Felling up hill

[Kingmt]

Had the Forester come to my place the other day & he said it was time for this tree to go as well so I'm still dragging my feet on it a bit but looking at it again the other day it doesn't look as bad to me as it did before. I think falling at the angle up hill is very doable & the best route to take.

[SAnVA]

Whatever way you decide to go, be carefull! Just heard this evening, a friend of mine ( in his 60's) been cutting timber all his life, was limbing a tree over the weekend and had a limb fly back and hit him in the lower leg and broke both bones. It can happen to the most experienced loggers!

[Kingmt]

Hope your friend is back in his feet soon. Limbing takes as much attention as felling. Ether way you you can end up with a tree on top of you.

[OneWithWood]

Kingmt, there is another option if you are not comfortable falling this tree.  Girdle it and let it come down naturally a piece at a time.  This will preclude any major damage to the trees downhill.  Of course you won't get to mill it but you will be around to gain more experience so you can mill the next one.
It all depends on your comfort zone.

[Autocar]

Iam with Pine Ridge on this one down hill or side hill or walk away. Up hill Ive seen them come down a hill like a rocket and the top will wipe you out. Side hill I always felt harder on the standing trees because the skidder eather has to go up or down with the pull, side hill will break off alot of trees when pulling it.

[DMcCoy]

x3  Reading this I get the shivers.  Falling back up the hill how are you going to get the wedges in and see what you are doing.  The ideas of the thing sliding toward you or the butt end being above your head and the tree hitting where it could break. 
Side hilling it was my first choice from your description.  It could still roll and damage trees.  Could be a decision of which way causes the least damage-side hill or down hill.  Walking away is an option.

I have experienced a bad barber chair once.  The tree split and kicked back and over my head about 8'.  I threw my saw and dove blindly off a bank hitting a gravel road to escape.  I got really really lucky.  When you talk of having this thing over your head - 20" of oak after hitting a ridge after it is 70% down which to me says it has gained some speed, I know I wouldn't try it, it just isn't worth it to me.

You mention concern about which saw will make you escape easier.  My suggestion is that you prepare to throw your saw away from you or drop it fast if things go wrong.  It will only slow you down.  You can buy another.  No tree is worth permanent injury.

[beenthere]

No idea what "throwing a saw" does to help the situation. Maybe" letting go" of it so one can move faster would be the quickest maneuver.
But if there is any major fear of what this tree will or not do, then walk away. Only cut with confidence that your plan will work in a safe manner. Over-confidence can get one in trouble too, as well as being naive about felling trees.

[DMcCoy]

No idea what "throwing a saw" does to help the situation. Maybe" letting go" of it so one can move faster would be the quickest maneuver.
But if there is any major fear of what this tree will or not do, then walk away. Only cut with confidence that your plan will work in a safe manner. Over-confidence can get one in trouble too, as well as being naive about felling trees.

Well I didn't want to dive on top of a running saw.  Letting go depends on where the saw is in relation to where I want to go.  Either allows one to move a bit quicker.

[Kingmt]

My small ms180 would not hinder me in an escape but if it did I'd be glad to put it down.

[Pine Ridge]

I don't know without looking at this tree exactly how dangerous it is, but it sounds dangerous as heck to me. I've watched this thread since the beginning, and if it has to come to come down and is that dangerous , this is how i would do it. hook a cable as high in the tree as you can get it, may have to use a ladder to get up high, cable long enough the tree tops won't hit the tracker, cable at least 7/16 diameter, hook it to the trackers back bumper thats parked on top of the ridge. open face bore cut the tree uphill, leave just enough of a trigger so the tree remains standing, get in the tracker and pull it over, breaking the trigger in the process. you'll probably only get one chance to do it, hinge and trigger need to be setup right the first time. may have some fiber pull or side split out on the butt log, but unless the tree takes off downhill and takes you and your vehicle with it at least you should be safe, right or wrong thats how i would do it. Be safe.

[JohnG28]

7/16" diameter steel cable on that one tree?? Or rope? That'd be a lot of heavy cable to string I'd think. Probably not a bad idea to try to just pull it over though, although I'd think a wedge cut in the front with a partial/shallow back cut, wedgeso in back cut and then go pull it over would provide a lot more control. Still have tear out, but whatever. Long as you go slow you can keep things under control IMO, short of the unforeseen which is a factor all the time anyway. Some pictures of all this would make speculating a little easier...

[Pine Ridge]

7/16 wire rope is what i should have said, it's about the smallest diameter i would use myself for this particular tree, you may have to give it a pretty good jerk to break the trigger, don't want to risk using too small diameter and having it break after all the steps you've went through to harvest this one tree. 7/16 is not that big, and it would be the minimum size i would use. I had considered wedges on each side of the trigger, but i would'nt hammer them in, I don't want to to risk breaking the trigger and the tree falling while your at the stump, thats what scares me about this tree and i'm trying to get away from so nobody is anywhere near the stump when it comes down. Pictures of this tree would be very helpful to assess the danger, like autocar said about the tree and tops rocketing down the hill, you don't want to be anywhere near it if that happens.

[Kingmt]

7/16 would be way over kill for what my little Traker could ever muster up. ;)

[Ada Shaker]

If its gonna give you that much grief, just burn it down.  8)

[Pine Ridge]

7/16 wire rope is the minimum I would use, I wouldn't want to go through all the trouble for this one tree and have the cable brake. 6 pound test monofilament fishing line is light and wouldn't be overkill, but i wouldn't use it after i'd worked this hard to fall this tree safely.

[Kingmt]

It think I'll just let it stand there until I get around to getting it. If it falls before then I'll say I wish I'd got it sooner.

Thanks for the conversation guys & your input on it. My second look at it I came up with a plan that seemed pretty simple & safe doing like beenthere suggested. Of course I might decide something different before I put my saw in it. Wouldn't be the first time I've changed my mind on a tree.