Tree felling vids

[sotc]

Probably pushing on the trunk the whole time

 

[Burnham]

See him toss his axe?

 

[treesmith]

That's got to be total embarrassment.....not only having a tree go across a house, but having someone film it to boot!

Reminds me of a guy around here who used to cut pulpwood (back when they bought 5' pulp). He was cutting some trees down for some folks for a ridiculously low price, $25 or $50 a tree. One got away from him and went across a house. I don't think it was quite as bad as the one in the video, but he had the nerve to walk up and ask them to pay him so he could leave.

 

[MasterBlaster]

That's fricking amazing.

 

[stig]

And such an easy tree at that!

 

[Burnham]

I'm betting he cut the hinge off on the side away from the house. Sounded like he was driving a wedge, didn't it?

 

[stig]

Yup!
Just a lousy faller.
If he had set a line, things would likely have gone different.

Mind you, I wouldn't set a line in a tree like that.

 

[MasterBlaster]

I surely would, every time.

 

[Burnham]

Fairly big tree...not so sure setting a line would have held it to the lay unless it was extra strong and pulled aggressively by something big. Might have kept it off the house though, if it had just held.

 

[Burnham]

Who knows what sort of lean it had, no way to tell much from that view. But it certainly looks doable.

I wouldn't have considered placing a line in it either, going only on what I can see.

 

[treesmith]

Fairly big tree...not so sure setting a line would have held it to the lay unless it was extra strong and pulled aggressively by something big. Might have kept it off the house though, if it had just held.

How would you have gone about cutting it, Burnham, if not with a line? I believe my 3/4 ton Chevy would have hauled it over. I've pulled some serous leaners in the past. That one didn't appear to be that difficult a tree. (Granted, my only perspective was that of the camera).

 

[stig]

Block face and a bunch of wedges.

I think Burnham would have gone the same way, except he is not as enamoured of the block face as I.

I only use it for potential troublesome trees, and from the pictures, that didn't look like one, so I might just have felled it the way I usually do.

But, as we all know, pictures can decieve.

Burnham, what I meant was that a line set high enough and pulled tight, would most likely have caused it to miss the house.
No way would it have put it to the lay, with half the hinge gone.

 

[Burnham]

I agree Scott, it doesn't look difficult to handle at all. Assuming the lean was not more severe than it appears and the wood is sound, I'd have faced it about the same direction, perhaps just a smidge to the right (looking at it from the camera's perspective), NOT cut the hinge off , maybe leave it a little thicker on the left (maybe not), gutted the center of the hinge, and then just wedged it over. Two or three hardheads would have managed it nicely, I'm guessing.

I'm comfortable with what can be achieved with wedges, it's what I do. If one is not, then one must use a rope to accomplish the same things. Nothing wrong with that, it just is more time consuming, and not necessarily as foolproof as many think at controling direction of fall.

 

[Burnham]

Block face and a bunch of wedges.

I think Burnham would have gone the same way, except he is not as enamoured of the block face as I.

I only use it for potential troublesome trees, and from the pictures, that didn't look like one, so I might just have felled it the way I usually do.

But, as we all know, pictures can decieve.

Burnham, what I meant was that a line set high enough and pulled tight, would most likely have caused it to miss the house.
No way would it have put it to the lay, with half the hinge gone.

Agreed, Stig.

 

[treesmith]

I agree Scott, it doesn't look difficult to handle at all. Assuming the lean was not more severe than it appears and the wood is sound, I'd have faced it about the same direction, perhaps just a smidge to the right (looking at it from the camera's perspective), NOT cut the hinge off , maybe leave it a little thicker on the left (maybe not), gutted the center of the hinge, and then just wedged it over. Two or three hardheads would have managed it nicely, I'm guessing.

I'm comfortable with what can be achieved with wedges, it's what I do. If one is not, then one must use a rope to accomplish the same things. Nothing wrong with that, it just is more time consuming, and not necessarily as foolproof as many think at controling direction of fall.

I agree as far as time-consuming so far as the ropes go. No doubt wedges are quicker. But are wedges more dependable for controlling direction of fall? Or are you saying that folks substitute rope for poor falling skill? I would think that a rope would give MORE control, assuming there was something (truck, tractor, etc) doing the pulling. I know pulling with a come-a-long, once the tree commits, there is no catching up on the rope. It is what it is. I have at times gunned the truck and kept pressure on the tree much longer into the fall.

 

[Burnham]

Only the hinge controls the direction of the fall, nothing else.

The wedge, or the pull rope, only serves to commit the tree to the face.

IF (a big if) you can keep ahead of the acceleration of the tree with the pulling machine, then you can exert some influence on direction, but the ultimate factor is the hinge.

 

[treesmith]

I agree, but side-leaning red oaks and others like them don't hinge very well, and I often rely on some other influences to help things along.

 

[Burnham]

Fair enough .

By far the more common scenario in which a pull rope is used in the arb world does not include power that can be reliably accelerated, without loss of traction, to keep ahead of the speed the tree gathers from gravity. Manual pulling, or with a winch, or by block and tackle...those sorts of arrangements are the norm. It is to those cases that I primarily direct my cautions about over-confidence in what a pull rope will provide, thinking it exceeds that of a well-deployed set of wedges.

 

[treesmith]

I respect your thoughts whole-heartedly, B! I have worked alone alot though, and when alone, you do what you must. Needing a quick pull is certainly not the norm, only in rare occasions. I was simply asking concerning your line earlier...."Fairly big tree...not so sure setting a line would have held it to the lay unless it was extra strong and pulled aggressively by something big." I think I misunderstood your point, initially. I don't use wedges much at all, and therefore rely far more on rope to do the tipping.

 

[Burnham]

Maybe I'm still seeing that mishap with the barn in my minds eye, Scott .

 

[Jack]

We've discussed this before, B, about a trick an old-timer taught me. Sometimes, that is SOMETIMES, you can keep ahead of the acceleration of the tree without a pulling machine by putting a weight in the pull line. And, as you pointed out extreme care must be taken!!! Last winter, in the pic below, I felt I could NOT trust the hinge wood in a failing poplar to a narrow DZ. So, I limbed it up 60'; put in an open face & bore cut; rigged & tensioned a heavy round mid-line; then tripped the back strap. It kept tension in the redirected pull line until the round hit the ground ... went dead to the intended lay.
Again, as you said then, it's not to be taken lightly but it's a useful trick, for special cases, sometimes.

 

[SkwerI]

Wow, I'm impressed. I would have never thought of that, but it's genius.

 

[treesmith]

I'll try that tomorrow! Ah shucks, I don't have anything to cut tomorrow....

A similar trick when speed of pull is needed, (but not a lot of it), is to run the pull line through a block and back to a point near the butt of the tree being pulled. Then rig the block to your truck, and as you pull, the tree gets pulled ~2' for every 1' you pull with the truck. (A 1:2, if you please, though not true 1:2, due to the fact that the lines are not parallel). And it really kills the power of the pull.

 

[Burnham]

Thanks for reminding us, Jack. Brian is right, very clever.

Edit: That's a clever thought too, Scott.

 

[treesmith]

Jack's trick is also very clever if release is needed part-way through the fall, as the height the ballast is raised to directly affects when/where its influence will end.

And if ballast of desirable size/weight is not available, an adventurous co-worker could be suspended in lieu of the inanimate ballast.....