Twister

[lumberjack]

(Referencing the top left picture)

It looks like there's water around it? Is clean up an issue or can you dump the trees (looks like 2) the tree will hit as it first starts going right?

Assuming the other two trees can be felled I'd set a sturdy rope on the twisted tree setting up to pull to the right somewhere around the 2 trees that it's propped against.

Then face the 2 prop trees to to the right along the arc the twisted tree will follow to the ground and pretension the rope to as much as it's set up to handle.

Then I'd start at the back left helix of the twisted tree and start nipping it towards the right. Assuming all is going well as it went further and further to the right, I'd make a top cut that intersected the first kerf keeping the saw from getting pinched. I'd keep going right until I got to my "corner" if I was cutting a notch to follow the other 2 trees arc. Then come back and start nipping the front left headed right until it goes over, cutting for clearance as needed. I'd use a 36" bar on a 440/460 to keep me as far back as reasonable.

That's my 2 cents. I've never had to fell a twisted tree like that, but I've used this method on similarly splinted/shook and sized oaks that always seem to be loaded heavily due to lean or part of the canopy breaking off.

 

[sotc]

Don't worry, I'm not going to cut that one with my 18" bar.
I am actually a very cautious guy, which is why I've survived 30 years in this business with only a broken back, two bad knees and a busted hand to show for it

thats not very reassuring

 

[blue]

A cool experiment would be to blow the top off just below the split and see what happens to the remaining part of the standing trunk.
Would it untwist or remain the same?

 

[thattreeguy]

just go blow it off for him blue

 

[Jamin Mayer]

I'm curious how this is going to work out.

 

[woodworkingboy]

That is a confusing looking sucker. Negative possibilities easily come to mind.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

We lost part of an ugly this winter.. It's a partial twister I am going to have to climb to take the messed up part off first before I fell it Lost a couple of 75' leaders. 50"dbh Bull Pine.

 

[stig]

Nasty looking.
I wonder how many saws you can get stuck in that thing.

I'm still waiting for a skidder, to deal with mine.

 

[TheTreeWiseMen]

Any chance of video footage when you tackle that bad boy Stig?

 

[Burnham]

That one does look horrid, Stephen. From what I can see in the pics, I'd try to start out at the tips and work my way back to the twisted portion. Got any decent high tie-in point?

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Yes and yes Burnam. The plan is start on the tips and work my way back trying to get a more predictable stress on the wood. I have a good high TIP on the live half of the tree right above the codom I am going to take off. Figure my power pole saw is also going to come in handy on getting the tips cut back safely. Keep me out from under it with a 12 foot reach..
Once the nasty stuff is cut off I will just lay the rest of the tree down. It's pretty much 1/2 pecker pole at this point. With the kids, I really don't want to risk it breaking at any given time.

 

[Burnham]

That sounds like a solid plan. Once you get some of the smaller stuff off, I'd guess you'll need to work on top of the broken limb, tied in high.

Once, in a somewhat similar situation, with a climbing partner I really trusted, I set a second single line from me to the ground support. The instructions were to pull me back from the tree if I signaled to do so...that would swing me off of the limb with the capability to hold me out away from it, suspended from my climb line, but with return swing restrained.

There was only one cut where I felt exposed to possible contact as the piece came free, and I could tell that was going to likely be the case...I talked to my groundie before I started cutting, and set it all up...worked a treat.

No way to tell if you might need something like that from here, but something you might consider.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I'll know more when I am on top of the limb and also see how much loading I take off the fibers by whittling the leaders back toward the codom. From what I have seen thus far I doubt I will need to be swung away. I will keep that little trick in mind though Thanks B. I hope I can get Katy to film it if I get a new memory card. Really would like to see a vid of Stig doing his twisty His looks more hazardous than mine. BTW, I don't know if you can tell by the pics, but those limbs went 90 degrees over from the lay....

 

[woodworkingboy]

Can't exert too much caution with those limbs under tension, even a small whippy one can easily break your face. Be extra careful!

 

[CurSedVoyce]

You know it brother.....

 

[pantheraba]

Here are some twisters we ran into at Katrina. I don't remember the limbs being much of a problem, but the trunk was plenty scary. It groaned and popped as I nibbled away at it. I have some video of that...I'll try to track it down sometime.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

Kinda like protesting you nibbling at them. They can be really nerve racking.

 

[pantheraba]

Kinda like protesting you nibbling at them. They can be really nerve racking.

I didn't have my 36" bar then, I think I used my 019T because it was light and I could move out of the way quickly if I needed to.

I think the long bar might have been better.

 

[sawinredneck]

I didn't have my 36" bar then, I think I used my 019T because it was light and I could move out of the way quickly if I needed to.

I think the long bar might have been better.

You have to watch that as well Gary. I've gotten complacent a time or two with the long bar because I was out of harms way and gotten it bound up. Then you have a mess with two people in harms way and having to use a smaller saw.

 

[CurSedVoyce]

I think sometimes you just get a feeling what is going to work best for the situation. I can say my pole saws rock on the ones that are a bit high for running a large bar into, as long as the diameter is do-able. Sometimes it's my 036 with a 24 or ..... A small saw does allow you to move out quick. Why I guess I like the pole saws so much... I am back off from what I am cutting.. I have a 6 foot and a 12 foot with 10" bars. Amazing what you can do with them. You can really reach in and take out a spring loaded limb on a fallen tree NP.

 

[stig]

I spent about a year clearing large ares of blowdowns after the storm in 81.
Then again in 93 and finally after the " storm of the century" in 99.
The last one had the largest amount of timber blown over in any recorded storm here. It totalled an amount equivallent to 2 years logging for the whole country.
Took a while to clean up, especially because a lot of the logs were valuable hardwood, where you had to try to save the logs.
In conifers, we "just" cut them loose and let the mechanical harvesters take it from there. Cutting before a harvester, you really get to work a lot of blowdown.
Normally I am no lover of long bars( guess you all know that by now) but for blown down trees still attached to the roots, I use nothing shorter than 30".
Being able to make tricky cuts while keeping your distance is important.

 

[pantheraba]

Normally I am no lover of long bars( guess you all know that by now) but for blown down trees still attached to the roots, I use nothing shorter than 30".
Being able to make tricky cuts while keeping your distance is important.

Good input, Stig....I appreciate a voice of experience...thanks.

 

[Bermy]

Those are amazing pictures Stig...you should email them to Claus Mattheck, the biomechanics guru.

Forgive my ignorance, but did the wind twist that one time to get it like that or it finally failed in a wind storm after years of growing twisted? Never seen anything like it!

 

[thattreeguy]

I didn't have my 36" bar then, I think I used my 019T because it was light and I could move out of the way quickly if I needed to.

I think the long bar might have been better.

had one of my guys loose 7 teeth from a short bar,
now everyone likes a 32" bar

 

[stig]

Bermy, it was the result of just one big gust of wind in the last storm we had.
I've never seen one so bad either. I don't know when I'll get a skidder close enough to be able to fall it. But now I have a pretty good plan about how to do it.