"Swimming hole" tree - canker/rust/scale/blight?

[pantheraba]

Don't you have a Big Shot?

Yes...I was thinking of setting a pull/test line in the top with it.

 

[woodworkingboy]

As far as keeping it out of the wires, any positioning available for a holding line? I think it has been said before that they don't get used enough. Much credit to your powers of assessment, but you didn't mention a line other than for the test.

 

[pantheraba]

As far as keeping it out of the wires, any positioning available for a holding line? I think it been said before that they don't get used enough.

Yes, I could set a tether that would prevent too much movement towards the wires...that is an excellent idea.

 

[Frans]

Can you set a high block in another tree and winch the removal tree over to it with a careful felling cut?

...or simply 'spear cut' the top and only climb up as far as is comfortable.
You could use a pull rope set higher to guide it down.

 

[pantheraba]

Can you set a high block in another tree and winch the removal tree over to it with a careful felling cut?

...or simply 'spear cut' the top and only climb up as far as is comfortable.
You could use a pull rope set higher to guide it down.

This tree is as tall as any nearby trees so a high block might not be secure enough...also, I don't want to cause any damage to any nearby tree by leading a top or large piece into the support tree.

Idea #2, though is a possibility...that would help keep the top close. The big factor will be how sound the tree is when I pull-test the top (from the ground without me in the tree) and how the spurs feel.

 

[Frans]

often I dream up all this fantasy rigging but when I actually get to the site I end up taking the simplest easy way.

 

[pantheraba]

often I dream up all this fantasy rigging but when I actually get to the site I end up taking the simplest easy way.

I understand...dreaming is cool...even fun trying to implement sometimes. I appreciate folks taking the time to think it out.

I'll try to keep it simple...I have been known to get a bit involved before

 

[wiley_p]

Gary another option is to set your pull line from the ground, climb up and face it, cut up the back (not too much) rap down and yard the top out with MA.
I've done this many times with great success.

 

[SkwerI]

IMO you may be overthinking it again. Brett's warning wasn't meant to cause you to create some master plan to rig out this simple removal, but rather a cautionary warning to be aware of the wood as you climb it. If the wood starts feeling punky with your spikes then stop and cut it at that point instead of climbing higher. That's all.

 

[pantheraba]

Gary another option is to set your pull line from the ground, climb up and face it, cut up the back (not too much) rap down and yard the top out with MA.
I've done this many times with great success.

Wiley, thanks for the reminder on that one. I have not done it yet but remember reading about it...in Jerry's book, I think. It's a trick to remember.

Brian, you have a realistic plan, for sure. I am glad to have folks brainstorm, though, to see what I haven't thought of yet.

Y'all be doing just fine.

 

[treelooker]

Re the tuliptree damaging others if it were pulled back into them--i doubt this is a great concern, as the wood is so brittle, especially decayed. The trick is to tie it off in a way and place so the trunk does not break.

but then again it is leaning away from those trees so maybe the tether idea is better than the hangitup style of takedown. i used to call these inverse removals; is there another term for it?

Are the pool owners willing to do something for the roots tp try and save the rest, or are you so cheap that they are ready to go through alll this again when the next tree dies? :roll:

 

[MasterBlaster]

Gary, in that last pic, why is your saw on such a long lanyard? Is that how you always carry it?

 

[woodworkingboy]

Frans, what do you mean by a spear cut?

Thanks.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Cutting it real fast so the butt stabs into the ground.

I think.

 

[Blinky]

I'm with Wiley. Set a rope, pull test or drill it to make sure there's still a shaft of solid heartwood and the roots aren't going to shear. Then climb it, face it no more than a third, give it half a back cut and bail. Set a rope for the spar on the way up so you don't have to mess with it on the way down. Snatch the top, fall the spar and trick somebody else into cleaning up.

 

[Tree Reb]

Cutting it real fast so the butt stabs into the ground.

I think.

That's what I call it, but you have to have a saw that can do it.

 

[Frans]

Gary, I am not sure you shoulda posted that picture looks like you ran amuck on that rigging.

spear cut: just what it says, cut the damm thing sos the butt spears into the ground

Damm, thats a long lanyard for your saw! I would get tired just hauling it up each time.

 

[MasterBlaster]

Damm, thats a long lanyard for your saw! I would get tired just hauling it up each time.

Gary, in that last pic, why is your saw on such a long lanyard? Is that how you always carry it?

 

[wiley_p]

Cutting it real fast so the butt stabs into the ground.

I think.

A properly executed spear cut involves an undercut that is as close to perpendicular to the ground as possible, the top cut matches exactly with the under cut. A Sharp, fast saw helps facilitate the dynamics of the cut.
It's a needed technique for unhanging trees.

 

[woodworkingboy]

Are you guys referring to the "salami cut", as described in Jerry's book, but with a bottom then matching top cut? The tree slides off rather than toppleing over?

 

[Frans]

sure, a salami cut is another name for it. But slightly different because a salami cut is designed IMO, to allow the piece to slide off. Works best with a piece that is roped off...

 

[sotc]

The point is the same, to slide off as opposed to hinge over. You do usually want to start the back cut a little slow so the top moves away from you a little or you risk it coming back at you on the way down

 

[pantheraba]

Gary, I am not sure you shoulda posted that picture looks like you ran amuck on that rigging.

spear cut: just what it says, cut the damm thing sos the butt spears into the ground

Damm, thats a long lanyard for your saw! I would get tired just hauling it up each time.

I knew that would raise some eyebrows......that was a Katrina tree that the owner said they wanted taken down. I said we would just take out the broken stuff and dangerous stuff, didn't want to take a lot of time there. It evolved into a takedown once we got into it.

Re: all those ropes...man, I don't know...it made sense at the time. We had a local guy called "6 Pack" (not for his abs...) and he may have had something to do with it.

Saw lanyard...not that long...it was being pulled up to me with one of those many ropes.

 

[pantheraba]

I'm with Wiley. Set a rope, pull test or drill it to make sure there's still a shaft of solid heartwood and the roots aren't going to shear. Then climb it, face it no more than a third, give it half a back cut and bail. Set a rope for the spar on the way up so you don't have to mess with it on the way down. Snatch the top, fall the spar and trick somebody else into cleaning up.

You and Wiley may be onto something...I am leaning towards doing it this way.

Setting a spar pull rope on the way up is a good idea that I had not considered either...thanks.

And that last idea "trick somebody else into cleaning up." -- got that one covered already.

 

[woodworkingboy]

I'm guessin that you want to be using a strong pull rope in the descend and then pull scenario. You don't want to be climbing it again.