Help felling a hang up tree

[captain_crunch]

Pulling it out is the only safe option Granted you can cut 3-4 ft chunks off butt by sliceing trunk at 45 deg angles but most of the time this just stands tree up straighter  thus reduceing it wanting to fall. I have went up hill and found another marked to cut tree and hammered mess down but that tree has to be committed to fall in proper direction and be at least half way to ground before hitting (this is NOT something to try at home) I should not even sucgest it at at all but I was a cutter for about 20 years and we had to do what we had to do beings there was no help till crew moved in with yarder and we DID NOT dare leave them with a trap

[John Mc]

Lets say you want to pull the trunk south; you need to make a box cut about 4ft high on the north side of the tree. your next cut will be on the south side. this cut goes toward the box but stops a good 1 to 2in from going all the way through. Tie your rope above the cuts and pull south. The back cut should open as the box closes moving the trunk a fair distance .

What is a box cut?

[bill m]

A box cut is another name for a face cut or notch cut or open face notch or conventional notch or cutting out the wedge or whatever people call it in their region. In this application an open face notch is preferable as the tree folds almost 90 degrees before the hinge breaks.

[John Mc]

A box cut is another name for a face cut or notch cut or open face notch or conventional notch or cutting out the wedge or whatever people call it in their region. In this application an open face notch is preferable as the tree folds almost 90 degrees before the hinge breaks.

OK... I've used the technique SDM described. I just have not heard the term box cut before. I thought maybe I was missing out on some new technique.

John Mc

[mad murdock]

Wow, $10,000 fine per hanger?!? I guess I have been out of the game too long.  When I was young and dumb, We would get a hanger, and climb up the tree if the angle was suitable for climbing, and with saw in hand, cut the cause of the hang and ride the tree to the ground, we used to call it "tree surfing". Sounds cool, but it is purely by the grace of God that we didn't get maimed, let alone live to tell about it!  The dumb things a guy did in his youth!!!!  I hope that you get it down safely. 

[cornucopia72]

We want to thank you all again. The hanged tree is safely resting on the ground.  My wife and I headed to the parcel yesterday because we were worried about a trespasser getting hurt if the tree decide to fell at the wrong time (the $10,000 OSHA fine was also a motivator to take  “vacation” day off).  We anchored the come-along at the base of a sturdy tree about 100’ away in the general direction that we though would be easiest to pull.  The tree was about 400’ uphill from were we parked the truck.  We decide to try the rope first (I could not find a 1” rope so we were using a ¾” one) because he didn’t want to haul the heavy chains uphill if we could help it.  We pulled with the come-along and the rope got so tight that we feared it was going to snap but the tree did not move an inch.  We ended up hauling the chains and slowly but surely the tree slid down.  My arms are sore of pulling the lever.  We had to remove the accumulated dirt from the front of the tree several times.  The tree made a 1’ deep trench as it was dragged down hill.

 If we were to start all over with the same hanged tree we would have follow the recommendation of doing a second cut with the notch facing away from the pull line.  That way the tree would have given us a head start as far as angle plus the shape of the base would have been more conducive to sliding rather than digging as it was.

[timber tramp]

  Glad you got your tree on the ground safely. I'll bet you've learned some things from this too.                                                    TT

[4genlgr]

  all safe and sound a'int loggin' fun

[Magicman]

"Next time"  it will be completely different.  Different forces, stresses, and loads.  Another reason to never cut without two chainsaws or at least two bars/chains.  Trees/logs are very unforgiving.

[Ron Scott]

Mission accomplished!