a BC than with any type of hinge.
1) The top will be slowed down as it needs to break wood along the grain for much longer than a hinge will last.

2) there is some counterbalance to the top by the weight of the back as it lifts

3) the angle that the tips hit does a better job of spreading the weight across a larger portion of the canopy.

I've seen it with white ash many times ... the tree will explode on impact when felled with a hinge but have minimal branch breakage when a BC is used.

The only caution would be if the tree stays on the pedestal and you have difficulty getting it down. IME they will usually roll off when the top is bucked, but that's not always the case. I have a loader with grapple to pull it off if needed, so I never have to worry about how to get it down. If you don't and aren't comfortable with handling a hung BC, then go another route.

so my recommendation would be to plunge in and cut up to leave about 25% of the front wood where the notch would normally be, then come straight out the back and when it starts cracking and popping, get out of there on your escape route, on a 45 degree angle back from the stump. and video tape it!!!

check out this BC on a huge ash and the very little amount of broken tops showing how soft a landing that monster had. If I had dropped that tree on blacktop with any type of hineg it would exploded on impact. That's the nature of ash.

 
Out of the box - I saw a video where a whole tree was rigged-lowered in slow motion. I know that's a tall order, subject to circumstances. But - what if in addition to the thick hinge/barberchair/bendy thing, you had a bollard setup using the next tree as a gin pole with pulley (hope to avoid requirement to guy it) and you got that much extra slow-down power aiding during the fell? Never hope to hold it, just slow it some more. Just a thought. :)
 
I was thinking that myself, but I thought it was overengineered, and the forces might be higher than I imagine. Maybe a nice stout oak behind it, guy that for the lulz, and use a good line... What's a good line? ¾"?
 
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  • #24
That’s funny that the lowering by rope was brought up!! I engineered in my head a system for that situation but figured it would be too hard to calculate the strength required of the gear (mostly rope) I only go up to 1/2” Arborplex for rigging. It is something I would like to try sometime. Just a robust pulley anchored behind the tree going off to a 4wd truck. A lot of the weight is on the stump. At the end, it’s a heavier load obviously. Still probably only about half of the total weight though.
 
5/8ths guy line 180 from the head lean tensioned and locked off. A 1/2 line 90* to the head lean for pulling. Face 90* out towards the pull line or a tad more. Thick hinge. Pull over. It will land more uniform spreading the weight. And less banana bounce or flip flop.
 
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