My next project

[Kevin]

Here's a maple that is coming down on Tuesday, not much of a top left and surrounded by buildings.




Not much left of the rest of it either.

[Burlkraft]

That's a beauty     

[Magicman]

And, none too soon.   

[Kevin]

I'm hoping for a big wind on Monday

[Coon]

Maybe you could tie it to your truck and pull it over and load the truck all at the same time like that other thread.    I reckon that one would break off pretty easy. 

[Samuel]

Nahhh! If you wait long enough, it appears it will fall on its own.  Don't you like a surprise.   

[bill m]

I hope you are using an aerial lift and not climbing it. It doesn't look like it would support the weight of a climber and any rigging.

[Kevin]

I'll put a rope in it and test it's strength before doing anything.
If it holds I'll climb it and assess the wood where it's compromised.
If it looks good enough I'll cinch it top and bottom, put in a shallow face and a partial back cut then have it winched over from the ground.
It has to break off and fall clear because if the back stays attached and breaks loose after the top hits it can come back through the side of a building that's just below it.

[Coon]

So what is he verdict Kevin?  How did the tree come down? Inquiring minds.... 

[Kevin]

Thanks for the interest, I took that down a week ago.
My wish came true, we had high winds but it happened on the day I did the work.
The tree had two leaders from the stump, one going up and over the garage with multiple branches, all had to be rigged down.
The other leader had about one third of the original stem left intact, I put four cinch straps on it over about a length of six feet, climbed above it and dropped one large limb to the ground.
The top was already broken off and the remaining stem carried one more large limb that had to be winched over with part of the top.
I climbed up and set a pull line, dropped back down, waited for the wind to dissipate, put in the face, started in on the back cut and called down to winch.
The twenty inch bar wasn't long enough to pass through the tree but the power head went into the hollow of the tree and I was able to finish the cut and over it came crashing to the ground.
Next the main stem was dropped from about three feet off the ground just above the branch union.
A quick lunch break and we tackled the remaining stem.

[Coon]

Well sounds like you got the job done safely and thats the main thing.   

I had to shake my head the other day at a guy.  He was cutting down a couple of heavy leaners that were close to his house and had branches close to power lines.  He had one already down on the ground that had basically barberchaired on him.  As I was driving by and noticed the situation he was bucking the one he had taken down into firewood.  I could see that he knew next to nothing about running a saw let alone how to fell a tree.  I stopped and talked to him about the situation.  He told me the saw always cut hard like that.  I looked at the chain and could see teeth rounded over because the rakers were way too high. Clouds were moving in quickly and he said that he had better get the rest on the ground before it rained.  I asked him if he wanted me to go get my saw and wedges and climbing gear.  He said nah don't need to climb at all and what do you mean by wedges..... After briefly explaining what a falling wedge was and how it is used I decided I had better go get my equipment and get back there before he killed someone.  By the time I had gotten back there he had knocked the power line down and had done some damage to his house.        Needless to say I never even stopped when I saw that.  I had offered to help him out for free just for the little bit of exposure from people driving by.  It's a smalll enough town but could possibly get a bunch of tree work here and there.  Anyhow two days later this guy sees me working in my back yard and stops by to talk to me about what had happened.  It cost him close to $10,000 in fines and charges from the power company and no insurance policy on his house.     I grabbed my saw and a wedge and took him over to my firewood pile to show him how a saw should cut and show him what a wedge looked like.  The whole situation opened his eyes and he said that from now on if I was willing to do any and all of his tree work for him for a good price  it was mine.  Since then he has told a few different people around town that I was the one to talk to about tree work.    He came by two days ago and told me he had a couple of phone numbers for people in town that want trees taken down.  I politely told him that if these people wanted trees taken down that they need to call or come and see me because I normally don't go looking for work unless I am desperate.  Work usually finds me.  I went on to tell him that the only reason I stopped in at his place was because I saw more than one safety issue present and that his kids need their father to be around.  Tears started to roll down his cheaks and he did not know what to say other than thank you.  I went down town for the mail this morning and I saw his wife walking down the street.  When I came out of the post office there was a card on the seat of my car that apparently she had slipped in through the window which was open about an inch.  Inside the thank you card was a short note and a hundred dollar bill. 

Depending on the weather I will be doing the two tree jobs that I got today.  Both of the people that want the trees down and gone talked to me today.  I went and looked at both jobs and discussed pricing and such.  I will be getting $100 per tree to fall them along with any sawlogs and firewood that I want.  Just have to mark it.  Can't lose.... anyhow enough of this rambling on....

Brad.

[beenthere]

Coon
Sounds like a good beginning.
Hope that you have insurance for protection on others' property.

"Hang" in there.