Felling Advice

[lumberjack48]

Its only 25' tall, i'd get a 12 to 14' push pole, and have somebody push it over while i sawed it down.

In most cases like this i always pushed and sawed it myself. I pushed with my left arm while sawing with my right hand. I probably used this technique a couple 100 times a day when felling.

[Slab Slicer]

10 years with a tree service, but the 100 miles is a bit far to go. That would be an easy one to climb and "huck" it off in pieces. Or pull it over with a well placed rope, a good cut, and a couple of guy to do the pulling.

As mentioned before though, a tree service would be able to drop that for less than $200. Maybe lower than that. No clean up, no hauling, no chipping? It's a 30 minute job max. That would include some chat time with the arborist, and a couple of cold non-alcoholic drinks.  ;)

[beenthere]

A saw, a wedge and 5 minutes to have it down just where you want it.

[chet]

 

A saw, a wedge and 5 minutes to have it down just where you want it.

Unless there is more in the way than the pic shows.  ;)

[lowpolyjoe]

If there is a doubt, there is no doubt!

This is the response i was expecting and i think it's the most reasonable way for me to look at it.  Just hate to hire someone if i don't have to. 

I just took another look at the tree.  It's quite tight around and behind the base because the shed is right next to it and the neighbor's fence is right behind it.  Also, it is leaning uphill (towards the shed) a bit as someone pointed out.

If it was only my personal property at risk i would certanly go for it.  But my neighbor's patio is probably a few hundred thousand dollars of work... The side to the left is a 2 level retaining wall about 20 feet high and there's some masonary pillars  here and there with light fixtures on them.  If i crush something important over there it's going to cost a fortune to repair.  That's why i'm leaning towards hiring an insured tree service.

My hope is that they cut me a good deal since all they have to do is drop it and leave.  Like Slab Slicer said, it should take them no time at all.

[Ianab]

If it's in range of a high value target then hiring a pro (with insurance) does make sense. Lack of space behind the tree may mean you need to bore the back cut, or do some sort of yoga move to reach, or something else a little more tricky.

It still doesn't seem like an overly tricky situation, assuming there is clear space to drop it into. Just not one you want to make a mistake on.  ;)

90% of the work on that sort of removal would be the clean up after it's on the ground. If you just need it laid on the ground that's only a few minutes work. Should be whatever the guys travel and minimum charge happens to be.

Ian

[ArborJake]

 My cousin actually has a tree company in your area. If you would like I can give you his info and you could contact him.

[lowpolyjoe]

My cousin actually has a tree company in your area. If you would like I can give you his info and you could contact him.

Thanks Jake.  I have a guy coming by this weekend that i've used before. This service is right down the street from my house and it's gonna be a quick job so i'm hoping he gives me a sweet deal.    If he gives me a crazy quote maybe i'll message you for more info.   

[Sixacresand]

You should not have a problem using a rope/cable/winch pulling it and a hinge cut.  Just be mindful of the wind direction. 

[Migal]

  I've enjoyed this post  8) Seem's like lowpolyjoe has a plan and got plenty of Idea's I swear he has made a impressive saw mill Have you all seen it Hope I'm not out of line here. Good men are hard to find lowpolljoe and you seem like one of them  :P  :new_year:

[lowpolyjoe]

Thanks a lot Migal!  I did a little work on my diy saw mill today, in fact.  Couldn't test it though.

I got a reasonable quote from my tree guys and they're gonna drop that pine for me.  As much as i want to try it, i can't take the risk.

I did, however, drop a much smaller tree in my yard today.  It had been damaged in the storm as well but i forgot all about it.  Bummer to take it down because it held up one side of our hammock  :(  But it was never a healthy tree because of shade issues (i think) and the damage took off the bulk of the green.

Good news is that i got some practice in.  Fell exactly where i wanted, directed with a hinge.  I guess it was sort of cheating because the tree was very top heavy in that direction anyway  ;)   but i have to get lucky sometimes   :D

I filmed it but haven't checked the footage... if it came out ok i'll post it on youtube and ask for feedback.  I'd like to get some solid technique down.

Bad news - as i was taking the stump low, i hit a piece of metal pipe sticking out of the ground.  Apparently the tree grew up around it ???  Crazy.  It took a few cutters off my chain.  Gotta order something new this week so hopefully i can do some more work next weekend. 

[Krieger91]

Good call on bringing in a pro. I've been in those tight areas as most have, with high value targets. A lack of funds prevented me from bringing anyone in, but i got lucky and didn't hit anything. But luck only holds out for so long. Glad to hear you got it done!

[Ken]

But my neighbor's patio is probably a few hundred thousand dollars of work... The

I got a reasonable quote from my tree guys and they're gonna drop that pine for me.  As much as i want to try it, i can't take the risk.

Smart move ;)

Cheers
Ken

[lowpolyjoe]

Tree guys came today.  5mins 





I cut it up into 5 or 6 foot sections and rolled it up a bit of a hill to my 'milling area'.     Much more difficult than i expected.  I didn't realize how big this tree was.   About 17" near the bottom.   I'm going to have to throw my 20" bar on when i try to rip some boards out of it since my jig setup eats up a couple of inches of usable bar length.   Maybe tomorrow i'll have a go.  Hope the weather improves.  It was like 25 today.

[bill m]

I'm glad it worked out for you. By the looks of the cut on that stump they were lucky it went where it was supposed to.

[JohnM]

By the looks of the cut on that stump they were lucky it went where it was supposed to.

I'm no pro by any stretch but I was thinking the same thing.   Glad you got it resolved Low.

[lowpolyjoe]

I was thinking that the cut on the back side should have been a bit higher?   Is that what you guys are referring to?  I don't really know anything, but am curious

I don't think it was a tough job, i just needed it to be sure the whole process was insured in case it went bad and my neighbor's patio got destroyed.  They had it roped so i don't think they cared too much about the cut.   That may explain it. 

Friendly bunch of guys and very fair with the jobs they've done for me.

[beenthere]

Even with the rope, their hinge was wrong, and in the wrong place. They are lucky if they are "professional" tree fallers. The back cut didn't need to be higher. Just the hinge should have been further over (not in the center) to the direction of fall.
But rope will cover for bad cutting. Glad you have it down.

[bill m]

In looking at the stump it appears they made the horizontal ( bottom ) cut first and went to the middle of the tree. Then when they made the angle cut ( face cut ) they cut past the bottom cut. The back cut is lower then the hinge and should never be. They also cut past the hinge on both sides leaving only a small portion of hinge in the center. 

[Ianab]

Certainly not a "textbook" example of a stump. Low back cut, very little hinge. As they had ropes on it, and it's wasn't a tricky tree, they got away with it. But you wouldn't want to rely on that hinge if you were wedging the tree against it's natural lean, or trying to control a side leaner.

But end of they day, it's down safely. ;)

Ian

[lumberjack48]

I'm sorry i changed my comment

I looked at that stump again, nice flat cut, knew enough not to saw it off the stump, being only about 20' tall, pull rope on it. There wasn't much that could go wrong.

If the faller would have sawed it off the stump before they started to pull, is about the only thing that could have caused it to fall the wrong way.

[thenorthman]

There is a national trees service group that does a lot of county contracts around here, most of their stumps look worse then that.  When you spend all day rigging trees and dropping 2-3' chunks at a time its real easy to get lazy.  Spend all day in a bucket truck and a guy starts thinking he don't even need a face cut.  Have had a few guys ask for a job and say that they worked for them... so they know chainsaws and how to fall trees, its hard not to laugh in their faces.  (its easy to say no cause I work alone or with one other guy)

[thecfarm]

lumberjack is right on with that comment. My father would have ALOT to say about that stump.

[ST Ranch]

I agree with Ianab and others. Both the undercut and backcut appear to be completely backwards. Also the angle of the undercut appears to point right towards a tree down slope. Very lazy or inexperienced faller.   Appears that even when someone turns to professionals, you can have issues.

When I am faced with high risk directional falling I always make sure I have my undercut a good inch below the back cut [See pic below]  One can never be too careful - My experience with broken topped trees [and also dead ones] is that their natural balance is gone [often lop sided] and dead trees are often dry and light and do not like to commit themselves over their centre of gravity when falling.
 
When I am faced with similar falling challenges, I hook a 1/2 cable [no shorter in length than the tree is tall] a minimaum of 1/3 the way up the tree and hook it to my Bobcat. - I have a second person pull the tree over with the Bobcat as I finish the back cut.

I always like to be safe rather than sorry when dealing with 1500+ pounds of tree